Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Mocks and Musings: Milano, Cam’s Melodrama and Patriots O-Line Draft Prospects - 2/22/2021

Episode Date: February 22, 2021

The New England Patriots will enter the 2021 NFL Draft not only with a great deal of capital, but also with a lot of needs. Joining host Mike D’Abate is fan-favorite Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy. The duo don their ‘GM Hats’ and project which offensive linemen might be worth valuable, early-round capital. They also discuss the latest on Cam Newton, as well as the Pats’ possible pursuit of free-agent linebacker Matt Milano.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.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 Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful. You are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. It is Monday, February 22nd, 2021. And it's not just Mock Draft Monday here on the pod. It's also a hashtag, Locked On Murph Monday, here on your daily home for news notes and analysis

infused with the occasional opinion on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Today's episode of Locked On Patriots is brought to you by Built Bar. Go to BuiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKEDON to get 20% off your next order. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for kicking off the fourth and final week of February here with me today on the pod. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots Podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and very much appreciated. Share that feedback, send it to the internet by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some Monday meandering through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, this might not have been a busy week transaction-wise for your New England Patriots, but a few prominent Patriots, or ex-Patriots I guess, depending on how you look at it,

found themselves making headlines this weekend. First, rumors started circulating that an import from the North may be headed to Foxborough. Buffalo Bills linebacker, or I should say free agent linebacker Matt Milano, might be a person of great interest when it comes to the Patriots in 2021. And folks, I can tell you, having covered the Bills during their playoff run this year, Matt Milano was the real deal. He had a huge impact on that defense and really helped to shore up their ability to stop the run. He'd look great here in Foxborough, and if any of these rumors are true about the Patriots possibly pursuing Matt, I'd be all for it.

So the weekend news sounds like it's starting off pretty well, but on Sunday, it took a little bit of an odd turn. I wouldn't say this is good, I wouldn't necessarily say it's bad, just, again, odd. And for those of you that have seen the video, and for the benefit of those of you that haven't, Patriots quarterback, or 2020 Patriots quarterback at the very least, Cam Newton found himself the subject of a social media publicity stunt. While Cam was hosting a youth football camp, one of the participants started jawing at him a little bit, and the verbal exchanges between both he and Cam Newton have

now gone viral on all platforms and social media. All in all, the situation ended up being quickly diffused, but it did spark a good amount of social media discussion, both from former NFL players, NFL media members, and a lot of fans alike, on what the line is or should be when it comes to social media interaction and showing respect for athletes, especially an athlete that is hosting a football camp, most of which is being done at his own expense, and you, as a participant, are there to learn the game of football from one of the very best. And for the sake of argument, even if you, are there to learn the game of football from one of the very best. And for the sake of argument, even if you think his 2020 season took him out of that conversation, Cam Newton's career overall does merit him being mentioned among the elite

quarterbacks of his generation. He's a former Heisman Trophy winner, a former National Championship winner with Auburn. He was the number one overall pick, a former NFL MVP, made a Super Bowl appearance, and with the Carolina Panthers, he's their all-time leader in pass yards and also in passing and rushing touchdowns. It's his football camp. He deserves the respect. And in my opinion, this participant simply didn't show him the respect that he deserves. I will give him credit.

The kid did issue a statement later apologizing for the incident, saying that he meant no disrespect to Cam Newton. His competitive nature got the best of him. Probably saw a little bit of an opportunity to seize the spotlight. But ultimately, I think this is going to be a good learning experience for him. He's still very young, so I don't think this kid deserves to be berated mercilessly for the next two or three weeks. He made his mistake. He atoned for it.

