Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Offseason Grade | Pats Pass Rush CONCERNS?

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

The New England Patriots finished up rookie minicamp, which was a perfect time to grade Mike Vrabel and the team’s offseason.Also, will Harold Landry, K’Lavon Chiasson, and a few others be enough to fix the Patriots pass rush issues? And, Efton Chism is getting lots of attention as part of the Patriots UDFA class.Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPatriots?sid=YouTubeLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL#patriots #newenglandpatriotsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.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)

Now that rookie mini camp is over. It's time to judge the entire Patriots offseason That's where we start on this episode of lockdown Patriots You are locked on Patriots your daily New England Patriots podcast Part of the locked on podcast network your team every day of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert, host of the Everything Pads podcast on YouTube,

co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and also a sports talk show host veteran. On today's show, an important question is asked by a local writer and the UDFA. That's gained a lot of attention. But first, let's grade this Pats Off season. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listening free being and every day or the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. So rookie mini camp, it's ov

moved on. And because of like it's the perfect tim off season. And I'm talke off season soup to nuts, what we're doing. And wha off season, some of you m got rose colored glasses that this was just an unbelievable offseason. He found no flaws. No, no, no, no. But I will tell you that this offseason for me gets no lower than an A minus. No lower than an A minus. And let's start with the coaching staff because a lot of times when people discuss the offseason, they talk about free agency and the draft, and we'll get to those. But you actually have to start with the coaching staff because a lot of times when people discuss the offseason they talk about free agency and the draft and we'll get to those. But you actually have to start with the coaching staff because as we know for the second straight offseason things began for the Patriots by naming a new head coach. And the Mike Vrabel hire at the time, in real time,

I said it was the best hire they could make. It was the hire that I fought for. I didn't want Ben Johnson, I wanted Mike Vrabel. And what I had said at the time, I feel even stronger about right now. When you hire Mike Vrabel, you are immediately, just like that, a serious program. You are a serious football program

When you hire somebody like Mike Vrabel to be a head coach because he knows He knows exactly what he has to do. He has built programs before he built the program in Tennessee He reset the program a couple of times. That's what he's done He walks into the room with a command of what should be done and how it should be done. And when you hire somebody like Mike Vrabel, the reputation of your organization, the reputation of your franchise,

if it's going through some bad times, like it obviously was here in New England, that can flip very quickly. Mike Vrabel was the best available head coach out there. And to me, there's no doubt about that. I don't even think it's a debate. I like Ben Johnson a lot. I think he could do a really good job in Chicago. I think he's a smart guy.

But when you look at this hiring class, Mike Vrabel was above and beyond the best candidate. And the teams told you that. Because before the Patriots got the final confirmation that Vrabel was going to be signed, sealed, and delivered, teams circled back in an effort, a 23rd hour effort, to try to hire Mike Vrabel. The Jets were desperate for variable. Reportedly, Chicago was interested in Mike Rable.

So when you look at this coaching staff, it begins with Coach Rable. And then you go to the rest of this coaching staff. You look at the offensive coordinator and Josh McDaniels. Compare that to last year and Alex Van Pelle. Josh McDaniels is one of the most heralded offensive minds in football. I know that not everybody loves the guy.

He's not universally respected for some reason. I respect him. I think he's a really good offensive coordinator. Then you go to the defensive coordinator, Terrell Williams, who Mike Giardi just recently wrote over the weekend, that people around the league felt like Williams is one of the best assistants in all of football and he deserves at this point he has earned the right to run a defense. So Terrell Williams, very respected within the game. Offensive line, Doug Morrone.

We all know about what he has done. He's a very respected offensive line coach. Jeremy Springer who stayed as special teams coordinator. Look at how he flipped things. He flipped the script from 23 to 24. One of the only positive things about that team last year was that the special teams were better. This is a coaching staff that is loaded with experience.

I don't know how you would have graded this coaching staff any less than an A frankly given the options that they had. I think they hit a home run with this staff. Now will it work? We have to see how they get along. We have to see how they communicate if the chemistry is there. But just like when we talk about the team, we talk about the roster, everything's on paper, on paper right now. In May, this coaching staff looks like a home run. Then you got to free agency. We got through the initial excitement of Mike Vrabel, the hiring, we got through the excitement

of Josh McDaniels and the rest of the staff being filled out. And then we got to free agency. And what we saw in free agency was a number of upgrades. You obviously upgraded at right tackle. Morgan Moses is a steady veteran. He is a leader. He is a thousand times better than anything you had at right tackle last year. I think that you upgraded at inside linebacker.

