Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mock Drafts and Mount Rushmores - 2/17/2020

Episode Date: February 17, 2020

On this President’s Day episode, host Mike D’Abate reveals his all-time version of ‘Mount Rushmore’ for the New England Patriots. Also, he provides his take on the latest mock selection by Benjamin Solak of TheDraftNetwork.com for the Pats with the 23rd pick in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful and welcome to your President's Day episode of Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. I am Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Always feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're at it, please be sure to follow Locked On Patriots on Twitter as well at LO underscore Patriots.

Patriots fans, Locked On Patriots returns today from the land of the crossover. And I, for one, had a blast sharing the microphone last week with Joe Marino of Locked On Bills and John Butchko of Locked On Jets. Despite not having the very much missed wisdom and counsel of Travis Wingfield, formerly of Locked On Dolphins, Joe, John, and myself worked very hard to bring you an enjoyable week of crossover content. And even though there was more than enough Patriots talk to get you through those five days, I hope that you were able to pick up some additional information when it comes

to your remaining divisional foes, the Dolphins, the Bills, and the Jets. Besides being my friends and colleagues, Joe and John provide some of the most comprehensive content when it comes to the Bills and Jets, respectively. If you haven't checked out those episodes yet, folks, I definitely encourage you to do so. If you have checked them out, be sure to bookmark them. As we get closer to the draft and mini camps and eventually training camp, you might want to take those back out and listen to them. Find out how right we were. You can also find out how wrong we might have been.

Hey, this being 2020, look at it as hindsight 2020 vision. All right, folks, I know that was a bad pun, but you know what? It's a holiday, and we try to have fun with a little play on words. And if you liked that analogy, that bodes well for you, because this episode today is going to focus on analogy, especially because of the topic of today's holiday. That's right, it's President's Day. And before you all start to worry, I've been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so there won't be any bad presidential impressions, and I'm not going to turn this into a political

soapbox. But when you think of the presidency, you often think of certain icons, memorials, tributes, even statues. Well, arguably the most famous homage to our presidents resides in South Dakota, and that's Mount Rushmore. Now, besides being one of our nation's most popular tourist attractions, Mount Rushmore is often discussed in context when it comes to professional sports. Whether it's a formal empirical debate among sports journalists, or simply two fans arguing over it in a bar, or even as a topic of radio or podcasting. See where I'm going with this, folks? Good. I knew you do.

You can see through me pretty quickly right now. Today on this President's Day episode, we will be discussing what I believe to be the Patriots' Mount Rushmore. Who made the cut? Did I assign an FDR spot? And who were some of the deserving honorable mentions that barely missed the cut? Did I assign an FDR spot? And who were some of the deserving honorable mentions that barely missed the cut? Well, I'll be discussing that and more today in a segment that I hope you find to be fun. And of course, folks, you can't forget that today is Mock Draft Monday here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Our friends at thedraftnetwork.com have another prognostication of what your New England Patriots

might do with the 23rd pick. Benjamin Salik is back for his second attempt at being able to decipher what the Patriots might do, and he has them still on the offensive side of the ball this week, folks, but he has them going in a little bit of a different direction than he did the last time when he selected T. Higgins at wide receiver out of Clemson. Which way did Benjamin go? Well, we will be discussing that in a segment in just a little while. So sit tight, folks.

If you do have the day off today, kick back, put your feet up, relax, and consider me honored that you've chosen Locked On Patriots as part of your day off Patriots coverage. If you are working today, fear not. I hope that a day off is just around the corner for you. And if Locked On Patriots can play even a small part in helping you get through your day, it's always my honor and my privilege to assist you with that. So folks, wherever you might be today, I sincerely hope that you enjoy today's podcast. However, before we get to Mount Rushmore's and mock drafts, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a little tidbit over the weekend that did raise the

eyebrow of some Patriots fans. Okay, maybe two tidbits. I tried to tell myself I wasn't going to discuss Tom Brady in this first segment, but I think we need to. Over the weekend, it was reported by Larry Fitzgerald Sr., who has been a longtime respected journalist throughout the NFL and also happens to be the father of Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald Jr. Well, early on in the weekend, Fitzgerald sent a little bit of a shockwave through the pulse of Patriots Nation when he announced that the Las Vegas Raiders

