Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Maturity: Drake Maye Guides Patriots Through Injuries and Adversity!

Starting point is 00:00:00 With criticisms hovering and injuries piling up, Drake May has stepped up and delivered over the last three weeks. This is Lockdown 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 show, Caleb Lomu's future as starting right tackle might be his present.

Starting point is 00:00:35 In the second segment, there's one player who might be available at the trade deadline that the Pats should absolutely target. But first, Drake May's maturity in game is shining right now. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. Make this your most rewarding season ever with Fandul Rewards Club every week. Check the Fandul app to see what's waiting for you. Three weeks ago. Three weeks ago, there was legit concern about Drake May's season where it was trending towards and I am here to tell you that your franchise quarterback has had an incredible response

Starting point is 00:01:11 after those first three games. And what we're witnessing from Drake May is an emotional maturity. He didn't break. He didn't panic. He stayed cool, relaxed, calm, collected. I mean, think about it. A.J. Brown gets injured. You start the season by struggling.

Starting point is 00:01:35 You fight through it. After losing A.J. Brown, Mack Hollins, your second most trusted receiver, he goes down with an injury. You fight through it. The offensive line, the juggling, do I need to go through all the injuries that we have seen on that offensive line from week one to right now? You just fight through it. On Sunday, even more offensive line injuries. Walter Rouse at guard and Matt Pryor at guard and a rookie right tackle and a banged-up left tackle. Your number one receiver keeps dropping passes.

Starting point is 00:02:19 And May looked at all that said, let's keep it moving, fellas. Let's keep it moving. And as a matter of fact, your quarterback puts you in position to score at least 35 points, if not more, last week. if it weren't for the fumbles from Trayvion Henderson in Pop Douglas. And if it weren't for the aforementioned drops from your number one guy in A.J. Brown. Quarterback said, just keep it moving. And when you watch the film, what stands out is the decision making, specifically the decision making against the pass rush, against Blitz looks, much, much improved. So you've got the Decision making that has improved.

Starting point is 00:03:03 You got the pocket manipulation, the pocket movement, the pocket presence, the poise, all of those things. Much better. Now, I'm not here to tell you that May never bails from a pocket when he shouldn't. He does from time to time, but it's not consistent and it's not something that stands out to you watching the film. It's not a concern right now. The first three weeks, it was certainly a concern.

Starting point is 00:03:31 not anymore. The last three weeks, so much different than the first three weeks. And because of the decision making, because of the better pocket movement, because of the better poise in the pocket, May's pressure to sack rate has plummeted the last three weeks. As a matter of fact, May has only been sacked twice in the last three games. And how many times did we say, even last year when May was playing incredible football. And he's just got to stay in the pocket just a little bit more. Man, he's got to be able to move away from that pressure. His internal clock needs to improve.

Starting point is 00:04:15 He's turning pressures into sacks. He's turning non-pressures into pressures. And you don't see that nearly as much on the film over the past three weeks. And what I love about Drake May's game right now, he is doing an absolutely tremendous job balancing patience with explosivity. And that's very tough to do. You know, Greg Bedard wrote about May's game against the Jets this past weekend. Badaar wrote in part, May played a very mature game at quarterback.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Of his past attempts, 75% were short. May, who was the worst zone quarterback in the NFL after three weeks, finished 12 of 20 for 152 yards and a touchdown against the Jets zone. His EPA per play versus zone was third among quarterbacks through the 4 PM games in week 6. So that patience, that patience against zone coverage, not getting antsy, not pulling the trigger too soon, not pulling the trigger too late, understanding what he's supposed to be doing, I mean, all of those things, they've been just so much better, so much better.

Starting point is 00:05:31 Even against cover six, you know, Andrew Callahan wrote that even against cover six, the Patriots finished with a 50% success rate, which would have been higher, if not for one, of A.J. Brown's drops. So even cover six, you see May figuring it out. Meanwhile, as he's figuring out zone coverages, as he's playing better against those types of looks because of his patience and his willingness to take the check down, his willingness to just let it rip, even if it's a short throw, just let it go, guys open, just keep on moving down the field. While he's doing that, he's also absolutely capable of making the big. play downfield. So he's balancing it out.

