Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mike Vrabel Has REVEALING Preview Of New England Patriots NFL Draft

Episode Date: April 16, 2025

Mike Vrabel met with the media to preview the New England Patriots 2025 NFL Draft and had a lot to say.Also, should we rule out Ashton Jeanty at #4 after hearing one interesting answer from Vrabel? And, it’s clear, the New England Patriots care about versatility come NFL Draft night.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Amazon Fire TV Stick 4kDid you know your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices — no console required. Head to Amazon.com/firetvlockedon to get started. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and compatible controller required.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

For this new Patriots regime, drafting a certain prospect isn't only about what that prospect does on the football field. That's where we start on this episode of 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 up, Patriots podcast part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England,

your New England Patriots expert host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and also a sports talk show host, veteran. On today's episode, Coach Vrabel might have publicly ruled out some highly thought of prospects at number four and we find out what types of prospects could be ranked

higher than others by the Pats. But first Vrabel clearly isn't just focused on stats. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team, every day. For Mike Vrabel, we have seen this already. He's been here for just about three months, and we already know that culture is significant to Vrabel. It's one of the major reasons why, if not the reason why, Joe Milton is not here now

I know Mike Vrabel spoke to the media During this preview of the draft press conference and Vrabel mentioned Well, we just did not think that Joe was going to get as many reps as camp went along That tells us that Vrabel believes Milton was not going to be the starting quarterback and we know that Milton He wanted to be that starting quarterback. And we know that Milton, he wanted to be that starting quarterback. He believed he could beat Drake May in a competition to be the starting quarterback for this franchise.

And so Vrabel did not think that Milton was going to be a fit in the room. He quickly moved on. Before voluntary workouts, they could have dragged it up until the draft. They could have dragged it through the first day or two of the draft, but they decided not to. They acted decisively. They acted swiftly and they traded Milton to Dallas. And when we get ready for this draft coming up in just over a week away, we have to remember how much culture matters

to Vrabel, how important it is to what he's trying to build here in New England. And if we didn't know that, Vrabel certainly let us know that during this draft preview press conference, because he mentioned character a number of times. He might not have used that specific word all the time, but he certainly told us how much character is going to matter throughout this process and then getting to the draft and who they decide to draft. Here's the first mention, quote, certainly the talent of the player has to be evaluated first, and then you go through a lot of different exercises and conversations to try to figure

out the type of person. So Vrabel's not going to sit here. He's not going to be disingenuous and tell us that character trumps talent. If somebody is supremely talented, you're more than willing to take a risk on that guy. And that's why Vrabel begins by saying, certainly the talent of the player has to be evaluated first. But then you go through a lot of different exercises and conversations to try to figure out the type of person. Who are we dealing with here? Does this guy fit what we want character-wise? Is he going to ingratiate himself within this locker

room? How is he going to communicate with the coaching staff? How is he going to communicate with his positional group inside that room? These are all important things to Vrabel. Here's something else that Vrabel said, quote, the impact that that player makes and demands on a first-round pick. Just like the quarterback, everybody's going to be talking about the first-round pick from when we pick them for as long as they're here. I think you have to have the attitude and demeanor to handle that. Screams off field maturity, doesn't it? If you're going to be picked fourth overall in an NFL draft, there is immediate pressure

on you to make an impact. Fans are excited about you. The media is asking about you. And that white hot light of being the fourth pick overall, it's going to be there from the day you get drafted all the way through until the end of your career, however that career ends. And that's what Rable is talking about here. You have to have that attitude and the demeanor to handle the

Responsibility of being a top five pick Everybody says adults in the room. It's really what variable saying whoever you draft at four You hopefully feel like that guy is an adult in the room again talent is talent But you also hope that the talent that you bring in at number four is capable of handling the media, the commercials, the sponsorships that they're going to get. They're going to be plastered all over the place. And you've got to make sure that that guy can handle those responsibilities. Because whoever gets drafted fourth is going to immediately be one of the more popular faces on this roster.

Can that number four pick handle the pressure? Does that number four pick have the off-the-field maturity? One last quote from Vrabel. It's a package. It's a complete package. It's about the player. It's about the person. And most importantly, the vision we have for them and the impact they're going to make in the locker room and in the community. My question for Vrabel would be, and I'm sure he wouldn't answer this straight up But how many makeup questions are too many makeup questions, you know what I mean If you're looking at Abdul Carter say he falls to you at number four somehow some way Carter falls to you at number four

How many makeup questions do you have to have about Carter before you rule him out at number four? How much wiggle room do you have? Because I would imagine somebody as talented as Carter gets more wiggle room than somebody not as talented as Carter But where do you draw the line? How do you draw that line? And where do you draw it? Is it just a you know, if you know kind of thing draw that line and where do you draw it? Is it just a you know if you know kind of thing? You know it if you see it, you know it if you hear it, you know it if you feel it. On the other side of things, how much can a good make up give an edge to a player? We know the Patriots took risks on red flags last year. We talk about all the red flags, the warning signs.

