Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: 2023 NFL Draft Class and Tight End Thursday, Dante Scarnecchia to Pats Hall

Episode Date: April 6, 2023

The New England Patriots are set to honor one of their most respected and revered coaches in franchise history. Host Mike D’Abate provides his thoughts on the induction of longtime offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia into the Patriots Hall of Fame. He also welcomes Clare ‘ClazzyClare’ Cooper of A Clare Perspective Patriots Podcast to discuss potential tight end selections in the mid-rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft on Tight End Thursday.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport 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 “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.Ultimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON. 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Patriots legend will rightfully take his place among the franchise's all-time greats. Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. 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. Thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day.

Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, so subscribe or follow for free on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts to get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at MDABATENFL. And while you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow

the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. That's fans. Today's episode brought to you by FanDuel, official sportsbook of the NFL. Make every moment more. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on today to get started. That's fans. Thank you once again for joining me here today on the pod. And we got an action packed show for you.

Claire Cooper of Pat's Propaganda and A Claire Perspective, a Patriots podcast, will be here in just a moment. Of course, lending the wisdom and counsel for what we're billing as Tight End Thursday here on the pod. And Claire is going to discuss her recent tight-endage analysis on some of the hidden gems in a very deep draft class of tight ends. And she and I are also going to discuss the Patriots' potential plans for the newly acquired Mike Gusecki. Here's a little hint, folks. He ain't here to block. Fans, you don't want to miss this one, as Claire brings the knowledge here in just a

moment. But first, I wanted to take a moment here on Locked On Patriots to give some well-deserved accolades and praise. And that is to former New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Skarnecchia, who received quite the pleasant surprise shortly after his arrival at Gillette Stadium on Thursday. Dante is a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame nomination committee, and they were present for the group's annual meeting get-together every year at Gillette to discuss the franchise's potential nominees for induction into the Patriots Hall of Fame class.

This year, it's for the class of 2023. Well, the meeting started with an unexpected yet pleasant surprise when team owner Robert Kraft came in and announced that he was naming Dante Skarnieckia as an inductee into the contributor category. And at 75 years of age, he will become only the fourth enshrinee to earn induction as a contributor. And that's an honor that he received a well-deserved ovation from ESPN's Mike Reese tweeting out that all in attendance got up and applauded for Dante, who was reportedly stunned by what had happened, but very much appreciated. And this could not have happened to a better guy, folks.

It just really couldn't, or a more deserving guy on that team's list of great coaches that have come through here in New England. And team owner Robert Kraft was certainly very much impressed by Dante and also just wanted to show his appreciation for everything he's done for the franchise and shortly after the meeting had adjourned Kraft released a statement praising him as one of the greatest assistant coaches of all time and I'll read that statement for you so that way you can hear it in its entirety quote Dante Skarniecki is recognized as one of the greatest assistant coaches of all time. He is the first Patriots

assistant coach to receive this honor, and I can't think of a more deserving person. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who made greater on-field contributions over his 34 seasons with us, which propelled us to 10 of our 11 Super Bowl appearances and helped us claim five of our six Super Bowl championships. He earned the respect of his fellow coaches and players, many of whom credited Dante for making them the best they could be. I am proud that his legacy will be preserved in our Hall of Fame forever. Fitting words from Robert Kraft. Very poignant and also very classy, much like Mr. Kraft himself.

And Dante, as a six-time Super Bowl champion, he did retire after the 2013 season without any question, did take a little bit of time off there, returned in 2016. But I don't think there's anyone out there in Patriots lore or really anywhere throughout the NFL that would tell you that he has not earned his reputation and then some as being one of the most respected, one of the most revered coaches, not just in Patriots history, but really in NFL history as well. 49 years coaching in pro

football. That's amazing. Spent 34 of them in New England, joined Ron Myers' staff in 1982 with the Patriots. He did follow Ron over as the offensive line coach in Indianapolis for a couple of years, but he landed back in New England under Dick McPherson in 1991. And as Robert Kraft said, with the Patriots, Dante went on to hold the titles of special teams coach, tight ends coach, special assistant, and of course, defensive assistant. And he was named offensive line coach in 1999. He remained in that capacity following Bill Belichick's arrival as head coach and the start of the new millennium. And he's been officially on Bill Belichick's staff for five of the Super Bowl winning teams, like Robert Kraft had said, earning his sixth ring while serving as a consultant on the 2014 team that won Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks.

