Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy, Robert Kraft, NFL Rule Changes

Episode Date: March 30, 2024

With the NFL Annual Meetings and their first round of Pro Day visits behind them, the New England Patriots are turning their attention to the 2024 NFL Draft. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Steve Balestrieri of PatsFans.com as the duo discuss the pro day workouts of quarterback prospects Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels and J.J. McCarthy. They also provide their thoughts on the comments made earlier in the week by coach Jerod Mayo and team owner Robert Kraft. Lastly, Mike and Steve weigh in on the NFL rule changes, particularly the hip-drop tackle and kickoff modifications. #nfl #patriots #nfldraft 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)

The New England Patriots have completed week one of their quarterback pro day tours, but the real decisions they have to make are about to begin. 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 your first listen each and every day. Remember Lockdown Patriots is not only a proud part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, but we are also free and available on all platforms. So make sure

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Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $200 if your bet wins. Visit FanDuel.com slash slash locked on to get started. And Pats fans, it has been an eventful week for your New England Patriots. The annual meetings kicking off down in Orlando, Florida. They've since wrapped. A lot coming out of that. Gerard Mayo had a lot to say.

Robert Kraft had even more to say. We're going to discuss that in just a moment, but the Patriots completing their preliminary tours of three pro days where they're scouting potentially their new franchise quarterbacks. All this and a couple of NFL rule changes that may impact your New England Patriots positively. Yeah, that's right. We're going to talk about all that today because we are joined once again to close the week in style here on Lockdown Patriots by our resident voice of reason, my good friend, my Patriots Paisan, columnist extraordinaire for Patsfans.com, and of course, the co-host of another great Patriots podcast, Patriots 4th and 2 alongside Derek Avins. My good buddy, Steve Balistrieri.

Steve, welcome back to the pod. Thanks for joining me here today. Always a pleasure, my friend. It's a beautiful Friday, so we get to talk some football and kick the weekend off, right? And it was an eventful week, although, you know, there was a real quiet front on free agency, but, you know, it's that time of year where teams are now kind of focusing on the draft and they're doing their final prep work. And after the draft, there'll be another smaller but significant free agent frenzy, isn't it? Yeah, without question.

And look, yeah, the sharp eye of most organizations in the NFL right now are turning squarely toward the NFL draft. Pro Day season kicking off. You're going to see a lot of those popping up over the course of the next two or three weeks. But the big three were attended by a very extensive contingent that the Patriots sent to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take a look at JJ McCarthy. They sent that same delegation, almost intact, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana,

to take a look at Jaden Daniels. And, of course, on Thursday, wrapping it all up with a trip to Chapel Hill and Ric Flair country down in North Carolina, taking a look at Drake May. And, folks, I know the Patriots are looking at a lot of different prospects it's not all about the quarterbacks but let's face it Steve the majority the bulk of the media coverage is involving these three quarterbacks and right now the question is have the Patriots found their guy are they in love with one of these three players kind of taking Caleb Williams off the chart here.

We mostly believe he's going number one to the Chicago Bears, barring anything extremely unforeseen. So really what you're looking at is who does Washington pass up on? Are the Patriots locked into taking either Jaden or Drake or JJ, depending on who they've targeted as their next franchise quarterback? Or are they looking at this point now to trade down after what they've targeted as their next franchise quarterback, or are they looking at this point now to trade down after what they've seen this week? You take a reasonable approach to this, so I want to pick your brain first. When you look at the individual performances all week long

at these pro days from those three quarterbacks that we've just mentioned, what has stood out to you as takeaways that you would look at and say, this is what I think the Patriots are going to do from here. I think they're still playing it kind of close to the vest. I mean, their comments afterwards, they spoke very highly about the quarterbacks that they saw and rightfully so they're impressive young, young players and all, all of them have a ton of upside. So, you know, in that aspect, they're kind of sitting on the fence a little bit.

You know, they gushed about the quarterbacks, but at the same time, they kind of said, hey, you know, if we're not, I think Mayo used the word convinced or whatever, but, you know, if they're not in love with one of these guys when it comes to their turn of drafting, you know, trading back is still on the table. I think that they've already made up their mind. I think, just my own personal opinion, if Drake May is there at three, they're taking Drake May. That would be the guy they would like the most.

But I still think if Jaden Daniels is there at three, they'll probably take him as well. And I think more came out of the time they spent with him than the time on the field. You know, May talked about a bunch of different things after his pro day workout meeting with the Patriots. And that's kind of what I go on. You know, I'm one of those guys, Mike, and I'm sure you are, too. The football tape is the big thing. The pro day

is just to solidify, I guess, your feelings on a guy. You're watching this tape. You really like what he has to do. I think if you're already convinced that one of these guys is your guy, then it's just going to drive home the point on pro day. That's such a good point to make, Steve, because these pro days, these workouts, whether they be private workouts, whether they be public pro days, whether it be the NFL combine, they're all designed to make the player look better. They're all designed to bring out the attributes that a player has that's going to make them look good to a professional football team.

If you want to see what these guys can do in practical situations, you've got to watch the game film. And again, folks, we're cautioning you not to necessarily fall in love with highlights. There's a big difference with the highlights that you see on YouTube to actual game footage. Highlights are great. They really do. They can showcase a player's potential. It is exciting to watch. They make for little good snippets on social media. Those are good opportunities for you to see what a player can do when they shine, when they rise above the rest. But the game film is really the best opportunity for you to see it. And not even the All-22 or the media game film or the coach's tape. You can go

back and watch games. So Steve, I think that's an excellent assessment. And I agree with you wholeheartedly. That's where you're really going to see that. One thing that I was impressed about, especially when it came to Jaden's pro day and it came to Drake's pro day, the last couple of days, I saw a lot of simulated pressure on both of these. And again, it is designed to showcase their talent but when you simulate pressure like that and these guys were still delivering on the mark Drake had a couple of overthrows so did Jaden Daniels but when they needed to make the throws they stepped up and they made them and when you look at the attitude that they had either coming in or going out depending on when the Patriots had the opportunity to talk to these guys. They met with Jaden after his workout with Drake. They met with him beforehand.

These are all opportunities for the Patriots to see what type of temperament, what type of mentality they're going to bring to the table post-game and pre-game. And that's also part of the evaluation process as well. In your opinion, did any one of these guys maybe stand out above the rest in terms of what they had to say, not necessarily what they had to do? And do you think it improved their standing at all? Any one of them? I think, you know, and I've been kind of biased because I've been in Drake May's camp since the fall, but I really liked what he had to say. He was very forthcoming. You know, he talked about different things. And even more so, his coaches, when they talked to,

I think it was Patriots.com, they spoke. The guys over there, Evan Lazar, spoke to his coaches. And I really liked what I heard from them, you know. But again, going back to Daniels, you know, in his workout, he didn't wear his jersey. He wore a teammate's jersey who came, you know, suffering down with cancer right now. And it shows a lot about his character.

You know, he was supporting a teammate. And, you know, his actions at the pro day when Malik, you know, neighbors ran that ridiculous 40, you know, he was running down there. You can tell those guys are all close. And so each of them, you know, really showed the kind of intangibles, the leadership, you know, the team first mentality kind of guys. And, you know, all quarterbacks are divas in some aspect of their personality. You have to be to be in that position. But at the same time, you know, these guys, I thought, showed up very, very well. And I like that. Because that's what you want in a quarterback. It's not all about him. It's about his team as a whole and his teammates. And I thought both of

them shined in that aspect. Yeah, I agree. I really think they did. And I liked some of the contrition that you heard from Drake May, acknowledging the fact that, you know, maybe he does need to buy in a little bit to his temperance instead of his desire to constantly push the big play. I think that it shows that he's listening to some of the criticism that he's getting in the media. And look, some of it is justified. But I was also very impressed with what I heard from Jaden Daniels as well. We've heard some negativity, whether it was warranted or not, whether it was legitimate or not. The knock on him is that he didn't necessarily want to come up to New England

and play in these harsh winters. He hit that head on. He says, look, that weather is the same for everybody. It's the same for the opponents. It's the same for me. If a team's going to invest in me, I'm going to play no matter what the conditions are. And I also liked what he had to say about following Tom Brady, because we all know that any quarterback that comes in is going to be playing in 12 shadow.

