Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - MidWeek Mailbag: New England Patriots Training Camp Edition

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

With the start of training camp fast approaching, it is time to open the Locked On Patriots MidWeek Mailbag. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of Pats Propaganda, as the dynamic duo answer questions from our listeners. Topics include New England’s offensive line, the Gillette Stadium turf, the biggest surprise of the offseason and which Pats may or may not make the 2022 roster.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Lockots offseason? That and so much more on today's midweek mailbag here on Lockdown Patriots. Stay tuned. You're about to be locked in to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots

coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So make sure to smash that subscribe button and download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots free and available on all platforms including YouTube so make sure to smash that subscribe button and download subscribe to and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts I'm your host Mike DeBate I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots country of Sports Illustrated also your host here on Locked On also a proud part of the Locked On podcast

network your team every day remember folks because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much appreciated. So share that feedback and send it to the Internet by reaching out to me, following me on the Bird app at MDABATENFL. While you're out there showing some love to that Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Folks, it is midweek. It is a holiday week here on Locked On Patriots, but it is also still technically midweek, even though it's a Thursday. If it's midweek, it means two things this week, folks.

First of all, time to open up that musty old Locked On Patriots midweek mailbag. Been a little while since we've done that, but we have some amazing questions for you today. Cole Strange, Malcolm Butler, anything you can think of, even drainage on the Patriots football field, we're covering it all today for you. And who else would I invite to open the Locked On Patriots mailbag with me

than the resident lady of Locked On, the mediator of midweek herself. There's a new name for you. A new one. That's like... The illustrious, the illustrious Claire, Classy Claire Cooper of Fats Propaganda and, of course, her very own Patriots podcast, folks.

Claire Perspective. Definitely smash the subscribe button. Check that out. You will not be disappointed. One of the best patriots listens out there my personal favorite other than locked on patriots claire thank you for joining me today welcome back to the hot seat here on locked on patriots that's okay it feels a little bit weird it's thursday not wednesday i'm over here a little bit i should be over here a little bit well you know be over here a little bit. Well, you know what? It's always good to mix things up a little bit.

Variety is the spice of life, right, Claire? So, you know, normally we come to you on a Wednesday, but because it's the holiday week, we decided Thursday would be a good option, folks. So gave you the opportunity to check out a little bit earlier this week, and now we are here. So you know what, Claire? Let's get right down to business.

Let's get right into that Locked On Patriots midweek mailbag. And thank you to all of you that submitted some phenomenal questions. Tried to get to them all, but we did get to the highlights. But all of the questions that you submitted will be answered. And we start off with a question, a very good question, from our good friend, Patriots Feeder. Patriots Feeder has always been a very big supporter, not only of Locked On Patriots,

he's participated in some question and answer sessions with you. I know, Claire, he's also submitted questions for my formerly Patriot Maven mailbag, now the Patriots Country Mailbag with Sports Illustrated, and he's always, always intriguing when it comes to the things that he likes to mailbag now the Patriots country mailbag with Sports Illustrated and he's always always um

intriguing when it comes to the things that he likes to ask regarding your New England Patriots his question was interesting and I want to get to that one right now and he said no one's been able to answer this so let's see if Claire can be the first is the Gillette field the only field where the center line between the hashes, where the quarterback would be, is a few feet higher than the sideline and the pitch tapers from the center? Is that normal? Well, Countess, you definitely got me. The question got me intrigued without any question. But you intrigued me by your initial response to this question because it really did make me think a little bit.

I know that technically a properly designed grass football field or a turf football field doesn't lie perfectly flat. The surface of the field, the arcs, the foot, the sidelines, the midfield, you have to allow excess water to drain off. And you were the one that kind of brought up the subject of drainage. So I want to thank you for that, because I really do believe that you kind of got the ball rolling. I did a little investigative work. Claire did a little investigative work on this Patriots feeder. And we really did come up with some interesting topics. And you had mentioned drainage, Claire. What made you think of drainage right off the bat? Because it really does. It's common sense, but it's something that not a lot of people would think of right off the bat because it really does it's common sense but it's something

that not a lot of people would think of right off the bat either well i'd hate to kind of like really take much kudos but it was just a bit of common sense really to be honest it was the case of and then i did sort of google it to see if i was right in regards to the drainage and it you do come across some answers of without a crown so like the the in the middle the surface kind of it would ultimately be dangerous so you've got to think about that i know there's a lot of sort of discussions in regards to turf and astroturf and stuff like that but basically if if it was flat the water would pool and if it would pool then it wears away at the grass or it ruins away at the astro surf that kind of thing so yeah that was the initial really i only kind of dragged off from common sense of you need

to drain away because it's in so many of the things like houses and stuff like that there's you've always got that element of a draining away sort of a gradient that's the word i was after there's always some kind of gradient in regard to that so yeah all fields that are grass will have some form of non-flatness shall we say some some form of crown to enable the draining away of the water to maintain it not to being a dangerous surface for the game but i know that you kind of went that one step further and looked into this one step more, Michael. So what did you come up with? Well, there are. And when you're talking about an artificial turf, such as the one in which the Patriots do play, you're looking at a situation where soil is not as much of a concern.