So no question about it, his resume speaks for itself. And he continues to gain accolades and continues to gain a lot of what the praise that everyone has given to him here in New England at a national level. In 2015, Dante received the Pro Football Writers of America, the award from Dr. Zimmerman, Paul Zimmerman, who used everybody knows affectionately as Dr. Z throughout the football universe. He was late longtime Sports Illustrated writer, always was big with the picks, Dr. Z's picks. I can still remember those, now having the opportunity to write for the very publication that I grew up with, you know, watching and viewing and reading is truly remarkable. So that type of praise being heaped on Dante Skarnecchia says an

awful lot about him. Lifetime Achievement Award at that point as an NFL assistant coach. And in June, Dante is actually going to be honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a recipient of the BOHOF Award of Excellence, and that is given to those who have made contributions to the NFL, the game as a whole. They'll be among 16 recipients that will be receiving that award in June. So a lot of properly earned honors coming his way, rightfully so. On a personal level, I really could not be happier for Dante Skarnecchia. I'm far from the most experienced member on the Patriots beat, but I was very fortunate to be able to get the chance to speak with Dante in a handful of group settings.

And he was there at some of my best memories in terms of covering this team. They've really involved watching him coach the offensive line. You really see the joy and you really see the passion that he has for what he's done all of these years and no matter which offensive lineman in new england that you speak with whether it be matt light or logan mankins or david andrews or trent brown none of these guys can't seem to keep enough praise on dante skarniecki and that says an awful lot about it they talk about the hands-on approach to his coaching. They talk about what he demands of his players and then what he receives in return from his players. He coaches them hard. He's coached them hard, but he also kept every single player's

best interest at heart. And that's why Dante Skarniecki is so beloved by his players, by his fellow coaches, by team ownership, and the fans all over New England and all over Patriots nation, not just in New England. There are Patriots fans all over the world that revere Dante Skarniecki, and that's one of the big reasons why. Dante was not averse to getting in the trenches. I can tell you from personal experience, I'd watch him get down to demonstrate a stance. He'll put his hands up to try to teach a block.

When it was time to run laps on that infamous hill in Gillette Stadium, the practice field, everyone who's been there knows the hill I'm talking about. Scar was right there taking one with the team, and he did that well into his 70s. So from the bottom of my heart, congratulations, Dante. From one Italian to another, buona fortuna, Dante Aguri. And bottom line, folks, a well-deserved honor, and it'll be my honor to be among those

that will watch Dante take his rightful place in the Patriots Hall of Fame and earn his red jacket this summer. So looking forward to it. As for his impending Patriots Hall induction, folks, he's not going to be inducted alone. The committee did meet and they discussed a few former Pats. According to Mike Reese, the list that they discussed were

Julius Adams, Pete Brock, Chuck Fairbanks, Russ Francis, Logan Mankins, Lawyer Malloy, Bill Parcells, John Smith, Mosey Tatufu, Mike Vrabel, and Wes Welker. So this to me right now, folks, is going to be interesting. The board did vote to narrow the field to three finalists. Within the coming weeks, we'll find out who those finalists were, and then the vote goes to all of you. So keep a sharp eye on that, so that way your favorite Patriots legend will be this year's inductee into the 2023 class for the Patriots Hall of Fame. Pats fans, it is almost time to turn today into tight end Thursday here on the pod, and

Claire Cooper will join me here in just a moment to do so. But first, today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook. The NBA playoffs are almost here, and now is the perfect time to download FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win. Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app. It's secure. It's safe. It's super easy to use.

And then you can bet on everything from the money line to the point scores to the threes that are drained plus fanduel even lets you combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with the same game parlay so don't miss the chance to get your no sweat first bet up to one thousand dollars in bonus bets when you go to fanduel.com locked on that's fanduel.com slash Locked On. To learn more, make every moment more with Fanduel, an official sportsbook betting partner of the NBA. Patriots fans, thanks once again for joining us here today on Locked On

Patriots, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, it might be a little past the midweek point, but that wasn't enough for us to forego a little past the midweek point, but that wasn't enough for us to forego a visit from our midweek monarch here on Locked On Patriots. That's right. Your favorite of mine is back today.

She is a columnist extraordinaire of PatsPropaganda.com as well as being the host of her very own Patriots podcast, A Clear Perspective powered by FPC Patriots. Folks, whenever she puts pen to paper or voice to microphone, it's always happening, and we're glad to have her here today.

She is the illustrious Countess of Clas herself, Ms. Claire Clasie, Claire Cooper. Claire, thank you so much for joining me from across the pond today, and I know you're excited because we're going to talk a little bit of tight endage. Actually, folks, we're going to talk a lot of tight endage because it is a subject that, to me, is an underlying factor in the New England Patriots moving forward from being a subpar offense in 2022 to being what I think could be a much better offense in 2023. Welcome back to the podcast. Oh, well, thank you. I think we should transition into TE Thursday, considering what we're going to cover today.