are not only intending to pursue Tom Brady in free agency this offseason, but they're willing to offer him a two-year deal worth at least $60 million. And of course, as you can imagine, news like this is always taken with a very level-headed approach by Patriots social media. They don't overreact. They don't start to worry. Nah, folks, I can't even get that out with a straight face. Of course, Patriots fans saw this news and they began to panic. How can the Patriots afford to pay Tom Brady $30 million a year? They barely have any cap space as it is. If they don't sign him by the 18th, he's definitely gone. No one could possibly turn down this kind of money.

And folks, I'm not going to lie to you, $60 million is a lot of money to turn down. It's going to be hard for anybody to walk away from an offer like that. I don't care if you're Tom Brady or not. But if you're looking for a silver lining in all this, it's what I've been saying here on Locked On Patriots for over a month now. With Tom, it's not all about the money. And after the initial brutal impact of that story, some of the most reputable and reliable journalists on the Patriots beat

started to come forward with information that supported the theory that it won't necessarily be the highest bidder that wins Tom Brady's services this offseason. Journalists like Jeff Howe, Tom Curran, Mike Reese, Mike Giardi, journalists that have strong connections to this team and whose opinions I trust implicitly. They all have been very vocal in the fact that the New England Patriots and Tom Brady are still very capable of working things out amongst themselves. The Patriots, it's about finding a number they're comfortable with and one that they'll be able to utilize to bring in additional free agents and work with building a contending team in 2020. That's also what's important to Brady as well. Yes, he's looking for a competitive

market offer. He's not going to take pennies on the dollar. He's Tom Brady. He doesn't have to take pennies on the dollar. To be totally honest with you folks, if that's all the Patriots could offer him, they would not insult Tom Brady in that way. There's too good of a relationship between he and the organization. Despite of what some in the national media would love to have you believe, these two entities do not hate one another. But what Tom wants, what's most important to him, is that he has a guarantee. Give me the chance to close my career with a solid supporting cast and I think both sides come to an agreement. As for the Raiders offer, this should shock no one. The Raiders are an organization with deep pockets. They have a new arena and a new city.

What better way to create a buzz around your franchise in your first year in a new home than to sign the greatest of all time to wear the silver and black. They also apparently do not have any allegiance any longer to Derek Carr, so they're in the market for a quarterback. And again, unless you want to believe the cliff dwellers on Moron Mountain, Tom Brady is still a very good quarterback in this league. So from a Raiders perspective, it's a very smart move to prepare a sizable offer to Tom Brady,

because in my estimation, folks, that's what it's going to take to get this done. From everything that I've heard from both sides, reaching an agreement is still very much a possibility. In fact, I continue to say that it is by far the most likely scenario. If Tom comes back to the Patriots, I think it will be at a figure less than $30 million per year. Does that mean he'll sign for $15 million a year? Absolutely not. But I think somewhere in the mid to upper $20 million range is a logical conclusion.

However, if that's determined to be too steep an asking price from the New England Patriots' perspective, then you will see Tom hit the open market. And then I think it will take every bit of $30 million to get him wherever his new home may be. And the Raiders are doing their due diligence here. They will heavily pursue him. Other teams will heavily pursue him.

But as I've been saying all along here, folks, until March 16th officially arrives, any information regarding Tom's whereabouts that is not Foxborough, Massachusetts, is purely speculation. So, today being February 17th, we're just under a month to that official deadline. Until then, tread lightly with these reports, folks. Trust me, you'll save a lot of wear and tear on your nerves. And speaking of wear and tear on your nerves, holiday weekends are always good for that. And today being President's Day, I alluded earlier to a Mount Rushmore discussion. And to me, a list

like this is always a lot of fun to make. But I caution you not to put a whole lot of empirical stock into it. These are subjective. They're really based on opinion. And while it's a pretty safe bet that Tom Brady's going to be on my Mount Rushmore, and you can probably guess the other two, the fourth one actually may surprise you. So who did I choose? Well, we will discuss that in one moment. However, before I proceed with that, we at the Locked On Network are proud to say that this episode is sponsored in part by Blue Chew.

