Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots and the 2022 NFL: Trades, Top Prospects and Hidden Gems — 4/26/22

Episode Date: April 27, 2022

The New England Patriots are making their final preparations for the 2022 NFL Draft. In doing so, they have added some Draft capital which may pay dividends in the late rounds. Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Ryan Spagnoli of Pats Pulpit of SB Nation. The duo discuss the Pats swap of late round picks with the Houston Texans, their top options on the Draft board, and potential late round steals,Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Shady RaysEXCLUSIVELY FOR OUR LISTENERS, HEAD TO SHADYRAYS.COM AND USE CODE LOCKEDON TO GET FIFTY PERCENT OFF TWO OR MORE PAIRS OF POLARIZED SUNGLASSES.Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 yearsupply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK.Blue NileThis Mother’s Day give mom something she’ll treasure forever with fine jewelry from Bluenile.com, and LOCKEDON SPORTS listeners get $50 off $500. Use code LOCKEDON at checkout.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Trader Bill is at it again before the draft even begins. The Patriots pull off a trade a couple of days before the start of the draft. We're talking Pat's trade. We're talking top of the board, obvious Patriots. And then we're also talking some potential diamonds in the rough. All today with Ryan Spagnoli of Pat's Pulpit. I'm Mike DeBate. And you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Our 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, and thank you once again, Pat's fans, for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day, and most of all, for making Locked On Patriots a day part of your New England Patriots coverage. I am your host, Mike DeBate. I also cover your New England Patriots

for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. You can reach out to me, interact with me, let me know what's on your mind on the Bird app at M-DATENFL. While you're out there showing some Tuesday love to that Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, as I said to kick off the pod today, Trader Bill is at it again. A couple of days in advance of the New England Patriots starting the 2022 NFL Draft,

as all other 31 NFL teams will be doing, the Patriots pulled off a trade. And we're going to talk about that trade today, along with what it means for the Pats' first couple of rounds, and also what some potential late-round draft diamonds might be sitting there just waiting to be your future Pats. Maybe even a future star there. Who knows? The Patriots have done it before. Maybe they'll do it again. Joining me here today is someone that I've been waiting to have on this pod for a while. He is a familiar face to all of you. It's been too long since we've had him on the pod. My good friend, one of the best in terms of covering the New England Patriots, the great work that he's done alongside Keegan Stiefel for Pat's Pulpit for this coming draft, as really any draft in previous years, second

to none. Ryan Spagnoli today joins me from Pat's Pulpit. Ryan, thank you so much for joining me today. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Mike, thanks for the kind words. I really appreciate it. Yeah, it's been a crazy, crazy draft process as we were talking about, right? It's so much work goes into it. But once it's draft week, you just kind of tie

everything together. And then it's like, all right, let's get into this thing. Absolutely. It's like the time for the talk is ended. It's now time to get in the ring and do what you need to do and prove yourself. And that's what the New England Patriots, I'm referring to, trading with old friend Nick Casario and the Houston Texans, and they send the 170th selection, fifth rounder. Ironically, the pick that they brought back for the Shaq Mason trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, that goes over to the Houston Texans. The Patriots picking up an additional sixth rounder at 183, and then a seventh rounder which they didn't have

up until yesterday number 245 comes back to the New England Patriots so Ryan I know a lot of people roll their eyes at this and said not much significance uh just Bill messing with the draft board and you know kind of moving pieces around like you know like Kramer and Newman did when they played risk but this is a little bit more than that. I think the New England Patriots always do things with an eye on either a move that they want to make potentially or a position that they feel is putting them into a good position to be able to take someone with maybe that additional sixth round pick or a seventh round pick. This is a very deep draft at the tail end. A lot of people are looking to trade back. I should say teams, not people, but a lot of teams looking to trade back. What was your thoughts when you saw

this trade yesterday? And do you think it's a precursor of things to come? Or do you think Bill is just trying to gain additional capital? I think a little bit of both. One thing that stood out to me that Doug Kyd noted was they've made three or four and I'm up the top of my head uh fifth round selection since 2012 or somewhere around those lines so seems like they don't value that round um but I don't know if that's so much to do with the trade I think it's more so that hey we got six we have three six-round picks. We can do whatever we need now to move up in the fifth or maybe catch a late fourth with some capital next year.