I like it. I like the alliteration. into TE Thursday, considering what we're going to cover today. I like it. I like the alliteration. I like that we captured the essence of what the show is going to be about, the title, the whole nine yards. Yeah, you're pretty much taken over, and I like it. That's good. So based on that information, Claire, folks,

if you haven't had the opportunity to do it yet, definitely check out another home run piece put up by Claire earlier this this week regarding uh the tight end prospects in the upcoming 2023 nfl draft claire i know a lot of the scuttlebutt around new england now is going to be who's throwing these tight ends the passes um it's going to be mac jones folks at least at the beginning that's just my gut reaction but anyway you know conversation for another day we're talking tight endage here today claire i know you did extensive scouting throughout the combine you've been hard at work taking a look at potential patriots fits not just guys that may look good in an nfl uniform but particularly guys that would look good in a patriots uniform this piece is phenomenal folks i want you to go ahead and check it out cla Claire, when you look at this unit right now, you look at the Patriots tight-ended room,

but you also look at the available tight ends out there. We've talked about some of the higher-end names on the list, but who's catching your sharp eye right now as we get closer to the draft? Because sometimes these things can change. Who are you looking at right now? Well, yeah, I mean, you referred to my piece on Patswana Vaganda and my draft prospects of Titan Peace. Obviously, it was expected to be done. Yeah, as I sort of alluded to in that, the draft stock of these individuals, particularly, well, all individuals in the draft,

but the draft stock of these has changed considerably in regards to like the combine and their pro days one factor um that you'd like to put into perspective is diana washington going into the combine it was very much talked talked about that he was just a tackle you know kind of a glorified tackle that sort of thing and then he you know he's out there at the combine and all of a sudden his draft stock has really shot up and he's he's even a tight end prospect that could be too rich for the patriots considering the patriots needs in the sort of, you know, the first couple of picks. We're looking at, as I mentioned in my article, I'm looking at tackle and cornerback. And I know that a considerable amount of the Patriots fans also know that, you know, tackle and a big cornerback is something that is, you know, an extensive need on the Patriots at the moment.

So the tight end tends to sort of fall down the list a little bit more more for some than others I'm still kind of like up there a little bit simply because I want to get a really good skill set out of this draft because you know the best tight end draft in sort of a decade and this that you know the the athletic ability that's there so you know it's a rich class when it comes to tight-ended, but there are those handful of individuals that everybody kind of knows their names now in regards to my draft crush in Michael Mayer. You've got the Dalton Kincaid. You've got the Darnell Washington who, as I said, is shooting up the draft boards, his draft stock.

So those names we already know about. Those have already been mentioned. So moving along from that, you've got the you know the likes of sam laporta who he was definitely sort of a little bit earlier on as i was watching the combine he really is one of my sort of like second draft crushes he's a great looking tight end the one thing that's the slight downside in regards to as a patriots fan hoping for he's more of a kind of an athletic sort of tight end rather than a blocking tight end and when you look at what is on the patriots currently it that isn't something that they necessarily need now

the one thing is they may be looking at the future so there's always that aspect of okay so they've got you know Mike Gusecki, Hunter Henry they've got the more athletic ability past catching tight ends less blocking so you know Hunter Henry's you know not bad at blocking Mike Gusecki you know he's renowned for not really being a blocker he is more of an athletic tight end and some people sort of say of him as a large wide receiver but so really what the Patriots probably probably I say looking at is somewhere is someone in the realms of the sort of the blocking at least ticks the blocking box as well as sort of can be maybe a pass catcher um you know good with the run game so in regard to like sam laporta as much as i really like him you know he's a little bit on the smaller side and he's a versatile pass catcher he's got a powerful

looking lower body but again he's not really sort of significantly out there as the high percentage of blockers and and i know that there's been he's had a few issues with like the contested catches and you know he hasn't been the most successful so unfortunately as much as I really like him maybe he doesn't sort of tick all the Patriots boxes you do have the likes of Luke Schoonmaker now I think this is a name that people are aware of now so I did mention that in my article and I did you know kind of cover him in regards to that what worries me is that his name is banded around a lot more now so I'm I'm sort of feeling that he's another individual that's creeping up the draft you know he's draft stock sort of thing yeah the secret's out I don't know if he's going to be a little bit too rich as we say for the