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and in the next segment here on Locked On Patriots, we will be discussing what Benjamin Salik has in mind for the Patriots when they choose at number 23. Here's a little hint, folks. He doesn't have them trading the pick. As a matter of fact, he might just have them looking at the line. The O-line, that is. And I'm not going to be revealing who he selected just yet, but the offensive line was also in the Patriots fans' crosshairs this weekend.

I alluded to this earlier today when I said that there were a couple of tidbits that I wanted to share with you regarding Patriots Nation. And on Sunday morning, a media outlet called RideTheWaveMedia.com put out a report that definitely perked the ears of Patriots Nation. They announced that offensive lineman Marcus Cannon would indeed be retiring and that his decision to retire was connected to Dante Skarnecchia's decision to do the same back in January. Now folks, please don't misconstrue what I'm about to say. In no way am I impugning Ride the Wave Media or the sources and information that they received. However, later in the day, Nessun's Doug Kye had refuted the report, indicating that those who he spoke with that are close to the situation had indicated that Cannon would not be retiring. So the report at best proved to be a little bit premature. However, neither Ride the Wave's report, nor Kyatt's report, nor really any report out there seems to be squashing any chance that the Patriots and Cannon would be moving on from one another this offseason.

My good friend Steve Balistrieri said earlier here on Locked On Patriots that he believed Cannon was a likely cap casualty, simply because the Patriots can save between $5.5 and $6 million if he's released. Cannon is a solid offensive lineman, but has had some injury concerns. And with the young depth that the Patriots have on the offensive line, they may indeed decide that a good way to save some significant cap money would be to part ways with Marcus Cannon. However, much like the Brady story, folks, I caution you, nothing has been determined, nothing's been confirmed yet.

But needless to say, the rumor mill is churning here in Foxborough, and it's not just related to Tom Brady. Good rule of thumb is if you see a report out there, maybe read it a couple of times, digest it, and if you believe it to be credible, might want to wait for a piece or two of confirmation before you choose to roll with it. But for the time being, Marcus Cannon is still a New England Patriot, and a valued member of the New England Patriots. And while his contributions to the offensive line have been admirable over the last couple of years, I don't think there's anyone arguing that Marcus Cannon deserves to be on the pantheon of the New England Patriots' historical Mount Rushmore, the organizational Mount Rushmore. That's deserved for the icons, the best of the best.

And again, this being President's Day, I thought it might be a fun time to put on my Foxborough fedora of prognostication and tell you who, in my opinion, belongs in the Mount Rushmore of your New England Patriots. Now, we all know that Mount Rushmore is a national monument in South Dakota and features four of the most beloved and well-respected presidents in the history of the United States. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln. By consensus,

it's generally considered that those are four of the greatest presidents of all time. You will find some that make cases for presidents like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, a lot that make a strong case for Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But as of right now, there's only four. And for the purposes of this Mount Rushmore, that's what I'm sticking with. However, I will be letting you know that I am assigning an FDR spot. Now that doesn't mean that the fifth selection belongs on the Mount Rushmore. Again, Mount Rushmore is for four faces.

However, if President Trump were to commission today, and a fifth carving for Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be made, only then would another carving be added, and then Mount Rushmore would officially be five. My recipient of the FDR spot would be that fifth, only if it's ever commissioned. However, before I reveal that fifth FDR spot, along with my four most indelible icons in New England Patriots history, I'll first reveal my list of honorable mentions.

And it's a pretty extensive list. These are players that I considered for this honor, but ultimately the resume and the impact on the organization of those I did select was just far too great for me to ignore. And this list of honorable mentions spans the entire history of the Patriots organization. It starts with Bill Sullivan. Without Bill Sullivan, there would be no pro football in New England. He founded the Patriots franchise, and he led it for 28 seasons. So before anyone wonders why I considered Bill Sullivan, well, you can't really consider a Patriots

