Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Most Underappreciated Players? Rhamondre Stevenson, Jahlani Tavai and More

Episode Date: June 1, 2024

The New England Patriots have typically been a team which refrains from heaping praise on its players. However, some members of their roster deserve more accolades than they receive.  Host Mike D’Abate is joined by Steve Balestrieri to provide some well-deserved plaudits to the Pats’ most “underappreciated” players such as Rhamondre Stevenson, Jahlani Tavai and others. #nfl #patriots  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 eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! 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 (Wall Y, 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)

Your New England Patriots are not a team known to give an awful lot of praise to their big stars. But who among the members of this roster is the most underappreciated? 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 Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also your first listen each and every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is not only a proud part

of the Locked On Podcast Network, but we are also free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button, download and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you're getting the latest episode as soon as it's available.

I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country, so reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-B-A-T-E NFL. And while you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots, social media style that is, please follow our account there as well

at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. And Pats fans, we are taking you into your weekend in style, talking a little underappreciated New England Patriots. And who better to lend his wisdom and counsel on this subject than our resident voice of reason, an amazing columnist for patsfans.com, as well as being the co-host of another

amazing Patriots podcast, Patriots 4th and 2, alongside the great Derek Havens. He is my Patriots Paisan, and it's always my honor to welcome him here to help me close the week in style. Thank you for joining me today, Mr. Steve Balistrieri. Thanks for having me as always. And thanks for the kind words. And what better way to kick off the weekend, talk some football, beautiful Friday afternoon down here. And, you know, it's time to kick back and enjoy the weekend. Absolutely. I could not agree more, my friend. I don't think there is a better way to kick off the weekend.

And, Steve, I'm actually going to kick off today's show with a quote from The Godfather. Enough, folks. Don't get excited. Not that Godfather. We do that enough here on Locked On Patriots. As a matter of fact, before the end of this show, I'm sure at least one Godfather reference, the movie, is going to find its way into what we're talking about.

But the Godfather I'm talking about, Steve, is the Godfather of Soul, the late, great James Brown. And to this day, James Brown still remains one of the most iconic, one of the most innovative performers in entertainment history, really. You listen to his music, it's still great, even listening to it all these years later. And James had a famous

quote that he actually turned into a song, which was, give the drummer some. And I've been a drummer since I was five years old, so I love it. I use it all the time. I agree with him. The drummer is usually the most underrated performer on the band, does the job, but doesn't necessarily get the love that all the front men or the front-facing members of the band get. And it got me thinking about underappreciated people in all walks of life. No matter what type of work that you do, there are those that deserve to get their sum. If we're talking Patriots media folks, the guy over here on the other side of the screen for me yeah give the patriots pies on some he deserves it one of the best at what he

does and i think he deserves a lot more credit for the work that he does than he gets but again that's just me i'm a little biased but it got me thinking about the new england patriots steve and there are a lot of drummers on this band there are a lot of guys that need to get there some when it comes to appreciation, when it comes to PR, when it comes to a little bit of love, you know, from the fan base, from social media, from the national pundits. In that vein, the NFL Network right now, believe it or not, is actually compiling their own list of underappreciated players. And they're revealing that list over the course of the last couple of days.

Offense and defense, who are the most underrated players on these rosters. And I thought it would be a fun conversation for us to have today to actually go through the Patriots roster and discuss who we feel are the most underappreciated Patriots, who are the most underrated guys on this team. Bison, I'm going to give the ball to you first. When you look at the Patriots top to bottom, we know quarterbacks get the spotlight. We know that receiver is the position of dreams for this Patriots team,

especially the franchise. But who among this unit would you consider the most underappreciated or most underrated Patriot? Yeah, there's a couple of guys on offense. I'll start with Ramondre Stevenson. And, you know, I think he's he's very underappreciated. I know we don't underappreciate him, but I think in league circles, there's there's a lot of people that. Don't have him listed as highly as maybe we do, And I think that's a shame because he, he can do it all.