There were things written about J. Von Baker last year. Greg Bedard at Boston Sports Journal wrote a lot about J. Von Baker and some of the red flags that teams were concerned with. And as we know, at least through the first year of his career, things did not work out for Baker. There were some questions about Joe Milton and his maturity level and how he would handle certain things. And now we know

he's been shipped out. On the other side though, Jalen Polk was supposed to be a quote unquote clean prospect. Not many questions about his character. Solid guy, seen as a leader. questions about his character. Solid guy, seen as a leader. Things fell off very quick for Polk last year. I'm not writing off Baker or Polk or Milton, not writing off any of those guys. That's why I wonder about the barometer, the information that you have. Baker, there were red flags. Milton, there was a red flag or two, Jalen Polk seemed to be safe. And all of those guys, after a year of being drafted, all of those guys did not work out for the Patriots at different levels. Now, of course, Milton got dealt and you get an asset back for him.

But could he handle being the backup of Drake May? Was his maturity level high enough to handle something like that? Vrabel apparently did not feel that way. And that's why we talk about interviews, we talk about top 30 visits, because every time you sit down, you have a conversation with one of these prospects,

it's crucial. And after the interviews, after the top 30 visits, how many guys got crossed off the big board for the Patriots? How many of those guys made the grade? We don't know. But it's obvious that culture, character, makeup, they matter to variable. And they could impact whether or not the Patriots draft the guy or not draft the guy. That much is clear. All right. If you were hoping for Ashton Gentry at number four, we'll tell you what coach Rable said that might crush those hopes. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part

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When the Patriots draft at number four coming up in just over a week, if they draft at number four, they might trade down. But let's say they draft at number four. Mike Vrabel is going to unequivocally at that moment, weigh positional value. Here's what Vrabel said to the media during his pre-draft press conference. Quote, that's really what you start to look for. Impact players. When you start picking that high, what will they do for you? Here is the key part. You talk about premium position.

You have to weigh all the circumstances. You talk about premium position. Premium positions, let's run through those. The most obvious one is quarterback. Quarterback is the most critical position in any team sport across this country. It is the most crucial spot that you have to get right. If you have a very good quarterback, you have a spectacular chance of getting to the playoffs, making a run in those playoffs and truly being a contender year in and year out. Starts at

the quarterback position, quarterback premium position. That's why it was so big for the Patriots to draft Drake May last year at number three. Another premium position, something the Patriots haven't figured out in a while, is left tackle. You can even say right tackle is becoming more and more of a premium position because defenses are lining up edge rushers at different spots. But let's just stick with left tackle for now. Left tackle is a premium position. Another premium position, defensive end, edge rusher. Just brought those guys up. To have an elite pass rusher can truly change the landscape of your defense. Outside cornerback one, somebody who you can put on an island,

like a Christian Gonzalez, having a true cornerback one on the outside changes the way that you can call your defense and it can make any quarterback miserable because that guy is shutting down that quarterbacks number one target most of the time throughout the game. Speaking of the guy that the outside cornerback is shutting down another premium position and this was not the case if you went back six, seven years ago, eight years ago, but now wide receiver wide receiver one is a premium position. Look at what teams are doing. Look at what Cincinnati did, keeping T Higgins

and Jamar Chase. Look at what Miami did, keeping Jalen Waddle, anti-re-kill for now. Look at Philadelphia coming off the Super Bowl, Devontae Smith, A.J. Brown. It doesn't mean that you need a premium wide receiver to win football games, but you certainly need an elite pass catcher, whether it's a

tight end one like Travis Kelsey or the wide out. Now when you look at other positions that you'd be less inclined to pick, if Mike Vrabel is sitting there at number four and he is weighing positional value, he might not put tight end on the list. Even though I just mentioned, you could use a tight end like Travis Kelsey as your number one go-to guy in an offense. But for the Patriots with Hunter Henry, with Austin Hooper, with the depth at that position, and, you know, tight end being behind the list as far as left tackle and wide receiver, it just would

not add up. It wouldn't add up for the Patriots to value a tight end over some of these other positions if the grading is close. If these guys are neck and neck. Running back is another one. It's tough to imagine that you would value a running back as highly as a tackle or a quarterback or defensive end or a cornerback or a true alpha wide receiver. Now you could go back and forth on interior defensive line because some would argue the

interior defensive line is much more important now than it's ever been and that's why you see a lot of teams spending big money on offensive guards. So you might have like a Chris Jones, somebody you can even move across the line of scrimmage, the interior defensive line could be classified as a premium position. I think that more matters about the player who you're looking at versus the position. I mean nobody would disagree that Aaron freaking Donald was a premium position type player. The Rams don't win anything without Aaron Donald. But there are limits.