Patriots as well so the thing with him he's he's much more of a rounded tight end he's he's got more sort of he's he's tall and lean he's more of an inline wide tight end he's got that room to add some weight so you know that that would be beneficial kind of thing he is good in the run game whilst not necessarily dynamic he's still you know he shouldn't be overlooked as I said as a playmaker so these names as people are probably listening thinking well I've heard about him and yeah I've read about him and yeah you covered him that kind of thing so what I wanted to do sort of now is I looked even further I went even deeper and I went even further away if you like so these guys may be possibly your second round guys you might be looking at these as this is you as your second day sort of individuals now so what I wanted to do was then look that

little bit step further and maybe the guys that maybe are slightly more developmental maybe oh I got it this time um maybe I couldn't get it last week I got it this week yay um that's good been working I've been working hard but no sorry seriously um yeah you know they maybe need a little bit more work maybe they can take the time behind the two tight ends that the Patriots have got for 2023 in regards to Hunter and Gusecki maybe picking up a guy that's a little bit more you know needs that time to sort of develop as I said so I looked at those and yeah there's plenty there is a list of names do not get me wrong the three names that I give you today aren't the only individuals that are any good I am

not saying that but because of the considerable list that there is this year in regards to Titans I had to kind of pick a few so what I did was I tried to sort of look at it from a Patriots perspective I tried to push into the hole move away from that one guy that I just really want because he's really really good and look at the guys that sort of have a skill set that would match up with what the Patriots need now. These three individuals, yes, they are developmental. They do need work. They aren't tight end ones.

I'm not sort of saying that. So sort of please understand from, you know, the perspective from which I'm coming from. However, I will give you these three names because I like the look of these three individuals. We've got now, I don't know if I'll say surname, right? Because I kept sort of saying it the wrong way this morning but will mallory from miami um six foot four two three nine he was the quickest tight end at the combine of all he did a 454 um 40 odd dash he has got long strides he's got a good burst off the snap in my notebook i will i would diverge to you it's

not as good as mike reese's nowhere near i would i wouldn't even say he was but my notebook my clazy claire combine notebook had nice nice nice solid with long strides so that's i'm really technical folks as you can see that's a little bit of a peek behind the curtain in here but well nice is a technical term in football we're allowing that that's that that's that's really I think yeah we'll put that in the lexicon if it's not already there it should be all these categories they're like the gauntlet and stuff like that was nice and then the other one was nice and all the different like kind of skill sets exercises that they ran he just had nice so he was he was definitely in the nice column, shall we say.

But I did look into him even further. His blocking is limited. And this is something that is in the away column from the Patriots. He needs to play with more strength, more aggression. He's kind of inconsistent in pulling in the throw. So he's got good speed for his position, as we saw. And he's kind of inconsistent in in pulling in the throat so he's got good speed for his position as we saw and he's got soft hands but it it may be that he is more pushing towards the sort of athletic than the blocking it's something again these are guys that are going to be have work they

aren't going to be starters they're going to be average backups to begin with, that kind of thing. So he's a possibility. The next one was, I did mention this guy in my column, because he was one of the later guys I did want to mention, in regards to Brenton Strange from Penn State, you know, kind of local boy as such. Again, 6'4", 253, measuring in sort of on the draft combine information. The one thing with him is he's an explosive blocker he when he the the combine exercise the pushing the sled I really watch

this one really significantly I even go back and watch it again sometimes with regards to times because it really shows you how they're going to block because as soon as you hit that sled too high it's not going to happen it moves up if you need to be hitting it low you need to have that skill set of of hitting low and pushing and that's why kind of it really it really values the the dudes with the hand in the dirt that that sort of thing and and he was good he was quite explosive he stayed low he did a nice job now he's more of um they say like an s-back kind of option he is athletic don't get me wrong when i say these guys are more of blockers i don't mean they're just sort of slow sheds on legs kind of thing he's still got this you know he's still got enough athletic ability but he's

got this toughness um and he's more of a catch and run threat his catch production is pedestrian. He does fall along that he's a blocker and he knows it and he's good at it. So now you're looking at rather than concerning with his blocking ability, he's really going to perform for you in that aspect. You've got to look at if you want to utilise him more sort of in the playmaking game. And at the moment, necessarily, that isn't something the Patriots need to be concerned with because they've got Mike Gusecki who sort of a lot of people keep saying you know he's a glorified wide receiver he's a really big wide receiver but whatever you want to class him as you've got that guy and you've got the Hunter Henry who is still more of a playmaker than he is a blocker so

maybe Strange is someone that sort of ticks the blocking box. However, the one thing that concerns me in regards to that is then in a year, if you don't like Rui Sainho and Turinga second, you haven't got that sort of slightly more dynamic guy. You are now stuck with just a blocking tight end possibly. So that's a sort of negative for me in regards to him. The next guy, and I know that I am boring you all with all this information when it comes to fans but this is so it's where we're here for the tight end how could you possibly say that i've been so interested this morning my morning has been i have literally drowned in a sea of

tight endage but i i tell you folks i've lived every second of it the next guy i'm running in a sea of tight endage how poetic i like that uh yeah okay poetically nice nice nice but moving along the one guy that's got me a little bit excited that he's more of a later possibly around because he's got that developmental aspect because he's got work he needs work sort of thing josh wiley cincinnati6", you know, like me, some tall guys, 2'4", 8", so he's a little bit kind of on the sort of taller, leaner side. For me, he could do with sort of maybe if he bulked out a little bit more, got a little bit more sort of muscle. The trouble is it may slow him down, so there's always that concern.

