Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mandate: Patriots Prioritize Protecting Drake Maye in 2026

Starting point is 00:00:00 There is nothing more important in 2026 than keeping the quarterback clean. Now, thankfully, the Pats understood that this offseason. This is Locked-on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. What's happening? I am your host, Nick Cattels. On today's episode, it's time to take KJ Brits roster spot seriously.

Starting point is 00:00:35 and break down what he could bring to this team. In the second segment, 2026 will represent a resurgence of multiple tight-end sets in this offense. But first, protecting Drake May at all costs. Before we get to protecting Drake May, the franchise, let's talk about something that came out Wednesday morning. And that is the first game we learned of where it was going to be, who it was going to be against regarding the 2026.

Starting point is 00:01:05 schedule. We found out on Wednesday that the Patriots will be facing the Lions in Germany, November 15th. That is a 9.30 a.m. Eastern time kickoff. A couple notes about this game. Even though this is listed as an away game for the Patriots, it's really going to be a home game, or at least a crowd should be leaning Patriots versus Lions because the Patriots have a tremendous amount of support in Germany for the organization. So I actually think that that's a break for the past. We also wonder about Turkey Day. Gobble, gobble, Thanksgiving. Of course, we know Detroit plays on every Thanksgiving. We thought maybe the Patriots would play the Lions on Thanksgiving in Detroit. That is not happening. There are some rumors that the Patriots might be playing

Starting point is 00:01:53 against Kansas City on Thanksgiving. We'll wait to see if those rumors are true. But that's the first game that we know of, locked in for the 2026 schedule, Lions, Germany, November 15th, 930 a.m. Eastern Times to kickoff. And I will remind you right now, Thursday night, live on YouTube, we will have our immediate reaction to the schedule release. So you don't want to miss that. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe. Thursday night, we're going live on YouTube to react to the full schedule once it's. is released. All right, let's get to Drake May. If the Pat's offense wants to be as good, if not better than it was in 2025, the Patriots have to do a better job of protecting their

Starting point is 00:02:42 quarterback. They have to protect May at a higher level. Looking through some next-gen stats for this episode. I will tell you, the Patriots gave up the seventh most pressures in football last year. They gave up the sixth highest pressure rate in football last season. Drake May took the ninth most sacks in the league. And the Patriots, when you look at sack rate, seventh highest in football. So that's not all on the offensive line. And we should understand that. We talked all year long about Drake May's decision making.

Starting point is 00:03:17 And is he getting rid of the football quick enough? Is he keeping his eyes up to throw the football whenever there is some kind of pressure going on? You know, some of this is on May. Some of these numbers are on men. not understanding at all times, what is being sent towards him by the defense. So some of that is on Drake May. Some of it is also on your tight ends and your running backs in past protection. Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper were not great blocking last year.

Starting point is 00:03:48 They were not great in past protection. Ramadre Stevenson is really good. He's the least of my worries there. But Trayvion Henderson, we talked about it during the season last year. he came into the draft known as the best past protecting running back in that draft, in that class. And he was far from that in 2025, very up and down, mostly down. He has to be better in that category in 2026.

Starting point is 00:04:13 He has to pick up the blitz better than he did in his rookie year. I think he will. It's part of the developmental process. But the Patriots, they're putting all these pieces together, and they had to look at this and say, one of our top priorities is to make sure that we can protect our quarterback because we did not do a good enough job of that last year. It was better, if not much better than 2024. It was better than 2023.

Starting point is 00:04:41 The eye test would tell us that, but it still wasn't great. And yes, that inherent development from your quarterback should help as well. Now, when you look at Drake May, when the Patriots actually had a clean pocket for their quarterback last year, there was nobody better in the league than Drake May. Warren Sharp posted this a couple weeks ago. Drake May in 2025 was first in the entire league, an early down EPA per pass attempt. He was the best quarterback in football on early downs when you look at expected points added per pass attempt. And that's when there was a clean pocket. So you have a clean pocket.