Now let's see if he learns his lesson. Cam even tried to tell him yesterday in another video that was published later, where Cam tried to tell him, getting attention is a good thing, but get it the right way. Let your performance on the field get you attention. That's a very valuable lesson, and I think that's one that the young man learned in a very public way yesterday at the Cam Newton football camp. But that wasn't the only reason why Cam Newton's name was circulating throughout social media yesterday. Recently, Cam was the guest on the I Am Athlete podcast,

and he opened up a little bit about his 2020 season, starting with how it was a little bit of an adjustment for him and also a little bit of a surprise for him that he wasn't a more sought-after free agent last year. He acknowledged that New England was the best fit and really one of the only fits out there for him that he wasn't a more sought-after free agent last year. He acknowledged that New England was the best fit, and really one of the only fits out there for him. He also talked about the challenges of coming in and trying to learn a system that had been in place for approximately 20 years in a matter of a couple of months, all doing so without

any type of OTA, without any type of minicamps or preseason games. Cam also acknowledged that the COVID-19 diagnosis early on in the 2020 season did set him back. He didn't use it as a physical excuse, but did say that it prevented him from getting on the field and learning with his teammates. Last but certainly not least, Cam owned the fact that 2020 was not exactly his best year. In fact, he called it one of the worst of his career. But Cam Newton is too competitive to go down without a fight. Despite so many out there believing he should just simply walk away from the game at this point, Cam Newton bluntly said that he does not believe that there are 32

other quarterbacks better than him right now. He believes he still has something left in the tank and that he will not be walking away, especially after the type of season he had in 2020. Now, whether or not that's going to be in a Patriots uniform is still anyone's guess. The jury is still very much out on that one. But one thing seems to be certain, whether it's in Foxborough or not, Cam Newton very much plans on being on an NFL football field in 2021. So a lot of news and notes from New England here this weekend, folks. But we are only just getting warmed up when it comes to the topics we'll be discussing

here today on Locked on Patriots. After all, it is Mock Draft Monday, and even though we've shared quite a few draft profiles, today we'll be putting our GM hats on and we'll be trying to approach the 2021 NFL Draft through the mind of Bill Belichick. Now I know all of you out there in Pats Nation are hoping for the big shiny new toy on offense. You want the wide receiver. You want the tight end. Some of you are still clamoring for the big shiny new toy on offense. You want the wide receiver. You want the tight end. Some of you are still clamoring for the quarterback.

But we all know that Bill Belichick doesn't always dance to the beat of that drum. He knows that championships are built on the lines. And on today's Mock Draft Monday exercise, we'll be talking about which offensive lineman in the 2021 NFL Draft that Bill Belichick might consider using valuable first-round draft capital to bring to Foxborough. And if you're listening closely enough, you'll notice I said we. Because as I said to open the show today, it is a hashtag LockedOnMurfMonday.

My legendary friend Thomas Murphy joins me here on the hot seat, and not only will we be discussing Cam Newton, maybe even a little Matt Milano, but we will also be delving into the draft and talking about which offensive linemen have caught our sharp eye heading into the 2021 NFL Draft. It's Milano, Cam's melodrama, and mock drafts on Monday with Murph when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Locked On listeners, football might be over, but the NBA, college basketball, and the NHL are in full swing. And the NFL equivalent of the hot stove gets hotter and hotter by the day.

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Start your day with all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes. Subscribe to Locked On Today wherever you get your podcasts. Patriots fans, it's Monday. So you know what that means. That's right. It's that time again. Your favorite and mine, my benefactor in this business, the only guest on the pod with his very own branded hashtag,

the 1,000th guest on this show. Well, the 1,000th episode guest of this show, the Count of Murphy Fisto himself, the legendary Thomas Murphy is back for his weekly appearance here on Locked On Patriots. Thank you for coming to me in friendship and for joining me today, Don Murph. You couldn't keep me away if you locked the doors and changed the addresses on the side of the building, but I'm always happy to be here.

Glad that you opened up and say, come on in. You know, normally I drop like a snarky little remark. You know, we tried that, but it still didn't work. How could we change the locks on you? How could we keep you out? You got the open invite. The door is yours. The key is yours. Come and use the place anytime you want. Just don't touch the total poster. That

is in reverence to my good buddy, Mark Schofield. He'd kill me if anything happened to that. No, folks, I'm just kidding. But no, the place is the place is yours you got your own chair your own embroidered chair here um we make mondays fun bud you know mondays are not everybody's a favorite day of the week but you know what we've got the hashtag we've got the fun back we put the day back in monday you know no manic mondays here we're gonna call it monster mondays because you know what that you deserve it bud and

we we always look forward to having you. And any time. And, you know, we never have a shortage of things to talk about, Murph. You know, that's the good thing about covering a team like the New England Patriots. There's always a lot to talk about. And, folks, it is Mock Draft Monday here on the pod. And, you know, Murph doesn't like to mock the draft. He doesn't like to make fun of the draft.