Starting point is 00:06:25 He's got that patience against zone, playing better against zone. And then as Evan Lazar posted, after all the talk about taking profits and two high safety defenses may now ranks via pro football focus, first and deep pass completions, first in deep past touchdowns and first in deep passing yards. Taylor Kyle's. Drake May on deep passes 20 plus yards since week four. The fourth most attempts, the fourth highest completion percentage of 56.3%. He has five touchdowns and zero interceptions when throwing the football 20 plus air yards since week four.

Starting point is 00:07:09 He has 10, count them, 10 big time throws. And he has 0.0 turnover worthy plays on deep passes. he has the most big time throws. He has the best touchdown interception ratio and the most touchdowns. The fourth highest completion percentage with the fourth most attempts. So this is not sample size and keeping it safe. And tied for the fewest turnover worthy plays. If you were wondering on deep passes, weeks one through three,

Starting point is 00:07:45 Taylor Kyle's points out that may had zero touchdowns, and four interceptions. He has completely flipped his season around the past three weeks. And that's the magic. That's the magic if May can bottle it. Being patient and smart against zone coverage, but still remaining deadly downfield against man coverage and deadly downfield when a team decides to blitz you.

Starting point is 00:08:13 And the mobility just adds another layer, right? Extending plays like on the Pop Douglas touchdown against the Jets, the 21-yard scramble against the Jets when literally nothing was there. This is the learning process and development of a young quarterback. That's why I said after the Jaguars game. Yeah, I'm worried with what I see from May right now, but I'm not panicking. I'm not losing my mind. I'm not telling you he's a bust.

Starting point is 00:08:42 And I'm not, especially, I'm not giving up on him. Let him learn. Let him develop. let him get better. I know he was the runner up to the MVP, but he's still young. He's still seeing a lot of new things. Teams are adjusting to him.

Starting point is 00:08:58 Give him time to adjust back. And May talked about, you know, trusting what he sees on the film this week. Trusting the communication to guys in the huddle. Seeing it well. Just trying to throw it to the open guy. And according to Andrew Callahan, May, who has criticized,

Starting point is 00:09:19 who has criticized his own lack of patience at times, said he's done a better job of handling extra space and time in the pocket. Quote, I always tell my wife, since I got married, I never sat on the couch and watched this much TV. I grew up with brothers and always wanted to be on the move and just be doing something, not just hanging around. So it's kind of the same thing in the pocket. I feel like when I got time in there the past two weeks,

Starting point is 00:09:44 we've had two good plays when I've sat in there and just kind of kept my eyes down field. I don't know if one of the plays is the one that stood out to me. You go back and the touchdown to Hunter Henry, believe it was against the Raiders, where May is just staying in the pocket. I brought it up on this podcast. I said it was my favorite play of that football game

Starting point is 00:10:07 because he just standing in the pocket. There was pressure around him. He stood there and he hits Hunter Henry for a touchdown. That poise that he showed. Now, there's a tough road ahead. And there are plenty of injuries on this team at receiver and offensive line. I'm just telling you, the last three weeks, your quarterback has mostly played excellent. Your quarterback has shown a pretty significant level of maturity and leadership,

Starting point is 00:10:39 in battling through adversity, playing responsible football. That's what Drake May has done. the last three weeks. Coming up, the all pro that sits atop my wish list as we get closer to the trading deadline. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. It's the football season, and that means Sundays will continue to get a lot more interesting over the next couple of months. Every week brings new matchups, breakout players, big performances, and plenty of storylines to follow.

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Starting point is 00:11:58 Download the app today and use code lockdown NFL to get $150 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, run your game. Thank you for making us your first listen. Thank you for being an everydayer. Appreciate every single one of you. It is a Wednesday episode, so it's time for the mailbag. Let's jump in with the first question. Rye Shan 24.

Starting point is 00:12:26 What big name is a realistic trade target? Jay Taylor, I'm guessing Jonathan Taylor, B.T.J, Brian Thomas Jr. Sequin Barkley, Max Crosby. I have a name, Rye, if I may call you Rye. That makes a lot of sense. I'll get to that name in a few minutes. First, let's look at some of the names that you brought up. By the way, the NFL trading deadline is on November 10th.

Starting point is 00:12:52 So what we? Three weeks away? About three weeks away from the trading deadline. I'll start with the idea of a Jonathan Taylor or a Sequin Barclay. I don't think the Patriots need to give up an asset for a running back. And I just recorded a podcast, our latest, with Greg Bedard. And I went on a little bit of a tangent. And I'm not trying to be pretentious.

Starting point is 00:13:15 I'm not trying to come across as the guy who watches film. I watch film. But the reason why I bring this up is because I started watching film last year. And I will tell you, it has changed so much about how I view the game. And it has changed so much of how I view certain players. The All-22 shows you a lot more than you see watching the game on TV. And I understand that some of you, a lot of you, are not capable of. of getting the time to sit down and watch film

Starting point is 00:13:48 and spend three hours on a Monday like I do watching that stuff where Greg Bedard does or Evan Lazard, Taylor Kyle, Andrew Callahan, Phil Perry, all the people that do a tremendous job watching the film and telling you what they see. I understand that. It's a big reason why I did not watch the film until last year because I didn't have the time.

Starting point is 00:14:09 And you have kids, you've got family, you've got work, you've got stuff to do. But I'm telling you. you watch the film, it changes how you see the game. It changes how you see players. And one of the guys that I have grown even more respectful of over the past year plus is Ramandre Stevenson. He's a really good back, folks. He's a really good back.

Starting point is 00:14:33 He consistently gets more yards than he should. He consistently fights through tackles, yards after contact. The contact balance is terrific. his pass protection is unbelievable at his position. Evan Lazar on Twitter posted it this week. He had a great pass protection rep where he passes off a pass rusher to Will Campbell to get somebody else. And Brian Hoyer, quote posted that tweet and said, that's elite stuff.

Starting point is 00:15:06 So the yards have the contact. He's got wiggle. He's great in past protection. He's got really good receiving skills that should be used more. I have no problem whatsoever with Ramandre Stevenson being your number one back. And there's a lot of good backs out there fumbling now. So the occasional fumble from Stevenson is not necessarily different than a lot of other guys. I mean, you could look around.

Starting point is 00:15:34 James Cook, Derek Henry, I think has like four fumbles this year. The peanut punch is a real thing. and beyond Stevenson, you've got Corey Connor, Trevionne Henderson. I think you're fine at running back, pass rusher. I don't see them the Patriots giving up future firsts after the AJ Brown trade. So when you bring up Max Crosby, I just don't think they would be willing to pay that type of price, especially the way that Elijah Ponder and Gabe Accus and Draymont Jones have played. I don't think they feel like they need a bona fide number one guy on.

Starting point is 00:16:10 edge the way those guys are playing. I mean, you could argue that Ponder has played like a true number one dude. But I wouldn't be against the idea of trading for some depth. And so I think a more realistic defensive end target would be someone like Khalil Mack. You know, the chargers are zero and six. Mac has his one last ride happening right now. But the other part of this is Harold Landry. You know, is Landry going to be back soon?

Starting point is 00:16:38 What's his ETA? All right. you my all pro my all pro that i would pursue and pursue hard if i were the patriots in a minute but first don't forget click that thumbs up give us a like every single like i appreciate also helps us with the algorithm don't forget to comment i want your thoughts on drake may's maturation the past three weeks i would love your thoughts on the trade deadline and whether or not you agree with me with the name that i'm going to drop in a minute and don't forget to subscribe likes comments and they all help. Let's continue to build this community.

Starting point is 00:17:14 Here's a big name that I think is realistic, and here's a big name that I would go after. Quentin Nelson. I think he's the guy. The Colts are cooked. They just fired Chris Ballard. Nelson is 30 years old, so he should have at least three or four really good years left in him.

Starting point is 00:17:34 He is playing at a very, very high level right now. He is in the final year of his contract. So are the Colts going to actually sign him to an extension when they're headed towards a rebuild? They don't have their first round pick this upcoming year's draft because of the Sauce Gardner trade. They need a lot of assets. And Quentin Nelson is one of their best assets. So I think that it's possible he will be traded by the deadline. Now, the question is, how much would he cost you?

Starting point is 00:18:06 Well, I looked at the Joe Tuny trade, Chicago traded for Tuny. back in March of last year. And the Bears ended up sending a 2026 fourth round pick to the Chiefs. So it cost them a 2026 fourth rounder. So you might look to a future year. You might say, well, maybe a 2028 third round pick would make it work. Maybe a 2028 fourth round pick. But would you be willing to give up a 2028 pick?

Starting point is 00:18:38 I would stay away from that. I would actually rather trade a third or a fourth in this upcoming draft for a guy like Quentin Nelson, then I would be willing to trade out of 2028's draft pick allotment because you already gave up the first round pick for Brown. Tune was 32 years old. Again, Nelson is 30. Tune had one year left on his contract. Nelson is an impending free agent.

Starting point is 00:19:06 And with your situation at guard, you know, How long is Ben Brown going to be out? We'll talk about Greg Van Routen a little while later. What is his prognosis? You know, what's guard looked like? Elijah Verrett-Sucker now dealing with the hamstring. If you could go out and get somebody that plays the level of Quentin Nelson at a position that I think you need with Michael Wenow out for probably the rest of the year,

Starting point is 00:19:35 ABT's injury history and what he's dealing with right now, Ben Brown going out with the knee against the Jets, your situation on the interior, your situation at guard, I'd be willing to give up a 2027 third or fourth. I would hope it's a fourth, but I would be willing to give that up for a Quentin Nelson. And he becomes your long-term answer for the next three, four, five years at right guard. And if you can keep AVT healthy, now think of that offensive line. Think about the 2027 offensive line. Will Campbell, AVT, Jared Wilson, Nelson, and then Caleb Lomu.

Starting point is 00:20:09 Not bad. Not too shabby. So that's the big name I'd be looking at. That's the guy I'd go after. Absolutely. I think he can help you now and he can help you in the future at a position of need. You're probably going to use a pick in the top four rounds of this draft for a guard if you don't trade for somebody like Nelson. So I would pull the trigger on that.

Starting point is 00:20:36 Should the pads replace Morgan Moses with Caleb Lomu, even if Moses is healthy? My answer is coming up next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's show is brought to you by our friends over there at Butcher Box. And one thing I always try to do every week with every meal is make sure that I get enough protein. And Butcher Box, that's why I love them because it makes quality protein the easiest option when it's time to cook. Butcher Box delivers 100% grass-fed beef, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood, and more. All sorts to standards they can actually tell you about.

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Starting point is 00:21:43 in every box for life or filet. or New York Strip for a year with free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Again, that's butcherbox.com slash locked on NFL. Be sure to use our link so that they know that we sent you. Welcome to the most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandu. How rewarding? More rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring.

Starting point is 00:22:08 More rewarding than a big fat 18 point comeback. Maybe even more rewarding than an offensive lineman catching a touchdown. Now this season, Fandul is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all-new Fandul Rewards Club. What's that? Well, it features exclusive offers, surprises, and even more. And every week, you can check the Fandual app to see what's waiting for you. Imagine sitting there on a Sunday with your buddies watching a game, nothing like a game-winning play. Everything coming down to the final seconds, even better if you've got one eye on Fandul, because that feeling is what makes football so much fun.

Starting point is 00:22:44 and Fandul adds to that with rewards and surprises throughout the season. Make this your most rewarding season ever with our friends at Fandul. Visit Fandul.com again. That is Fandul.com to get started. Thanks for checking out the number one sports podcast network right here with Locked on Patriots. Back to the mailbag questions, shall we? Let's check out Sully, the die hot Pats fan. Is it wrong for me to want Moses, as in Morgan Moses,

Starting point is 00:23:17 to have to sit out a couple weeks to see what we have in Caleb Lomu. I completely understand this line of thought, Sully. You know, I thought Moses was bad against Jacksonville. I did not think he was great against Vegas. I know some disagree and say he was okay against Vegas. I did not think he was good against Vegas. And if you look at Caleb Lomu, you know, how he's performed. I do think some overhyped his performance,

Starting point is 00:23:47 when he stepped in from Moses against the Raiders. I felt like that was a little bit, a little bit too much, right? A little overhyped. But I did think that Lomu was really good against the Jets and showed a lot of improvement, especially if you compare him to, you know, camp and joint practice Lomu. But there are a few things to remember. And I always try to stay level-headed. You know that.

Starting point is 00:24:17 right, Sully, I try to stay balanced and level-headed as much as I can. We have to look at Morgan Moses and say, against Jacksonville, extenuating circumstances. He got hurt on the second snap. He was not the same guy. We also can look at that Vegas game and say, yeah, he lost a few snaps, but he lost against Max Crosby. And that's going to happen. Crosby Special is what it is. So don't put too much on that.

