Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Coaches at the Shrine Bowl, Thoughts On Conference Championship Weekend

Starting point is 00:00:00 which future new England Patriots might be taking the practice fields in Las Vegas. Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the lockdown Patriots podcast. You are locked on Patriots, your daily new England Patriots podcast, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:42 Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button and download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated.

Starting point is 00:01:08 So please reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on the bird app 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. Opening up the show because we've got so much to talk about here, Patriots Nation, with the only man with his very own branded hashtag here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. The embroidered chair is definitely well-suited for him,

Starting point is 00:01:35 and we're going to be talking all things New England Patriots today, the legendary Thomas Murphy of E2GSports.com. Joining me in just a moment, but please, folks, remember, today's episode of Locked On Patriots is presented by our friends at PrizePix. PrizePix is a daily fantasy made easy. You pick two to six players, and if they score more or less than their PrizePix projection,

Starting point is 00:01:57 you can win up to 25 times your money on your entry. First-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with the promo code locked on. That's prizepix.com promo code locked on. Patriots fans, I alluded to it and it is here. It is locked on Murph Monday with a hashtag. No one else I'd rather join on the microphone today. Murph, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for coming to me in friendship today, Don Murph. Oh, always my pleasure. It's a real pleasure today. Buckle up, people. It's going to be a bumpy ride. Yeah, Murph and I were talking a little offline.

Starting point is 00:02:36 He is definitely geared up. He is ready to go. We're all ready to go because the Super Bowl is ready to go, too. They have their dual combatants folks harrison butker sending the kansas city chiefs to the super bowl with a 45 yard field goal as time expired courtesy of a controversial 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty we're gonna get into that in just a moment they win the game 23 to 20 they're on their way to the super bowl over the cincinnati bengals. The Chiefs' third Super Bowl berth in four seasons, and they'll face Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles,

Starting point is 00:03:10 who turned in a convincing 31-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Quarterback woes all over San Francisco. And Murph, when you took a look at what happened on the field on Championship Sunday, what did you take away from this? Are the two best teams in the league going to go at it in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona? No. No. I'm sorry. The Bengals are a better team.

Starting point is 00:03:36 I don't want to harp on the officiating as much as everybody else. You want to win, you score more points. And the game plan that they went in to this championship game, you know, it just, it's confounding. Where was Joe Mixon all day? Where was Joe Mixon? You cannot beat the Kansas City Chiefs at home in Arrowhead running the ball how many times I want to say 17 times okay when you're when your quarterback is your leading rusher you're not gonna you're not

Starting point is 00:04:16 gonna win that game you're just not and um you know I think the Bengals shot themselves in the foot a couple of times. In the end, the Bungles got a bungle. It's really too bad because I do believe that they're the better team. I do believe that Joe Burrow is the better quarterback. Even with the game plan that they had, turnovers are paramount, and especially in a game of this magnitude. And Joe threw two picks. And you can't come back from that against this team, even though it was only a three-point victory for Kansas City.

Starting point is 00:05:03 When you continuously – when you continuously, when you mess up as much as they did game plan-wise and with the care that Joe took of the ball. Yeah. Very good point about the running attack and very good point about just the game planning in general. I am in agreement with you. Big surprise there, folks, I know.

Starting point is 00:05:23 But I am in agreement with you when it comes to Joe Burrow, when it comes to the type of quarterback that he is, and the type of the team that the Cincinnati Bengals have from start to finish. And that is in no way diminishing from the very good team, the great team that the Kansas City Chiefs are putting out there. I just happen to think the Bengals are more complete when they're playing their game. They didn't look like they were playing their game yesterday um obviously the big story coming out of this one Murph is controversial ending Joseph Asai being whistled for the uh the penalty he's going through a lot on social media right now but his teammates are really coming to his aid as they should in this situation you can't put the blame on one person in this game. I think that should be the big takeaway here in Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:06:06 Yeah, I agree. You can't expect to get away with hitting the face of the league, really, when he's got two feet out of bounds, no matter how, how greatly he embellished. And there was a lot of great embellishment done on the day by Patty Mahomes. As you, as you saw throughout the game, the only time the man limped was when he had an incomplete pass. It was the only limping that was going on. And, but no, you, you can't, you can't hit him, hit that man, that man in particular,

Starting point is 00:06:45 um, when he's got two feet out of bounds, no matter how light it is, you're going to get the flag. And unfortunately the, the Bengals didn't get the same, um, uh, the same respect from the officiating crew that, uh, Kansas city did. There, there were a lot of home calls there. Joe Burrow spent a lot of time on his backside in this game. The blocking scheme was terrible. Joe got hit a ton, and he literally had a ton of men on him every time he got hit.