Mac Jones did it. Bailey Zappi did it. Cam Newton did it to a certain extent when he was here. All tried admirably. I think Cam carried the ball very well up here in his time mac i think did a good job in his rookie season really if you think about it and unfortunately coaching in circumstances just did not support him and that fell apart that became too heavy of a weight for him to carry but jayden seems like the type of guy that can come in and

carry that we all know about drake may confidence. There's no question about it. But I liked seeing that swagger in Jaden Daniels as well. He said, look, I played in Death Valley after Joe Burrow. I'm ready for anything. You know, I'm a game changer. I'm going to come up there and I'm going to be able to show you what I can do. We've talked about this several times. It's kind of like Viper talking to Maverick and Top Gun and saying, you know what?

That's arrogant considering the company that you're in. But I like that in a pilot. I do like that in a quarterback and I was impressed by that. So I think the Patriots coming away with either one of these guys could be a good thing. We're talking a lot about Jaden Daniels and Drake May. J.J. McCarthy had a very impressive workout and a lot of people are thinking he could be now not only top five, but maybe top three as he entered the fray here. Could the Patriots walk away with the Michigan Wolverine as their quarterback heading into 2024? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we don't know, you know, who they really like and who they don't. I mean, you know, we really won't know that, I guess,

for another four weeks. But, you know, I'm just going to say this. And, again, it's just my personal opinion. I think the top three guys are a slight step ahead of McCarthy. I think he's just a little below all of those guys as a quarterback. Not that he's bad. I don't think he's bad at all. I think he's just a little below all of those guys as a quarterback. Not that he's bad. I don't think he's bad at all. I think he's very good.

He has a lot of the intangibles that you look for. And because of the system that he played in in Michigan, you know, he didn't have the opportunity to put those eye-popping numbers up. But at the same time, you know, I'm kind of hoping that Washington falls in love with McCarthy and takes him at two, because I want to see who the Patriots really like. Is it Jaden Daniels or is it Drake May? Because as you said,

I think Caleb Williams is definitely going number one with Chicago. So I'm kind of hoping Washington falls in love with McCarthy and grabs him at number two because that would give the Patriots – we'll really see who they like. And I don't think it's going to play out that way, but you never know. It's true. And that would be very interesting.

If JJ goes number two to the Washington commanders, then it really is the ultimate choice. And you'll know who the Patriots wanted all along. If it falls the way we think it's going to fall, where Caleb Williams goes one, Jaden goes two and Drake goes three to the New England Patriots. Yeah, then it's almost like, okay, well, we settled for the third option.

I still don't think they're settling. I think the New England Patriots are very impressed with what they've seen from Drake May, and I think that would be a solid consolation prize. And I say that tongue-in-cheek because I don't think picking anyone with his type of talent and his type of ceiling is a consolation prize, folks. So what are your thoughts after pro day workouts, after the Patriots have met now with all of the top options, they've even met with Washington's Michael Penix, folks. We do not mean to slight him in the least. Murph and I talked a little bit about Michael yesterday here on Locked On Patriots. Drop us a note in the line below. Who do you want to see

the Patriots take at number three? Or are you in Camp Murph and you want to see them take Joe All with their first rounder? Yeah, I think it's going to be interesting to see what the Patriots have up their sleeve. But, Steve, we did get a little insight as to what the head coach and the team owner are thinking. NFL annual meetings also were happening this week,

and the Patriots had a full delegation down there as well, meeting with the media, opening some eyes, and saying some things that caught sharp eyes. Steve and I are going to talk about what the owner and the coach had to say when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Locked On listeners, say goodbye to busted brackets because FanDuel lets you bet on every game of the tourney. Whether you're betting on a big upset or on a number one seed,

it's time to go dancing on America's number one sportsbook. Test your confidence with FanDuel because right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. That's $200 to use on point spreads, money lines. You can even pick who's going to win it all. Just visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and bet on college hoops until they cut down the next. FanDuel.com slash LockedOn. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on LockedOn Patriots, a special weekend edition. And joining me here today is my good friend, my Patriots bison of Patsfans.com, and of

course, the Patriots 4th and 2 podcast, Steve Balistrieri. And Steve, we talked a lot about Patriots attendance of the pro day workouts earlier this week. Jaden Daniels, JJ McCarthy, Drake May, Patriots have some decisions to make. But one of the things that I think was interesting about the week is the NFL annual meetings that happen every year down in Orlando, Florida. Coaches get a chance to meet with the media. The owners get a chance to meet with the media. The owners get a chance

to meet with the media. Based on what both Gerard Mayo and Robert Kraft had to say to the media earlier this week, with Gerard Mayo preaching patience and backing off a little from the earn some cash mantra, and Robert Kraft saying, as a fan, I'd like to see a quarterback, but I understand football people make football decisions um but yet saying exactly what the owner wants is you know i think that forces the hand a little bit but again i'm just saying folks i'm not judging i'm just saying you take a level-headed approach to this steve what were your thoughts on what the owner and the coach had to say did anything open your eyes to what the patriots might be planning in the coming weeks and months well uh after craft's comments you know i'm further convinced

that they're going to take a quarterback at number three you know unless somebody just comes up with a lot i think mayo said with a bag of first round pigs, you know, that blows them away. You know, there's times when, you know, Robert Kraft, I think does himself disservice. I guess I'm putting it politically correct with some of his comments. And sometimes I wish he would just say nothing. And we saw that, you know, at the league meetings with a couple of different subjects um you know because on one hand here he is he's saying okay you know the football people are

going to make the decisions and i'm all behind that like i've always been and then he turns around and says but i'd really like a quarterback at number three well so you're basically saying you know you can do what you want but this is what i want and that's not a good thing to have out there because one of the things that the you know mayo and wolf all of them have been preaching is a collaborative approach, right? And, you know, everyone had, I think Mayo said, you know, he was talking about Alonzo Highsmith, but he could be talking about Kraft as well.

And he said it's where every bad picks happen when everyone isn't on the same page. And everyone needs to be on the same page coaches scouts and i think it goes for ownership and that that's one of the things that you know i think craft has been doing a lot more frequently lately we know that you know they made a competitive offer to Calvin Ridley. And again, this is where I think Robert Kraft just needs to say very simply, hey, you know what? We made a competitive offer to him, but he chose to go to Tennessee. Instead, he goes this roundabout way with trying to deflect some kind of blame off his shoulders, pinning it on his girlfriend, who's actually his wife. You know, she wanted to stay in the South.

It's like, you don't need to say stuff like that, in my opinion. Just say, hey, you know, we made a very competitive offer. And, you know, he ultimately chose that he wanted to go to Tennessee. And there's nothing wrong with that. You made a good, you know, offer to him. For his own reasons, he turned it down. I just thought that was like, you know, he was kind of throwing Ridley's wife under the bus. Like, oh, he would have came to New England, but she didn't want to.

And that's just one of those things where sometimes saying less is a lot better. That was an ear opener without any question. It was an eye opener, but it was an ear opener. I mean, you very seldom hear an owner say that. Bringing personal matters into it is really, I think, a bad look for the New England Patriots. But, you know, bottom line, I mean, they're moving forward. They're looking to build a new team, a new era here in Foxborough. I was encouraged a little bit by what Gerard Mayo had to say

in preaching some patience, backing off a little bit when it came to the burn some cash mantra. But most of all, letting the fans know that they understand where the fans are right now, but also understanding that building a team is a process and it's a lengthy process. It's not overnight plugging one player in and automatically turning a four and 13 franchise into a Super Bowl contender. This is going to take a while. The infrastructure that was there back in the early 2000s when they did the same with Tom Brady

coming in and leading the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick, that infrastructure is not there right now. The Patriots need to be a little bit smarter and a little bit more patient when it comes to building this team for the future. So, yeah, Steve, I think you're absolutely right on the money. And, folks, once again, we'd love to hear what you thought about what Gerard Mayo and Robert Kraft had to say down at the NFL annual meetings. But there were also tidbits, Steve, that came out from these annual meetings that may affect the New England Patriots on the field. As always, the annual meetings are the revelation of rule changes or new rules to be instituted for the upcoming season. Steve and I are going to discuss a couple that may have a major impact

on the New England Patriots. But guess what, folks? It may not all be bad. Or will it? You know our resident voice of reason is going to give it to you the way only he can. And we're going to talk about those and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team every day. Cats fans, thank you once again for taking time out of your weekend to join us here on Locked On Patriots.

Steve, we're wrapping up the week that was here in New England. NFL annual meetings, pro day attendance, New England Patriots marching closer toward the 2024 NFL draft, and they continue to build this roster. But one of the tidbits that comes out of these annual meetings every year is the NFL rule changes, proposals that are put forth by teams. They're either approved or they're denied or they're tweaked. There were a lot of instituted rule changes, but the two most high profile come from the elimination of what's called the hip drop tackle. And we'll get into that in just a moment, folks, but also a free form kick play

that really is going to, I think, revolutionize the way the NFL does kickoffs really more of an XFL type feel Steve, rather than anything else. You're a traditionalist. I know that you're also a realist and someone that takes a reasonable approach to everything that happens on the gridiron. First off, what were your reactions to these rule changes just from an NFL standpoint alone? Well,

I guess this is where I lose my resident voice of reason because I was ranting and raving on the phone to Derek Havens who you know as you know I do another podcast with on patsfans.com I hate the banning of the hip drop tackle simply because as we all know officiating at times was absolutely terrible last year. And now you're putting even more on the officials' plate because now they have to, you know, look at these plays and it's going to be so subjective. And I told Derek, you know, when we were talking about this, the first

two weeks of the season, there's going to be a plethora of these penalties. They get them. Teams realize, okay, we can't do this anymore. Then it'll fade off and then it's going to rear its ugly head in the playoffs again.

One team is going to suffer because, excuse me, they're going to select, subjectively enforce this rule. And, you know, I don't like it. And, you know, as I told Derek and I were talking and, you know, he might have said it, not myself, but we were both in agreement on it. You got a guy like Derrick Henry coming through. You know, you can hit this guy head on, but you're going to have to try to drag him to the ground.

And now you're making playing defense even tougher because Derrick Henry is going to drag a guy around. We've seen this for years, right? I mean, he's a beast when he's got the ball in his hand. And other running backs as well. I'm just using him as, you know, an example. I mean, almost every time he gets tackled, you could make the argument, oh, it's a hip drop tackle. I just don't like it.

I don't like it at all. It's just putting way too much pressure on the defense. And I don't like the kickoff rules either. As you said, XFL, I mean, that's not the way the game was designed. And, you know, for all this talk about player safety and whatnot then you know uh park avenue and their total hypocrisy is going to play games on christmas day on a wednesday so teams are going to play on sunday and they have to play three days later where's the player safety in that those two particular rules i can't

stand i i don't agree with either one of them and i wish they hadn't been done yeah and i think you make good points on both look any traditionalist is looking especially at the hip drop tackle and they're looking at it and saying okay well this screams the nfl trying to increase points on the field give running backs the opportunity to, like you said, drag a guy or prevent them from being able to be tackled and move forward. Defenders absolutely hate this. You know, we've seen guys like Juwan Bentley come out and be very vocal about how much displeasure this rule change is going to give a lot of defenders in this league. For Patriots fans, the hip drop tackle is going to be a little bit of a double-edged sword because of the injury to Ramondre Stevenson on a similar play last year but ultimately folks I

think Steve makes an excellent point you're making defense much tougher to play and if you're forcing these guys now to develop new techniques to be able to bring them down it actually could have an adverse effect if you're going more for legs, if they're tackling for a different area, you can have a lot of knee buckles. You can have, you know, difficulty problems with the back problems with contact with the head, inadvertent contact with the head, but still giving you an opportunity to do that. Like Steve said, if you've got to hit someone like a Derrick Henry head on, it's going to make it a lot more difficult.

So folks, yeah, definitely keep in mind that this also carries a 15-yard penalty and an automatic first down. So you know teams are going to be scrambling to coach against getting whistled for these types of penalties. And the minute it's subjective, it's going to come back under the microscope. So the NFLPA has recommended not doing this. We've seen even David Andrews as a center on offense come out and rail against the rule change here. But the NFL went with it, and now it has become policy. And I think it's interesting that you bring up the kickoff rule, because the first thing people think about is the XFL.

You're going to get teams closer together. That's going to restrict the movement. It's going to restrict the space and the speed. But you look at someone like a Marcus Jones, and this is where I said this might play into the Patriots' hands. This is where Marcus Jones can really shine because he is elusive. He can make shifts of his body in compact areas and then break for big yardage. We've seen him do it. For that matter, we saw Jalen Rager on a kickoff return last year, return one 98 yards and doing something similar. So the Patriots have the speed in the return game

to make this a positive for them. Where it becomes a negative, at least in my opinion, Steve, is the coverage teams. I think it makes their job much tougher, and I don't think the New England Patriots are as equipped in that area as maybe they were one year ago. What are your thoughts on that? Yeah.

And, you know, especially, you know, your gunners on your outside guys like Slater, Davis, Adrian Phillips, you know, they're the guys that get up ahead of steam and force the play either, you know, to one side or the other into the and force the play either, you know, to one side or the other into the teeth of the tackle, you know, the tacklers in the middle. And without that,

because now they're all going to be lining up within five yards of each other. You're not going to have that anymore. And, you know, kickoff coverage is going to be much tougher now. I like the old way of doing it. I thought it brought excitement to the game. Even though in today's game, the kickers are putting the ball deep into the end zone with regularity, but there was still that element of excitement out there. And I just think it was part of the game.

It should have stayed the same. I don't like this new kickoff. Well, ultimately what it's going to do is it's going to change the personnel. It's going to change the way you cover. You've had dedicated guys like Cody Davis, like Adrian Phillips, most importantly, like Matthew Slater that were destined to be special teamers. They were core special teamers and that's what they did. I think the Patriots now are going to need to heavily lean on those safety hybrid linebacker types that are going to play significant snaps on defense, but are also going to be part of the coverage team.

I think they're going to look at guys like Kyle Duggar and Jabril Peppers who are going to play big roles here. Marte Mapu, I think, could be very active in this area. This is a kid who knows how to tackle and hits hard. This is going to be someone that I think you can really see take a step forward and take on a little bit more responsibility in this area. And then you're going to see off-the-ball linebackers, I think, chip in as well. Jelani Tavai, to me, is someone that could really make a difference in this type of rule change. And keep an eye on Sione Takitaki, folks. He did something

very similar in Cleveland while they were trying to maybe adapt a little bit more of a hybrid type special teams unit there. He could be a body to watch as well. So Patriots, it's going to be interesting. It's going to be different. Whether or not it's going to be any better or worse, Steve, I think the jury is still out on that. We can tout all we want to and say that the Patriots have bodies and guys that could be better in this situation.

I think you're going to have to see the product on the field before you make that judgment call. So folks, once again, what are your thoughts on the rule changes? It's an interactive episode here of Locked On Patriots, kind of getting the finger on the pulse of what Pat's Nation has to say. Our resident voice of reason kind of broke tradition and gave us his raw emotion. I like it, Steve. I think it's good. I think we need to see more.

We need to see more of the badass balistrieri now come out of the woodwork and give us that type of opinion. But bottom line, my friend, what can I say? I thank you very much for dropping by, lending your wisdom, your counsel, and the majority of your reason today here on Locked on Patriots. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone

know where they can reach out to you, where they can interact with you, and what they can look forward to from the great pen and the great voice of Steve Balistrieri this week. Well, I write at patsfans.com. As you know, we do a podcast there, Derek Havens and myself. And you can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. This week, you know, we'll be writing a lot about

the stuff we just talked about. The pro days, the upcoming draft. I know people are sick of quarterback talk because we've been talking about quarterbacks actually since the middle of last season

because it looked like the Patriots were definitely in the market for one. But, you know, and then we're going to start looking at some of the different prospects that are out there and what other positions could they be drafting, you know, as well as the big three that we talked about. Absolutely, folks. And that's very important. There's an awful lot of light and an awful lot of attention being given to the quarterback position at number three. Rightfully so. No one's downplaying it. The Patriots have a lot of holes to fill,

and they do have significant draft capital to invest in making this team better, not only this year, but in subsequent years and moving forward. So definitely check out everything Steve puts out, whether it's pen to paper, voice to microphone, always top-notch content. And he's just a top-notch guy in every sense of the word. And we always appreciate him lending his wisdom and counsel right here on Locked On Patriots. So a tip of the cap, my friend.

And once again, folks, definitely make sure to stay tuned and stay locked into Locked On Patriots. Locked On Murph Monday coming back with Mock Draft Monday. And we're going to have more of your great mock drafts, breaking them down here and letting you know everything there is to know about your New England Patriots and their draft plans for 2024. But in the meantime, I'm your host, Mike DeBate. And on behalf of my good friend, Steve Balistrieri, I'd like to remind you all to stay safe, to stay well

and to be the change you wish to see in the world have a great day everyone, a great weekend and we'll see you back here again on Monday on Locked on Patriots