No, I don't make fun of the draft. So we're going to muse the draft. How's that? We're not going to mock the draft. He doesn't like to make fun of the draft. No, I don't make fun of the draft. So we're going to muse the draft. How's that? We're not going to mock the draft. We're going to muse the draft. My good friends at the draftnetwork.com love to do the mocking. We'll do the mocking. We'll get it over with early on.

But we're going to muse the draft today. But you know what, bud? I wanted to give the quarterback position a rest here today. I told myself no quarterbacks i know but just when i thought i was out they pull me back in and over the weekend we all saw it yesterday in fact at cam newton's football camp you could overhear a video went viral and you can overhear this video with a heckling camper chirping to cam newton saying things like you're a free agent you're about to be poor cam i i thought i really thought handled

this the best he possibly could i was a little surprised he got some backlash but you know regardless of what he reached to the young heckler he reacted he to the moment a little bit but later shared a video where he was actually trying to have a one-on-one conversation with this kid, really trying to get him to buy into what it really means to be on the field as opposed to worrying about social media clicks and worrying about things of that nature. The kid got some publicity. There's no question about it. That video, like I said, it went viral, but he raised the ire of a lot of NFL players. Des Bryant, Leonard Fournette, Chris Long, just to name a few of them,

had some pretty pointed things, I guess is the best way for me to put it, to say about this kid's behavior. They weren't happy with the situation. They commented on the video. A lot of frustration toward this kid in general. So much so that following all the backlash, the kid actually went to Twitter, apologized for the moment, said he, quote, never meant to humiliate Cam Newton in the midst of the trash talk. And, you know, Cam's a class act. I'm sure he's just going to accept the kid's apology

and that will be that. But Murph, what was your reaction to all of this? Just purely from an observation standpoint and the type of impact that this has on the type of culture that we're cultivating now in professional sports. Yeah, my reaction was kind of right along the line of Cam's. Who raised this kid? You know, we all heard in the clip Cam asking, where's your father? Because I would want to talk to this kid's father too or his mother or anyone else. It's quite obvious that this young man was more than rude. He was downright disrespectful and stupid on top of the fact that, you know, you're about to be poor.

You're a free agent. It was, it was, it was, um, borderline ridiculous and over the line sad that a young person would treat this as an opportunity to make themselves, um, I don't want to say famous, but, you know, get their little 10 seconds of TikTok fame or whatever he's putting this stuff out on. And, um, and at the expense of somebody that's there donating their time, giving their time and their experience to try to help a bunch of younger men pull themselves up out of a situation possibly that, you know, maybe end up being the first college graduates of their, of their family. And that, that goes into a, into a bigger conversation that we could have

someday about college athletics and everything. But what this kid did, did was if, if I was his parent, I told, I tweeted this out, I would snatch the life out of my child if they had done that. Yeah. I mean, you know, you look at it now, and I guess the prevailing, you know, comments that I'm seeing about the kid is he's 14. I mean, 14 is old enough to know your surroundings. I remember one of the more indelible lessons that my father taught me as a kid, as a youth growing up, is let your accomplishments speak for themselves. And I think I've said that here on the airwaves. As a matter of fact, I think you were my guest when I said that. And essentially, that's kind of where I came from. And I think, you know, a lot of what we see here in today's generation might be more about likes and clicks and TikTok fame, like you said. But if you let your

accomplishments speak for themselves on the field, you're going to get your attention. And Cam even said that if you watch the second video that Cam put out, where he was trying to have a conversation with this kid, he says, you're looking for attention. I'm going to give you attention, but I'm going to give it to you the right way. Let's find out, what did you do on the field? What do you do when you get on the football field, trying to engage him and getting him to acknowledge what he's able to do. And actually one of his teammates was the one that says, well, he's got speed. The kid really wasn't even responding to that.