But there are different concerns about how this type of slope will affect. And Jim McAfee, who did a great job with Texas A&M University for years, he's an expert on sports field design and maintenance. He was basically the one that kind of validated what you had said and really was the focus of my research when you look at it, because a field without a crown or a field with an inadequate crown, water's quickly going to pond, whether you're dealing with, you know,

whether you're dealing with natural surfaces or not, that's what's going to happen. And I think you articulated that perfectly in terms of crowns, in terms of pooling, the water is going to build up and you don't want unsafe playing conditions because you don't want guys slipping and sliding out there. You don't want, if there's a situation where it's freezing rain or you're

dealing with you know temperatures that are right on the border we do here in new england you don't want ice forming there's a lot of different you know problems that could arise you want to make sure that the playing field is as flat as possible but once the crown has done its job it's gotten water off the field you have to have a adequate drainage to move the water away from the sidelines as well and here's feeder where your question comes into play why it's a little bit higher in the crown a little bit less high on the sidelines why it pitches a little bit different uh jim mcafee noted that many football fields such as gillette stadium do use you know their stadium for other sports and particularly soccer and the new england revolution are you know, their stadium for other sports and particularly soccer and the New England

Revolution are, you know, their home stadium is Gillette Stadium. Designers have to take all of those uses on the field into account when determining the crown height, when determining the field slope. They can't build a field in which football players are going to stay dry, but soccer players find themselves ankles deep in puddles or problems and things of that nature. So the fact that Gillette Stadium's dimensions may be a little bit different from what we usually see in the National Football League definitely has bit to do with some of the competitive advantage that the Patriots like to think that they have, or teams like to think that they have a little bit of a competitive advantage when it comes to that. If there are reasons for that, and you really, I think you really,

I think, articulated that very well. He made the point that easier balls over the corner, which means the pass rush is constantly working uphill. The defensive line, especially on the edges, have a slight advantage, also allows for quicker outs. Those are all byproducts of the pitch. And if we're figuring it out, or if the feeder is figuring it out, you know, the Patriots are figuring that out as well.

They're learning how to play the territory. Now, to say that it was designed for that purpose I think is a massive stretch. I really, really don't believe that is indeed the case. But they will learn how to play for your terrain. For example, if you move to a situation, if you move to a house that's at a higher elevation or at a lower elevation, it's going to change the way that you care for the land it's going to change the way that you you know pitch a driveway things of that nature you're going to adapt to your environment that very well could

be a byproduct so patriots feeder i hope we were able to shed a little bit of light on what uh you had said uh the um quick compact and the very accurate answer is exactly what Claire had articulated. It is indeed drainage. And one of the reasons why the dimensions are a little bit different is because the Patriots are home to the New England Revolution, who, last I checked, the young soccer team, they can definitely benefit from that as well. So, excellent question. I'm glad that this question was asked. And just an unusual question to start off the midweek mailbag here today, Claire. So thank

you for your insight. Thank you for your, you know, ingenuity kind of getting the ball rolling. And seeing we do we do make a good team, folks. That's one of the things that I do enjoy each and every week. I'd like to just throw a thing in there as well as a follow-up to, to his question. If however, he would like me to go around to every stadium to ascertain if all have crowns, please set up a GoFundMe and I would more than welcome.

If you would like to fund that, that project, I would happily undertake that for you. So if you do want experience at every single stadium you know please just get in touch i can see it now i can see it now we can even get computer games where in the world is claire cooper we can put yeah really it'll be great folks we really will we can send you know camera crews all around we can follow her all around the world where's claire this week where is she next week uh yeah i, and I think you're the perfect person to do that, too.

I will measure each crown. It's fine. As long as you take time out during your travels to come here each and every week on Locked on Patriots and report back, then we're cool with it. All kidding aside, folks, we'll gladly send Claire around the world, but on

other people's dimes, not ours. We are just scratching the surface here, folks, when it comes to opening the midweek mailbag. We got some great questions on the offensive line this week, and Claire and I are going to discuss those in just a moment. All strange might be a topic that we discuss, but it definitely will not be limited to the rookie. A lot of questions on the old line. Claire and I are going to discuss those in just a moment when this

mailbag episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, summer is here, folks. Not just coming. Fourth of July is come and gone here in the States and the dog days of summer are about to begin. And with summer, you need food

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So don't delay. Do it today. Visit Built.com. Enter the promo code LOCK15 for 15% off your next order. That's promo code LOCK15 for 15% off your next order at Built.com. Patriots fans, it is midweek mailbag time here on Locked On Patriots and joining me as always in the midweek is the resident lady of Locked On the Countess of Clas herself Miss Claire Clasie Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda and a Claire perspective of Patriots podcast

Claire in the previous segment we had a little fun talking Gillette Stadium turf and drainage subject albeit we really haven't discussed all that much here on Locked On Patriots in the past. It's still the off-season. But I do want to give a lot of credit to the Patriots feeder for that great question. Folks, I highly recommend a follow on that account, at Patriots feeder, all one word. Really, just some great insight, some great entertaining questions, but also this guy knows his football as well. So definitely be sure to follow that account and give it its just due.