organizational hierarchy without the man that founded the organization. The only other non-player that I considered for this possible honor was head coach Bill Parcells. And Parcells is polarizing, folks. There are a lot of people that feel that the way he left the organization in 1996 to coach the New York Jets is unforgivable, and because of that, he hasn't even been enshrined in the New England Patriots Hall of Fame yet. Ultimately, he doesn't deserve the spot on Mount Rushmore, and that's why he's not up there. However, to ignore the impact that he had on the organization by bringing instant credibility and attention to a franchise that had very little of both before he got here? Just not an accurate way of looking at the team's history. But at the very least, he has to be in this discussion, folks. The rest of my honorable mentions were

all players that made impacts on the gridiron, starting with offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong, who unfortunately never won a Super Bowl with the Pats, but his impact on that offensive line in the organization was definitely felt. Gino Capoletti, who played for the Patriots for 10 seasons, he worked as a wide receiver, a kicker, and even a defensive back. He led the league in scoring at one point. To me, he should be a Hall of Famer. He is a Patriots Hall of Famer. I think he should be an NFL Hall of Famer. He deserved consideration, in my opinion. Linebacker Steve Nelson, 14 seasons, Nelson played in the middle of some of the NFL's premier defenses to honor him his jersey number 57 has been retired by the team keep in mind that's an honor that the

Patriots do not hand out very easily so that says a lot about Steve Nelson of course quarterback Steve Grogan he was a dual threat that was never really among the NFL's elite but he brought stability and leadership to the offense and was always someone that could be counted on. So in my opinion, definitely more than deserving of at least consideration. Can't mention Steve Grogan without mentioning one of his favorite targets, and that is Stanley Morgan. During his playing days, Morgan was a dominant wide receiver and is still among the Patriot leaders in receiving yards of all time. Another player from the generation of the dawn of Patriots relevance was cornerback Raymond Claiborne. One of the first jobs I had in covering the Patriots was covering Raymond Claiborne's induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame. He was not only one

of the best cornerbacks in the league during his time, he was also one of the most dangerous kick returners as well. And also, I thought it would be nice to give the fullback a little love, and that is Sam Bam Cunningham. And throughout the 1970s, Cunningham amassed 5,453 rushing yards and was a very key member of the Patriots' rushing attack. For me, someone who came very close to not just that FDR spot, but a spot on the actual Mount Rushmore, his linebacker Andre Tippett. Pro Football Hall of Famer in 2008 and very well deserving. One of the best linebackers of his generation.

He was a menace off the edge and absolutely worthy of consideration. He fell just short on my list, but not by much, folks. Andre is someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for, and if someone were to include him among the Patriots Mount Rushmore, I'd be hard-pressed to argue against it. Another player that's been in the news a lot lately because of his recent E60 interview on ESPN, his quarterback Drew Bledsoe. When the Patriots drafted Bledsoe, they had found their first franchise quarterback, and prior to Drew's arrival in Foxborough, that's not something the organization had really had. Because of the productivity of his predecessor, and yes folks, we will get to Tom Brady in just a moment,

I don't think Drew ever really got the credit he deserves for being the player he was on the field. He was as tough as they come, had very good quarterback instincts, and he had a cannon for an arm. In my opinion, his contributions throughout the 1990s really set the table for the Brady Belichick era. And the remaining players that I considered were from that era without question, and we'll start with Troy Brown. Most of us have come to know Troy as Mr. Patriot, no matter what it was, whether it was catching

the football, returning it, playing defense, Troy did his job no matter what the job looked like, and he always did it well. Under Bill Belichick, Troy became the first major threat in the slot at the wide receiver position, and he helped set the table for two of the other players that I considered, Wes Welker and Julian Edelman. It amazes me that some fans seem to be so eager to write off the history of Wes Welker. During his prime, you can make the argument that he was Tom Brady's most reliable wide receiver.