I have been saying a tradeback made sense from 21 simply because I don't think there's a difference between the 15th ranked player and the 80th ranked player. So there's a lot of positions of need on day two, even early day three. So I think that's kind of where they're looking, right? They have a lot of capital the later rounds that they can move up and strike on early day three. Yeah, I think so too. I think you make a great point. Look, bottom line, the New England Patriots

when you look at the fifth round selections that they've had in the last few years obviously last year Cam McGrone was their fifth round pick McGrone I think is a hit I think he's definitely going to be a good player this year but they went into that knowing that he wasn't going to suit up for the New England Patriots in 2021 just by the nature of his recovery from his injury uh Justin Rohrwasser in 2020 well we all know how that went we don't need to belabor that subject uh 2019 not a bad return they had two of them Byron Collard comes in still a member of the roster hasn't been that blockbuster type of talent that they hoped he would be in the uh the defensive line but still

maintaining a roster spot had some injury history history. Jake Bailey, obviously, probably, you know, the gem of that draft. You can make the argument that 2019 wasn't a great one for the Patriots, but Jake Bailey definitely proving his worth. And then, of course, Juwan Bentley in 2018. So that's the Patriots' recent history. If you're going back about four, you know, maybe five years, if you want to go back a little further than that, there were some times where they didn't use the fifth selection. So they still have a fifth. They

still have number 158, but getting a chance to turn that into a sixth and a seventh, I think, is smart. And I also like the point that you made about the parity in this draft, because not just are we looking at a situation where the Patriots have a lot of options a lot of holes to fill this is a deep draft where they need that help on the offensive line in the secondary along the d-line these are always areas of course wide receiver uh the fans will have a coronary if i don't mention wide receiver ryan so i always have to if you miss that if you find me missing that just give me a little high sign and i'll be sure to do that. But no, all kidding aside, those are really, I think, the positions of need. And this is a deep draft for all of them.

Ryan, you always, always make great points. And again, folks, I cannot recommend highly enough. The top 50 big board is out on Pat's Pulpit. Definitely go check that out. Ryan and Keegan are doing phenomenal work, some of the best draft work I've seen. And I really definitely want to get into that in just a moment. Because when it comes to the draft, folks, we always look at the usual suspects, the names at the top of the board. If, in fact, the Patriots hang on to 21, and Ryan thinks there might be an argument to trade down, I happen to agree with him, but if they do hang on to 21,

and they're looking to make a splash in day one or early day two, who are the most likely players right now out there on the board that are likely to be wearing Patriot blue? Ryan Spagnoli gives you his thoughts on this when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, I want to take an opportunity to tell you all about a great product that's really making a big difference in my life and continues to make a big difference in the lives of all of those that I know that are trying this great product out. Folks, if you haven't had an opportunity to check out the folks over at

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athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network. Again, that is athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network. Again, that is athleticgreens.com slash NFL Network for a free one-year supply of immune-supporting vitamin D and five free travel packs with your first purchase. Take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate in daily nutritional insurance. Patriots fans, we are back with Ryan Spagnoli of patspulpit.com. Ryan, already we talked about the Patriots fans we are back with Ryan Spagnoli of patspulpit.com Ryan already we talked about the Patriots draft and we talked about what the Pats are looking maybe to do with that trade that they

made on Monday however the real thrust of what this team is going to do is going to be in the early rounds are they going to trade down for value are they going to trade up i mean bill belichick just when you think he's going to zig he'll zag just he'll go against the grain he'll do what he feels is best for the football team or it's a situation where maybe they just stand pat go with 21 go with their pick in second round and try to get some maximized talent ryan i know your top 50 big board along with Keegan, the work that you guys did was phenomenal on this. When you look at the early rounds, you're very welcome. When you look at the early rounds and what the Patriots may do here, what do you feel would be their best fit? What positions do you see them targeting? Which players do you have your sharp eye on?