Starting point is 00:24:47 We also have to appreciate the fact that Lomu is getting a decent amount of help, you know, especially on third down. And if you're Josh McDaniels, if you're Drake May, I would have to imagine if you shot those guys with Truth Serum, they would tell you, oh, we trust Moses much more one-on-one. If we need our right tackle to deal with a one-on-one, we would take Moses over Lomu. Now, if you can leave your offensive,

Starting point is 00:25:17 tackles on an island, your playbook expands exponentially in the passing game. So if you trust Moses more one-on-one, that means you can do more with Drake May and you can do more with the passing game. If you're helping both offensive tackles, that limits your options. I mean, if you're, if you're helping one guy, it limits what you can do. If you're helping both guys, it limits it a lot. And I do think that McDaniels against the Jets, at least on one or two occasions did help both tackles on passing plays. So you also have to think about how much that limits your playbook. And if you trust Moses more and you want to help Campbell,

Starting point is 00:26:04 it doesn't put you in nearly as much of a bind than if you don't necessarily trust Lomu on a consistent basis and need to help both those guys. So if Moses is healthy in playing at his level of play, I'm fine with sticking with him. I don't need to rush Lomu. It might not even be rushing him, but I still like the idea of Moses. He has seen everything in the game. He's 35. He's not going to get fooled very often.

Starting point is 00:26:36 And when he is healthy enough to play and moving around decently well, he's still a good football player. Now, if you think he's compromised, then yeah, you switch. But if he can give you what he has given you for most of this year when he's been out there, I thought he was just fine against the Jets before he got hurt, then I'm sticking with Morgan Moses. You can always make the move down the road. And we also have to remember another name to keep an eye on, Marcus Bryant, you know, he's like, he was likely ahead of Lomu breaking camp.

Starting point is 00:27:12 and, you know, he is now practicing. So he would also be in the mix. All right, let's jump to George Smith. Why haven't we explored more veteran free agents on the market at interior offensive line? I'm going to go with Occam's razor with this one, George. The simplest explanation is usually the best explanation. So I'm going to roll with that.

Starting point is 00:27:35 You know, the Patriots evaluate who's available. And it's pretty obvious that they feel like the guys who are available. and free agency are not better options for them than who they have in-house. They like Walter Rouse. They like Matt Pryor as much, if not more, than anyone who's available in free agency. So they're just staying in house. I always say it, you know, NFL offensive lines, they're not deep. They're just not deep.

Starting point is 00:28:03 So, you know, someone's available on October 20th, October 21st, October 22nd. If somebody is still out there, what's that tell you about the player? You know, what's that say? I don't know why Jordan, I'm guessing his name is Jordan. I don't know why his message keeps disappearing on us. Might be a stream yard thing if you're watching this. So, you know, and there it goes again. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:28:30 We got a stream yard problem. I apologize, Jordan. I will remember your question and continue here. So, you know, they look at Walter Rouse. they look at Matt Pryor and they say nobody out there is going to give us more than those guys. And if we stick with the guys that we have had in house, they know the scheme, they have worked with the offensive line staff. You know their personalities better. And, you know, if you look at who's available and what the Patriots did this week, it tells you a lot, right?

Starting point is 00:29:03 Jacob Rizzi, Andrew Rupsch, they were brought back this week to the practice squad. those are guys that they know. Those are guys that they have some level of trust in. And they obviously believe that those guys are as good as any that are out there right now. By the way, shout out to Doug Marone and the staff. You know, having guys ready to play, the development we've seen with some of the young offensive linemen, Caleb Lomu, Jared Wilson. I think they've done a good job, man.

Starting point is 00:29:33 I think they've done a good job at this point. Also, don't forget, Greg Van Routen was placed on IR after week three. So he will be officially eligible to practice next week. You know, this week will be, right? Yeah, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. This week will be his fourth game missed. So he will be eligible to practice next week.

Starting point is 00:29:53 So maybe he's coming back. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe on YouTube. If you want another way to be locked on to the Patriots every day, check out the lockdown Patriots hit. daily hit of espresso on the team that you love, quick, strong, five minutes or less.

Starting point is 00:30:14 Find lockdown Patriots hit on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy the rest of your day. Back tomorrow with the crossover. Peace.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Maturity: Drake Maye Guides Patriots Through Injuries and Adversity!

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