His contributions set the table Julian Edelman to be the force that he's been. And folks, let's face it, without Edelman's catch in Super Bowl 51, that comeback probably doesn't happen. Jules is well on his way to writing his own ticket in Patriots history. At the end of his career, he may very well earn a spot in that Rushmore top four. I just don't think he's quite there yet. And again, folks, the Brady Belichick era had a ton of considered players. Linebacker Teddy Bruschi, who was one of the most productive linebackers in the NFL during his day, and really the heart and soul of the New

England's early dynasty defense. Kevin Falk was a reliable franchise workhorse. Guys like Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, these were guys that were integral parts of the Patriots building a dominant defense during the course of not only the early days of their dynasty, but the latter days of their dynasty as well. A lot of people, including ESPN, would include kicker Adam Vinatieri in this group. And listen, it's hard to argue. Without Vinatieri's snow kick, without his kick in the Super Bowl, without his kick a couple of years later against the Carolina Panthers, Patriots might not have some of the Super Bowl titles that they have. Adam definitely deserves consideration.

And my last honorable mention may upset some people. And that's because with him being an honorable mention, it means that he doesn't get the FDR spot and is also not among the top four in the Mount Rushmore. And folks, it's Rob Gronkowski. Let me first say that anyone that includes Rob Gronkowski among their Patriots Mount Rushmore has a very valid argument. A strong argument, and one that I wouldn't argue against. When he was on the field, he was the most dominant player of his generation. The only reason, and I mean the only reason why I didn't have him quite cracking the top five was longevity. Now, contrary to popular belief,

Gronk was on the field more than he was off the field throughout his career, but he did spend a decent amount of time on injured reserve. At the end of the day, it was that injury history that cut his career short. To me, Rob will always be one of my all-time favorites, and I believe one of the best pure athletes to ever put on a Patriots uniform. And leaving Gronk off this list I know is controversial. It's probably going to upset some of you, and believe me, it was a hard decision for me to make, folks. In fact, if I'm being honest, it was that type of argument that made me consider Randy

Moss a little bit less than maybe I should have. When I talk about pure athletes and greatest of all time, Randy Moss is definitely at the top or near the top of the wide receiver list in the history of the NFL. But again, he wasn't quite here in New England long enough to make an impact that a lot of these other players did. So the question remains, who were my top five? Well, in the FDR spot, and again, folks, you could probably consider this either the first runner-up or the fifth slot, I selected cornerback Ty Law. Logistically, Law's resume speaks for

itself. Drafted 23rd overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, Law was a two-time All-Pro, five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a Pro Bowl MVP. He won three Super Bowls with the Pats. His 53 career interceptions ranked 24th all-time in NFL history. Widely regarded as one of the best defensive backs of all time, Law was added to the New England Patriots Hall of Fame as his 20th member and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year as a member of the class in 2019. But to me, the reason why Law gets the nod, even over a guy like Rob Gronkowski or even a Julian Edelman or even a Troy Brown, is Law was one of the key components in bringing an attitude to the defense that would carry the Patriots to their first three Super Bowls. He was a fearless

player that believed he was going to beat his opponent every single time he took the field. And that was infectious to the point where guys like Rodney Harrison, Richard Seymour, Teddy Bruschi, Willie McGinnis would constantly praise Law for his skill and attitude, saying that it inspired them to want to be better every time they took the field. So with Law getting the FDR spot, that means we've arrived at the top four. And the first face on Mike's Mount Rushmore is one that's considered to be the Patriots' first quote unquote superstar, and that is John Hogg Hanna. Hanna played his entire professional career in New

England. In fact, Sports Illustrated once heralded him as the greatest offensive lineman of all time. On the field, his resume speaks for itself. He was named to 10 consecutive All-Pro teams from 1976 to 1985. He was named an All-AFC 11 times. He was also selected to play in nine Pro Bowls and was the recipient of numerous individual accolades when it came to offensive linemen. Hanna holds the distinction of not only being the first Patriots player inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame, but also the first Patriots player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was selected as one of the 100 greatest players in NFL history, and when I opened

the show today, I alluded to the fact that one of my selections might surprise you, and I think Hanna would probably be the one that would surprise some of you, maybe thinking that Gronk deserved the slot over him. But folks, those of you that don't remember Hannah on the field, he was a fearsome offensive lineman. Joined the Patriots in 1973, he was the fourth overall pick in the 73 draft. Now, if John Hannah played offensive lineman today, some people might consider him a bit short for the position,

but believe me, he made up for it with great speed and quickness, as well as powerful legs. He excelled as a pass protector, and as a run blocker, and as the pulling guard on sweeps. Before Tom Brady, folks, the Patriots were considered a rushing team, predominantly a rushing team, and John Hanna was one of the big reasons for that. To this day, he's still one of the most beloved New England Patriots. Next time you're up at Gillette Stadium, or you're at Patriots Place, take a look at the amount of John Hanna jerseys that you see. I guarantee you it's more than just a handful. For all of those reasons, I selected John Hanna as one of the faces on my New England Patriots Mount Rushmore.