I think Robert Spillane, especially in this specific defense is a better fit. I think he's a better overall football player than Joanne Bentley. And I like Bentley a lot, but I think you upgraded there. Outside cornerback too. We all love Jonathan Jones and what he brought to this football team for years. Carlton Davis is better. He's a better outside corner. He has proven that throughout his career.

He has a higher ceiling as a player. So you upgraded at outside corner too, opposite of Christian Gonzalez. Then you also, by the way, you landed the best defensive free agent on the market in Milton Williams. He was the best, the best defensive player on the market. He was the most heralded. He got paid, I believe, the most money. So you landed the prize on that side of the football of free

agency. You really reset your culture. You brought a bunch of guys in that get it and have showed it's documented that they get it. They understand leadership. They understand work ethic. They understand being a professional. And you brought in some guys that have Super Bowl rings on the resume. Williams has a Super Bowl ring. Carlton Davis with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady going back years ago has a Super Bowl ring just played on Detroit who obviously has not won a championship, but they've been one of the best teams in football the past couple of years. So you not only brought in the culture and the leadership that you wanted and you upgraded

in a bunch of different spots, but you also brought in guys who have been there and done that. And then we got to the draft and we just talked about the draft for the last couple of weeks. We all know how we feel about the draft. The idea that you truly control the board doesn't feel like you quote unquote reached often. Looks like you got a couple of steals in farmer and Swinson as to where they got drafted and when people thought they would be drafted, you manipulated the board with a couple of trades that I thought were very, very smart.

You drafted a starting left tackle and whether or not he's going to be average or spectacular. We don't know, but he's going to be an upgrade at left tackle versus what you've had. And if he is going to be average to above average, he will end up being a good left tackle in the NFL, which is very hard to find. So you drafted a starting left tackle. You added to your explosiveness by drafting Trevion Henderson and Kyle Williams, two guys that bring that juice that you just didn't have

on that side of the football last year. A couple of guys who could make a pretty big difference within the Josh McDaniels offense. And then you addressed some other needs. You built some young depth at certain positions, interior defensive line with again the aforementioned Farmer. Nice to have. Now you can slot him behind Barmore and Williams and we'll see what happens with Keon White, whether he's gonna play on the edge on the inside. If he plays on the inside, you have Farmer in there as well. So you've got four younger,

talented interior defensive linemen. You added to the edge with Braden Swinson. It was in the fifth round, but you added to the edge. You added to your safety room and maybe the big nickel position by drafting Craig Woodson. Shoot, you even went out and added a couple of positions that people got upset at you for adding by drafting these guys, but you added a kicker. You added a long snapper. You also added a potential right tackle swing

tackle and Marcus Bryant in the seventh round. So when you look at all of this, the head coach hire, filling out the coaching staff, the free agency period, and the draft that we just saw, I cannot give this off season anything lower than an A minus. Maybe some of you want to battle and say a B plus. If you wanna tell me there's a couple of points here, three or four point difference, two or three point

difference, I'm not gonna haggle with you. But for me, I'm giving them an A minus. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't an A, it wasn't an A plus. I'm going to give them an A minus. And I think that's why there's a lot of excitement around this football team right now, because the people know, the fans know, they've done a really good job. A local writer has a significant question.

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The pass rush stunk last season. I know. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we just did have a very positive segment, the last segment. But I am here to tell you something that many of you already know because you watch this team in 2024. The pass rush stunk in 2024. I've got some numbers for you, some analytics, just in case you think the eye test is really failing you here.