Starting point is 00:07:20 I have never seen flags so deep in pockets than I did yesterday when it came to protecting one Joe Burrow. Yeah, very good point. You want to talk about reasons? Five sacks, three of them should have been flagged. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, to me, I think that's the real reason. If you're looking for a reason to pat the Chiefs on the back, I know there's going to be a lot of salivating going on

Starting point is 00:07:51 in the national media. There's going to be a whole lot of backwashing. We're going to see this an awful lot, folks. But bottom line, the Chiefs have a reason to feel good about what they accomplished on defense. I think you mentioned the five sacks on joe burrow two interceptions they had only managed to do that just once in their previous three games against o'borough and the bengals also made cincinnati kick field goals twice while in the red zone you can get that offense into the red zone force them to field goals even one occasion right you're coming out on top you do it twice you do it suddenly change yeah complete change the complexity of the game it did they came out they came out in the second you do it twice. You do it twice. All of a sudden that changed the complexity of the game. It did.

Starting point is 00:08:25 They came out in the second half, and the announcers were already like, well, they're going to have to come out really strong just to stay in this game. It was only a six-point spread. There was only six points there to make up. This team did everything that it could defensively to make sure that they were in this game they just they did not get the calls offensively i counted eight different holding calls on the um on the chief's offensive line including uh in three of them in the fourth quarter uh on that that final drive And it was god-awful.

Starting point is 00:09:07 It turned what could have been one of the best games that I can remember as an AFC title game that did not include the New England Patriots into one of the worst. It really did. I mean, come on, people. You've got two games here. Let's get some zebras out there that that can actually see yeah uh the officiating is something that we will continue to discuss i think all throughout the lockdown podcast network here folks this week

Starting point is 00:09:37 getting into the super bowl coming up super bowl 57 it's going to be a lot uh for the league to be able to look at this game and come away with it thinking that there are not changes that need to be made. I'm not going to speak for what happens over on Park Avenue in New York. I mean, you can't do it. No one can predict it. No one can understand it. But at the same time, you have to look at this and say things need to be better. They need to be cleaner, much more so. They need to be more consistent so um before we move on here Murph I did want to take a couple of minutes just to acknowledge the Philadelphia Eagles over the San Francisco 49ers quarterback woes in San Francisco uh questionable play calling on Kyle

Starting point is 00:10:15 Shanahan is this a little bit of a blemish on his mark as well I know you have to give credit or I know you have to lay the blame somewhat on the injuries that they had at quarterback but there were some questionable decisions regardless of who's a center there um that has to be a concern for San Francisco yeah it really does um Kyle Shanahan has been kind of the the golden boy uh here for quite some time and he just can't get over the hump and uh yesterday yeah there there was some terrible play calling on his part, but it's really hard to critique this game. It really is. I mean, he was down to his fourth quarterback. What are you going to do? Okay. You're going up against

Starting point is 00:10:58 the best defense in the NFL and all you can do is hand the ball off. Really, that's all you could do. And yeah, I mean, you could sit there and nitpick, why didn't you challenge this and why didn't you go for that? He basically grabbed somebody off the street to play in the AFC title game, I mean, the NFC title game. And it's really difficult to drag the man for that um he was down to his third quarterback to just to get to this point in time it is difficult as it is for a west coast team to come east and even play at three o'clock in the afternoon it completely screws you up. And, um, he, he just, he had one hand tied behind his back and he had his, his quarterback's throwing hand was broken. So I, what do you, I mean, his, his elbow was, was messed up. So what are you going to do? I'm not going to sit here and drag Shani and I could

Starting point is 00:11:59 do it for, for, uh, not getting there in years previous, but not this year i just i can't do it with a good conscience yeah it's true and you don't you definitely don't want to take away from the formidable nature of right eagles lines i mean you talk about the defense that is a phenomenal defense that's a hell of an offensive line that they're facing there as well that gives jalen hurts a lot of protection he's a dynamic player that can really make things happen. So it's tough. It really is difficult to lay the blame on one given situation there in San Francisco. Who knows?