You know, you and I were talking offline, you know, he can, he can run between the tackles. He's good with the ball in his hands. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. He can do everything. And I just don't think he gets the love that he deserves, basically because, you know, the offensive line struggles. I mean, you know, we saw it last year that, you know, him and Ezekiel Elliott basically were getting hit behind the line of

scrimmage far too often. And, you know, it kind of affected their numbers. But I think he's a fantastic football player and he deserves more love. Oh, absolutely. I think Ramondre is one guy that deserves not just more love from the Patriots, but really, I think from a national standpoint, I know he'll end up on the PFF list of highest rated backs, and he does get his share of national attention, but when you look at the

importance he has to this team, especially the importance he's going to have to this team this year, I don't think Ramondre gets enough love, because I believe him to be maybe the most important Patriot on this roster this year when it comes to making the offense go. I know a lot of people are going to say, no, it's the quarterback. It's Drake. It's Jacoby. Whoever gets the ball back there is going to be the guy that makes this offense go. But Ramondre is a veteran now. He's been around the block a couple of times. He knows what it takes to succeed in this league. And he also, I think, is a perfect fit in what Alex Van Pelt wants to do offensively. Incorporate the run, make sure the run is a focal point early on to set up play action,

to make sure that the quarterback has room and has the ability to hit his targets either in the intermediate areas of the field or downfield. And Ramondre is a guy that can blend power runs, he can blend finesse. He can catch the ball out of the backfield. This is someone that I believe is so key to what the Patriots want to do offensively this year, because if Ramondre is not setting that table, it's going to make the job for the quarterback, whoever that may be that much more difficult. So I love the choice of Ramondre Stevenson and I'm right there with you I'm going to make Murph happy for a second here because I'm going to talk about one of those big round men that he loves to talk about

and I know he's just a second year player folks but I think City So is very much underrated when it comes to the amount of national attention he gets and also when it comes to the attention he gets on this team City was thrown into a very difficult situation last year. The Patriots had a lot of upheaval when it came to the tackle positions. Obviously, we saw Chris Price's report from the Boston Globe about Calvin Anderson and the difficulties and the heartache that he went through and the health problems that he had being out for quite a while. Riley Reif plagued by injuries, poor guy all year long, and he didn't end up being the presence that the Patriots needed him to be. Trent Brown, when he was healthy and locked in, played

very well, but he had his engagement issues. So you're dealing with problems at the tackle position, and that forced Michael Luenna outside. The right guard position at that point became open. From the moment he stepped into that role, I think he did a phenomenal job, especially when it came to the run game. Pro Football Focus gave this kid a 71.2 run blocking grade, and that led all rookie linemen in that category. Take a look at what he did in the gap schemes, which is what the Patriots ran primarily last year, graded 80.8 from Pro Football Focus when it came to gap scheme run blocking grades that was the third best among all qualified guards i know alex van pelt is going to move to more of an outside zone but

it doesn't mean that city is not going to be capable of succeeding in this system especially if he has to move outside the left guard because as we all know cole strange may be out for a significant portion of the season I had Dr. Kyle Trimble here a couple of weeks ago we talked about Cole's injury and he said yeah mid-season might actually be a little bit optimistic so if he's going to be out for a long period of time the fact that they're looking at City as someone that can make that move and move over to the left maybe slide Lane Robinson into the right guard position. It says a lot about the versatility and the ability that they see in City.

So I think this is a name you're going to continue to hear. He may end up being one of the Patriots' best linemen by the end of the season. That's a great point. You know, like you said, he was thrust into a tough position last year. He's a rookie coming in. There was injuries all across the offensive line. There was uneven play, to say the least. It's tough for a guy coming in, especially as a rookie know, learn the offense, become a starting piece of it, and then have all this upheaval around him. That's true.

So I think that that's a good choice. I'm think Murph would be very happy with that. And I think offensive linemen tend to be underrated as it is. They usually tend to be underappreciated because they're not players that you hear the name of an awful lot. That's a good thing. If you're not hearing offensive linemen's names, it usually means they're doing their job. These are important roles, folks. And I think a guy like City So getting the love that he deserves is something that I hope he gets this year. And we'll see if

that is indeed the case. Steve, you did mention that you had a couple of names in line. Before we move on from this subject, you being the guest and you being our resident voice of reason, who else do you have your eye on as an underrated, underappreciated member of the New England Patriots offense? Well, again, he's only a second-year guy, but I thought DeMario Douglas really stepped up as a rookie. Again, you know, the wide receiver position wasn't deep to begin with, but then they had their own injuries. They had, you know, poor play with some of the vets, you know. So it was really tough for a rookie to step in

and basically be the guy for several weeks of the season, right? I thought DeMario Douglas showed a lot of what he's capable of, and I think he was just scratching the surface. I think this season with hopefully better offensive line play, better quarterback play, and some added pieces to the wide receiver room. I think you're really going to see him step up and shine a little bit more. I think he's ready for a big jump in from year one to year two. So I think, you know,

DeMario Douglas could be another one of those guys that's maybe underappreciated, not so much here in uh you know with the patriots you know in the new england area but nationally i think so yeah i agree with you on mario as well look mario's a sixth round pick coming in not expected to make an awful lot of noise in the patriots offense but this kid got the playbook, showed an explosive ability. He's extremely quick, has such a great break, and his abilities in the slot to me are wisdom beyond his years because this kid shows a poise and a preparedness on the field that you usually see in third, fourth year vets. This kid had it as a rookie, and again, he went into a very

difficult situation. The Patriots had injuries on their receiving core. Kendrick Bourne going down. Juju Smith-Schuster was not really rounding into form the way everybody hoped that he would. He had his knee injuries. Obviously, it looks like those were a little more serious than maybe we had thought. So DiMario kind of needed to step up and he did inherently and this is a kid that not only led the team in receiving yards last year but also really emerged as someone that I believe can have a very good budding relationship with Drake May he was a favorite target of both Mac Jones Bailey Zappy when those guys were in there I'm really looking forward to seeing how Drake can utilize him especially in the intermediate areas of the field.

I think Demario Douglas can do nicely in that area, and I, for one, cannot wait to watch what this kid can do. So I think that's a great suggestion, Steve. I think we've got about two or three players that deserve a little bit more love. Who knows? Maybe just by us mentioning them, it will get them more into the national spotlight. I know, folks, an aggressive thought, but you know what? We can dream. But the Patriots' defense is not exactly known for its big stars either. There are a couple of standouts, one of which wears the red sleeves. We love seeing him

every week and want to see him in New England for quite some time. But there are still a lot of under-the-radar players on this defense that helped make it one of the top defenses in the league in 2023. Will those players continue to stoke the flames of the Patriots' defensive fire in this season coming up? Steve and I are going to answer that question and reveal our choices for the most underrated players on defense 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, passion, drive, and patience is what brings home that winning trophy. You know what?

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I know I am. I think we all are. So make the switch to Locked On Sports today, a free 24-7 sports streaming channel programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all of the screaming. Locked On Sports today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions, and news, streaming 24-7 on youtube or the free amazon fire tv channels app don't delay do it today check out locked on sports today part of

the locked on podcast network your team every day as is locked on patriots your team every day and steve in the previous segment we talked about underrated Patriots on offense. And sticking with the theme of the day, I figured we'd flip the script and talk a little bit about the defense. Surprisingly, for a 4-13 team last year, the Patriots still maintained a top-level defense. These guys were excellent against the run, I think better against the pass than they gave themselves credit for, a secondary that was decimated by injury but still managed to play respectable, and a front seven that I thought was among the best in the

league. This team has standouts. They have stars. Matthew Judon is clearly one of them. We've made the argument that he may be the face of the franchise right now. Christian Gonzalez is emerging as a name that everyone wants to see as a potential lockdown corner for many years to come. Even Christian Barmore has started to emerge a little bit as a star in this front seven. But we all know that there are players behind the scenes that provide the power to the powerhouse in order for the Patriots to remain a strong presence on defense. When you look at this roster up and down, who would you select as your most underrated or underappreciated player on defense. When you look at this roster up and down, who would you select as your most underrated or underappreciated player on defense? I think it'd have to be

Jelani Tavai. You know, when he came to the Patriots, there was no, I mean, zero expectations, right? He had been a second round pick with the lions and matt patricia

and then he came over to the patriots and not much was expected of him and i was guilty of that myself um i didn't expect to see much from him but i couldn't have been more wrong um i think he's emerged as an excellent linebacker. And it goes back to Bill. You know, Bill Belichick was famous for bringing in guys who weren't highly thought of and then finding a role where these guys excelled. He did it again with the Lions and Kyle Van Noy. And I think he did it with Tavai. Tavai has shown himself to be a really good linebacker,

and he keeps getting better. He's improving all the time. I think he does not get enough love because he had flamed out as a second-round pick in Detroit. Absolutely. I completely agree with you, and you know who else agrees with you? NFL.com agrees with you. Gennaro Felici. He was the writer that's compiling this list. He agrees that Jelani Tavai is the most underrated, maybe underappreciated Patriot on this roster.

And look, I think all three of us are like-minded, not just because we're Italian folks. It's just the way it is. We do think alike, but I think this one is correct. And I know that the argument can be made for other players. We'll talk about that in just a moment. But you look at what Jelani has done since he's come in here, came in as a practice squad player. A lot of people forget that he was almost immediately upgraded to the regular roster, to the 53-man roster. He's been a part of the team's active roster, appeared in 47 regular season games since joining this team, one playoff contest in 2021. Last season particularly is where you saw Jelani take that step. He really made that leap to a player that not only you can rely on in situations, but rely on really on every down. He played in all 17 games for the Pats last year, started 16 games, played in 74%

of the team's defensive snaps, 110 total tackles. That's a career high. Five passes defensed, four quarterback hits, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and one sack. And you want to talk about a guy that can do it all. He's even a stalwart on the patriot special teams especially in the kicking game 359 snaps in the game's third phase jelani just goes out there and he does it all and it reminded me a lot when i was thinking about choosing him as my most underrated patriot i thought of a quote that bill belichick shared with us a couple of years ago back in 2022 when we were starting to see what jelani tavaiai brought to the table. I think for the first time, maybe we were all seeing what Bill Belichick saw in Jelani Tavai. And Belichick said, overall, Jelani has the kind of skill set to play on the end of the line, play off the line,

has some pass rush ability. He plays on all four phases of the kicking game. He's a pretty versatile player and can plug into a lot of different spots, which is helpful because not everybody can do that or has to be able to do that, but somebody has to be able to do it. He kind of fits that. He's got good size. He runs pretty well, got good playing strength, and he's smart. That's a lot of praise for Bill Belichick to keep on a player that was actively playing for him at the time. Belichick is never shy or was never shy about praising guys that had since moved on but he doesn't necessarily go above and beyond to praise guys that are playing under him when you earn that praise from Bill Belichick you know you're doing something right and hearing Gerard Mayo talk about

Jelani and talk about what he brings to the table and guys like Demarcus Covington as well you know he's continuing to hold that type of regard in that locker room that's why I think he'll continue to be a focal point of this defense again this year yeah I I totally agree because I you know when he was paired up with Bentley, I was kind of concerned. I know you and I talked about it. They're both downhill, physical guys, and we were worried that the interior would be maybe a little too slow. But as time has gone on, those kind of fears have been allayed to a certain degree.

And, you know, I think he's turned into quite a football player. It's easy to see what Bill liked when he came here. And, you know, it's nice to see that they found a spot for him to showcase his abilities. Absolutely. 100% agreed. And hopefully by his mention, with nfl.com it'll give Jelani a little bit more love than he's gotten it's definitely well deserved so Steve once again

before we take our leave you are our guest is there a player out there that we haven't mentioned yet a defensive player that you feel deserves a little more credit or a lot more credit than what he's getting right now well he gets a lot of credit from us and you know to cover the patriots and by the fan base but uh i just love peppers i mean you know uh when he came here he was coming off a serious injury uh we knew the pedigree we knew it it was there. There was questions whether or not he could regain that. I think those questions have been answered. I just love watching this guy play. He became a much bigger leader, I thought, last year. He took on more of a leadership role, much more vocal. He backs it up with this play on the field. I just, I think this guy is fantastic.

He was an absolute steal when the Patriots got him. Such a great choice. Really such a great choice when you look at Jabril Peppers. Coming in, a lot of people thought, okay, this guy's going to be either a second or a third option at the safety position behind Kyle Duggar. Some, myself included, not proud folks, it's just a fact, had him behind Adrian Phillips on the depth chart. But Jabril came in and proved he's more than just a power hitter. And I think that's

what the reputation was on him. This guy can hit, he can mix it up, he can get in there and he can make sure that he's going to be physical. but the nuances of the way he learns the game and everything he does mechanically to help this team win at the safety position is something that i don't think he gets enough credit for you can make the argument he was one of their top defenders in 2023 and that's an extensive list to choose from of guys that had career years or big time seasons um i think he'll be right there again and you prayer him and once again pairing him alongside kyle duggar is really i think the perfect pairing for this team in the backfield that defensive backfield is going to look a lot different this year and i think it's going to be a lot more formidable when you have guys like christian

gonzalez coming back marcus jones is coming back to that defensive backfield a little bit of speed a little bit of pop in that cornerback room. And then you may want to talk about the safety room, which I think has a chance to be one of the best in the league with Kyle Duggar and Jabril Peppers. So once again, folks, who are your unsung heroes on defense?

Did we mention them or were there guys that we didn't mention? Drop us a note in the comment section on YouTube, or you can reach out to Steve and I individually on Twitter at MDABATENFL or Steve at SteveB7SFG. We'd be more than happy to entertain your thoughts and have a discussion on the matter all weekend long. But Steve, we're not quite done yet because there is a third phase to the game.

And maybe you can make the argument this whole third phase unit deserves to be on the underappreciated list, because not too many people put a whole lot of stock in special teams. The Patriots always have, and it's served them well, but who's still not quite getting the love he deserves on the field and

most importantly, on social media and in the press. Steve and I are going to discuss that matter and wrap things up here on Locked On Patriots when this episode of underappreciated Patriots continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. We're talking underrated, underappreciated New England Patriots. And who better to join us here today than one of the most reasonable voices

anywhere in Patriots media, my Patriots bison, Steve Balistrieri from Patsfans.com. Steve, we've talked offense, we've talked defense. I think dropped a few wisdom and counsel pearls for all of our adoring public out there. But when it comes to special teams, most people believe that it's the kicker, the punter, the long snapper. But there are a lot of coverage guys on this team that do amazing work from top to bottom, from start to finish, when it comes to filling out this third phase. I've always thought that Matthew Slater was underrated and I know a lot of people are going to raise an eyebrow about that say well people call him the greatest special teams player of all time he may get in the hall of

fame I don't think he ever quite got enough credit for being as important to this team's success as he got um always being in the right place at the right time is very seldom happenstance folks it's usually by design and that to me always spoke so highly of matthew slater because you very rarely saw him make a mistake and that's extremely rare in professional sports even more rare in the nfl but mat But Matthew is no longer in that special team's unit. He has since retired. He will be on the Patriots' sidelines as a coach, and he's doing a phenomenal job from what I understand. But at the same time, you're also looking at new players now. Brendan Schooler is starting to emerge as the guy that's coaching

players up. We've already seen him earlier this week, speaking with Taequann Thornton and trying to coach him up a little bit when Taequann was taking some gunner reps during OTAs earlier this week. But Steve, when you look at the coverage units, when you look at the blocking units, when you look at just the special teamers, the core special teamers in general, do you believe there's a player on this roster that doesn't quite get the love

or the attention he deserves for being as good as he is at what he does? You know, that's a great question because I was going through all the guys. I mean, you know, I think Marcus Jones, I mean, we know what he can do. We saw that in his rookie season. And, you know, we all know his sophomore season was cut short. I think he could be even better, you know, this year coming up with the return game, you know, because I think with some new blood in the building, some new coaching, you know, coaching staff changes. I'm looking at him like, you know,

with the offense trying to find his feet, they might lean on special teams to help them with field position, score some points here and there. And I think he'll be a really, really big part of that. Yeah, I'm glad that you mentioned him. And it's tough to say that someone who earns rookie honors and all pro honors is someone who is underrated. But because of the injury that he had last year, and because he was not necessarily first top frame of mind when it came to special teamers in 2023 i do believe that there is a level of respect that still he feels he

needs to get and marcus say what you will is putting the rest of the league on notice he's like everybody's forgetting about me but they shouldn't forget about me and i love that attitude that he's bringing to the table and he's saying that on defense as well. He's saying, don't just count me as a return guy, a special teams guy. I'm a defender. I'm a cornerback. That's where he loves to play. And I believe he's going to be valuable, not only on special teams, but also from a defensive standpoint, I believe he deserves that mark right off the bat so Marcus Jones an excellent choice in my opinion and I think he's going to live up to that and I do think he's going to get the love he deserves by the end of the season if he doesn't I don't know what we're doing folks because

assuming he's healthy he's an electrifying player and I think he's going to continue to be that and we've also seen him be an asset in offense too, Steve. So, you know, we might see the triple threat, Marcus Jones, back out on the field this year. And I, for one, would love to see it. I know this is going to sound corny, and I know it's probably going to sound cliche. And most people probably know that I'm going here. But I'm going to say that maybe one of the more underrated or stifled special teamers on this roster right now is long snapper Joe Cardona.

I know he only does what he does, but when you look at his track record of being the long snapper, he's done it since he was a Navy mid shipment at the Naval Academy. Sorry, Steve. We know Steve's an army guy. You know, it's tougher to give those Navy boys a little credit, but you know, you've got to love Joe and what he does. But at this point he was the fourth pure long snapper to be drafted in NFL history. And I think he's lived up to the duty ever since he's taken the field here in new England, um, 144 games,

a member of two Patriots, Superbowl championship teams, and chosen to the Patriots all dynasty team. You don't make that kind of record without being very good at what you do. And the fact that you seldom have heard his name throughout his career, I can count the number of times on my left hand that I've heard Joe Cardona's name invoked with, Oh, that was a bad snap. You know,

you're doing something right. So maybe it's not necessarily that he's underrated for what he does. Maybe not even underappreciated, but maybe underreported or underpublicized may be a good way to put it. What this guy does each and every game is so important to the success of this team that I do believe Joe Cardona deserves maybe a little more love than he gets, especially at a national level. And I say that with a revere toward all the long snappers. I don't necessarily think it's a position that gets a whole lot of clout,

but it should because it is a vital one for the success of NFL team. Yeah. He was actually the guy I was going to mention first, but, you know, he's gotten a lot of kudos through the years. But like you said, you can never put a cap on what those guys are worth because, let's face it, I mean, how many times have the, you know, big kicks come up, snap is perfect, hold is good, kick is good. I mean, how many times have we heard that? Absolutely.

And he's just been really, really good. I mean, how many times have we heard that? Absolutely. And he's just been really, really good. And it doesn't pain me to say it because he's a Navy guy. They sometimes gave us a ride somewhere that we needed to go. That was phenomenal. I like all you Navy boys. Every time we got to go go someplace to fight you fellas always give us a ride what better way can you end a podcast than a few good men reference on a friday there is no better way to do it and from the man himself we got we you know what we broke out a few good men reference instead of the godfather reference but i love it and you can't ask for better um all kidding aside i do completely agree with you.

Cardona has got his share of kudos over the years and well-deserved. But I think it's more of an all-encompassing, maybe lifetime achievement award in terms of underrated players or underrated guys on NFL rosters. The long snappers never tend to get a whole lot of love, but they should. And for reasons like you said, you know, I mean, a kick, big kick comes up. That snap is almost as important as the kick itself. And the kicker will get a lot of the grief. He'll get a lot of the glory, depending on whether or not it goes through the uprights,

but it all starts with a good snap. Steve, it's always an honor and always a privilege. I love talking ball with you each and every day. Anytime we get the excuse to do so, I always look for a reason to bring you on, but on a Friday, it just feels a little better. It just feels like a great way to end the week in style and begin a new week in style coming up.

So my friend, what can I say? Thank you so much for joining me here today. Before I let you go, please let everyone know what they can expect from the great pen, the great voice of Steve Balistrieri in the coming week when it comes to Patriots coverage. Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at SteveB7SFG. I write for patsfans.com, you know, and there's never a dull moment in Foxborough, so we'll be talking about a bunch of things in the upcoming days. Derek Havens and I have been doing a lot of interviews during this period

of the late spring, and we'll continue on doing that. We had Miguel on this week, as you did. So, you know, it's always great to hear Miguel. And, you know, it was funny when we were talking about underappreciated and stuff. I almost used the Sonny Corleone quote there. I was waiting for you to do it. Since you didn't, I'm going to do it.

So, hey, what do you think? This is the Army. We shoot a guy from a mile away. You got blood all over your Ivy League suit. Tom, he's taking this to personals. This is strictly business. See, folks, we knew we'd get the Godfather reference in.

Oh, I was waiting. We had to. Mike's going to go there. Absolutely had to. He's going to go there. What did I say? Ba-da-beep, ba-da-bap, ba-da-boop, ba-da-beep. He wants us to send Michael to hear the proposition. The late, great James Caan is Sonny Corleone, and one of the more iconic scenes in

that movie, and anyone who's seen it knows exactly what Steve's talking about, and yeah, I think it is fitting for the argument and for the discussion that we had today. You can always relate the Godfather to anything, folks. It's always the answer to all of your questions and all of your problems, and in there, right there, is a line that you can use as well. There are things being negotiated that'll solve all your problems and answer all your questions. But that's all I can tell you about my business right now. And Steve, I'm glad you told us a little bit about your business coming up, not only on Patriots 4th and 2, but also the great written work that you do for patsfans.com. Folks, be sure to check out both. You will not be disappointed. You'll always

be well-informed, either when Steve puts pen to paper or voice to microphone. And that's why we keep having them back each and every week, and we will continue to do so. And in that vein, folks, don't forget to join us here on Monday. We'll be back to kick off a new week and a new month here on Locked On Patriots. And of course, it is going to be

Mailbag Monday. Continue to get your questions in, folks, because we will answer them right here on Monday. In the meantime, I would like to thank once again my good friend Steve Balistrieri, my Patriots bison, for joining me here today and lending his wisdom, his counsel, and his reason the way only he can. Most of all, folks, I would like to thank each and every one of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage.

On behalf of Steve Balistrieri, 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. Have a great weekend. We'll see you back here again on Monday on Locked on Patriots.