Let your accomplishments work on the field. This is a good opportunity and a learning moment for this kid. I do believe he's probably sincere in his apology. Hopefully he learns from this. Hopefully he emerges from this a stronger competitor. I thought cam handled him very well i'm still seeing some backlash from people that think that he handled this poorly i think he handled it as well as could be expected so for anything that you want to say about cam

newton folks he's a class act through and through and i think it showed yesterday uh that he really i think gave um this young man an opportunity to build on this and for this to be a teaching moment. And who knows, maybe this is an opportunity for him to be able to utilize this and move forward. Cam actually did have some other things to say yesterday or not yesterday, but these came to light yesterday in terms of Cam acknowledging that this has been a very difficult year for him from the time that he became a free agent, right through the time that he signed with the Patriots and all through the 2020 season. He recently appeared on the I Am Athlete he came in with a lot to prove. Pregnosis definitely did affect him. Not necessarily, he didn't really use it as a physical excuse, but did acknowledge that learning a 20-year system that's been in existence for two months was a little bit difficult on him. Murph, did this make you feel any more or less sympathetic

toward what Cam went through in 2020? And is this type of information help or hurt his cause in trying to be or trying to establish himself as an option for the Patriots in 2021? I don't think it does either hurt or help his cause. as to the learning curve that Cam Newton had to walk into twice during this season, once with the no off season at all and not being able to really work out with your teammates, and then in dealing with COVID. My issues with him are longstanding, at least the past few seasons, in his abilities anymore. And I just don't think that his body will allow him to do what his mind wants him to do, even if he is on the same page as everybody else who he had mentioned in the interview

had kept progressing while he had missed a couple of weeks and things of that nature. I respected him a lot for things that came out, you know, like they're on their way back from Seattle after a close loss and he's buried in the playbook. Those are the things he's supposed to be doing. And I acknowledged it. It's just I don't want to see him back here because i simply do not believe he is a capable quarterback anymore and in a starting role i i hope i'm wrong i hope he goes on and signs a contract somewhere and has success i just don't think that uh that he he has it anymore bud

yeah and i think a lot of people share that sentiment uh look there's no question about it you look at raw statistics. Cam was one of the least effective throwers of the football in 2020, and he completed 65.8% of his passes, which is not terrible. It's respectable, but 2,657 yards in the process through only eight touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions. There's mechanical problems there, and I think they go deeper than just raw mechanics.

I think it is physical. And I think that's one thing that really worries me about that. I've gone on record by saying that I don't think bringing Cam back is the death knell of this franchise. If that happens, I can get behind it. But if I'm the GM, just purely, if I'm the GM, I probably look in another direction this year because I think the Patriots are going to need that. Cam can still run the football.

It's 592 yards, 12 scores on the ground, so he can still get the job done when he needs to tuck it and run it, but at the same time, just not able to lift that entire unit, that Patriots offense, out of its slump, and that may be ultimately why the Patriots choose to move on so you know what we're going to move on today because we didn't want to spend too much time on the quarterback position but Cam was definitely in the spotlight especially on Sunday so we always give that daily dose of news notes and analysis it's just due folks but it's time to

get down to the actual business of new England Patriots football. And also over the weekend, I don't know if you caught this, but there was an under the radar rumor that started to circulate. Our good friend Fitzy made a comment on it as well on Twitter that Buffalo bills, linebacker, Matt Milano may have caught the sharp eye of the new England Patriots.

Now I know you love some with auntie David. I want them here in New England as well. I mean, this guy is the gold standard at the position, and I think he could do wonders here in New England. But I will say that Milano is a guy that I've watched pretty closely, especially into the playoffs, doing some recon, I mean, analysis, folks, not recon, I'm not a double agent here but um doing some uh analysis for the bills in the postseason milano was really a true difference maker in this bill's defense this year you can see palpably the difference when he was out as opposed to when he came back in especially in the run so i was kind of happy to see this believe it or not i think that

he could be a good addition here. I'm high on that, Milano. But what do you say, Don Murph? Do you think this is a viable option for the Pats? Or would Milano be too much of a health risk? Good. No, I think it's a viable option. I understand the health risks that are involved.