Thank you so much for the great question. But again, we're just scratching the surface when it comes to great questions here on Locked On Patriots. And the offensive line continues to be a hot button topic. You would have thought it would have been you know wide receivers you might have thought it would be a little bit of tight endage and we're going to get into a little bit of tight endage claire doesn't know it yet but we are going to get into it um and uh also look look look i just surprised her don't worry do not worry you didn't think we weren't going to talk

tight endage and have you on it's it's just it's not it's just not done but anyway uh we did get some interesting offensive line questions and let's start off with a question from a phenomenal friend of the program a phenomenal friend of both of ours joel shapiro uh joel at joel shapiro 20 joel from hull you know him on his Twitter. Joel is a great, great person. Huge support of the show and a huge support of ours and just a great individual. So, Joel, thank you, as always, for taking time out to ask this question. And, Claire, I'm going to start and I'm going to throw this to your court. I'm going to allow the countess to prognosticate on Joel's question here. And he wants to know if you're concerned about the changes with the offensive line and what player on the offensive line are you watching the closest?

Okay. Firstly, I haven't been quiet in admitting. I do have some concerns when it comes to the offensive line. And I've often said I'm a bit of an O-line girl myself. So, you know, big David Andrews fan big centre fan um so yeah I do my main concern is a lot of people will talk about depth um you know they do have some depth obviously this is prior to the kind of the roster reduction that sort of thing so at the moment they do have some depth when it comes to the O-line and there's a lot of talk about shuffling in regards to moving trent brown where or when he was going to fit in if isaiah win is even going to stay although at

this you know at the moment at the beginning of july he's still in the building shall we say so whether or not he's going to be moved on for the cap space you know it's kind of watch this space in regards to that but yeah there's there's plenty of sort of names there there's there's definitely guys that were here last year that not sure how sort of how big on them I am I know other people are when you know when it comes to Kajust and that sort of thing but the sort of carousel that's being discussed at the moment or sort of hinted at at the moment is something that has me slightly worried because we started last season with a bit of an offensive line carousel and that was mainly because of injury because Trent Brown was injured quite early

and it just seemed to take them a while to really get sort of slotted in now a lot of that could have done with the fact that you know they were in front of a rookie quarterback who was, you know, literally playing his first few games. And, you know, there's going to definitely be a ripple effect in regards to that. So it could be the fact that Matt Jones is much more stable. Maybe the O-line will naturally be a bit more stable. It's all the time will tell yet, really. But yeah, I'm looking forward to finding out how who I should say the offensive line is going to be and hoping that when they start the season it's something that's a little bit more set maybe than than it was sort of last season if you like in regards to who I'm looking at a lot of people are going to pick Cole Strange because rookie guy first round pick we want to see what he's got there's a lot of talk that he's an immediate starter obviously we still don't know

but there's a lot of talk and you'd sort of assume that matter and you know you wouldn't be stupid in doing that so but the guy that I'm very interested in and it's less to do with the fact that he's there's less chance that he's going to be um a straight starter he may not even be on the roster but i've mentioned his name a few times and it's drew de jale from the cfl now i know a lot of people have kind of got opinions um that you know the cfl isn't the nfl granted of course it's not um and maybe the guy's not going to really be all that that sort of thing but i read quite a few good things in regards to him about how he was a first round pick in the CFL and how he played really well and things like that so I'm really interested to see

if he's a starter and if he is he's definitely a guy that I'm going to keep my sharp eye on as you like to say I'm just very intrigued I sort of have heard a lot of good things read a lot of good things but obviously because of the CFL thing a lot of people have got a much sort of lesser opinion shall we say in regards to him and that's fair enough everybody's entitled to their own opinion but he's he's definitely um an O-lineman that I'm interested to see what he brings to the table um what the CFL has kind of done for him in the past to you know bring his experience to the NFL and how that translates. If it translates, there's always the fact that he can be a complete bust. And we know this, any player can be a complete bust.