Starting point is 00:05:31 May was the best quarterback in football, EPA throwing it on early downs, first and second down. And I think the Patriots, you look at these numbers and you understand. Now, every quarterback is better when you keep the pocket clean, right? I mean, that just really goes without saying. And you should always want to keep the quarterback clean, no matter what, the numbers tell you. You don't want him to take hits. You don't want him to take sacks, get pressured, all that stuff. But when you look at May, you say, man, he really is.

Starting point is 00:06:03 He really is one of the best in football when you kept the pocket clean, especially on early downs. And we know we went through all the stats last year. Drake May was great on third down. He was great even with some pressure. But keeping the pocket clean, you are going to get the best May that you can possibly get. And the Patriots, they looked at these numbers. They knew they had to get better. They looked at the pressures.

Starting point is 00:06:29 They looked at the pressure rate. They looked at the sacks. They looked at the sack rate. And they made a concerted effort this offseason to make sure that those numbers will be better in 2026. Elijah Vera Tucker added at left guard. That is going to make your offensive line better. It's going to make your past protection better. AVT, clearly an upgrade over Jared Wilson at that specific position.

Starting point is 00:06:57 You move Jared Wilson to center. I think that will help. When you look at Jared Wilson's numbers last year, in the second half of the season, he was pretty darn good protecting the quarterback at left guard. Now back at his natural position, I think he's going to be as good. good, if not better. Might not happen the first couple weeks of the season, but eventually he will get there. And then the Patriot said, we don't have enough on the offensive line.

Starting point is 00:07:23 We need more insurance. We need more at tackle. So they walked into the draft. They traded up for Caleb Lomu. They weren't happy with just Caleb Lomu. They decided to also draft Demetrius Crown over in the sixth round, loading up at the tackle position. Depth-wise, they have more than enough at that spot now.

Starting point is 00:07:43 These are all moves to protect your quarterback. Focusing on the run game also helps protect your quarterback. It helps alleviate that pressure because defenses can't just key on May. They can't just key on your passing game. If you have that running threat as part of your offense, now you keep them off balance. And that is a huge part, a huge piece of this puzzle, of this offseason, of eventually protecting Drake May at a higher level.

Starting point is 00:08:13 level, you run the football down the throat of the defense. You focus on the run game, you help alleviate that pressure. That doesn't mean the Patriots are going to be a run first team. It just means that they're going to be able to run the football more effectively, which is going to help their passing offense. Julian Hill, Reggie Gilliam, again, not just the run game, pass protection. Both guys are good blockers. Reggie Gilliam is a good fullback pass protector.

Starting point is 00:08:41 Julian Hill can do the job in past protection. Those are upgrades. Now, not everything is peachy. We still have some questions. How will Will Campbell recover from his postseason in Super Bowl? How will he recover from the MCL injury? He should be fine from a health standpoint, but we'll see. We need to see Will Campbell recover.

Starting point is 00:09:05 Drake May, again, he also has to work on this himself. Drake May's pressure to sack rate in the postseason last year was 45.5%, which is hideously high, hideously high for a quarterback. And you go back to my independent pot I did before I joined lockdown, everything, Pat's. You know, we talked about pressure to sack rate, pressure to sack ratio, getting ready for the 2020 draft, 24 draft, sorry. And as we got ready for the 2024 draft, we said pressure to sacrate is one of those statistics, one of those analytics that you look at for college quarterbacks to try to figure out how they're going to be able to transition to the NFL level. And if that pressure to sack rate is high, that quarterback could be an issue. Bo Nix. One of the reasons why Denver loved Bo Nix and drafted him is because Bo Nix's pressure to sack rate was so low in college.

Starting point is 00:10:03 and that has continued to be the case in the NFL. That's a quarterback stat. In May's pressure to sacrate is high. And it was, again, it was crazy high in the playoffs. He has to work on that. Get rid of the football. Make quicker decisions. Keep your eyes up.

Starting point is 00:10:21 Keep your head up. I also wonder if the Patriots can use more quick game than they did last year because last season their quick game wasn't great. Their screen offense was not very good. And I would just have to imagine they have been working on these things scheme-wise in the off-season. And when they hit the field and we see training camp, you will see an effort to have a better screen game, a better quick game. Get Julian Hill and Reggie Gilliam involved with the run game and all this different stuff, that offensive line up front. Keep Drake May clean.