The Patriots were 23rd in the NFL in pass rush win rate. A metric that is used by ESPN. So they were in the what? Bottom third of the league in pass rush win rate. They were dead last in the NFL in sacks. Number 32. They were 30th in pressures. So the third least amount of pressures in football. They were 29th in pressure percentage. When I say they stunk, I mean they stunk. One of the worst pass rushes in football, you could argue they had the worst pass rush in

football. And Chad Graf at the Athletic wrote about the pass rush in 2025. Here's what he wrote recently. And what was a bit of a surprise, the Patriots did not add an edge rusher in the draft until the fifth round when they chose Brayden Swinson. Clearly, they don't view edge rusher as the same level of need as many of us speculated. I'm a little skeptical of how the Patriots will get to the quarterback from the outside. The interior duo of Christian Barmore and Milton Williams should be great at pushing the pocket, but you'd ideally like someone coming around the corner to meet in the backfield,

and that's where I think the Patriots could struggle. I am here to tell Chad Graf, and I am here to tell all of you, the Patriots pass rush will 100% improve in 2025. Let's start here. It's tough not to improve. You were that bad. There's only one way to go, and that is to go up. But this pass rush will improve,

and it's not just because they were so bad last year and you can only really go up, which I guess you could argue because offensively they've been terrible and they haven't really gone. You get the point. I think the Patriots clearly addressed the pass rush. I think they clearly addressed edge rusher this off season. They go out and they aggressively get the Harold Landry deal done before free agency even begins. They get it done. They wrap them up.

Then they go out and they get chase on Caleb on chase on is brought in to one year deal short money Not overspending certainly for a player like that But chase on had a very good finish to his season last year, and I've read a lot of different Things about chase on and I've read a lot of different writers and some local guys I know Greg but dart has been on this. According to people that he has spoken to they say look Chase on could end up being a steal. He was a first round talent. Things did not go great at the beginning of his career. But last season it looked like he was starting to figure some things out. So they add Landry they add Chase on. Of course they drafted as Chad Graff wrote,

they draft Swinson. But you also look at what else they've done. Keon Wai is still here. Anthony Jennings is still here. As of now, Jelani Tavae is still here. And during an off season when so many defensive players and captains were let go, or they walked into free agency and the Patriots said, we're not very interested.

I think it's telling that we have not heard anything about Keon White being gone. We haven't heard anything about Anthony Jennings being gone. And to the surprise of some, we really haven't heard much about Jelani Tavae being gone. I still think he's on the bubble big time. But I mean, if those guys are going to play edge, if you've got those three guys on the edge, you've got Landry, Chason and Swinson, and then white Jennings Tavae, you've got six dudes who can play the edge. Now they all have different strengths. But how many edge players do you want? I don't really have a beef with how the Patriots approach the draft at that position

because yes, I would have loved to draft somebody in the third round or fourth round, but it really didn't matter because you drafted Swinson, who was seen by most people as a second or third round talent. Pretty much everybody across the board that I read, that I watched, that I listened to told me that Swinton was a top 100 player in this draft. His talent would tell you that. So you still got an edge who was seen as a top 100 guy talent wise. I also think that graph is understating the impact of having Christian Barmore and Milton Williams in the middle. It's the old-school thought

process of, yeah, but you need those guys on the edge to get to the quarterback. That certainly helps and defensive end is one of the most critical positions in football. However, if you've noticed something over the past few years that I've noticed, you will understand what I'm putting down. Williams and Barmore, such a huge impact because of the rush on the interior. And if you've noticed how much teams are paying offensive guards and centers nowadays, the Michael Wenu contract last offseason, I was wrong.

When he signed that deal, I said they're paying him like a tackle but no the Patriots were actually ahead of the curve a bit by giving a win with the contract that they gave him because when you look at the guards in the league and in good guards we're talking about making 18 19 20 million 20 plus million a year now why is that it's because teams are more concerned now than ever about the interior defensive pass rush. Milton Williams and Christian Barmore will be a nightmare on Sundays for offensive lines. And that will create cleanup sacks. Guys on the edge getting home not because they're always winning their one on ones, but because Williams and Barmore are creating a nightmare for the interior offensive line of the

opposition which is forcing the quarterback out of the pocket and what do you know he's running right India I also think you can look at guys like Robert Spillane who's going to help the pass rush he's not an edge rusher but he's going to help the pass rush Michael France of SI wrote this about Spillane last June June of 24 at France of SI wrote this about Spillane last June, June of 24. At the end of the 23 season, Spillane was named the 10th most valuable linebacker by Pro Football Focus. Among all linebackers in the league, Spillane had the third best pass rush grade of 87.1. Evan Lazar wrote that Spillane logged 13 total pressures

as an interior blitzer last season Profiling as a fiery off-ball linebacker with an explosive downhill trigger Robert Spillane gets to the quarterback. He's aggressive He's a really good blitzer on the inside So just put all of it together Milton Williams Christian Bourne Moore on the interior of that defensive line Spillane screaming downhill with a blitz. Simulated pressures, making offenses believe that you're going to rush a defensive lineman, but then all of a sudden that defensive lineman drops back in coverage and you instead send somebody like Spillane or you send a safety or you send a corner. Mike Rable's defenses, they run simulated pressures.