Starting point is 00:12:33 Maybe this loss opened the door for a certain prodigal son to come walking back through the door in Santa Clara. I know there are people out there in San Francisco that believe that that may happen. Murph and I are going to talk free agency much later in the term here so we're not going to talk too much Tom but uh let's just say I think it did crack the door a little bit more than it was maybe this time yesterday morning right and I can just say though that um you know just sticking with this game for for a minute Lane Johnson seemed to have a lot of fun yesterday he really did he had a lot of he had a lot of fun yesterday now the reason that he had so much fun was lane johnson is allowed to move

Starting point is 00:13:13 before the snap on every single play without getting a flag thrown at him so we'll just throw that one in there too please you know come on i thought it was because bill wasn't there isn't that the key to everybody having fun when bill Bill's not around, fun is that. This is the Lane Johnson Bible right there. You've got to follow it. It's right there in the book of Lane, folks. It's right here. Fun, fun, fun.

Starting point is 00:13:32 Absolutely. But, no, we're having a little fun at their expense right now. As for your New England Patriots, yeah, Championship Sunday is just not the same without the Patriots. Last time the Pats were in Championship Sunday, they beat the kansas city chiefs on their way to their last super bowl victory in super bowl 53 in 2019 lost the last two regular season meetings against the chiefs though 2019 2020 patriots one and one against the philadelphia eagles in super bowls we'd rather think of the the uh we'd rather think of the former than the latter. Yeah, I don't even want to start talking about the fact that this league

Starting point is 00:14:08 keeps changing the catch rules for the Philadelphia Eagles. Yeah, a little tough there to kind of argue that point. But this will mark the first time since 1980, Murph, that the Eagles are playing a team other than the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. So it just goes to show you, for everybody wanting to dub this game the Kansas City Invitational, remember who did it first, folks. Remember who was essentially the only constant for two decades inviting some of these teams to,

Starting point is 00:14:36 maybe even three times to the big dance. There's only one team that was there, and that was Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and your New England Patriots. So, Murph, it's a good opportunity for us to segue now because the Chiefs and the Eagles are going to go bowling but the Patriots are doing their own bowling, folks. We're talking the Shrine Bowl. The East-West Shrine Bowl out in Las Vegas. Patriots coaches hitting the ground running. And boy, from what I hear out there from our eyes and ears in Las Vegas, they're doing a hell of a job coaching these kids up. Murph and I are going to talk everything Shrine Bowl in just a moment

Starting point is 00:15:06 when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, I want to tell you a little bit about our good friends over at PrizePix. Today's episode is brought to you by our friends at PrizePix. And let me tell you a little example of how they work. You pick two to six players, and if they score more or less than their prize picks projection you can win up to 25 times your money on any entry there's no competing against other people it is just you versus the projections available and prize picks offers projections on any sport that you may watch including the nfl major league baseball nba nhl

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Starting point is 00:16:38 And Murph, we talked a little bit about other teams to open the show, but this is Locked on Patriots. And as you know the new england patriots never take any days off murph they're always going always recruiting always thinking a step ahead uh this past year was a little bit of a lesson in coaching i think they had to get back to some basics they're doing that and one of the ways that the patriots always like to build is to scout they're always scouting bill belichick is always doing it the Patriots always like to build is to scout. They're always scouting. Bill Belichick is always doing it. The Patriots team scouts are always at work.

Starting point is 00:17:08 And I think they have a front row seat this year in a way that they haven't in quite a few years. And that is being the coaching staff to coast the West team over at the East-West Shrine Bowl, taking place this Thursday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Patriots running a pair of team practices already out in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas training facilities out there.