There are limits to having the premium positional value in a draft. Vrabel hit on that. Talking about the draft board, Vrabel said, quote, you start stacking players vertically amongst their position and then you start looking at it horizontally that other players at another position with the same would rank higher. So maybe one player over here would lose out to another player over there even though they are the same grade. So positional value matters. Positional value matters especially when you're looking at guys who have similar grades. Here's an example. If you have

Ashton Genti and let's just say your grading system, to keep it simple, is 0 to 10. And you have Gentie as an 8, 8 and 1 half. Meanwhile, you have somebody else like Michael Williams as a 7. Well, Williams plays the more premium position defensive end. But you're still likely going to draft Gentie in that scenario because Gentie, his grade is so much better than Williams's grade. Now with that said, a running back grade of 8 is how much better than a defensive end grade of 7. That depends on the team and their grading system. Sometimes a defensive end with a 7-7.5 Is pretty much the same as a running back at 8 and now it's a coin flip

But if somebody At a not premium position is a much better prospect You're not just going to leapfrog over that player to draft a more premium position if that draft prospect isn't nearly at the level of that guy at running back that you're looking at. So there's some context here, but when you're looking at similar grades, positional value matters. In depth of position in the draft also matters.

Let's go back to the Ashton Genti example. Ashton Genti, let's say he's graded 8. The 8 might not be as significant in this draft as it might be in other drafts. Because running back in this draft is so deep. So Ashton Gentry could be an eight. But what are the other big time running backs in this draft? What are their grades? Do you have a few seven and a half?

Do you have a few 7.7s? Maybe the Patriots say to themselves, you know, Ashton Gentry is an eight. Jaylon Walker is a 7. Well if we draft Jalen Walker at 4, we get a defensive end with the grade of 7, which isn't as high as the Ashton Gentry grade, but we feel like we can circle back and get a running back in the third round That is not significantly behind Gentie Within our running back great system So you all stack this up and you look at who's available at what time what you could get later on at that position

Defensive end you could fire back and counter and say, well, defensive end is as stacked as running back. I don't think it is, but defensive end is pretty deep in this draft. So if you're looking at a defensive end versus a wide receiver, you look at your grading system. How close are the players? Then how deep is that position in the draft? Do you feel like you can come back and get somebody else later on easier at one of those two positions?

So this is why the draft is so difficult. You have a grading system, you have positions graded differently. You know, what does a running back grade mean when compared to a wide receiver grade? Everybody has their own subjectivity that's thrown into this big old jambalaya and so it's it's a pretty difficult thing to iron out who you want, why you want them. It's not easy and and we'll see how the Patriots look at positional value at number four and how much weight they put into that because Vrabel told us they are going to put weight into positional value.

Left tackle, defensive end, wide receiver one, three premium positions on the field that you could say the Patriots, they don't have one of those guys in any of those three spots. I'd be looking at those positions first when we talk about the fourth pick. Then you might want to bring up tight end running back interior defensive lineman, especially when you have Milton Williams and fingers crossed Christian Barmore. Coach Rabel might have tipped his hand regarding the Memboo versus Campbell debate at number four. We'll tell you how next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The NBA playoffs are here. That's right. They're starting this week. Celtics play on Sunday and FanDuel is giving new customers an incredible way to get in on the action right now. When you join

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one money playing same game parlays. Love doing it along with the player props. Perfect. Don't miss out. Head to FanDuel.com. Claim your $250 in bonus bets today. Again, that's FanDuel.com. So looking at this year's draft and offensive linemen, it is critical to decipher tackle versus guard. A lot of times you'll see a young player drafted into the league. The team that drafts that player believes that he's a tackle. He ends up being a guard and you've got to decipher which guys can handle the tackle spot versus he might actually fall into the guard spot. And even Mike Vrabel himself,

during his time at Tennessee, he had a deal with this. The Tennessee Titans drafted Peter Skowronski. Many people said, you know what? He's not going to work out a tackle. He's going to be a guard. Tennessee drafted him as a tackle and he quickly became a guard. So you have to understand the difference between the tackle and the guard, whether it's arm length, it's athleticism, all those different things.