Honestly, I just want to see him out of Buffalo. I'd like to see him out of Buffalo. I'd like to see him out of Buffalo. I would, um, right now, Buffalo, the way I'm seeing it, and I could be wrong,

um, is about a dollar 50 and cap room. And, um, the people they're talking about bringing in JJ Watt and this, I knew, okay, well,

who you cutting? Um, so I, I do believe Matt Milano has played his last snaps in Buffalo one way or the other. I would not mind seeing him in a Patriots uniform. I just don't think it's going to happen. And with the amount of money that the Pats do have, I would like to see them not save money at this position to go out and get a real name and somebody that's going to come in here and make a real difference. I know Milano is a beast when it comes to stopping the run. And I've said over and over

again, both of us have here, that that was the Patriots' main problem last year. It wasn't weapons. It wasn't the fact that there was a quarterback that could only throw to two-thirds of the field. It was the fact that they could not stop the run because if you're going to have a running game, you would better have a defense that is able to stop it on the other side of the ball. And the Patriots just didn't. But right now, yeah, I would like them to shoot a little bit higher than the injury-prone Matt Milano. Good points. I definitely see that and I definitely understand. The thing that makes me enamored with Milano, when I looked at the Bills and I looked at their

difference from the beginning of the season right up until week 10, and then week 10 through the end of the season, especially following week 12, when Milano really came back and started to hit his stride, you mentioned the run defense. And obviously a lot of that starts with setting the edge. The Patriots didn't do a great job with that at all last year. But when you're purely defending against the run, the Bills were allowing 18.3 points per game since week 12 heading into the end of the regular season. That's more than eight points less than their first 10 weeks. And during that same span, the Bills dropped to an allowance of the average of only 94 yards per game on the ground. That really was very much related and correlated to Milano's return. That really improved the run defense.

What it allowed the Bills to do was stack the box more effectively, allow more of a formidable front seven to win key battles at the line of scrimmage. That's something that the Patriots didn't do a whole lot of last year. So if there's a reason why I'm high on Matt Milano and the impact he can have on a run defense, that's definitely it. Now, I agree with you in terms of the Patriots cap room. They definitely have the cap space to sign a guy of his caliber and to sign a contract that he's looking for. But the Patriots have a lot of needs, and especially if they get a guy like Dante Hightower back, might they be better off allocating those resources elsewhere?

That's a different argument, and that's an argument I can definitely understand. But from a pure logistical football standpoint, Milano to me makes a whole lot of sense. So we'll see what the Patriots have in store. But just that statistic alone and the improvement that you saw the Bills have in stopping the run, where earlier in the season looked like they were having a lot of problems, I, for one, was really surprised to see the Bills' defense struggle so much early on this year. They really shored it up and kind of made it a very interesting run into the playoffs and almost into a Super Bowl berth.

So not saying Milano was the sole source of that, folks, but he does have an impact on changing a defense. And maybe, who knows, maybe that could be a fit here in New England. Welcome to Point Counterpoint. Absolutely, Point Counterpoint. Yeah, we're differing a little bit more. I kind of like that. Variety is the spice of life.

Yeah, that's fine, man. That's great. But you know what? It's all respectful, you know, folks. We're not going to start yelling and screaming at each other. This is not a, you know, skipping Shannon situation or anything like that. We're going to treat each other. It's not Dan Aykroyd and, um, and

chain curtain. Yeah. Yeah. You know, nobody's, yeah. Nobody's getting out of bounds there. I know, I know you want to quote it. I know I to quote it it's a family show i'm biting my tongue so hard right now we're gonna keep it clean folks but if you want it youtube dan akroyd jane curtain point counterpoint snl trust me you love those sketches they're phenomenal absolutely phenomenal two of the two of the greatest at what they do um but uh know, what we do here is we love talking news of the day, my friend. But it is Mock Draft Monday here on the network. And again, Murph and I don't mock the draft.

We're going to muse the draft here in just a moment. And we're going to discuss something that might keep a lot of the fan base up at night. Will the Patriots use valuable early round draft capital to draft an offensive lineman? I know a lot of you out there are going to perish the thought, but Murph and I will let you know when the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. Lockdown listeners join the Draft Network's Trevor Sycamore and Ben Salik every weekday on Lockdown NFL Draft. Every Monday through Friday, Trevor and Ben break down everything you need to know about

the NFL Draft, upcoming prospects, and even more through the draft scouting lens. With mock drafts every Monday, get an early look at which top prospects may be available for your team over at Locked on NFL Draft. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Pats fans, Thomas Murphy joins me here on the pod today. The return of hashtag locked on Murph Monday. But as we continue to move toward the 2021 NFL draft, the speculation meter is in overdrive.