Starting point is 00:17:32 We're hearing that Bill Belichick and new offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien are at work, ready to get to work. They're coaching these kids up pretty good. How big of an opportunity is this for the Patriots to snag or maybe I don't want to say snag. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but how good of an opportunity is this for the Patriots to scout some potential new hats in the lineup because they've done it here in the past. Yeah, it has. And it's a fabulous opportunity, not only to see the guys that you all know about, that you've been looking at at draft boards and whatnot and watching them move up and down. But this opportunity is more about depth. Bill and company

Starting point is 00:18:13 get to see how deep this draft really is. Looking at guys and looking at big boards and figuring out where they're going to be able to slot or maybe steal a guy in the later rounds. Who's that offensive lineman, which we're going to talk about very soon, that Bill can grab in the fourth round? Who's that tight end that nobody's really talking about that is a fantastic blocker and has some decent hands but wasn't really showcased in their offense. You know, what Bill's going to be able to see there,

Starting point is 00:18:49 what the entire coaching staff's going to be able to see there. And it also gives the Patriots coaching staff an opportunity to grow and learn in their jobs that, you know, they're going to be taking back to Foxborough after this. This is a fantastic opportunity, especially for Troy Brown. Yeah, without question, as the head coach and coming in and being the opportunity that he's given to be able to lead this team on the field. Big, big opportunity for Troy.

Starting point is 00:19:16 You know he's having a lot of fun. You know he's keeping a special eye on, say, Flowers of Boston College, one of the big prospects coming out of this right now uh when it comes to a slot receiver i can't help it murph you know i know i know there's still a little bit of chestnut football just not hill football left in me uh even though the basketball team is probably my alma mater's biggest rival well i shouldn't say biggest rival um although uh you know well i don't know you know it was me he me. He's kind of I don't know if he's kind of old. You can see he ran off to the ACC because they couldn't compete with UConn and they didn't want to try to do it when UConn went division one in football.

Starting point is 00:19:58 And that's why that's why they ran off down there. You know, all hail Providence and everything and what they've been able to do but this is yukon country okay all right somebody get ed cooley on the phone folks no i'm kidding i'm only kidding murph and i don't differ on too much but when it comes to college basketball yeah yeah we're pretty much polar opposites and we will go tooth and nail ncaa tournament's gonna be a lot of fun. It's going to be great. No, all kidding aside, all kidding aside, folks. No, there is a great amount of excitement.

Starting point is 00:20:32 And Troy Brown is definitely bringing that to this team. You can see the enthusiasm. You can definitely see the enthusiasm in the supervisory coaches, meaning Bill Belichick, Bill O'Brien. Darian Thompson-Robinson is a UCLA quarterback. Coming highly touted into this game. A lot of people are looking for big things from him he had nothing but great things to say after first practice wrapped up on Saturday saying about Bill Belichick and Bill O'Brien they're super intense they're super helpful trying to get us the information we need on each play to get about you yeah and I don't know about you Murph but this really instills a lot of um

Starting point is 00:21:07 optimism in me i guess is the best way to put it for this season coming up these guys are disengaged right now you have to think they're going to carry this over into the season coming up uh especially with i think a lot of rejuvenation needed yeah Yeah. This, this staff is already amped up. You can already feel the energy, uh, with O'Brien back in the building. Uh, he's a very different coach than the ones that these guys have been dealing with over the last 12 months. Um, you want to be coached hard. You're going to get coached hard. Uh, it, Bill O'Brien is, is a fantastic football mind who has the mindset to come in and really invigorate any program that he is associated with. He did it while he was at Penn State. He did it down in Houston under some really trying circumstances.

Starting point is 00:22:07 And we all know what he was able to do here in New England. And the kids that showed up for the Shrine Bowl this year, tip of the hat to the Shriners for everything that they do for kids in the world. Tip of the hat, people. Don't forget that. Very well said. And no, but I really love just seeing and hearing OB back out there on the field working with the youngsters. You can tell that he connects with them in the college ranks down in the mud and worked with these young guys.

Starting point is 00:22:52 He knows how to motivate them. He knows how to speak to them. And he knows how to win. Absolutely. And that is something that the New England Patriots need desperately. They need that voice that knows how to talk need to be they need that voice that knows how to talk to them right they need that voice that knows how to motivate them but ultimately murph it's all about the wins the patriots definitely looking to add more wins to the win

Starting point is 00:23:14 column and get back into the conversation of some of the teams in the afc right now that are considered contenders who knows maybe even in a couple of years this team could even be among the elites once again anything is possible but new england is going to have to put the work in right now and it looks like they're doing so in terms of scouting as we speak but folks we're not done talking stride ball just yet there is still a lot of action to come and a lot of prospects to be watched Murph and I are going to tell you about the guys that we have our sharp eye on when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up in just a moment.

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Starting point is 00:24:59 Murph, we're always having a blast talking AFC, NFC championship, Super Bowl 57. We're starting to talk a little bit about the Shrine Bowl and what it means for the Patriots, but ultimately this has got to be a fruitful visit for New England if they find some talent, some diamonds in the rough, guys that they can scout and say their participants in this bowl, we want to have them aboard. Obviously Tyquan Thornton being the big guy last year in the Shrine Bowl. He was someone the Patriots targeted, eyed, and they put him in this lineup without any question about it. So, Murph, when you look at this year's collection of prospects, Patriots have needs. We all know about their need on the offensive line, cornerback, wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:25:42 There are definite positions that the Patriots are going to be looking at who's catching the big sharp green and himself who is going to keep this team afloat when it comes to shrine bowl uh prospects that may end up finding their way to foxborough Roxborough this fall? We all know where I live, people. I live in the trenches. And I'm falling deep in love with Washington's Jackson Kirkland. Offensive lineman, can play left tackle, can play left guard. I love this kid. I do. I love everything that I'm hearing out of Las Vegas about him.

Starting point is 00:26:24 And like I said, he's somebody that the Patriots might be able to grab, say, in the third or fourth round. Hopefully he doesn't jump up, you know, doesn't light too many people on fire and he's down there. And then maybe Mike can get the apple of his eye up there in the first round or early late in the middle of the first round late in a second i never said he was the apple of my eye i just said that i was really looking forward to seeing what he can do right uh to be totally honest with you yeah the guy that i'm watching is jackson kirkland as well i mean there's so much to like about this kid without any question first of all most importantly he fills a need the Patriots need starting caliber left tackle talent this kid's got it he absolutely does 2019 2020 the

Starting point is 00:27:13 John P Angel lineman of the year award um you do not earn that by simply being a big buddy and this kid definitely has one six seven three hundred seven pounds yeah there's a that's a lot of jackson kirken without any question and the thing that i love about this kid is not only does he have better than average timing in the run game but pass protection that's where he's at his best great football iq this kid has always praised for being one of the smartest kids out on the field and that's something that you can't really you can cultivate it you can try to instill it but you can't really inject it that's got to be in you and Kirkland definitely has that he's a team captain he's another one of those five-year guys because of you know everything that happened

Starting point is 00:27:57 with COVID so a little bit older and he um he's given up five sacks in five years, five sacks. OK, this is where it has to start, people. This is where where the rubber meets the road is on this offensive line. And I think Kirkland Kirkland is somebody that can do it. And Antonio Maffee, am I pronounced that right? Maffee or Maffee out of UCLA. He's somebody else that I've got my eye on. He's more of an interior guy.

Starting point is 00:28:29 But the Patriots should have no problems in building from depth at that point. He's another big guy. He's 6'4", 340 pounds, And he is just a run greater. This, this kid, pardon me, has a bit of a mean streak in them. And that's what this offensive line is missing is a mean streak. Okay. It's just, it has not been there the last two years. Bring these two stud league bastards in and let's start building a winner. Yeah, absolutely. And I think that Kirkland at this point, like I said, and like you said, I think very well and really not leaving too much left to leave on the table, just really fills such a need for New England in so many ways, not just on the field, but also that attitude,

Starting point is 00:29:26 that little bit of pop that they need in that offensive line, I think is going to be something interesting. A guy that may be a little bit under the radar here that I have my eye on, maybe because of the college, maybe because of the Cinderella story part two that this could possibly give here, but I think you know who I'm going to be talking about. And that is William and Mary Wright tackle Kobe Sarsdahl. Now, the Patriots have already dipped into this well, and yeah, folks,

Starting point is 00:29:50 I use Cinderella's story. We all know about Bill Murray. I'm not going to start dropping the lines. I knew you were going to do it. Yeah, we're going to talk about the meat and potatoes here, and this kid brings it. During his time as a member of the tribe in William and Mary, 46 career starts, two-time all caa standout consensus all america selection as a senior

Starting point is 00:30:11 2022 started all 13 games at right tackle helped his team rank third nationally in russian and fourth fewest in sacks allowed per game with 0.77 that's great run protection that's great pass protection kid really really cultivates an opportunity for a team to get better at run protection something that i think the patriots could use as well this kid definitely is not starting caliber right out of the gate but i think you can look at him as being a solid depth piece especially at right tackle we know the problems that the patriots had there this year. Several of their tackles are up for free agency. I wouldn't mind taking a late round flyer on this.

Starting point is 00:30:50 No, not at all. This kid is probably above practice squad level right now, but not quite somebody that you would stick into a rotation. He needs work with his, he needs somebody to work with him on his footwork and a little bit of technique. He's gotten away. Playing at a school like William & Mary, you can get away with being the size that this young man is.

Starting point is 00:31:17 He's another mammoth individual. But the building blocks are there. And no, I wouldn't mind seeing a late round flyer taken on him either. The more offensive lineman, more better. That's, that's the way I look at it. I've been on record saying that I'm very happy with the weapons that, that the Patriots do have. There's a couple of running backs, maybe not at the shrine bowl, but,

Starting point is 00:31:44 but in this draft that I would, I would love for them to take a look at. But, no, at the offensive line, like I said, it all begins and ends in the trenches, folks. And the more depth that you can build there, we all saw what happened last year with the lack of depth, the better. There are guys that are coming up. There are guys that are going to be retiring. There are guys on this line that won't be here next year

Starting point is 00:32:10 for whatever reason you want to bring out. But these are guys, the guys that we're talking about right now, can definitely push for roster spots. Yeah, without any question. He'll be on the east side, so it's going to be interesting to see the Patriots, you know, maybe keeping an eye on their enemy. Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer, right, Murph? You know, I guess that's...

Starting point is 00:32:33 True, but I mean, I've got a friend that, you know, not a lot of people are talking about, and that's Connor Galvin out of our old friend, you know, out of Baylor. And we all know who we took out of Baylor last year. The Slim Reaper looks pretty good in the Patriots uniform. I think this kid could come in here and make some noise from day one in camp. Yeah. Yeah. Another Galvin.

Starting point is 00:32:57 Oh, yeah. Another big body. Yeah. Another 6'7". 6'7". I mean, you talk about twin towers, you know. Absolutely. You know, for all the stuff that towers, you know? Absolutely. You know, for all the stuff that we, you know,

Starting point is 00:33:07 mentioned about Trent Brown and the size that he brings to the table and he does, you know, these kids, you know, sometimes. Galvin I'm looking at as day three. Yeah. I think that's a solid prediction for him. Yeah, absolutely. And, and Galvin has his weight a little bit more. I think we, you know, distributed evenly throughout his body,

Starting point is 00:33:24 but one knock on Kirkland. And I think there's really only one knock on kirkland might be that he needs to bulk up in his lower body a little bit really anchor himself some more sand in that those pants yeah exactly if that's the case and he does add that then i think this kid has starting level capabilities written all over him could be a uh hidden gem a diamond in the rough murph before we take our leave of senior of the, excuse me, because the Senior Bowl is coming up this week as well, and that's something that you're going to want to keep right here on

Starting point is 00:33:51 Locked On Podcast Network. Locked On is going to the Senior Bowl, folks, and we'll have you covered with all of the information down in Mobile, but the Shrine Bowl, again, I think one of my favorite underrated opportunities for teams to do some scouting. If we're going to take ourselves out of the trenches for just a moment,

Starting point is 00:34:12 who do you have on your radar that is not a trench player, offensive or defensive skill position? Who should the Patriots be keeping their eye on this week? Brenton Cox Jr. out of Florida. I love this kid. He's 6'3", 251 pounds. He gets after the quarterback like few other people in this draft, and he's not somebody that's going to go super early. I like the way he drops back into coverage, what he lacks in other areas. He makes up for in that area.