But he's a clean route runner. He's got smooth run. He's a long gentleman, and he an athletic athletic pass catcher see look i'm getting too excited now he's an average route runner and you know he's better suited as kind of a more move blocker he has got some blocking ability but it's more of a move blocker because he's tall and because he's a little bit leaner he hasn't got the sort of um the the strength for the run blocking. Now, if that can be worked upon, if he can kind of gain that bit of muscle mass, gain that bit of strength,

then you've got a guy who may actually be a diamond in the rough a little bit, you know, a bit of a don't tell anybody else. He might be a really good situation. The kind of shoemaker was at the beginning when we were looking before the combine. So he he's kind of. Yeah, yeah to me he's sort of dynamic he's he's he's less of the in line near the line of scrimmage blocker he's unafraid to sort of like charge in though he's route running um it can become unfocused is a word that i read in regards that it's below average success rate at contested catches and he's as i said he's a little lean for for um a run blocker so he has some positives and negatives but for me he's got positives in both columns if you like in the blocking and the sort of playmaking past catching ability so it feels like he might be one of those ones who could benefit from a year behind henry

and gaseki and kind of come out in his second year, maybe a little bit more bulked up, a little bit stronger, a little bit more aggressive and able to tick all the boxes when it comes to blocking and sort of playmaking as well. So he's had limited career snaps from what I understand. So his development could be intriguing so you know he's got good speed long strides I when I was watching kind of the the YouTube highlights and this on the other on regards to him he was getting free for someone who kind of does look sort of lean he he was still he still had the strength to get free of guys and and sort of run in for the touchdown and stuff like that so his leanness doesn't concern me as much as it does on a couple of the the other guys that that are listed that kind of thing so but I've got to say I think he's

kind of my dark horse now um from doing the research that I did this morning and obviously adding it to all the other research that I did for the past however many weeks we've been doing this now um yeah I think Josh Wiley is my little dark horse so I'm keeping I think I'm keeping my fingers crossed now that if they go later if they go that um not starting tight end more of a you know kind of develops into good backup with the potential of moving up to a starter and I think that's what's key I think that's what really the Patriots could have this season is getting a good backup with this potential to be a starter in the following year so I think really he's got he's got that extra added value when it

comes to that because he sort of ticks a lot of the boxes on both sides so as I said so yeah Josh Wiley keep your fingers crossed folks because Claire wants him as a Patriot yeah Wiley is a good prospect there's no question about it he's someone that I know we've talked a little bit about in terms of him popping up on mock drafts here on lockdown Patriots but I'm glad that you brought him to the forefront because this is a kid that I think could assimilate well into a Bill O'Brien system and that really is the essence here folks who is going to be able to come in and effectively run or effectively be able to fit into a Bill O'Brien system you mentioned Brenton Strange earlier and I love this pick for the Patriots. This is a kid with a lot of size, a lot of athleticism, great body control, tremendous

balance on him. And that's something that tight ends, especially in their early stages in their careers, often struggle with. You see guys that come in that don't have a lot of great body control. Once they harness it, they can go on to great careers. If if they don't then they kind of flame out a little bit but this is a kid that i think already comes in with that very much an inline player is strange this kid's not a flexed item you're not going to see him do a lot of those things although i think he's got the athleticism to do it but i don't think you're going to see him play a lot there the good drive

block this is a kid that can play and be a complimentary piece we've even seen him align Claire in fullback alignments when he was with Penn State my good friend and the host of Locked on Auburn here Zach Blackerby I've heard him mention Brenton Strange an awful lot when it comes to his physicality this guy really really put up a lot of fight he played Auburn a couple of times that they played so he's earning the respect of his opponents and that's something that could be a uh a good feather in his cap well so very very good eye when it comes to uh brent strange i'm glad that you mentioned him if you don't mind i'm gonna toss a name into uh into the ring as well. A guy that I'm a little surprised hasn't gotten a little bit more coverage on the national level,

or at least on a local level in terms of a potential fit with the New England Patriots, and that's Cameron Watteau. I think that in a lot of ways, this kid coming out of Alabama, playing for Bill O'Brien, he made the transition to the tight end position after his first season he's really continued to make I think strides in terms of where he can be at the next level he's a reliable player he's a consistent player I think he's got a good size for him I know some people were saying that he measured in at the combine a little bit less than what they thought at 6'4 they're wondering if maybe he has the size to be a traditional tight end, inline tight end.