Right. So I think a lot has to do with how many quarterbacks go, right? Because I think if a team like Tennessee or Pittsburgh or New Orleans or some of those quarterback needy teams that maybe they feel like, hey, that's going to allow some really elite talent that maybe you thought were a top 50 pick to fall to 21. So, you know, like I said earlier, I still think, and I know this is grows first real draft, where he's kind of a guy who knows their strategy, but I still think trading out maybe a late one early to pick up some capital on day two could be the best bang for their buck considering their needs and the a lot of depth on day two but to answer your question at 21 number one on our big board number one want for me since I started watching him play has been Jamison Williams. Unfortunately, I don't know if that's going to be possible. I know he's coming off the ACL that kind of made

people think, hey, he can drop. He couldn't test. So obviously other wide receivers got some bigger buzz. So he's one guy, some realistic names that I think could be potentially in play at 21. My number one draft crush, somebody that I think fits what they're trying to do on their defense for the future, Daxton Hill out of Michigan. You look at some of the defensive moves that they have made this year, right? We're so used to having a press man, long cover on the outside, since really a keep to leave in 2010 or 11. They brought in Jabril peppers mac wilson they got john jones back they have you know doggers and phillips a lot of athletic kind of box slot

defenders right i think that's where hill can certainly fit he's had some slot ability in college, played mainly kind of, you know, deep safety, played it in the box a little bit. And talking to Phil Perry, who spoke to somebody at the Michigan Pro Day that met with the Patriots, had said, you know, hey, this kid has some ability to play outside if you ask him to. So I think if you're looking for a complete versatile defender on their defense that fits what they want to do, Daxon Hill's my number one guy.

Some other guys suit too, Andrew Booth, Kair Elam, kind of that press man ability that can play outside, even a Zion Johnson if they want to address the interior offensive line. So I think there's a handful of guys that are there and will be in play in 21. But if they come away with this draft at Daxon Hill at any point, I'll be jumping for joy. Yeah, I'm very, very much on the Daxon Hill train as well.

I wrote about Daxon over the weekend for the New England Patriots. And look, there's a lot to get into. There's a lot to like and a lot to delve into when it comes to it. You've hit on a couple of those. He's someone that is able to play a free safety position. That's his natural position. But this kid can move all around. He can play outside corner and he's drawing a lot of comparisons, like you said, to Devin McCourty and not just in the physical makeup, not just in the way he plays the game, but also the leadership ability. You talk to people

in Michigan. I also had a chance to speak with Phil a little bit about this and it's that leadership capabilities that these guys have at a young age that really allow them to be able to come in. You hear that a lot about the linebackers that the Patriots might be targeting, whether it be Devin Lloyd at Utah, whether it be N'Kobe Dean at Georgia. These guys are coming in readily made leaders. They're ready to take that responsibility of this defense, put it on their back, and be that play caller or those types of guys that can lead their team onto the field. Dax seems to have that, and I think it really speaks well of him to be able to do it. I know the fan base is going to be screaming, and I've got a little feedback about the article I wrote earlier this week about the Patriots not needing the safety, but you have to remember that Dax is a pure defensive back.

And if he has to play outside, you know, for his first year, you know, getting someone that can play that free safety role and be the Devin McCourty of the future may be worth it for the New England Patriots. Who knows? They did it with McCourty in 2010. Maybe this is the year where they go ahead and do that as well. So I love Dax and I'm glad that you got your sharp eye on him too. Makes me know that I'm doing my job correctly anytime i can agree with ryan on something i know i'm doing a good job so but when you talk top of the draft talk top of the heap it's always fun to do that and you've mentioned jameson williams you mentioned kair elam guys that you know may end up being in that mold but the real fun of the draft for me and i I know for you, is to try to develop those

diamonds in the rough. Claire Cooper and I talked a little bit about this last week. I'm going to get Ryan Spagnoli's thoughts on potential diamonds in the rough in the mid to late rounds when this Tuesday episode on draft week of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. But first, Ryan, in the previous segment, excuse me, we talked about getting your body in shape. Well, the body is not the only thing that you need to get in shape for the upcoming summer months.