Starting point is 00:34:43 I think he's somebody that could come in here and Bill could use in certain situations. You know, he's probably a two down player right now, but he could grow into more. Absolutely. Very, very good choice. My choice always, I'm going to go with the defensive back. I'm going to go with the cornerback. I can't help it. It's just the way I'm built.

Starting point is 00:35:04 But I really want to get a chance and an opportunity to see what Makai Garner can do. Now, yesterday at the Shrine Bowl, we got a little information from A.T. Perry stating that Garner may have tweaked himself a little bit. This is worth watching, folks, because he may sit out the remainder of the week but definitely a strong prospect and you have to think that the patriots even if they don't see a lot of him on the field throughout the course of the week until thursday's game uh one to keep in the in the the direction or at least a sharp eye on when it comes to film good size uh they need size a corner no question about it six two two twelve he's gonna fill that uh void strengthen the length to compete at the catch point i like what i see from this kid everybody the catchphrase on mckay you're going to see him oh he's best in zone he's his own guy um i think he's a little better impressed man than

Starting point is 00:35:55 he gets credit for look at some of the film they don't want a lot of it yeah they really don't but when you put into it i think he's able to hold his own and if they can find an adequate coaching staff to be able to coach him up a little bit and the patriots have that i think it's just there's an opportunity for him to be a good fit here um i was looking forward to seeing what the pats were going to do on the west side testing him with some of those speedy receivers yeah maybe a big bodied receiver so no i'm not talking about zay flowers i'm talking about other receivers but test him a little bit because that's where this kid is really good at being able to get in there and mix up with a big physical receiver, something again, the Patriots did lack this year. So opportunities galore. I definitely want to see what he can do. And we're going to

Starting point is 00:36:40 continue to keep our sharp eye, not just on the trying bowl, but the senior bowl as well. It's scouting week Murph, and we couldn couldn't be happier we love this time of year here in foxborough we really do and i can't get out of here without talking about a michigan guy um there's there's no no program uh that the patriots have have hit up more than michigan over the last 10 years we all know we need a kicker, Jake Moody. Absolutely. Absolutely. Moody is definitely a, hey, I'll do you one better. And the Sooners have kind of crept their way into Patriots lore. Take a look at Michael Turk down there, folks.

Starting point is 00:37:17 Doing some great punting, averaging 51.2 yards per punt during his first season as a Sooner. Eight of his 35 punts went for more than 60 yards. His kid's got power. Teach him a little bit of control. I think the Patriots could be on to something, especially if the situation with Jake Bailey continues to deteriorate, which we're hoping for the best possible outcome here, but nobody knows anything right now. We all love Jake. We all hope that whatever's going on with him physically and with the Patriots irons itself out.

Starting point is 00:37:48 But, yeah, you've got to be prepared for it. You can't get caught the way they were this year without being able to flip a field, and you need that punter. And if they can find that leg in the draft, go get it. Absolutely. Go get it. I completely agree with you and do it because the Patriots will be a better team

Starting point is 00:38:08 to do that. Murph, what can I say? We always appreciate your wisdom and counsel here on Locked On Patriots. Folks, the best in the business as far as I'm concerned. Follow him on the Bird app at TeamMurph207. All of his written work can be found on E2GSports.com.

Starting point is 00:38:24 Some of the great football work, some of the best baseball work. I'm a little biased. I think it is the best baseball work you'll find anywhere, but you be the judge. Definitely check it out. You won't be disappointed. And don't forget to check him out each and every week on One Patriot's Place alongside the Countess of Klaas herself, the illustrious Claire Klaasie Claire Cooper, who will join me here on Wednesday. In the meantime, folks, please, once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen every day. Remember, once again, Locked On Patriots, free and available on all platforms, as is

Starting point is 00:39:01 what should be your second listen to the Locked on NFL podcast. All of the news on the Shield, all the news on Super Bowl 57, covered in a package that you definitely will be glad that you opened up. So definitely check them out wherever you get your podcasts as well. On behalf of the great, the legendary, Connor Murphy Fisto himself, my good friend Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate. Continue to stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

Starting point is 00:39:32 Whoever loses the Super Bowl, I'll be happy.

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