Starting point is 00:10:58 If you do that, this offense is going to be even better than it was. last year. Coming up, we think the Pats are about to go big more often this season. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. You can stream anything, order food and minutes, do everything from our phones and somehow buying tickets to live events still feels way harder than it should be. Long lines, confusing checkout, prices jumping at the last second. It shouldn't be that complicated. That's why there's game time. Gives fancy advantage. It makes getting tickets fast and simple.

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Starting point is 00:13:32 But this offseason, they've aggressively looked to change. that for this upcoming season. Thank you for making us your first listen for being an everydayer. Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat with other listeners of this show. Tap the link in the show notes to find out more

Starting point is 00:13:50 or go to lockdownpatriots.supercast.com. Don't forget Thursday night, we're going live on YouTube to break down the schedule once it is officially released. So don't forget YouTube Thursday night live following the official schedule release. Don't forget as you watch us on YouTube

Starting point is 00:14:09 to like, comment, and subscribe. Those three things help us get more eyeballs to the product. Helps us beat that algorithm down. We appreciate every single one of you. Earlier this week, I talked about teams running more in the NFL. When you look at the stats, they are running the football at a higher rate.

Starting point is 00:14:31 They are using personnel packages to run the football. They're attacking pass rushers, right? Those sub pass rushers that defenses love to throw out there on third down. Teams are running the football on third and three or more, more often now. And so the offense has reacted to the defense. And when we talked about this earlier in the week, we were having that discussion from the viewpoint of the Patriots defense

Starting point is 00:14:58 and finding edge rushers who can also defend the run. Let's look at this now offensively. the six offensive linemen, the big personnel, because I think the Patriots, they understood the assignment this offseason, not only about protecting Drake May, like we talked about last segment, but also about their offense and some of the weaknesses of that offense from 2025. You know, tight end usage in the NFL is becoming more and more important by the day. Evan Lazar wrote this offseason that last year, the league used multiple tight end sets

Starting point is 00:15:31 on an average of 33.2% of offensive plays. When you look at 13 personnel, three tight ends, Daniel Griffiths, who is in Jacksonville, TV guy down in Jacksonville, he posted Pursumer Sports in 2025, 13 personnel usage, the percentage, the Rams, 30.48%. The Steelers, 14.17%. The Cardinals, 10.52%. You know who wasn't listed when it comes to 13 personnel usage and the rate of that usage?

Starting point is 00:16:10 You know who was not listed by Sumer Sports? You're New England Patriots. The Patriots did not even make the list as far as 13 personnel. They didn't really use it. They didn't really use it last year. And so when you look at an offense, you look at Sean McVeigh, you think, okay, the L.A. Rams running 13 personnel 30.48% of the time, which was much more than double the percentage of the team in second place, which again, were the Steelers at 14.17, you scratch your head and you say,

Starting point is 00:16:43 hey, maybe the Rams are on to something. And we're not going to go, you know, heavy 13 personnel and play at 30, 31% of the time. But we need to have that in our bag. We need to have the ability to play three tight ends. We need to be able to roll that 13 personnel out there. Now, as far as the 12 personnel, which is two tight end sets, the Patriots well below average, 19.35%, which was 19th in the NFL. The league average was well over 22%. So not only did the Patriots not throw 13 personnel out there,

Starting point is 00:17:22 they also were below average when it came to playing two tightens. end sets and their personnel groupings. Again, 19.35%, which was 19th in the NFL. So here's my message to all of you. Get ready. Get ready for more 12 personnel and get ready for, I think, at least some 13 personnel. Now, is that going to be 2%, 5%, 10%, I don't know. But I do believe we will see 13 personnel on the field this year.

Starting point is 00:17:54 I think you will see that offensive personnel grouping. The addition of Julian Hill, the drafting of Eli Rairdon, it improves your versatility at tight end. And because you have improved your versatility at that position, it opens the door to play more 12 and 13 personnel. So I think we should all be prepared for the Patriots to play bigger on offense. Now, that doesn't mean every single snap. You got to pick your spots.