And with this draft, there's a few guys that are polarizing. There's Calvin Banks. Some will say that Calvin Banks is a guard. Others will say he's a tackle. Donovan Jackson. Is he a guard? Is he a tackle? He played both last year for Ohio state after Josh Simmons went down

with his significant injury. And of course we've got Will Campbell, who has been the poster child of tackle versus guard and that argument and whether or not the Patriots should draft Campbell fourth overall. Mike Vrabel talked about positional versatility with the media, getting us all ready for the draft in just over a week and here's what variable said about that versatility quote There's a ranking system within a grade So maybe one player over here would lose out to another player over there Even though they're the same the same grade within the same position

Versatility the ability to play another position position, versatility, the ability to play another position. So much like the conversation that we just had about positional value, you also weigh positional versatility. If a player has a very similar grade to another player, does one player stand out with their ability to do more? To help you in different spots than the other player does and when I heard variable say this today. I Could not help but think

Will Campbell versus Armand Membo? when I heard variable say what he said I Felt like that was variable telling, will Campbell over Armand Membu? Because if you have them similarly graded, if you have them both as tackles on the board, let's say you label them both tackles. Campbell, Membu, both tackles. That's how you see those players and they have similar grades. Well, you talk about the character. You talk about the positional value, which if you think both are tackles, same positional value, but then you get to positional versatility.

And as we've had the conversation with Will Campbell, we know if Will Campbell ends up not working out at left tackle, many people believe, pundits, analysts, experts, many people will tell you that Campbell, if he doesn't work out at left tackle, he will be a darn good guard, that he could be an all pro level type left guard. That's the positional versatility. Arman Membu, he's only played right tackle

and many people wonder if he'll be able to switch to left tackle, let alone left guard. So if you draft Membu, we had this conversation last week, if you draft Membu and he can only play right tackle, what are you doing with Morgan Moses? What are you doing with some of these other players up front? if Membu lacks that positional versatility then that one-on-one debate between Membu and Campbell It's gonna fall towards Campbell Because the Patriots gonna look at it and say Campbell's got great character

he had really good production on the field He plays left tackle we believe he's going to be a left tackle so that tells us that the positional value is there and Let's say he doesn't work out at left tackle. He brings positional versatility because worst-case scenario we can slide them to guard. And so you stack up all these different things to figure out who's ahead of who just as we talked about during the last segment when you look at the positional value and how the numbers work. So as soon as I heard Vrabel talk about positional versatility between two players that have similar grades, my mind went right to Campbell and Membu. Now I also wonder, could this actually help a tweener? Because some will tell you that Jalen Walker is a tweener? Is he going to play off ball linebacker? Is he going to play defensive end and be a pass rusher?

At Georgia, he played inside, he played outside, he played defensive end. Could that actually help Jaylen Walker's case? When the Patriots are sitting there and they're having the conversation, and they're trying to figure out who they wanna draft at four, Jaylen Walker's sitting there, and he's certainly going to be sitting there

because he's not going in the top three. If Walker is there at four, which he will be, Vrabel can stand up and say, I love this guy because he brings us incredible positional versatility. We can play him at end, we can play him at inside linebacker, we can play him at outside linebacker. We can drop him into coverage if need be. We can have him pin his ears back. And that positional versatility for this defense that we want to run is worth its weight in gold. So we would rather pick Jalen Walker than, for example, maybe a Mason Graham because Graham is an interior defensive lineman. So when you're comparing Graham and Walker,

if they have similar grades, Walker can play the premium position of defensive end. He has great character and he brings you positional versatility. It's like the defense of Will Campbell. And so all those notes that some of these guys are hitting. And if you're the Patriots, you're Vrabel, you're looking at your roster, you know you have a number of roster holes that you have to address. So it's easier to address those holes on your roster when you draft guys that

you believe are talented enough to get drafted number one and then number two have that positional versatility because you could say to yourself well look at the offensive line okay well worst-case scenario we slide Will Campbell in to left guard people are not going to be happy that we drafted a guy who's gonna play left guard at four we all we all know that but if it's between he and Membu what do we do with Membu? If he can't move to the left, what do we do if Morgan Moses can't play on the left side? We're pretty much in a very tough spot.

We drafted a guy fourth that we really can't fit into this puzzle. If we draft Campbell, we slide him into guard. If he can't work out a tackle, if that thing blows up, then at least we've got Will Campbell at guard, and then we can have Vandarian Lowe at left tackle, and we can help Lowe through 2025. Positional versatility. But like positional value, there are limits. There are certain guys that are so talented

that are masters at what they do, that they overcome the jack of all trades, the jack of many positions. So maybe the Patriots would rather have Abdul Carter than have Jaylen Walker because they feel like Abdul Carter, as he might not be as versatile to play like inside and stuff as Jalen did at Georgia Abdul Carter is a more talented prospect and They think that he could master the pass rush game at the NFL level the draft They say it's a science I Don't know it's pretty unscientific as well. So it makes it fun.

That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio. And don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out the Lockdown NFL Draft with Damian Parson and Keith Sanchez. Get the latest draft rankings, rumors and news every day. Find Lockdown NFL Draft on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow.