Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Hits or Misses in Free Agency’s First Wave; QB or No OB in Mock Drafts?

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

The New England Patriots are about to enter the second wave of free agency. However, did they do enough in the initial stages to position themselves well for the NFL Draft? Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Thomas ‘Murph’ Murphy to discuss the Pats first free agent moves and break down a pair of post free-agency mock drafts. Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer. BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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)

Ten internal free agents, seven external free agents. Are the Patriots taking the prudent approach or being overly frugal? 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, and thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage also and hopefully

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Legal tampering period long since been in the past. Your New England Patriots hoping to build the bridge back to respectability have they done enough to do that well we're going to talk about that today as well as sharing the mock drafts of two all-stars as we promised earlier this week it is mock draft monday redux style we're going to share two of our very favorites and it's always an honor when these gentlemen submit folks you're not going to want to miss these. They're going to be great mock drafts to see, and they're actually going to give us something to think about heading into our traditional Mock Draft Monday.

Folks, if we're talking mock drafts at all, if we're even mentioning the word, we are contractually obligated. No, I kid you not, folks. We are honored and humbled to have my good friend with us here today. Who else would join us on a mock draft day but the legend himself, the Count of Murphy Fisto, my good friend Thomas Murphy. Thank you for coming to me in friendship today.

That's it, man. A little Pony Express action today. We got them on Monday, and they had to traverse some terrible conditions, weather, and Native Americans that just didn't want them crossing their line. But the mock drafts ended up here. And here we are with you. Yes, we are the originators, often duplicated, but often imitated, but never duplicated. I can't even speak this morning.

I'm so exhausted, people. That's what the patriots are doing. All right. Weaponized? Weaponized? We're going to weaponize? Okay. You know, this is nuclear deploriferation. That's what's happening here in Foxborough. You know, we're getting everybody, you know, we're getting rid of any options of pushing that red button right now and it's really ticking me off okay well you know what folks we're better to begin than exactly there obviously Murph has a little bit of a bone to pick with the term weaponize I can't necessarily say that I blame him you look up and down on this roster right now and you don't exactly see the weapons that were promised

no Gerard Mayo used the words himself i know he backtracked off of that folks and i'm not going to hold him to that because i understand being in the moment being excited and maybe saying something that was a little off the cuff but when you go in front of a camera and you talk about burning cash and you talk about adding talent one thousand percent and those were his words one thousand then you're going to have to back that up. And a lot of Patriots fans right now are upset that the team has yet to back that up. I can understand a lot of their frustration. I can understand maybe even some of their anger.

Let's start with the big fish of the week. And that is Calvin Ridley. I know a lot of Patriots fans are upset that they did not swing harder for the fences on this. This is one area, and I talked about this a little bit with Dan Kelly yesterday here on the show. With regard to Ridley, the New England Patriots would have had to have gone $23 million per year. Obviously, the inflated totals at the end of the contract, the $92 million, is including incentives. It includes a lot of back deals and our good friend Miguel has always told us right from the get-go do not fall for the initial number folks don't

fall in love with that initial number there are so many intricacies involved in the structure of a contract that that number that you hear is almost never the final number so it's not so much what the contract offer was reported it's the annual value and bidding at that point against what right i believe was an overwhelming offer coming in from tennessee probably wanted to know what the highest bid was they were willing to maximize it go above and beyond i think the patriots did take a um an admirable swing at ridley. But then you look at some of the moves that are being made and Patriots almost getting scooped on some of these. Talk about Jonah Williams.

Jonah Williams went for a very affordable deal. Keenan Allen of the Los Angeles Chargers going to the Chicago Bears for a fourth round pick. It almost looks like the New England Patriots have taken their foot off of the accelerator when it comes to being aggressive.ph in your estimation do you believe that the Patriots are being as aggressive as they need to be right now in not just weaponizing this offense but getting competent players in to be able to move the needle and get them out of a 4-13 doldrum

yeah exactly um you know and I've been getting a lot of pushback on this as to, you know, the Patriots spending smartly and you've got to be patient, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And no, how about, how about I just, you know, one of the, one of the questions I got today was, you know, you know, by the time that whatever quarterback they select, and we don't know that they're going to select a quarterback in the first round. Hopefully they'll select one somewhere in the draft this year. But, you know, in the time that that quarterback is up to speed, you know, guys like Keenan Allen are going to be, you know, over the hill and, and yada, yada, yada, and, and gone and out of here. And how about, how about I just enjoy next season? Okay. Could I do that?

Could I do that? Could we bring Keenan Allen here in here for a fourth round pick to maybe teach some of these younger guys how to be a professional, you know, how to run a route, you know, maybe, maybe help the, the bulked up slim Reaper. I'm going to have to stop calling junior, the slim Reaper. Did you see that pick out yesterday, Mike? Oh my God, the kid's jacked. He's looking good. You know, Tyquan Thornton is jacked, folks. He's been putting in the works.

It's gamma. It's gamma induced. But no, they have taken their foot off the accelerator. I think what has happened this year with the amount of cap space that they have, they still haven't reached the floor. All right. And they're still cutting guys and they're passing on people, you know, get to the floor, spend some of this money to get to the floor.

Even if you have to overpay to to bring somebody in here by five or six6 million a year. I'm fine with it. I have no problem with it. You have the money. It's not my money. I don't, I mean, it is my money. I'm the one spending, um, spending cash, but I, it just seems like once again, as much as, as Bob craft wants to put it on bill as to, you know, bill has had all the money that he's had, whatever he's asked for, I'm pretty sure right now it's going to show everybody that Robert Kraft has a budget. He gave it to Bill, and Bill was the one that decided how to spend that. Now you folks might not have liked it, you know, his next man up situation and overpaying some of them and staying away from the stars. He was able to do that with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski and Edelman and Amendola in later years. I think that that's what you're seeing this season is the fact that,

yeah, we have this money, but it doesn't mean that we're going to spend over the cap. We're not going to get creative with anything because you could have. You could have gotten creative with some of these moves and you didn't. And I'm not just talking about, um, about the wide receiver position. Okay. You can go, you can go to, um, to the running backs that were out there this year. Um, you know, Josh Jacobs was out, was out there. He ended up, uh, you know, going to green Bay for $12 million a year on a four year deal. Okay. The Patriots could have done something there and kicked it up to five. I much would rather had Josh Jacobs in here. Um, Saquon Barkley, you know, he's $12 million. DeAndre Swift, $8 million, you know, and, and the, the Patriots give us, um,

give us what Antonio Gibson. Really? I mean, I like Antonio Gibson. I do. We needed a third down back and he's going to fit in there. But how about we fill out this room a little bit? And then when you actually hear what Pharaoh Brown had to say yesterday, where he felt insulted by the offer that the Patriots gave him, you know, it's, it's really everything old is new again. And, and, and I'm ticked off because you had the second most cap space in the league, you know, depending on where you went, where I'm not sure what Miguel said, we'll go with Miguel's number as to where the Patriots sat there, but you're not out there spending that cash. And I don't want to hear that, that, well, you can't spend it all in one season or you can't do it all in one season.

Nobody's asking you that, but there has to be building blocks. And I don't think the Patriots have, have, um, gone out and gotten the, uh, the, the bedrock that they needed in this, um this free agent season i love what they did in bringing people back you know i thought that those were some fantastic moves uh but they they should have gone out and done more michael and i'm not happy where my disappointment comes in i think is not so much that the patriots aren't burning cash it's that they're not looking at alternative ways to bring in savvy veterans that can be a help for a young quarterback. I know a lot of people are giving them a pass on Keenan Allen. I'm not so quick to do that with the New England Patriots.

I've covered Keenan in Los Angeles. I understand the type of value this guy brings to a young offense. And being an elder statesman now in this league is something that does bring an awful lot of pedigree it brings an awful lot of experience it brings that level that the Patriots don't have in this locker room right now I know I've constantly gone on and on about how great a route runner Hunter Henry is as a matter of fact and every day are suggested that uh it should be a drinking game every time I talk about how great a route runner Hunter Henry is for being a tight end folks, I kid you not Keenan Allen is the best route runner I've ever covered. Maybe that I've ever seen. If you're writing a textbook on how to run routes, Keenan Allen is chapter one. In my estimation, if a quarterback

is coming in, whether it be at number three or whether it not be at number three, it's going to be a rookie and you're going to need to learn pro level route timing folks it's a lot different than the collegiate game i understand that there's a lot more similarities between college and the pros nowadays but it's still a much different animal when you step on a pro football field you need a captain that knows those waters you need a receiver that knows those routes. Keenan Allen knows everyone in the book and then some. That's a guy that can bring you a lot of talent. That's a guy that can bring you a lot of experience and he can help make a young quarterback look even better. This is a missed opportunity in my estimation for the New England Patriots. And what Keenan Allen would have brought

into the wide receiver room in teaching some people, you know, like Taequann Thornton, where are you supposed to be and where you should break on this? That it's, it's, it's almost, it's almost a steal at $18 million. It's almost a steal. Yeah, it is. And again, that's the knock on it. You know, that he's got baggage coming in. It's not just a matter of giving up a fourth rounder but folks with the money that the Patriots do have available that teaching experience like Murph

said is so invaluable to a young quarterback so yeah if you're feeling a little bit of the sting that the New England Patriots haven't exactly weaponized the offense just yet I understand your frustration Murph's upset to be honest I'm upset and I think we're all upset here in Patriots Nation the one thing that I will caution all Patriots fans on though is take a long-term approach I know it's not the popular opinion I know it doesn't sit right it doesn't feel well but if the Patriots are planning on punting and trying to roll some of this over in the next season yeah maybe we'll see how some of that takes shape especially with the draft you know folks what are your thoughts on what the Patriots have done this week? Do you think they've done enough? Do you

think they've done just the right amount? Are you like-minded with Murph? Do you think there's a lot more that should have been done and needs to be done here in New England? We want to hear what you think, so drop a note in the comment section below. Good, bad, or indifferent, as long as it's respectful, we welcome it. We're going to keep a sharp eye on them as well too and answer your great questions right there in the comments section or don't hesitate to reach out to Murph or myself on Twitter if you're not on YouTube if you're listening to this podcast we're always happy to interact with you each and every day on the former Bert app the X app now Murph or whatever you want to call it these days. But it's time to think about post-free agency drafting. And that's what Murph and I are going to do today with two of our very favorite

draft submitters. We're going to start with our man LJ in a minute. Definitely get your popcorn ready, folks. You're going to love this one. LJ addresses some positions of need without addressing the white elephant in the room. It's amazing, folks. You're going to need to see this one to believe it. We're going to talk about it in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots

podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Every day. Did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement, you can still have an IRA? Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. But get this, now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. That's right, no cap on the 3% match. Robinhood Gold gets you the most for your retirement

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Lockdown listeners, as you know, Lockdown has launched the first ever national sports 24-7 streaming channel, Lockdown Sports Today. Baseball fans, mark your calendars for March 20th at 7 p.m. Eastern for the best MLB season preview coming exclusively to Lockdown Sports Today. On March 20th at 7 p.m. Eastern,

be the first to get local insight from the MLB local experts of the Locked On Podcast Network. Find it on March 20th at 7 p.m. Eastern on the Locked On Sports Today 24-7 streaming channel on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. Pat's fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriot. It is free agency breakdown. It is post-free agency mock draft. And because of that, who else would join us here today to break it all down, lend his wisdom, counsel, and even a little vitriol?

Our good friend, Thomas Murphy. Don Murph, in the previous previous segment we talked a lot about the patriots approach to free agency what they've done what they haven't done and whether or not it's the right course of action but now the attention needs to be pivoted away from free agency or at least somewhat folks free agency is not over yet you still have to keep a sharp eye on it but now the sharpest eye needs to be focused toward the nfl draft and because of that a couple of drafts that were submitted earlier this week that we didn't have time to discuss on monday because of the impending legal tampering period right we decided to make today an all-star mock draft and

this may be one of the more intriguing mock drafts that we've seen folks you may love it you may hate it probably most really hate it but this was guts personified by our man lj who continues to live life without a stitch of fear and i love it i absolutely love it without further ado folks for the benefit of those of you who are listening to this podcast he has the patriots trading down and picking at number eight for the first time murph i know you love this offensive tackle notre dame joe alt goes at number eight thank you thank you so much i i don't think he will last to eight, but we keep saying, you know, you have to draft the board that they give you when you're submitting

these mock drafts. And Joe Alt at eight. And then he picks up the 27th pick and he grabs Brock Bowers. Brock Bowers. I love it. I love it. Donnie Mitchell, I'm going to let you go. But, mean, you know, I'm thrilled with Joe Alt at eight. Picking up the draft picks that he did to go along with moving down that far is just amazing. This is a fantastic first, you know, four rounds of this draft, maybe five. Yeah, Five. We're looking at the first five rounds. This is, this is amazing. He brings in two wide receivers, the, an offensive tackle that is going

to Canton. Sorry, jumbo. He's going to Canton. Um, and, uh, and then to come back with Brock Bowers, Mitchell, Franklin. I really like Franklin. I don't think that he's going to end up being one of the premier guys. He's not going to be an all-pro. He's going to be a fantastic complementary wide receiver. I'm not sure there's enough room in the wide receiver and tight end rooms for all this talent right now. We might have to cut a few people. Yeah, we might. There's no question.

We might have to cut a few people down. I mean, Alt at the top of the pick, if you're getting him at number eight, I think you're getting a steal. I completely agree. I don't think he's there at number eight. I even have difficulty believing that Bowers is going to be there at number 27. I mean, this is an all-world is a next level talent. Bowers is the top 10 at the very least, the top 15 pick probably, but you draft what they give you. I would love this. Absolutely. Oh yeah. If you can,

if you can maneuver this board, the way LJ has done it, definitely a good thing without any question. I've talked about Adonai Mitchell before here here i think this is a great pick at number 34 this kid has the ability to be a game-breaking receiver versatile speed all the tools this kid has got them i like what you said about keenan allen would have helped a whole whole bunch oh yeah absolutely yeah you take it you want to talk about this kid under his tutelage learning how to run routes yeah i mean harnessing that type of talent and really cultivating it. Yeah, it could have been a beautiful thing, folks. Troy Franklin, I agree with what you said on him. I think Troy is always going to be a complimentary piece in a pro-level offense, but a strong complimentary piece, folks. We're not talking about an also-ran here. This kid, I think,

is going to be a solid receiver for many years to come. He's got the makeup for it. Jatavion sanders i would love to see this in new england especially with now the tight endage room looking like it's going to be hunter henry and austin hooper yeah i would love to see a pure blocking tight end in there um you know i think that's something to aspire to in the later rounds for the new england patriots if they're looking for a solid blocking tight end but Jatavion Sanders has the chance to be a tight end one with the right cultivation and learning from Hunter Henry would be a great experience for him as well

so Patriots definitely double dipping into tight endage double dipping into wide receivers and they're getting weapons Murph this is sort of the beginning stages of weaponizing the offense. This is weaponizing. And that leads me to my question for you, my friend. When you look at this draft, and this is why LJ continues to live life without fear, folks. Right. No quarterback anywhere listed on this draft. Without a quarterback, none of these guys are going to be able to succeed in Ernst.

But the Patriots do have quarterbacks in the room right now, Murph. It's not like they don't have anybody on this roster. Jacoby Brissett, once again, back in the fold. Veteran presence. Bailey Zappi started for six games last year. Better than a lot of people had hoped. And, of course, Nathan Rourke as your quarterback three right now. Right.

Believe it or not, I do actually know that. Welcome to Fantasy Island. So in that vein, if the Patriots decided to shy away from the quarterback market this way, is there even a remote chance, in reality now, that the New England Patriots could roll it into this year with Brissette, Zappi, and Rourke as one, two, and three, and choosing to weaponize the way LJ has done here? I wouldn't be wholeheartedly against that right now if they ignore the quarterback position in this year's draft. Now, honestly, right now, folks, I can't tell you that I'm thrilled with next year's quarterback class. I'm not really sure with free agency and in the draft.

So I do think the Pats will end up drafting one. But this is, you know, at the end, I think we're getting a great time, aren't we here? So I think at the end, man, this is an A draft. The only thing keeping it from an a plus is the lack of that quarterback yeah i'm gonna go b plus on this draft uh and the only reason why lj is because of the lack of a quarterback and another thing to keep under your hat folks is the fact of whether or not the patriots believe that any of the top three are generational quarterbacks right purpose discussed this several times the minnesota vikings Vikings on Friday morning pulled the trigger on a trade that allowed them to acquire the number 23 pick in the draft. They now hold two first rounders that you know the New England Patri action can they still get a quarterback or can they get

a stockpile of weapons maximize that number three pick yeah and still be able to field a solid team next year who knows there's going to be i would have to think and i would have to think really hard about that if i was the wolf yeah absolutely and you know this is going to be something that they will have to consider and they will have to think about if in fact, the Minnesota Vikings come calling with that number 11 and that number 23. And you have to think they're going to add a little sweetener into the deal as well. I don't think it's going to be just those two. The Patriots hold all the cards here. If the Vikings want to trade up, it means they believe that one of those three quarterbacks is the guy that's going to put them over the top. Patriots have to utilize that to their advantage. Learn the bargaining chips. You want to quid pro quo, but you want to make sure that you're coming out with more

quo than the opposite side. And that's, I think, the challenge that Elliott Wolfe has now with the New England Patriots. Folks, in just a moment, we're going to be taking a look at another mock draft from another one of our all-stars, a member of the mock draft Mount Rushmore here on Locked On Patriots. Murph and I are going to discuss that in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, we've all been there. You want tickets to the big game or your favorite musical artist, and you just can't find an easy and affordable way to get them?

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Last-minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots with the counter Murphy Fisto himself the legendary Thomas Murphy Murph we've talked a lot about Patriots free agency we've talked about strategy we've talked about how that's going to affect their draft strategy and a major tip of the cap and really a lot of admiration to LJ for your courage first off and for a lot of ingenuity in the previous draft that we just discussed.

Yeah, absolutely. LJ, you are truly a favorite. We love you, pal. And thank you so much. Keep them coming because we want to see more like that. Murph, we're at the second mock draft of our annex version of Mock Draft Monday here on Locked On Patriots. And one of our all-time greats, one of our very favorite everydayers,

submitted a mock draft that I think will be interesting, especially considering J.J. McCarthy. And you mentioned how he is rising in the ranks up into potentially a top 10, potentially even maybe even a top five pick in the 2024 NFL draft. And this draft comes courtesy of our good friend

Andrew Carraway, who you can find at Carraway6. The Patriots have a lot of holes right now on this offense, on this, even on this defense. I think he's filled every single one of them admirably. And he starts off with

trading down to number eight. Patriots, again, LJ had the Patriots picking at eight. Now Carraway has them picking at number eight, dropping down, again, LJ had the Patriots picking at eight. Now, Carraway has them picking at number eight, dropping down five spots, still getting their quarterback, J.J. McCarthy out of Michigan, Murph. What is it about J.J. right now that you think is causing him to rise on so many draft boards? He's a champion, and the work that he was able to do at the Combine was that impressive,. I, and he's, he's rising

up boards. Uh, he interviewed amazingly well with everybody that he talked to, uh, down there in Indianapolis and he's, it's only going to keep happening. He's just going to keep moving up because that's the impression that this guy makes on coaches and GMs when he sits down and talks with them. This young man is brilliant. Okay. And the only reason that he's not being talked about with the big three, as we say, is because his head coach in college didn't let him throw the ball. Especially at this time of year, Murph, it's always interesting to see who starts to rise on draft boards, who starts to ascend, who starts to get some buzz surrounding him. If the Patriots can drop down and he's still there at number eight, which I think is doable

at this point. I'm not saying it's a slam dunk because believe it or not, like Murph said, a lot of draft boards are showing JJ really rising very quickly. But if that's an area where they feel that they can nab him do not be a bit surprised to see the Patriots entertaining trading down I know it's not popular but it's gaining some steam and especially with what we just talked about in Minnesota acquiring another pick you know the Patriots are going to have their share of offers on the table for that pick and I've been talking up Pennix for a very long time and because we can get him the the patriots can get

him in the second round i'm not sure that he's going to be there in the second round now yeah absolutely i'm not sure he's going to be there either and to tell you the truth i really don't know why he would slip to the second round murph you've said this several times on these airwaves and i completely agree with you each and every time you say it, with the exception of the injuries, which don't seem to be an issue any longer. There's really nothing not to like about this kid's game. He's got a lot to give. I think the kid is a natural stud, and I think he's going to be a very good quarterback in this league. He's got almost a full bag of clubs.

He really does. The only drawback were those knees and the shoulder, and they signed off on it in Indianapolis. And they don't do that lightly. It's not like you meet with one doctor. You meet with everybody's doctor. And everybody signed off on it. He's got two healthy knees. This is not a Triscuit knees situation, folks.

And I would still love to see Pennix here probably more than I would like to see JJ McCarthy. I'm sorry, Thor. I am. I'm sorry. You can have them. You can have them give me the best pure passer in this, in this class. And I, I think that's Pennix. You returned to Andrew's draft here. And I think he's also done a great job. Number 34, Ladd McConkie. I know Murph has waxed poetically about the wide receiver out of Georgia coming in here. I would love to see this move. Yep, love it.

Patrick Paul, offensive tackle out of Houston. Again, looking like a solid option. Some people are talking that Patrick Paul isn't a day one pick and might not be a starter right out of the gate. Go look at the tape, people. Okay, he's not Joe Hall. Oh, I think he can be. But he's a day one starter.

Patrick Paul is just a massive individual that, yes, needs to get coached up on a few things, but fantastic pick here at 44. Yeah. Number 68. Interesting Murph. It's going with a center here. Obviously this probably means the Jake Andrews experiment, not going to work out so well.

Cedric out of Georgia here. What are your thoughts on this one? This was the interesting one to me. This one. It was to me too. I, but I think that, that he would be a fantastic understudy to Andrews in the first year or two and then then slide right in there.

This kid is is somebody that I really enjoy watching. When I went and checked out the tape on him, he's a fantastic road grader. He knows he he can sit there and point out you know there's the mic go go go get him he he he checks all the boxes at center absolutely truly never stop drafting centers people never stop drafting centers and then uh then in the latter part of this draft we've got kairi jackson the cornerback out of oregon coming in at number 102, addressing tight end is Jaheim Bell. We talked about maybe drafting someone with a little bit of blocking prowess down the line here.

Tight end out of Florida State. Of course, Dylan Lauby. I've gone on and on about my feelings on this young gentleman. I know the Patriots have added Antonio Gibson. I still want Dylan Lauby in a Patriots uniform. I think they're great in that. And then two defensive picks I think that are solid picks here. Gabe Hall, the defensive tackle out of Baylor, never can have too much defensive tackle firepower and add some depth there. And then Jalen Simpson

at number 231 picking out of Auburn. I love this. I love this pick right there. Yeah, that had to hurt, but, but, you know, Andrew always puts, you know, team above all else. And he's got position versatility. He plays cornerback and he plays safety. Once again, you know, we've talked earlier about the fact that the Patriots still don't have that true center fielder. OK, this this this would allow the guys to move back up, you know, closer to the line and put somebody in there, you know, maybe not this year, but, you know, definitely in the rotation with the other guys that are out there and learn on the fly. But I like the fact that he's played both safety and cornerback in college. And he's just a fantastic job, Buck. Just a fantastic job. Absolutely.

Murph, we're at grading time. What say you, if young Carraway comes in and hands you this draft card, what's Professor Murph handing out? A plus because you hit on every position of need, bud. You did. You hit on every position of need. And I would take this draft in April. Please give me this draft in April. And pairing that with what the Patriots had done in free agency. And I think two contrasting opinions, two contrasting styles in terms of now drafting for the players that you know are going to be under contract next year and are going to be a part of your team. These are the moves that the New England Patriots now, folks, are going to have to consider. And don't forget what Murph and I talked about earlier with the fact that the Minnesota Vikings holding those two picks I only think it

strengthens the argument that teams are going to be inquiring with the Patriots to see what they're going to do with that number three pick and right now trading down is definitely on the table so keep a sharp eye on all of this but on behalf behalf of my good friend, the Count of Murphy, Fisto himself, the Green King of Sting, the Monster Master of Disaster, Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike DeBate reminding you all to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again on Monday on Locked on Patriots.