So I've got to admit, rather than pick the common one that I guess everybody's interested in, I am interested in seeing what Cole Strange has got. As I said, as I aforementioned, I am an O-line kind of girl. But Drew Desjardins, he's the one guy that I'm very interested to see, looking forward to seeing and hoping that I get to see him start. And maybe he's a little bit of, you know, a dark horse or a diamond in the roof

that in the middle of the season, you'll all be saying, oh, and Claire said to look at Drew Desjardins. Look at him, he's amazing. So I'm very much hoping for that and looking forward to that. Well, I'll tell you, the opportunities that he got in the CFL really are intriguing so I'm looking forward to seeing this kid and watching him interact got a very very small you know sample in mini camp but in training camp you really get a chance to see what these guys can do and in that line the guy that I'm going to be most watching closely is not on the starting rotation or not yet on the starting rotation

and that's just in her own and the reason why i say that is because justin did receive a good amount of snaps starting snaps within ota and within minicamp because of the absence of isaiah win particularly during ota um isaiah was present for minicamp and that that's i do want to uh to say that but with win absent for the voluntary portions of the team's workouts harone continued to get extended looks along the line he took some snaps with the starting unit at right tackle this is a place where we saw isaiah win take snaps because trent brown had moved over to left now murph and i have gone back and forth last week uh on whether or not we believe that isaiah will slot back over to left now Murph and I have gone back and forth last week uh on whether or not we believe that Isaiah will slot back over to the left tackle position or whether or not he'll be the right

Murph seems to think he's staying on the right I still think Isaiah slots back in on the left I think what the Patriots are doing right now is seeing what these guys can do it's very early I'm going to get into how early it really is when it comes to trying to determine what we might see on the field for a finished product here but if her own continues to trend in this direction and really continues to catch the sharp eye of the patriots coaching staff and i can tell you folks from personal experience people that i've talked to close to the organization they're really very high on this kid um they really they love the positive components that he brings in past protection he frames well keeps his rushers

you know in front of it uh you know he's still got a little bit of functional strength and body control lacking when it comes to the run game which is why i believe he ultimately will still be a reserve but if he can prove that he can be a starting level uh you know offensive lineman may make things interesting for a possible move with is Wynn, who I know a lot of people are wondering, do they give Isaiah the big contract and keep him in New England? Or is this the final year? And then we just either let him walk or they allow him to leave, or do they try to trade him throughout the season until the trade deadline? These are all valid questions. And I think Justin Heron is going to hold the key to a lot of them, because if he steps up and shows that he can be that next man up,

things can get very interesting in New England. So as always count us, I think you've done an amazing job. I think you, you've definitely piqued our interest and my interest on Drew DeJarlais. I'll definitely keep a sharp eye on him for you. As will all of the Patriots beat that will be in Gillette within the next couple of weeks.

And Joel, thank you very much for the great question. As always, my friend, we always appreciate your support of Locked On Patriots. And thank you for everything and for most of all for the great question. But I wanted to follow that up with another great offensive line question that we got clear. And this one comes from Quality Smoke. That's at Quality Smoke, all one word folks and that is which backup offensive lineman would a shift to a shanahan zone running scheme not suit and therefore isolate on the roster well i've got some thoughts on this one claire uh you were very intrigued by the shanahan shift uh i think murph and i curved i think we coined the phrase

a couple of weeks ago uh shanahanian system uh we've done belichickian so we're doing shanahanian now everybody goes to shan everybody goes to shanahan system we're calling it the shanahanian system so i don't know if you know if uh you know kyle or uh or mike would like that too much but you know what we're gonna go with it here on Lockdown Patriots. But there are reasons why this type of a shift is being utilized a little bit more in the NFL, but also a big reason why some teams, a lot of teams are hesitant to move over to this.

Claire, I know you've done your research on the Shanahan, the Shanahanian system. That's tough to say. Maybe, I know you've done your research on the Shanahan, the Shanahanian system. That's tough to say. Maybe we will retire it, folks. Yeah, it's a little bit, just a little too tough to say if you haven't had your mega pint of coffee yet. But bottom line, I know you've done your research on this. When you think of the Shanahan rush system, which is the zone incorporating the zone runs um what do you feel uh is really beneficial for the patriots to do here when when they when you mention that what do you envision the patriots uh offense looking like if they adapt a more shanahanian uh running style this season

well i feel that everything that we've sort of seen leading up to this the season the way that they drafted that kind of thing sort of reflects these maybe not the going to the shanahanian offensive system wow this is gonna be a really difficult one to say um but yeah it it definitely hints towards it because as you mentioned the shanahanian offensive system is kind of, it's a wide zone based running game system, very quarterback friendly. So, you know, it's good for the quarterbacks, which, okay. So Matt Jones is in his second year, but it's always good to give the kid a bit of a break in all fairness.

But it can be complex and it does exclude apparently a lot of standard sort of the more less athletic kind of lumbering offensive linemen guys that are that you know that their main sort of positiveness is just really their size and it lends more towards needing offensive linemen that maybe have that size but have athletic ability. And what screams towards that is the Patriots' first-round draft pick in Cole Strange. I know we obviously haven't mentioned him before, but he is an athletic offensive lineman.