And Patriots fans want the big name on offense. We see it all the time. Take a look at the fan Twitter accounts and the fan clicks and whatnot. They want the tight end. They want the wide receiver. Some are still hoping for quarterback. But Bill always marches to his own music. You and I somebody that can really make some contributions to this team but we might be in kansas city would love to have him in the super bowl oh they would have they absolutely would have and he could have made a difference on that line there's no question he could have take heron over a lot of the backups that you saw from the then you had to have a bowling ball running back another weapon for patty mahomes and and yep yep sorry no this is this is my wheelhouse man this is what we do we build we build offenses from the inside out you build defenses from the outside in and this

is this is what we do i live live for this. I love this. When you told me the subject that we were going to be talking about today, I actually, yeah, yeah, I got a little happy there. Absolutely, and you should be. And this is the perfect, perfect discussion point for us to be able to use today. And we'll start with the rough news first. I think we can probably both agree that Joe Tooney is likely done here in New England, as much as it pains me to admit.

He's ready to break the bank and more power to him. He deserves it. This guy has done everything the Patriots have asked him to. One of the best at what he does in the league. And it's time for him to be paid as such. Isaiah Wynn, great talent, but very much injury prone. And folks, we'll get to the tackle position in just a minute. But let's stay on the interior.

And David Andrews actually had some interesting comments over the weekend. A lot of Patriots talking this weekend. A lot of chatter going on. Not much substance, but there was some chatter going out there. And Andrews recently responded to some inquiries saying that he hopes to return to New England, but he's, quote, up for anything. So I still believe he's going to come back, but Murph, we never know. We absolutely never know. And last year, you and I, you mostly, you kind of turned me on to it more than anything, saying the praises of Cesar Ruiz of Michigan as the interior versatile lineman that could be a fixture here in New England.

I think a lot of the fan base would explode if Bill drafted a lineman in the first round this year, but the smart ones know this is where the foundation is set. Murph, who catches your sharp eye in the interior of the offensive line for draft prospects this year. And as GM, putting your GM hat on, would you trade up to get him? Would you take him at 15 or would you trade down to get the offensive lineman that you want? You're the GM, buddy. Have at it. I don't know if I would trade up for anyone in this draft.

Penny Sewell is a fantastic pick, but if you're going to go up high enough to take him, you might as well take the quarterback. So I don't see Bill doing that. There are some very versatile guys in this draft. And the one that is the most versatile that I would be happy to see Bill take at 15 or trade back, and if he thinks that he can get him later, is a Northwestern kid, Roshon Slater. He does it all. And that's why I talked about him first.

There are other guys on this list that we're going to talk about today that are versatile. But he's the only one right now that I can see playing all three positions on either side of the ball. And, you know, that's kind of high praise in my book. And it's something that Bill really appreciates. I'm so glad you picked Rashawn Slater here, Murph. And believe me when I tell you, I think it's going to be a little difficult for the Patriots to think about grabbing this kid. He's ranked in the top 10 in a lot of different draft boards that we see overall, not just for offensive linemen, but the versatility

this kid offers is tremendous. He's got great fundamentals, above average athleticism. He started at the left tackle position for the Wildcats, so ultimately that's going to be where he's at his best. But I've seen a lot of NFL scouts project him as a starting center, and I think that's because he's so versatile. One of the things I really love about Slater, he's got very patient footwork, good strength that allows him to hold his own on the interior. This kid can play guard, he can play tackle, he can play center.

He'd fit well in a New England offense because of that inside-outside zone heavy rushing attack. That's going to allow him to optimize his lateral mobility. So, once again, Bud, you hit the nail on the head, knocked it out of the park, and I like this suggestion. But again, I think it's a little bit of a pipe dream because I don't think Slater's going to be available to the Patriots, and even if they trade up to get him, there's no guarantee that they can trade up far enough to be able to snag him from a team that will definitely be looking for an offensive lineman that's as versatile as Rashawn Slater. So in that vein, my friend, we talked about Isaiah Wynn. Fifth option coming up.