But if you're at Gillette Stadium or Patriots Place, it wouldn't be possible without my third selection, and that is team owner Robert Kraft. Look, folks, people love to make the argument, who made the dynasty? It was Tom Brady. It was Bill Belichick. You can make the argument that neither one of them might even be here if it wasn't for Robert Kraft.

Since purchasing the team in the 1990s, Kraft has turned the New England Patriots from an NFL franchise to an empire. For starters, he kept the team in Foxborough just when it looked like they were about to move to Hartford, Connecticut. And that's no disrespect to Hartford. Great city, great location. But the Patriots' heart beats in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Robert Kraft recognized that right off the bat. Privately funded Gillette Stadium and the surrounding Patriots Place Mall.

And, oh yeah, there was that certain trade that he was so adamant that he needed to make for a certain HC of the NYJ. Under his and the Kraft family's ownership, they have enjoyed an unprecedented amount of success. And speaking of that HC of the NYJ, oh, he's the next face on Mike's Mount Rushmore today, head coach Bill Belichick. And because I'm mentioning Bill now, you're probably assuming that Tom Brady is in the Washington spot. That's a safe assumption. He's in my Washington spot. But look, I believe these two to be interchangeable. Under Bill Belichick's leadership, the Patriots have captured 16 AFC East Division titles, 13 appearances in the AFC Championship game, 9 Super Bowl appearances, with a record 6 Super Bowl wins.

Individually, he is the longest tenured NFL active head coach. He ranks first all-time in NFL playoff coaching wins with 31. He ranks third in the regular season with all-time wins with 261. He is one of only three head coaches who have won six NFL titles. He's been named AP NFL Coach of the Year for 2003, 2007, and 2010. And you know as well as I do, folks, that he's deserved a lot more than just three. But he's still active. You can't very well name the award after him, now can you?

Well, maybe they could. I'll tell you what, that's a conversation for another day. In my humble opinion, and without any question, I consider him to be the greatest head coach in football history. That's right, folks, not just NFL, football. And last but not least, the greatest patriot of all time also happens to be the greatest quarterback of all time. In my humble opinion, the greatest football player of all time. And when you have as much respect for the man as I do, you call him by his full name. Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. Completes Mike's Mount Rushmore for your New England Patriots.

And whether he's played his last snap in New England or not, no other player in Patriots history will ever knock Brady out of this slot. Again, Thomas played in a record nine Super Bowls, won six of them, most of any player in NFL history. He's won a record four Super Bowl MVP awards, as well as three NFL MVP awards. He's the only quarterback to ever reach 200 regular season wins. He's the winningest quarterback in NFL history and has never had a losing season as a starting quarterback.

But there are some, whose quarterbacks don't win as much as they'd like them to, that would have you believe that wins are not a quarterback stat. Well, you want stats? Brady's got stats. For regular season and postseason combined, he's first all-time in career passing yards and touchdown passes. He's one of only two players in NFL history to amass 70,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards. Brady is second all-time in career regular season passing yards, second in career touchdown passes, and tied for fifth in career passer rating. Last but certainly not least, Tom is first in postseason career completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.

But yeah, he's just lucky, right? System quarterback, right? Wrong. Brady not only deserves to be the figurehead of this New England Patriots Mount Rushmore, but if the NFL did one, I'd put him in the exact same spot, front and center. And if you say you don't agree, well, in my opinion,

you're just kidding yourself. So there you have it, folks, my trip down President's Day memory lane. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Patriots Mount Rushmore. Who did I get right? Who did I get wrong? Remember, folks, the beauty of this exercise, this is really not a right or wrong answer. I would love to hear your feedback.

Good, bad, indifferent. So drop me a Twitter mention at MDABATEFPC and I would be happy to chat more with you about this. Hope that you enjoyed the list and found this exercise to be a lot of fun. But before we put a bow on today's President's Day episode of Locked On Patriots, it's still Mock Draft Monday here on the Locked On Podcast Network.

And in just a moment, I will be discussing this week's selection by Benjamin Salik of thedraftnetwork.com for your New England Patriots with the number 23rd pick in the NFL Draft. Once again, most of us across the country here in the U.S. are celebrating President's Day, but here on the Locked On Podcast Network, it is a day of dual significance, and that means Mock Draft Monday. For the past few weeks, our friends at thedraftnetwork.com have prognosticated what the New England Patriots, as well as all the other 31 NFL teams, will be doing when it comes to strategy for the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. Some have gone in the direction of drafting NFL skill positions, mainly wide receivers.

Others have gone the defensive route. There's even been some serious consideration that the Patriots may even trade that number 23 pick. Given their history, it's hard to argue with that. However, for the past couple of weeks, analysts have predicted that the Patriots would go in the direction of seeking help on the offensive line. And this week is certainly no different, as Benjamin Salik of TheDraftNetwork.com has predicted that with the 23rd pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots will select offensive tackle Josh Jones from the University of Houston. Now, unlike last week's selection of Cesar Ruiz from the University of Michigan, Josh

Jones definitely has the size and the build to be a formidable offensive tackle in this league, right off the bat. From the footage I've seen on Jones, he has a pretty good spring in his step. He's got a good amount of flexibility to complete all the requirements of being a good solid NFL tackle. He's got great length and that allows him to square up very well and be able to frame the pass rusher. This is something that a lot of offensive linemen struggle with early in their career and Jones comes in with the ability to do this right away. His length gives him the ability to move people around. Because of that, he's good at maintaining leverage and is able to work angles very well.

However, if there is a knock on Jones, it's his technical ability. That needs considerable growth, especially according to Salik. He carries his hands low, and his strike timing is highly inconsistent. That allows opponents to work into his frame. Talked earlier on about his ability to block out his defender, but without the technical savvy behind his ability to do that, he's going to struggle, and that's where he has had some struggling at times. Simply put, he's lacked awareness, especially when uncovered in pass protection. He does have great mobility in space, but he has to

take better angles and anticipate flow to connect more consistently. If he can play with a bit more consistent bend, Jones would be a solid addition to any offensive line, especially one like the Patriots that is going to be in need of young bodies, more athletic bodies, maybe even a player with a little bit of a different approach than what they would normally bring in under Dante Skarnecchia. Overall, Jones has the ability to be a solid starter in the NFL, but he's going to need some work in order to be able to get there, especially from a technical standpoint. From footwork to hand usage and processing, Jones has to be rebuilt a little bit.

If Dante Skarnecchia were still in New England, I would look at this as an excellent pick. Someone who would be considered a work in progress, and someone that could provide stability at the tackle position, especially with Isaiah Wynn's injury history. However, with a new offensive line coach coming in with Dante's retirement, he may just be a bit too much of a project to work with at this point for the New England Patriots. Overall, I think Jones has the talent in the upside to be a pretty high selection in the NFL draft, maybe even in that 20 range that they're projecting him to the Patriots. Because of the rawness of his ability and the fact that he's still a little ways away

from reaching his potential, I think it might be just a little too lofty to use their number 23 selection for Jones at this point. So what are your thoughts on Josh Jones? Do you agree with Benjamin Salik? I will say he's a lot better at analyzing the draft than I am, but I'm using my depth knowledge of the New England Patriots roster to give a fair evaluation of the pick. I'd love to hear your thoughts. So again, much like the Mount Rushmore discussion, drop a Twitter mention, let me know what you think of the pick, and what you think the New England Patriots should do or will do

in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft. As for me, I'll be back tomorrow to continue to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough. As always, please be sure to join me each and every day here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I thank you for joining me today on this President's Day episode of Locked On Patriots podcast. Subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I thank you for joining me today on this President's Day episode of Locked On Patriots.

I always appreciate your support, and of course, most of all, for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.