And they took him, you know, they wanted this guy, they wanted this very athletic offensive lineman. And so that really is what sort of looks to me like they are pushing towards that Shanahanian offensive system because they took athletic offensive lineman and they also took quite power running backs. And they already have quite power running backs in the fold. So it really kind of hints towards that that's what they're looking for that's the way that they're looking to process their system now yeah okay the the nfl is really migrating into you know more of a pass offense and it has been for a while but this system this offensive system

has been in you know has been in place and i think it it's something that it's it works against the lighter quicker defenses and that's how people are evolving as well there's lots of evolution within the NFL and I think this is just something it's just another one of those things that is each team is going to take it and evolve it a little for its own system but it's still going to have the fundamentals which is it requires very athletic offensive linemen and a lot of it is to do with um it's a difficult one i understand from what i understand from from the way that i sort of really looked into this just kind of get a really good idea about it is it's quite a difficult one to practice because the way of the movement and the um the back cutting that they have to do for the offensive

linemen to kind of get a hold of the the running back they have to sorry not the room but the defensive guy um is they have to really aim towards his hips and obviously it puts a higher risk on sort of lower body injury and obviously the last thing that you need in the training camp is the such a risk of injury so from what i understand from what i've read and researched obviously i've never played the game myself so you know i can only speak from from the experience of researching and looking into this and trying to understand this on a fan level is that it's something that's difficult to replicate in training camp without the risk of injury so it's going to be one of those things that it's to be very teachable you're not able to act it out you're having to be taught it

so it also puts a lot of not pressure but a lot of onus on coaching it's big in regards to it has to be sort of known within the coaching and it's not just the offensive line coach that really needs to be locked on when it comes to this a lot of time like i did that um but also like the running back coach the defensive coordinator you know needs to be sort of cluding because of the whole you know of practicing it so it's something that's quite complex and we we all know that bill belichick likes complex he likes smart guys so i'm sure that's you know another one of the reasons why he prefers to favor it because i know he just he never likes the easy route does he go by the check but yeah i think in regards to the question itself i couldn't really give you a specific name which backup offensive lineman would shift you know to

the shanahan zone simply because i haven't watched every single one of them play over and over again to really see how they hold themselves and how athletic they are. So I'd hate to kind of just pick a name out of the air in regards to that. What I would like to say and how to answer the question is I feel that it's very much the way that the Patriots are building. So I'd be surprised if there's anyone that especially is concluded on the roster that isn't someone that is able to or geared towards that kind of offensive system because it does seem very much like that's sort of the way that they want to go. And to be honest with you, with the way that the NFL is evolving,

the way that the game is migrating, it's becoming more and more having an onus on athletic ability. We're not really seeing just big guys anymore we're seeing big guys who can really run i mean this draft class itself has really utility it was really obviously really declared the big guys having to run quickly and i you know i think it's it it gives that it hints that towards just how the nfl itself itself is evolving and is moving forward. So it may be that eventually the Shanahanian offensive system is kind of an NFL offensive system. But for right now, yeah, I definitely think that it's something that the Patriots are hinting towards if they're not even fully taking it on board completely.

Yeah, I think that's an excellent point. I'm so glad that you mentioned the lower body injuries that players can sustain, because that's one of the big reasons why this is so tough to impart onto a new group of pupils. Basically, you know, getting a team to adapt to this system is very difficult, not so much because it's so difficult to teach, but it's very difficult to be able to teach without the techniques that are there. And that technique that involves really, I think, diving at the turf, trying to get a defender at the hip, a detriment to the runner, it can be a detriment to linemen. You don't want players getting injured in practice while you're trying to institute a new system to begin with. So there are a lot of drawbacks to being able to do this that being said the

patriots are not going to run shanahan's playbook word for word you know bodelichek he's going to run a variation on it his own variation and we are starting to see that in minicamp and we did see that in minicamp particularly a little bit more in OTA Patriots tweaking their offensive system. We even heard Kendrick Bourne say this earlier this offseason that the Patriots were instituting a little bit of a new look when it came to their offense. And moving away from the McDaniels type of era where it was, you know, a lot of what they were doing. There was trickery involved. There was, you know, running on third downs downs things of that nature that i know the fans are going to be glad to see jettisoned uh but one thing that mcdaniels did very well was provide continuity and that's something that i think the patriots are going to struggle with a little bit this year that's why

it's so encouraging to hear of the progress mac jones has made because that continuity i truly believe is going to come from the quarterback and Mac is definitely up for it. But if the Patriots do indeed continue to incorporate more of those Shanahan style elements offensively in training camp, as they did in mini camp and OTA, that will be a signal to me that they have made that decision to move forward with a shift in that source that I spoke to shortly after the conclusion of minicamp says it's very early. You know, it was really, it was early June when he camp wrapped up and they said,

you know, basically, you know, quoting saying, is it really sorry at this point, it's not something that the Patriots are going to go on record and say, yeah, we're shifting. We're doing this. Bill Belichick was very coy when asked about it.'s a fair sentiment there's no question about it you don't want to go ahead and tip your hand when it comes to what you're going to be incorporating for training camp but it is going to be interesting to see which linemen are on the inside and on the out smoke your question we don't mean to uh to fall by the uh the wing side uh because the question about which offensive

line may find him in in this system well prior to the beginning of ota and training camp and minicamp excuse me i would have said justin rome because of the fact that there is a little bit of a lack of physicality a little bit of a lack in quickness and being able to get into position to be able to defend or stop the or protect the run this is something that cole strange does very well he's a very physical very athletic lineman and really moving toward that uh you know that um that type of mold you may say somebody all right like a michael wayne who is so big that he has difficulty but he's a much better athlete than his frame gives him credit for i said the same thing about trent brown as well when he's locked in he's a much better athlete than his frame gives him credit for. I said the same thing about Trent Brown as well.

When he's locked in, he's a little more athletic than people give him credit for as well. So I don't necessarily know if there's anybody on this roster right now that would be on the outside looking in. Harone was a concern of mine. He still will be in training camp if he does, if they do progress forward and he's not showing enough growth in that area in terms of enhancing his quickness and his ability to get into position

to be able to protect against the run. But he's shown me that he has grown in that area. So to answer your question, Smoke, I think it's going to be a little bit more of needing to see these guys in training camp to find out what they truly have. Perrone would have been my answer, but he's not that big of a concern right now because I have seen him make growth in this area, but an excellent question. I'm glad we got a chance to use the word Shanahanian a little bit, or Shanahanian, I should say, not Shanahanian. There is no Hane there, folks. There's Shanahanian, and we got Claire to come around on that too, so I think that is always good.

Claire, it's always, always fun when we bring up these opportunities to really interact with the great listeners and the insightful listeners here on Locked On Patriots. We're about to interact with questions from one of our very favorites in terms of being a guest, in terms of being a contributor, and in terms of being a fan of Locked On Patriots. The great Miguel Benzon makes his presence felt here in just a moment, folks.

He wants to know all about our anticipation for training camp and Claire and I are going to provide that for you in just a moment when we conclude this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Patriots fans, once again, I am joined by the illustrious Claire,

classy Claire Cooper, columnist extraordinaire, podcast host extraordinaire for Pratt's Propaganda and a Claire perspective of Patriots podcast, respectively. She is our resident lady of lockdown, the countess of class, the empress of tight endage. I can keep going on, but we do have Claire in the previous segment, we talked a lot about the offensive line. We've talked about the Patriots' home turf at Gillette Stadium. But we get an opportunity now to dip our toe into a lot of the pool of what the Patriots are going to be dealing with

when it comes to training camp coming up. In just under two weeks, when the first Patriots report to Gillette, some of the other rookies will be reporting and some players rehabbing from injury. Always a lot of fun to see these guys come into camp. And one person who is just over the moon every single time training camp rolls around, it's one of his very favorite times of year. It is our good friend, the Patscap himself, the great and powerful Wizard of Benzon, the Dean of the Foxborough Finance University here

on Locked on Patriots, the great Miguel Benzon. And Miguel asked a couple of questions this week that I wanted to close the week in style or close, I should say, the show in style. We're not done this week yet, folks. That was a Freudian slip. Miguel starts off with which undrafted rookie free agents will make the Patriots week one roster. And speaking of week one rosters, what position will be filled by a player not currently on the Patriots roster? So in the interest of fairness, Miguel asked two questions, kind of rolled into four.

So I'm going to take the opening two, and then I will leave the Countess of Clas to take us home in style here on Locked On Patriots. When it comes to undrafted rookie free agents, I've become sort of a fan of this type of topic. I love discussing it because there is always that streak that the Patriots have alive of trying to keep a undrafted free agent it looked last year like it was going to fall by the wing side and then quinn nordine makes the roster and everything comes together um i don't believe it's going to be broken this year uh miguel to answer your question the first part of it in terms of who will be the undrafted rookie free agent i believe is going to crack the roster this year i think it's going to be at the defensive tackle position i think this is a position that the patriots can use some help in and i think it's a position that one of their undrafted rookie free agents can come in and make an impact and that is alabama's lebryan ray it just wouldn't be a

patriots rookie class unless a member of the crimson Tide was around. And as luck would have it, the Patriots were able to get this one as an undrafted rookie free agent. Great size for this kid, 6'5", 284, really blends size and athleticism very well. Some off the field questions, I think, slipped his draft stock a little bit because I think this kid had a chance to be a draftee but played five full seasons under Nick Saban that really that right there tells you he's ready to come in and be a don't spend that much time in a Saban system and not pick up a few pointers to help you in a Belichickian system like he will here very adept at stuffing the run and this is a problem that the patriots had last year

and i think and really have had consistently for the last couple of years they've made strides in that area but i do think they need a little bit more help there uh he can also be very good against the past as well six sacks 13 and a half tackles for loss during his time in alabama so this is a kid that is a very good run stuffer, but he also knows how to defend against the pass. I think that versatility, Miguel, puts him into the roster. But, you know, the Patriots ultimately are going to make that decision. The undrafted rookies really didn't pop during mini camp or OTA. I'm really looking forward to seeing who emerges as that camp darling every year there's one of those guys that seems to emerge as uh the the camp guy that just you can't get enough of and uh in my opinion that uh could end up being

someone like lebryan ray although right now it looks like trey nixon at the wide receiver position has taken that spot but um the second part of miguel's question that i wanted to answer as well is which of the Patriots right now which position on the Patriots roster do you think is going to be filled by a player that's not on the Patriots roster right now and I don't necessarily know if this is going to come on the starting lineup I think this is how Miguel meant the question and Miguel if I didn't please correct me if I'm wrong and I know he will but but but if. But if that is how you meant it in the starting position, I do think the Patriots are pretty well set at all the starting positions. I don't see

a position right now where they're so weak that a player can come in here and start right off the bat. Outside corner, I think is probably the most obvious. A lot of people are questioning whether Jalen Mills or Malcolm Butler or whoever, or Jack Jones right now is gaining a lot of momentum in that area, can come in and be the top two starting corners on this team that some people feel that they may want to dip into free agency to bring someone in to be the outside starter. That wouldn't surprise me. I think that is a need.

But if you're asking me who I think has the bet come in and maybe be a starter on the i think it's going to be at the defensive tackle position once again and i think it may be our old friend trey flowers formerly of the detroit lions he's still out there on the market right now trey knows the system very well uh it makes a lot of sense for him to come in and honestly i can see him coming in late in the game late in training camp uh or maybe midway through training camp being able to pick up the belichickian system quite well and maybe sliding into a starting position there lawrence guy david godchild definitely there a guy that i really love and i love to see what he can do

in this system when he's healthy as Henry Anderson. But I think that there is some challenges there as well with all the time that he lost last year due to injury. If Henry can come around and show that he's more than capable of putting that behind, Patriots may not have a need to bring in Trey Flowers. But if it is going to be the defensive tackle position that they struggle, I can see Trey coming in here. And to me, he's the only guy that could

come in here this late in the game and still earn a starting spot so miguel i hope i was able to give you some insight on that as well yes connor's i have one i have somebody that that could come in that's available that would be that would be a starter and this is going to shock you completely that there's people answering i can hear the answers going around ryan iso dalton keen's too injured devon assiasi gets bumped and ryan iso comes in and he can be te3 week one starter write it down folks put your minute put your bets on well you know we were talking about the shanahanian earlier, and one of those elements is a lot of the blocking schemes that they put out are not given to guards. They're given the tackles, and they're given the tight ends.

I'm just saying, Ryan Izzo's still out there. Very good blocker in that regard. Got a little bit of youth, got experience in the system. Folks, I'm just saying, you want to go ahead and install that Shanahanian system, Ryan Izzo might be a guy you might want to give a call to. You will make the Countess very happy here on Locked on Patriots. And we always

try to keep the Countess pleased, because what to do if she's not? But, no, all kidding aside, folks, Miguel is not done yet in his questions. He's still going. he's got some great questions to uh to share with all of you and Miguel uh the two questions that he asked next I'm the countess a chance to answer and Miguel wanted to know what surprised you most about the

offseason countess and who do you expect to start training camp on PUP? I don't think my answer to the PUP one is going to be all that surprising. And I know that was the end of the question room flipping just because I think that a lot of us anticipate that James White could be starting on PUP. It all depends on what happens in training camp. Granted, we're talking about this before we've had training camp so you know a lot of this can change anyway but I definitely think and I don't think it's a shocker and I think a lot of people are expecting that if James White is coming in coming back um then yeah it's going to be a PUP designation and to be honest with you I'm okay as long as he's in the fold it makes me feel

better as long as you know as long as you've got James White the Patriot feels a little bit better obviously we'd always want these guys on the field but I think as long as he's still with us then that's that's the key now to flip back to the beginning of the the question so sorry Miguel I know I kind of answered this out of order but what surprised me most offseason? I had two parts to this because I had my sort of more obvious part that probably a lot of fans would agree with. And it's quite a hot topic. And it's the sort of the coaching moves that they've had or the lack of some of the coaching moves that they've had. And I'm not really surprised that they haven't named a play caller because it seems it's so Patriots, so Belichick. It's so like we've seen this sort of

thing so often how can we be surprised at his behavior kind of thing um it's so annoying granted because people just want to know we just want to know the information um but i think the the sort of the the lack of additions to the increased subtractions of coaching was i did find surprising but the thing that if i want to pinpoint something very specific and we want to talk you know very random specifics it's actually the loss of fallback particularly because as we talked about the beginning of the you know of the conversation in regards to the shanahanian offense and things like that that is a position that's utilized you've got this strength this blocking ability in a fallback in yakov johnson um so to have to have lost that to have lost the fb off the roster as we record

this at the beginning of july of course they may bring in we don't know um but yeah in regards that that's that's the sort of random specific little thing that had me surprised, mildly concerned also, but it is a bit of a wait and see. So I'm not really getting my feathers in a ruffle about it just yet, but because they utilised a fullback, because it's been something that the Patriots have been very invested in, mainly for the, you know, the James Devlin time and, you know, granted, but, and because it's the way that we look at the, the offence evolving, as we've mentioned significantly during this show, the lack of fallback or the losing of the fallback, shall we say, I think is maybe a pinpoint of what had me kind of classy Claire the fan most sort of surprised during the offseason when we're just talking small specific randoms absolutely and i think that you've definitely nailed it first of all i think

the coaching decision is probably the biggest surprise of the offseason if we're doing a poll and i know that a lot of our listeners have weighed in on this uh not hiring a dedicated offensive coordinator going with the split of joe judge and matt patricia really i think is a concern of a lot of fans and look i'm not above not above saying that, oh, don't be concerned, in bill we trust. No, there's levels of concern there. I mean, neither one of these guys have coordinated an offense at a pro level full time. So you naturally have that concern. The one thing I will say to help quell that a little bit is both of these guys have been

head coaches in the league. Whether you agree that they've been good head coaches, bad head coaches, whatever, they've held the job and they did hold the job for multiple seasons they do know the ins and outs of all areas of the football field it's not like oh joe judge is just you know special teams and he can't do anything else or matt patricia's only defense he can't do anything else matt patricia started off as an offensive lineman he started off on dante skarniecki's stats so there are elements there that I believe uh give fans media whoever players mostly uh a little bit of uh positivity there as well so I agree with you I think that's probably a big uh you know

concern I knew you were going to mention the fullback and I'm glad that you did because that is something that uh I think is a little bit of a concern for some I know a lot of people have said well naturally Johnnie Smith is going to take some of those snaps maybe Dalton Keene if he can stir but you know without having that dedicated source that you've had these last few years whether it be James Devlin for years or whether it be Jakob Johnson it's aob Johnson, it's a difference in cadence. It's a difference in what this team is going to do this year. So that is a concern.

I do like those two. I do like those two choices very quickly before we wrap things up here. I just want to offer mine, Miguel my biggest surprise other than the coaching staff, which was the biggest surprise to me was Malcolm Butler's return. Not because of the need at the position, because of the player. And I love Malcolm. This is no way a negativity toward Malcolm.

I was so glad to see him come back to the fold here in New England. But the way things ended the last time just didn't instill you with a whole lot of hope, a whole lot of uh really i think realism in terms of the thought that someday he would end up back in new england uh but to see him back here and to hear how dedicated he is to helping the players that he's uh working with this year being a mentor and really i think taking that role seriously tells me an awful lot about malcolm butler so that was a pleasant surprise for them coming back. So yeah, I definitely wanted to add Malcolm Butler

to the list there. But what was your biggest surprise, folks? What are you most concerned about? Just because the mailbag is closing up here today does not mean that we don't want to hear from you. So smash that subscribe button, comment on the YouTube page, or drop us a line on Twitter at LO underscore Patriots,

and let us know what your answers to some of these questions would be, and also what you're looking forward to most with training camp. Countess, yet another mailbag episode, another midweek episode has gone by the wingside, but it has been an enjoyable experience as always, and I always thank you for bringing your wisdom and counsel, and a special thank you for bringing your wisdom and counsel and a special thank you for helping to keep the lockdown Patriots mailbag afloat this week. Claire was out there really, you know, actively looking for questions.

She was really doing a great recruiting session while I was Bill Belichick fishing off seven rings or eight rings now off the coast of Nantucket, she was doing a great job of trying to keep free agents in place. So thank you so much, Countess. Always honored, always humbled by your presence. And we always look forward to having you here on Locked On Patriots. And with training camp approaching, folks, we will continue to bring you the latest news each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Before I let you go, Countess, any parting words of wisdom to our adoring public?

Look forward to training camp. That's it. Absolutely. I look forward to training camp as well as you all do. So, folks, please continue to keep it right here on Locked On Patriots for all of your daily news, notes and analysis, even sprinkled in with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions. Once again, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms. So download, subscribe to, and follow wherever you get your podcasts and smash that subscribe button on YouTube. And now that you've made Locked On your first listen today,

make your second listen, Our Good Friends at Locked On NFL. Baker Mayfield is a Carolina Panther. That story and so much more when it comes to all the national stories in the NFL, right on the Locked On NFL podcast, also free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. Until the next time, folks, on behalf of the illustrious Claire Clazzy Claire Cooper, the Countess of Clazz herself, I'm Mike DeBate. Continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.