Starting point is 00:18:23 but I would be ready for more 12 and at least a sprinkle of 13 personnel. And the Patriots, you know, if you can do that, you should theoretically run the football better. Because when you look back at 2025, one of the biggest issues in the run game was, you know, Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, I said this in the first segment about their pass protection. Well, guess what? They weren't consistently good when trying to run the football either. They just weren't that good. and Evan Lazar has pointed this out at Patriots.com.

Starting point is 00:18:55 The Patriots ranked 29th in Rush EPA out of multiple tight end personnel groupings last year. They were in the bottom five of Rush EPA with multiple tight ends on the field. They can't do that. If you want to run the football and you want to run it effectively and you want to sign Julian Hill to that contract and you want to draft Eli Raarden and use that third round pick on the tight end, you've got to be able to play multiple tight ends. You've got to be able to run the football out of those personnel groupings. Back to Evan Lazard, the Pat's vets had some struggles with in-line blocking.

Starting point is 00:19:34 Hunter Henry had a 54.2 grade, Austin Hooper had a 57.8 grade. Both ranked outside of the top 50 in PFF's run blocking grades. There's the proof in the pudding. Henry, Hooper, both outside the top 50 when it came to run blocking grades from PFF. You want to know why you go out and you get Julian Hill? You want to know why you go out and you get Reggie Gilliam? You want to know why you go out and you draft Eli Raarden? Julian Hill should be a huge improvement from what we saw last year with Henry and Hooper.

Starting point is 00:20:16 My expectation is for Raarden, as I've discussed, to continue to. to improve as a blocker. He's not bad. I think he's pretty good. I think he'll get better. And the hope is with Hunter Henry, the less you use him as that run blocking tight end, the less you use him when you use him in that role,

Starting point is 00:20:36 he will be better. And man, oh man, I'll tell you, can you have some real fun with Reggie Gilliam? Because even though he's listed as a fullback, he can cosplay at tight end sometimes. So I think that you can diversify your, portfolio when it comes to your offense and being able to go big with your personnel. And I think that will make the Patriots offense multiple. I think it will make your runoffence better.

Starting point is 00:21:06 And I think it will also make your passing offense better because not only as we talked about in the last segment, it alleviates the pressure from Drake May when you can run the football. Run can set up to pass, as we've always said, play action, down the seam, all that stuff. and the Patriots now have some of that personnel that they need to get that done. Coming up, KJ Brits' importance has grown exponentially over the last three weeks, and it's time to do a deeper dive on what he brings. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. If you've ever opened your bank account and thought, where did all the money go?

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Starting point is 00:22:23 reach your financial goals faster. It just makes everything feel more organized and gives you a clearer picture of your finances day to day. Go join right now at rocketmoney.com slash lockdown. Again, that's rocketmoney.com slash lockdown. KJ Britt a few weeks ago was seen as somewhat of a mysterious depth piece. Special teams guy maybe. Third, fourth linebacker. You go back a month or two ago.

Starting point is 00:22:55 He was your fourth or fifth linebacker before you said goodbye to Jalani, to Vi and, you know, some other moves that you made saying goodbye to Marte Mapu. And now, now the spotlight is on KJ Britt. That spotlight starts to become white hot. Thanks for checking out the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe. We're going live on YouTube Thursday night to react to the schedule once it is officially

Starting point is 00:23:23 released. Offball linebacker. it is really assumed by me, by you, by pretty much everybody. It is assumed to be one of the thinnest positions on this roster. Robert Spillane is 30 years old. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And after 2026, not only does Robert Spillane have a potential out in his contract, Christian Ellis officially becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Starting point is 00:23:49 And earlier this week, we had the mailbag question about the Patriots being passive at trying to fill linebacker depth. And I had said during the mailbag, I'll say it right now in case you missed that episode. You can go check it out in full after this one. But the draft approach had big impact on the depth at linebacker because I think the Patriots would have most likely used

Starting point is 00:24:11 one of those fourth round picks on a linebacker. But they traded both picks, so they couldn't. So that means lots of eyes on KJ Britt. KJ. Britt is six foot tall, 235 pounds. He turns 27 in June. Now let's go back to 2021 for the scouting report on KJ Britt

Starting point is 00:24:32 from Lance Zerline of the NFL network. Britt was ranked in 2021 as an average backup or special teamer. And here was the overview on Brit in that scouting report. Ultra aggressive inside linebacker with densely muscled frame in a throwback demeanor.