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website today. Use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. BetOnline is where the game starts. Folks, we've been talking to Ryan Spagnoli of patspulpit.com here, talking about the Patriots big board, talking about trades. But now we get into the opportunity to talk about something I love, and that is hidden draft gems. And Ryan, it doesn't necessarily have to be people that are under the radar or that only the Patriots seem to know. There is a deep part of this draft that really can make this work for the New England Patriots you and I have seen a lot of commentary that this isn't a very exciting draft it isn't a very good draft I think a lot of that is because of the quarterback uh you know at depth you know

and I I always you know frown on on that because I always look for every position I know you do too but let's face it you know quarterbacks are what's going to get people talking. It's not a very deep class there, but again, a lot of depth for the Patriots at positions of need. When you look at the mid to late rounds, especially with what the Patriots are going to try to, you know, beef up and their penchant for picking players, who do you look at as potential draft I don't want to say draft steals but who do you look at as potential late rounders that really could pay dividends here in New England yeah I think um you know looking at kind of the linebackers you know it's obviously led by Devin Lloyd and Kobe Dean and I think after that it's a whole kind of, I want to say three to 15.

There's some really good prospects that, you know, could hear their names, you know, called between the second and fourth, even the fifth. Christian Harris out of Alabama, somebody who I really like. I think that's a round two guy. Chad Muma out of Wyoming. Quay Walker, Channing Tindall kind of fit that Patriots mold of the position, but also flash some, you know, some modern day skills in terms of athleticism and speed and playmaking ability. Corners, right? We hear about the top of the class with Stingley and Gardner and then Booth

and Elam. I think there's some late round guys too. Zion McCollum out of San Houston state, a really fast kind of boundary corner that plays with a ton of energy. Caleb Evans, who went over to Tulsa, finished his collegiate career in Missouri, really made a good jump from the jumping competition to the SEC. That's somebody that flashes some Patriots ability. Even Matt Ariza, Alex Barth, this guy, I mean,

who knows what the future looks like with Jake Bailey. They were in a similar situation when they drafted Bailey. Obviously, Allen was coming off his tremendous Super Bowl. They move on. They kind of reset the clock there. So, guys, looking at receivers, I mean, it's hard. The last time you pinned a future Patriots receiver to the Patriots, and it actually happened, I think the only time it happened,

was Braxton Berrios back in 27 to to leave Slade Bolton another guy roommates with Mac Jones best friends with him um kind of has you know he doesn't drip with tools he wins with you know competitiveness and his toughness and somebody that can go over the field and I think good developmental piece that could certainly be a sixth or seventh rounder um I think another note on that trade yesterday too hey hey, they have six, they have three six-rounders, right? So maybe Bill's looking at it like let's get our undrafted guys that we don't want to compete with on the open market

and get some of them there. That's obviously a guy that could be in a slot there in the sixth round, see Bolden. Then you look at the interior offensive linemen, which I think is everybody wants to lean towards them taking one early on. But if you look at their past history, they've had a ton of success on interior offensive linemen, particularly late in the draft. Joe Tooney was a round three pick. Ted Carras, Shaq Mason, Michael Onwenu. Dylan Parham is a guy out of Memphis,

somewhere in that third and fourth round. Cole Strange out of Chattanooga. Even Andrew Stuber out of Michigan, he kind of has some Michael on one who vibes where he's had experience at tackle, probably going to kick inside in the NFL. So those are some names to kind of keep an eye on. I know I threw a lot at you there, but the Patriots for as much slack as they get at the top of the draft, like you said, they do a lot of their, I guess, heavy lifting and find a lot of gems in those, you know, late day two, early day three rounds. Yeah, you mentioned Ueno. Ueno was a sixth round pick. And, you know, sixth round picks out of Michigan have a tendency to do pretty well up here in New England.

Ueno and, yeah, I don't know. That's another one that's on my mind. Yeah, I can't think of it right now. Yeah, it's just always on the tip of my tongue, and you never are able to really articulate it. All kidding aside, they gave a little indication that he might want to play until he's 50, but he's not sure. Who knows with Tom? I never, ever count him out of anything anymore. But I really like some of the names that you've thrown around in terms of what the Patriots may do, and especially late rounders. I agree with you on the offensive line. And Murph and I have had this discussion several times here on the pod and saying there's so much dynamic talent in the first part of this

draft that the offensive line talent is so deep that you can get guys into the fifth, sixth, seventh round that can be immediate contributors. Guys that with a little bit of seasoning, a little bit of practice time, solid training camp, these guys can come in and be good, solid, you know, New England Patriots. And, you know new england patriots and you know there are a lot of guys that are really kind of moving up this draft i mean you look at trent mcduffie a couple of weeks ago looked like he could be there for the taking at 21 now all of a sudden he's going up into the high teens we're hearing reports this morning and these have been rumblings i've been hearing all week that georgia linebacker quay Walker might end up eclipsing his teammate N'Kobe Dean in the draft.

It might happen in the first round, and this would be really, I think, surprising to some, but when you look at his game, it doesn't surprise me. There's size, there's speed. He's a really very tough hitter. You can never really tell with the New England Patriots, so if some of these guys start moving up the board, and they're not necessarily players that the Patriots have targeted, it could mean some late round gems slip to them. And these guys, if they've done their homework and by all indications, Matt Groh is really looking to make a solid impact on this franchise with this draft, it's going to be an

interesting one to watch. And I for one can't wait. I know you can't wait. And again, folks, if you haven't checked out some of the great work that Ryan Spagnoli and Keegan Steeple have done for patspulpit.com, check out their big board. Check out the draft profiles. Great stuff. Bud, what can I say? Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule today to join me here on Draft Week. Before I let you go, what can we look forward to in the days heading up to the draft from

you, from Keegan, from the pulpit? And what you have uh in the pipeline in terms of draft coverage for us this weekend yeah so they're they're really they're launching i guess relaunching that that live stream draft video you should actually read that to pat i know he's kind of quarterbacking the whole thing getting some cool guests on they're going to be live streaming the whole first round i'll pop in and and out. I've actually done a... I watched the draft with one of my best friends. We've watched it together for, God, five, six years now, so we kind of keep it going.

That, I got my final mock draft coming out today. I had to do a completely different reshuffle because of the trade yesterday, but, you know, hey, you're always on your toes with the Patriots, especially this time of year. But other than, you know, hey, you're always on your toes with the Patriots, especially this time of year. But other than that, big boards out, final mock drafts coming.

Now it's time to do the real thing. Like I said, it's such a busy time of year, but I feel like, like I told you when we were talking before we recorded, it's so busy from, like, you know, February to now. And now it's like, okay, everything's done is done. You got what you want out there. Now let's just do the real thing. I love the draft.

It's my favorite time of year. I like it better than the playoffs. I don't know about you, but once again, Mike, I appreciate you having me on. We're going to get you on our show after the draft, kind of dissect, hopefully another successful draft for the Patriots. And like I said, it's always a pleasure talking to you. And if I don't see you before training camp, it'll be here before we know it. Absolutely.

It will be here before we know it. Absolutely. It will be here before we know it. And I look forward to sharing that very hot and human media tent with you again this year in New England. All kidding aside, it's always great stuff. When training camp opens, it is a great time of year. And I agree with you. The draft is phenomenal. It is my favorite time of year as well. And I look forward to a great one for the New England Patriots. And once again, thank you for your great coverage. Folks, again, Ryan is always found on the pulpit, and you can find some of the great coverage, some of the best coverage you can find in Patriots media, in my opinion,

is done by those guys. Headed by Bernd Buckmesser, who does a tremendous job with that site, but not just Ryan, not just Bernd, but also Pat Lane. You heard him mention pat pat is the guy he was referring to that is a friend of this program has been on this air these airwaves a couple of times keegan all of those guys we had schofield on last week uh i am always eternally grateful to uh the pulpit especially marima uh for including me in her links every single day and it's always always a blast so check out that, folks. But also don't forget to check out Locked On Patriots as well

and continue to make us your first listen every day and a part of your great Patriots coverage along with the guys over at the pulpit, especially this guy right here. Ryan, thank you again for taking time out for joining me. But folks, thank you once again for continuing to make Locked On Patriots that first listen. Smash the subscribe button on YouTube

and also download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots that first listen, smash the subscribe button on YouTube and also download, subscribe to, and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast on all audio platforms such as Spotify, the Odyssey app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts, we're free and available, and make sure you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots.

Once again, on behalf of Ryan Spagnoli of patsbulpit.com, I'm Mike DeBate. Thank you for tuning in today. Stay safe, stay well. And once again, folks, we will see you tomorrow as draft week rolls along here on the Locked On Patriots podcast.