It's due shortly. I think the Patriots are going to pick it up, but they could look to the tackle position in the draft as well. And obviously, Slater is projected in there. You mentioned Panay Sewell. I think he goes top five without any question. I don't think the Patriots would be in on him. Christian Darasov from Virginia Tech is another option as well. But is there anyone else that you've seen in this draft from an offensive line standpoint that would be a good fit in New England? And what would you do to make it happen?

Murph, who catches your sharp eye here? Yeah, it's Elijah Vera Tucker, the kid out of USC. I think he's a fantastic tackle that can come in right away, and you can park him on the right side, and he's just going to give you everything that you need on that side of the ball. He's another guy that could possibly kick inside if you need him at a guard position. I don't think he could play center. This kid has some of the best hands in football, and I don't throw that term around when I'm talking about offensive linemen.

Willy Nilly, what he's able to do with his hands, his punch, he's fantastic at it, and I think he would work really well in this system here. Versatility is something that is really important in New England and around the league right now. That's what people are looking for. We saw it last year in the Super Bowl, what happens when you get caught with your pants down with big fat guys that squat in the mud. He played both guard and offensive tackle in college. He redshirted his first year because they liked his power and strength so much.

They were thinking about letting him play on the defensive side of the ball, but he was just too good and too important to be able to do that. He's long. He's smart. He shows great athletic ability. He gets to the second level, and like it or not, folks, this is going to be a running team next year. Bill likes his offensive system. He likes the bastardized Earhart system that he runs. And if you do not have offensive linemen that can grade the row for your running backs, then he doesn't want to have

anything to do with you. And this kid can do it. He can do it all. Yeah, he really can. Elijah Veritucker is a guy that I've had my eye on now for quite a while. I really love this kid's athleticism. He's got balance, got body control. When he sets for the pass, this is a kid that can anchor himself well. He knows his height, he knows his weight, and is a kid that can anchor himself well he knows his height he knows his weight and he can use that to his advantage and to me that makes the most effective mover in uh the nfl especially on an offensive line whether it's in the passing game or whether it's in the uh the running game i've seen him use his kick slide and i think this kid really does that well anybody that wants to check it out there are plenty of youtube videos out there uh showing off the kick slide definitely do it uh i really love the way this

kid uh is able to do it in the run game he comes off the ball really really hard he gets his body into really good positions um he actually played the year at left tackle so folks if you're worried about the left tackle position when it comes to Isaiah Wynn. The projections for a guy like Elijah Veritaker right now show that he might be in the Patriots wheelhouse at 15. If the Pats stand pat, no pun intended, well, maybe a little pun intended there, but if they do stand pat, he could end up being someone that the Patriots target, and not just for what he brings at left tackle, but also at left guard. I think this kid could really be an effective left guard in this game.

If you choose, or you believe that Michael Wayne, who is going to stay on the other side, on the right side of the football, because he played so effectively this year, maybe this is the kid right now that you could bring in and anchor that offensive line for many years to come could end up being the the next, maybe he is the next Joe Tooney. He fits well into a zone-blocking scheme.

He's athletic enough to adapt to any scheme. I'm not saying that these guys are like for like. They're not. But maybe he's able to provide the stability at the Patriots guard position and tackle position that they've had for so long with guys like Tooney and even Wynn to a certain extent, despite the injury problems that he's had. Now, I'm going to throw a name out here that not a lot of people are talking about in the first round.

He's a fringy guy for the first round, but I really, really like him. And he's the Texas kid, Samuel Cosme. I'm not sure if I'm even pronouncing that name right. This is a massive individual, a massive left tackle, 6'7", 309 pounds. He's somebody that Bill could definitely draft at 15, and I would not be upset about it. Everybody else will be, but I won't be. This kid's fantastic, man.