And we know that Mike Rable, he had a stated goal when he was introduced as the Patriots head coach. He said that he wants to impact, he wants to affect the quarterback. He knows you've got to get after the quarterback. And whether he's aggressive or selectively aggressive, they're going to make that a priority. And one more thing, when you have

cornerbacks like Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, and you can play man coverage on the outside, and quarterbacks can't get rid of the football quickly, because both of your outside corners are very good at man press coverage, when you have that situation playing out, that also helps your pass rush because guess what? Guys aren't getting open quickly, which allows you to get to the quarterback.

To just look at the edge rusher and say that this team is not going to pass rush because you're not in love with the edge rushers that they have, you're missing the bigger picture. You're missing the totality of a pass rush. There's one specific undrafted free agent who's receiving a ton of attention. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Efton Chisholm. Efton Chisholm is a popular name in the UDFA class that the Patriots recently signed.

And now we have even more context behind the addition of Efton Chisholm. Mike Reese wrote about Chisholm over the weekend. And here's what he wrote in part at ESPN.com. Six NFL teams, six, devoted one of their 30 allotted visits to Chisholm leading into the draft. So six NFL teams. Before getting into the draft, you've got your top 30 visits. Six teams had Chisholm in for a visit. Reese writes, the Patriots weren't one of them, but Coach Vrabel personally called Chisholm in for a visit. Reiss writes the Patriots weren't one of them, but Coach Vrabel personally called Chisholm. So Vrabel felt that Chisholm was important enough to pick up the phone and call him, to call a UDFA. If that doesn't make you believe the Patriots were serious about Chisholm, his

contract should tell you they were very serious about Eftin Chisholm because Chisholm, his contract should tell you they were very serious about F-ed in Chisholm because Chisholm's three-year contract, according to Reese, includes $234,000 in guaranteed base salary along, that's not it. He also got a $25,000 signing bonus. It is the richest deal among the Patriots 16 member undrafted class and includes more in guarantees than the teams seventh round draft picks. Efton Chisholm is getting more guaranteed money than any of the seventh round picks that the Patriots made. That's significant interest folks. Reese writes, one reason for the lucrative deal

is that the Patriots found themselves in a competitive bidding battle with other teams, which sources familiar with the discussion say included the Broncos as coach Sean Payton made a strong pitch to woo Chisholm to Denver. Let's start with Sean Payton, number one. If Sean Payton's interested in Efton Chisholm, I'm interested in Efton Chisholm. Look at Payton's history as a head coach and what he did with that offense in New Orleans and what he's doing with that offense in Denver.

My guy knows wide receivers. Let's just look at the Saints. The legitimate offensive mind of Sean Payton when he was with New Orleans, when you look at the Saints and their long lineage of wide receivers that were some of the best receivers in the league during their time, I'm sure you're thinking of one guy immediately.

How about Marcus Colston? Sean Payton guy. How about Michael Thomas? Sean Payton guy. How about Lance Moore? Sean Payton guy. How about old friend Brandon Cooks? Sean Payton guy. How about old friend Brandon Cooks? Sean Payton guy.

Sean Payton has proven during his time in the league that he can identify wide receivers, he can develop wide receivers. He gets production out of that position from all different types of guys. Marcus Colston was more of a positional guy. Right? He was going to be able to box out and bother you and get contested catches, use his big body. He was more of positional and possession guy. You look at Lance Moore, kind of a mix in between. You look at Brandon Cooks, who was the vertical threat. Not a big dude, but a vertical threat. So if Sean Payton was interested in Efton Chisholm, that's good news

Now let's look at something else when you are drafting in the late rounds And we talked about this a little bit with Marcus Bryant when you're drafting in the late rounds the picks that you're making And you DF a you're looking for I believe one of two things You're looking for specific traits, and if you can get somebody with an elite trait, somehow, someway in the seventh round, sixth round, UDFA, they might have one elite trait, but if you can get that guy in town, that's a good job.

So you're looking at specific traits, you're looking at top end traits, elite traits, whatever, but you're also looking for fit. Some guys might not have the top end traits, you're looking at top end traits, elite traits, whatever, but you're also looking for fit. Some guys might not have the top end traits and most guys when you get to the sixth, seventh round and the UDF phase, they certainly won't have the elite traits. So you're looking for fit. And when you think about fit, you think about wide receiver, you think about Josh McDaniels, the first thing that I think about is the shifty wide receiver in the slot. The Julian Edelman's of the world doing their thing. And McDaniels has the history with those slot guys. And when you look at F. Dun Chisholm and his testing, they kind of go

hand in hand with what you envision a McDaniels offense and at that position. Back to Mike Reese, who does great work. We all know Reese. It's fantastic. He wrote about Chisholm's testing. Chisholm tested with a 4.71, 40-yard dash in the pre-draft process. Obviously 4.71 is slow. It is slow for a wide receiver. 4.71 is slow. It is slow for a wide receiver.

4.71, you are not putting that on a banner. You are not running around giving high fives when you run a 4.71 as a wide out. But, devils in the details, Chisholm ran a 4.71.40, but he had high ranking times in the three cone drill, short shuttle, in 10 yards split Which as Reese writes reflects Chisholm's ability to change directions and accelerate quickly

Change directions accelerate quickly Sounds familiar now Edelman is a better athlete than Chisholm. He's faster than Chisholm. Let's not play the Julian Edelman game. We're just talking about envisioning that role within this Patriots offense. And Reese writes that during Friday's rookie minicamp practice, Chisholm caught multiple passes. He worked on shallow option routes. Sounds familiar. And was among those players staying after practice.

The short area quickness. I'm not telling you that Chisholm is a better athlete than Chisholm. on shallow option routes, sounds familiar, and was among those players staying after practice. The short area quickness. I'm not telling you that Chisholm's gonna make the team. I do think it's gonna be very difficult for him to make the team. If he makes the team, Patriots will be thrilled because that means he had an unbelievable camp, he had a great preseason,

he did what they hoped that he would do when they handed him over $255,000, $260,000 in his pocket. But my question is, what do you do with Pop Douglas? If you're going to bring Afton Chisholm into camp and he's going to make the team, that's fine. But that likely means he leapfrogged Pop. And I think Pop could be a good fit for this McDaniels offense. And we've seen Pop, we've seen the type of dynamic plays that he could put out there on the field when he's healthy and he's given the opportunity. So I just, I find it hard to believe that Chisholm will leapfrog Pop Douglas. I just don't see it. You're not putting Pop on the outside, not with his size, the concussion history. You're just not

doing it. Now could Efton Chisholm play the Z position in this offense? Maybe, but he has even more competition at the Z receiver. The Patriots are loaded with Z receivers. Stefan Diggs could play Z, Kendrick Bourne could play Z, Jalen Polk is a Z. You could say that K. Shambhuti could play Z. So it's the numbers game and it's what do you do with Pop Douglas? I mean it's a good problem to have if Chisholm plays well enough and he shows out and you feel like he could make the team, I mean, I guess that's great news because you have another useful weapon for your team.

And if he's pushing Pop Douglas, that should make Pop even better. But I just find it hard to believe that Pop would be gone. I don't see it. That doesn't mean that Chisholm and Pop can't both make the team. They certainly could. But now you're kind of messing with the numbers because they don't have the versatility that some of the other guys have. Seems like Efth and Chisholm would be a very specific fit for this team. And if the worst case scenario is he just pushes Pop, that's good.

I wouldn't totally write off the idea that he makes the team, but I think it's going to be very difficult for him to do so. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots on tomorrow's show, the versatility of said wide receiver room. I want to get into that. I want to dig a little deeper. Let me know your thoughts on today's topics.

Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. Don't forget to throw a comment on on the YouTube channel always helps us. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL scouting. Of course the drafts over now we're kind of focused on the future and hosts Kyle crabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season. Find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts Have a great day my friends, and I will see you tomorrow