Starting point is 00:24:52 His alpha personality is on display, whether on defense or on special teams. He plays a downhill attacking style that can clog run lanes, but also causes him to lose sight of the ball and get trapped behind blocks limiting his ability to flow with the runner. He has tight hips and lacks the desired sideline to sideline range, but when he hits, opponents definitely feel it. He does not have functional coverage ability and could be pegged as an early down backup with core special teams value. Now, to me,

Starting point is 00:25:27 Lance Zero Lion's scouting report reads to me like KJ Britt is a throwback linebacker. Maybe a little bit of a Bill Belichick type linebacker, right? Somebody, when you read, plays downhill, attacking style, but is not sideline to sideline. It doesn't have that range. But when he hits, you're going to feel it. he doesn't have functional coverage ability he's ultra aggressive densely muscled throwback

Starting point is 00:25:59 demeanor like this isn't this is almost like an old school linebacker feel a guy who i think bill bellichick would have loved and so as we've talked about you know mike raebel's defense especially on the second level is not belichickian and if you looked at this roster going into the offseason you'd say we need somebody who can cover Now, maybe that becomes, you know, Namdi Obisor. Maybe it becomes Chad Muma. I don't know. We'll see.

Starting point is 00:26:30 But it doesn't sound like that's going to be KJ Britt. Doesn't sound like that is his strong suit. Now, his best season in 2024 happened in Tampa. He started 11 games, had 72 combined tackles, two tackles for loss. Outside of that season in 2024, he's been mostly a special teams guy. He's had like a handful of other starts in the NFL. But the lack of range, the lack of coverage skill that has pointed out. And again, look, you know, maybe he's better now than he was in 2021.

Starting point is 00:27:04 Maybe the Patriots coaching staff can coach him up in coverage. But usually, you know, we're talking about somebody who is now in his fifth year at the NFL, you know, fifth or sixth year. Usually you are what you are by this point. and the lack of range and coverage skill, if the Patriots can't fix that, figure that out, then KJ. Britt is an early down option. And you're not going to sit Robert Spillane or Christian Ellis for KJ. Britt. I do not anticipate that happening.

Starting point is 00:27:38 So how much is KJ. Britt going to play? He's not going to be your sub third down guy. And if one of Spillane or Ellis gets injured, who's going to step up on third down. Again, maybe that is Chad Muma. Maybe it is Nombi Obisor. Maybe those guys step up and they become your third down linebacker against the pass. But teams can still target you on first and second down.

Starting point is 00:28:08 We saw that some last year, right? And if Spillane Ellis go down and KJ. Britt's next man up and teams know that KJ. Britt is not very good in coverage, guess what they're going to do? on all of the downs. They're going to think about at least throwing a football like KJ. Britt. Now they're going to run the ball at times too, but you get the point. KJ. Britt becomes a target for the offense. So if he can't figure out the coverage part of this thing, then I just, I don't see how he's going to play a lot.

Starting point is 00:28:42 Again, if there's an injury, yeah, you can try to get away with him, quote, unquote, on first and second down. But if he's out there early, running backs, tight ends, he's going to be targeted. And if I'm the Patriots, and I think they will, I'm still looking for some linebacker help. I'll go into camp. I'll see what KJ. Britt brings to the table. I'll see if we can work with him, improve him in some kind of way, even though he's been in the league five or six years.

Starting point is 00:29:12 We'll try to get something out of Chad Muma. We'll look at NOMDI, Zor, and maybe OBIZor will step up during camp. But if I'm the front office, while Mike Vrable and the staff working with the guys on the field, I continue to talk to agents. I continue to do homework on linebackers that could become available. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen, for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio.

Starting point is 00:29:40 And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Hit that like button and subscribe. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get Lockdown Patriots, ad free, plus members-only Discord access and more. Head to LockdownPatriots.com or check the link in the show notes to learn more. Have a great day. We will see you live Thursday night on YouTube to break down the schedule.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mandate: Patriots Prioritize Protecting Drake Maye in 2026

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