He's a straight left tackle. He's going to work in here right away if it happens. And I don't – he could also play on the right side. I don't want to shoehorn him into one position or the other. It's nice to be able to have that swing guy that can move to either side. His only problem is the fact that at 6'7", he is so big, and it's really difficult for him to get a low pad level. But this is somebody that you should watch and that you should keep an eye on and somebody that bill might trade up for in the second round but i wouldn't be

surprised if he traded back in the first round and still grabbed a guy like cosme i love sam cosme and i gotta uh i gotta give a lot of credit to our good mutual friend, Brian Snow, the snowman who turned me onto Sam Cosme as someone he was looking at as a potential offensive lineman target for the 49ers. His beloved San Francisco 49ers. Loves that. And he's a guy that turned me onto him a lot. 14 games at right tackle, 21 at left tackle for Sam Cosme. So you want to talk about versatility he can play both sides and a pretty equal amount of experience on both sides of the ball you mentioned six seven three

hundred and ten pounds tough for him to get a low pad angle but if he packs on maybe about 10 or 15 more pounds of muscle that might help him be able to get that low uh because he is a shield blocker he's able to position his body his, into getting a little bit more leverage on alignments. He can create those running lanes. And in pass protection, I think he really has the ability to square off against defenders that are attempting to bend and turn the corner against him. It's going to be hard for guys to get around him with that massive wingspan. This is a lot of what the Patriots saw in Michael Wainu last year, and a lot of what we saw, and I don't think a lot of people saw it until he was actually drafted and until he came into training camp and we started

to see the potential. Could be a right tackle, could be a left side tackle that really has the ability to do wonders in this system, but he's a guy I like a lot too. So great dropping when it comes to Sam Cosley. Yeah, thank you. This draft is really, really deep on the offensive line. So all things being said and done, I don't think Bill is going to go offensive line in the first round, but he could do it just to piss everybody off. And the names that we threw out there today would

upset people on draft day, but you're going to love them all on Sunday. Let me tell you. Yeah. And you know what? Yeah. He may be pissing off a lot of people, but you and I would not be one of them because like I said,

we know that this is where the foundation is laid. We like where this is going and we like how the, the foundation is set and it really is built along the lines. So buddy, what can I say? Excellent drop-ins to very good, solid names, uh,

in the, um, in the high rankings, but also you dropped in one in Sam Cosme that could end up being a sleeper. And who knows, maybe we'll hear his name, uh, called on draft day,

but your family here at locked on Patriots, you always are. You always will be. We love when you drop by the pod and I thank you so much for dropping by the pod today to talk ball folks. Always, always check out anything this guy does because it's always point, click, learn and enrichment material. Um, especially the monster keys,

which are a little more fewer and far between during the off season, but Murph always puts out great work, so never miss an opportunity to check those out. Proudly found on diehardbostonsportsfans.com. Never miss an episode of One Patriot's Place with my good friend here, our great mutual friend Steve Balistrieri, and of course, the Countess of Clas herself, Miss Claire Cooper. But what can I say? Folks, follow him on Twitter, TeamRF207, one of the great Twitter followers out there. Honored and humbled as always by your presence.

What can I say? No, God, man, you say too much. You do, man, and just keeps building that ego of mine that needs no building. One more name out there, guys. Third round, Trey Hill, center out of Georgia. Good, absolutely. Third round, Trey Hill, center out of Georgia. Good. Absolutely.

And you know what? Maybe we'll save Trey for the next time you join us here on Locked on Patriots next week. We're breaking down all types of draft profiles, so we can sneak that in. Maybe we'll make it Murph's under-the-radar pick for the week. I'm smelling a segment here, buddy. I'm liking it. So you know what? Let's massage it.

Let's cultivate it. Let's cultivate it. Let's let it simmer and marinate a little over the weekend, and then we'll bring it back here and throw it on the grill for musing the draft Monday here with my good buddy Murph. In the meantime, my friend, stay safe, stay well. Thanks for joining me today. We look forward to talking

ball with you again next week here on Lockdown Patriots. You too, my friend. Thank you for always having my chair nice and warm. Anytime, buddy. Anytime. Always. And so, Pats Nation, thanks again for kicking off your work week here with the Locked On Patriots podcast.

But fear not, there's still plenty more Locked On Patriots to help get you through your work week. So to make sure that you do not miss a single second of the action, download and subscribe to the Locked On Patriots podcast on platforms such as Spotify, Radio.com, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Thomas Murphy for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's

pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for continuing to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, stay safe, stay well, always be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.