But Alabama used him in a lot of different alignments. They used him in the slot. They used him outside as a receiver. This is a kid that has a very high football IQ. And that to me spells a lot about the way the Patriots love to implore their tight ends. I'm also liking the fact that obviously he's going to fit very well into a system that's going to utilize two tight ends. If you have one that's more of a vertical threat, Hunter Henry, maybe Mike Gusecki in the red zone, this is a guy that's going to be able to project well

as the complementary piece, someone that can come in and be that type of either in-line blocker or someone that can just be versatile and play wherever of either inline blocker or someone that can just be versatile and play wherever you need to have him play on the field so keep your eye on Watto as well there's uh definitely a um a possibility that he may be um on the Patriots radar and again the Bill O'Brien connection you definitely can't dismiss that folks he knows what he can do but Claire you've done a tremendous job of giving us a lot of information on the tight ends that could be on the patriots roster but folks there is one patriot that already is added to the list and a lot has come out in the last previous days about how he's

going to be used that's right the newest patriots member of the tight-ended crew and that's mike kisecki claire and I are going to discuss in a moment recent reports about how he's going to be used and whether or not the Patriots are doing the right thing by doing so. All this and more when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Patriots fans, the illustrious Claire Klaas, Claire Cooper, the entrance of tight-ended herself, joins us here today on Locked On Patriots.. Claire Cooper, the entrance of tight-ended herself, joins us here

today on Locked On Patriots. And Claire, in the previous segment, you gave a masterclass on exactly who we should be watching, who we should be keeping our sharp eye on when it comes to the 2023 NFL draft and the great tight-ended prospects that they have in this draft. But the Patriots have already made an addition to their tight ended room. Yes. They've made a subtraction. We've talked about the defection of John Smith, the,

the trade to the, the, the Falcons, the Falcons. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. See folks, we've been doing shows together for so long.

She completes my sentence. This is always good. I appreciate that. She knocks the brain back into alignment where it needs to be in order to complete those difficult sentences thank you countess you're always there for me what a great friend um but in any case um the addition that the patriots have made is former miami dolphins tight end mike is a lot of people are excited about this claire i'm one of them because i thinkcki brings a level of prowess in terms of red zone receiving

that the Patriots just have not had in quite some time. Also, the ability to go up and make contested catches. But we're hearing reports that he may actually be utilized by the Patriots much more as a receiver than as a tight end. And yeah, I think people figured that when he came in. He's not really known as a tight end and yeah I think people figured that when he came in he's not really known as a blocker but to say that he's going to be used primarily as a receiver rub some people the wrong way when you look at this report um started with Mike Reese of ESPN Doug Kyatt of A2Z Sports did a

tremendous job of breaking this down uh earlier this week as well what was your reaction to it are the Patriots moving in the right direction here yeah I think it's just they're acknowledging that this guy isn't much of a blocker and there's nothing against that there's nothing wrong with that he's gone through his career like this and I think it's just them sort of really you know recognizing we're going to use this guy to the to the best of his ability as a particular uh tight end would say and i don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that it's it's not you know a degrading in regards to to giseki and i think it's important that they do use him you know in in the best way possible

the other thing is don't forget bill is like you know he he kind of keeps his cards close to his chest particularly so you know have you ever considered that he's going out there saying, oh, yeah, we're just going to use him as a pass catcher, just to throw everybody off so that you don't necessarily know what's going on. You know, there's always that element of he's not going to tell you the whole story. He may only feed you lines here and there kind of thing. So I don't think it's it's not something I'll admit as a as a tight-end enthusiast it isn't something that i'm that i'm concerned of i may be being naive in that aspect but to be honest with you how it does it really matter how you brand something as long as

you use it successfully so you know i mean giseki is going to stay as a tight end i would imagine i i read somewhere um i think it was in dougoyd's article, actually, that he foregone the change into a wide receiver. He took slightly less money to still be branded a tight end. And, you know, maybe it's just the fact that he. Yeah, that was it. Maybe he just kind of wants to be in the category of tight end, because at the end of the day, the one thing that sort of if you think about it from that perspective is when you talk about successful tight ends when you talk about statistics when you talk about you know high ranking tight ends one of the individuals that you that is mentioned is Travis Kelsey and we all kind of know Travis Kelsey isn't a traditional you know tight end he

doesn't really block he just runs and catches the ball kind of thing so um he's not a typical tight end as they see it, but he's still one of the tight ends that is there that people remember and think about when you talk about tight ends. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Mike Gusecki is the same as Travis Kelsey. What I'm trying to ascertain is you put in a guy

with a certain skill set in a category that he still fits into, even if it is slightly loose. And he's going to be remembered as more of a you know as it because he's going to have success he's going to have those numbers because he's going to be a successful pass catcher because that's his strength sort of thing so you know it makes him stand out in that aspect because he is going to have those numbers or he's going to have as i said that success kind of tag to him so personally i'm not really worried as long you know for me as a patriots fan as long personally I'm not really worried as long you know

for me as a Patriots fan as long as they use him and he's successful you know what difference does it make what we put on I mean we've talked about this before when in regards to sort of the um you know the H-back sort of situation it doesn't really you know sorry full-back situation it doesn't really matter if there's an FB on the roster if you've got an individual who can still play to the skill set that's necessary so i don't think it's sort of as concerning as maybe some people might find it i think it's good that they're saying that we know this guy is a good pass catcher and that is how we're going to use him he's a i see him him as a dynamic weapon as people like to say now when the pageant signed him i was like oh no he's a he's a he's a dolphin's tight end I don't want this I don't want a dolphin on on the team and then I kind of got

over myself and looked at sort of looked at tape as people like to say and looked into it and you know he's a he's a really good NFL player and I think that it's just to get I'm just really happy that he's a Patriot I cannot wait for this season to start so that I can see him in Patriots blue catching passes from Matt Jones I don't care if you kind of don't think he sort of should be a tight end or whatever or if they're coming out saying yeah we're not going to use him as a traditional sort of tight end does it really matter I mean look at Jonu Smith he's a great example he was a tight end and they barely used him at all because he kind of didn't, they didn't know what to do and he didn't know what to do.

So does it really matter sort of what letters at the end of the day, as long as they use him to the best of his ability? So, yeah, I think it's a little bit of, the trouble is we're in that kind of stage of the season, technically off season, that there's only so much to talk about. There's only so much to talk about there's only so much to look at and Bill only has to say a sentence and then it's like right let's pick this apart because that's all that's going on at the moment so I think it's a little bit of let's not worry too much about it right now let's sort of see what this kid's got when he gets on

the field as a patriot and then let's start judging whether or not we should be concerned if he's if he's only passing catching passes even yeah without question i think you've nailed it and hit the nail right on the head as always uh mike is sick he is not here to block folks he's just not and i don't think anybody expected it when the patriot signed him in the in 2022 mike only aligned as either a run blocker or a pass protector. That's both right now, folks. 20.6% of his offensive snaps were the Dolphins. That is not going to let anyone know that this guy is here to be an inline blocker. You want to give a little comparison?

Jonu Smith deployed as a run blocker, just a run blocker, 56.9% of his snaps last year last year so there you go you can take a look at you know the difference between these two players and you can tell that mike is definitely brought in for his offensive prowess and he brings that um 18 touchdowns since 2019 a lot of those coming in the red zone by comparison patriots tight ends have only found the end zone 15 times over the past four seasons. So there is the reason why Mike Gusecki is a New England Patriot. He gets open in the end zone, can make contested catches, and this is something that the Patriots have lacked. They just haven't had that presence here to do it in quite some time. So pairing him alongside with Hunter Henry, I think, is going to give the Patriots an awful lot of pop in that lineup and even if he is employed as a wide receiver at times goes out he can he's aligned in the slot for Miami he's aligned on the perimeter and out wide he can handle both but at the same

time when you look at pass catchers that's exactly what he's going to do and I think it lends ourselves perfectly into the conversation that we had in the previous part of our podcast today claire and some of the guys that you've mentioned most of the prospects that we mentioned this morning mostly for through your research really showed an ability to block and be a complementary piece in this offense even someone like shoemaker who might be rocketing up the boards a little bit, the Patriots may have to use earlier round draft capital to do it. This is a very deep tight end class. And you know, Murph said this on Monday,

you know that Michigan guys can play in New England. They've done it before. They'll continue to do it. That may be an option for the Patriots as well. In addition to the guys that you mentioned, like Sam Laporta, we've heard Zach Kuntz as a possibility as well. You know, obviously Hunter Kraft is someone that has – Tucker Kraft, excuse me, has, you know – There's so many names that we didn't cover those.

I covered some of those in my article. But because there's so much quality when it comes to tight ends, that's why I brought you the names that I did. I was trying to look a little bit further down, a little bit deeper away to the names that have been in the spotlight at the moment because there is sort of that development I can't say it now look I can't say the quality that you can develop psych yourself out the first time I know I psych myself out of it now yeah but there is you know there is those prospects of develop to develop you know in in sort of in

a year's time which is when the Patriots may be looking at you know having an empty tight end cupboard so it really depends on what they sort of put down as an importance you know do they want a guy that they can put on the field this year that can play you know tight end two or whatever and they you know swap Gusecki and Hunter around because although Gusecki as we discussed. Because although Gusecki, as we discussed, isn't really a blocker, don't forget he still has the aspect of tight-ended. So he is still going to be out there occasionally, as you've mentioned. So it's still going to throw defences as what is Gusecki out there to do.

So it's more than likely that he's out there to be a pass catcher, but you don't always know because he still has a little bit of prowess when it comes to that kind of thing. So do they want to switch those guys out and bring someone in that can be more of a starter like the you know like the Michael Mayer or you know that kind of thing the really top guys which I doubt they'll get because it's round one that sort of thing but do they want someone that they can plug and play as they like to say or do they want someone that can sit behind the likes of Gusecki and Hunter and sort of grow in their role you know improve on what then you know their their weaknesses are whether it be a little bit of the blocking or whether it be a little bit of the pass catching

you know maybe they need to get stronger hands that kind of thing so are they going to utilize that year that they've got Gusecki and Hunter on contract to sit somebody behind and take one in the in the later later rounds and that's why sort of I mentioned the names that I did because those are more of those sorts of individuals we're already sort of seeing what the what the guys are that are more plug and play um it's been out there it's kind of been covered more you know more and more recently because the draft stock has been shooting it when it comes to tight ends so you know that that's why to to look at those and that's obviously why we've discussed it today really without question and i think that's the brilliance of your piece

bringing guys that are not necessarily at the top of mind top of the list and guys that the patriots would consider plugging into the top spot at the tight end position for a number of years it's guys that can come in and play complimentary football and if they are indeed going to extend hunter henry which we don't know if that's going to happen or if they plan on bringing mike kisecki back after his one year deal expires at the end of 2023 you're going to meet complimentary pieces guys that can come in and be that solid tight end two in the two tight end sets and when we talked about Brenton Strange and you talk about someone like Cameron Latu from Alabama who played for Bill O'Brien who has the experience of being a complimentary tight end tight piece guys that have that versatility

to do that it makes perfect sense that maybe looking there and of course of course Josh Wiley as well and Mallory and mallory as well i think you made very very good points about the strides and what he's able to do so these guys have that ability and to cultivate it and be able to put it out there on the field will lying this year i think is going to be um you know very happy with the group that he has uh and the versatility that he has uh in terms of coaching the tight ends and when he ever needs a little extra information who's a better consigliere than Claire Cooper that's the one person that you'll go to for all of your needs when it comes to tight endage Claire what can I

say you always knock it out of the park you've done it again today folks once again please check out Claire's piece on thepatchpropaganda.com. You can check that out and definitely get an education, a masterclass, like I said earlier, in tight endage. Never miss the opportunity to download, subscribe to, follow a Claire Perspective of Patriots podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Claire, before we take our leave from our adoring public today, is there anything that you would like to leave them with or anything that you would like to inform them to be sure to check out in the coming days in the coming weeks from the great voice or the great pen of Claire Cooper well thank you very much Mike keep a sharp eye on patspropaganda.com obviously there's my tight endage article that's out there now if you haven't already read it myself and Tom the the other half of patspropaganda.com now we're gonna do

um a bit of a fun mock drafting going out sort of maybe next week so there'll be a bit of fun in regards to you know our mock drafts then so please you know check that out for for a bit of a laugh and that it could be fun for us to get together and do that so that that should be kind of cool to collaborate with him and bring you a bit of fun prior to the actual draft and my latest episode of a clear perspective should be out over the kind of you'll get it by the weekend because obviously with the easter bank holiday and stuff over in the uk um yeah it is coming folks so a clear perspective the next episode should be out kind of kind of soon and keep your eye on a clear perspective because

i will be doing a pre-draft show with my lovely assistant chudders so we're we're trying to pencil it in the diary to get it in to to bring you something pre-draft show with my lovely assistant chudders so we're we're trying to pencil it in the diary to get it in to to bring you something pre-draft so that we cover all sorts of things obviously not just tight ends because you know we cover that i cover that extensively for you but so yeah that that should be kind of some good fun as well so and obviously you can get me on the bird app as you as you all know now at twitter at classy claire absolutely folks once again whenever she puts pen to paper voice the, you want to check it out.

You're more informed, you're more entertained, and you're just a better person and it brightens your day. And that's exactly why we continue to bring Claire back the knowledge, the wisdom and counsel, the whole package. So on behalf of the illustrious Claire, Klazy Claire Cooper, I'm Mike DeBate. Folks, thank you so much for making Lockdown Patriots the daily part of your New England Patriots coverage, and hopefully your first listen every day.

If today was your first listen here on Locked On Patriots, please do yourself a favor and make your second listen our good friends over at Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes. My good friends and colleagues, Kyle Krebs and Joe Marino, two of the best guys in the business, professionally

and personally, folks. Even though they've got some not-so-complementary things to say about our favorite team in Foxborough, still give them a check. Still give them a listen because they are the best when it comes to breaking down step-by-step what it takes to form an organization and to form a franchise here in the NFL. So you can catch them wherever you get your podcasts. And, of course, while you're doing that, please don't forget to subscribe to

or follow Locked on Patriots wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. On behalf of Claire Clasic, Claire Cooper, I'm Mike DeBate. Thank you, folks. Continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

And we'll see you tomorrow right here on Locked on Patriots.