Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots OTAs: Drake Maye Improving & Much More!

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

The New England Patriots held their second OTA practice in front of the media. Drake Maye showed some improvements and we’ll break that down.Is Will Campbell also showing signs of improvement? And, why is Keion White so important for Campbell? In other rookie news from practice, how does Kyle Williams look and did Efton Chism keep impressing onlookers?Finally, a surprise name enters the Left Guard competition and the WR depth chart might give us some clues to how things are going to unfold at that position. Pull up and enjoy!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!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.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.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 offense is showing signs of improvement. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots host Nick Cattles bo New England, your New Eng host of the Everything Pa of the Greg Bedard Patri Cattles and also a sports

on today's episode, two r are opening eyes and thre from Wednesday's OTA practice. But first, it's all about baby steps. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. The Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day.

I do want to share a note with you starting next week from June 2nd through July 14th that Monday, so June 2nd through July 14th that Monday. So June 2nd to July 14th We will have a podcast on Monday Wednesday and Fridays for all of you So we will have three days a week Podcasts from June 2nd to July 14th and then when July 14th hits we go back to five days a week as we get ready For training camp, you know, it's critical. It is critical during this time to be reasonable, reasonable expectations, a reasonable understanding as to what the team is trying to accomplish when they're trying to accomplish it. In this time of year, with all the new offense, we're talking new offensive skill position

players, new offensive lineman, new offensive coordinator, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new all over the place. That's why it is critical to be reasonable and understand what that much new going on. We're looking for baby steps. When we talk about offensive improvement during this time of year, we talk about baby steps. It is very unlikely for somebody to take a gigantic leap in late May. It's just not usually how it works. So I've got some good news.

When we think about baby steps, Drake May, second practice at OTAs in front of the media, he took some baby steps. Here's Greg Bedard writing about May. After throwing four interceptions last week, he did not throw any today, although he and Garrett Bradbury had a fumbled snap. Bedard writes, I had May 9 of 15 with a sack and a fumble. May is obviously still feeling things out, working through his progressions and playing on the slow side. That's to be expected for a 22-year-old quarterback in a new system. New, new, new, baby steps. Now, Badar did say in the podcast that I co-host with him, he did say that May, even though he's still on the slower side reading progressions within this offense,

he felt like May was processing things a little bit quicker than he was processing them last week. Baby steps. If Drake May, in late May, is just a little bit quicker processing things in front of him, that's a good sign. I know we all want him to be a top 10 quarterback right now. That would be a perfect world. It would be great if he went out to the practice field and

was lighting things up every single time the media got to see him play. But that's unreasonable. That goes back to the idea of having reasonable expectations at this time with everything new happening. So better processing. That's good news. Let's not forget that May, even last year, the trajectory that he had during camp, he got off to a very slow start. Alex van Pelt was working on his footwork constantly. We didn't see much from him early on. But then all of a sudden, as Camp continued,

May picked it up to the point where people were questioning, and they should have been questioning whether or not May was going to be able to leapfrog Jacoby Brissette and be the starting quarterback week one of last season. So he went from looking like somebody who was going to need a lot of time to figure out this league to somebody by the end of camp that was pushing the veteran Brissette. If he has a similar trajectory this camp season, he should be more than ready to go week one with the nine or 10 games he has under his belt after his rookie season. Baby steps, more baby steps for this offense, which means improvement.

Less turnovers, May threw four interceptions last week. He had one fumble bad snap between he and Bradbury. It happens. It happened more than I would like to remember during last year's camp. Trust me when I tell you a Tonio Mafia was a walking disaster trying to play center. This stuff happens. Bad snap. You can live with it. It is certainly not one, two, three, four interceptions during the same OTA practice. Less turnovers, which means if this is the way it's going to move forward, that's a huge step in Drake May's maturation.

What we need to see, there's no doubting May's natural ability. There's no doubting the arm talent. There's no doubting the athleticism. We understand that is all there. But the one thing that I think many are still waiting to see, including myself, is whether or not may can cut down on the turnover worthy plays. Can he take care of the football? Mike Vrabel talks about taking advantage of bad football. You take advantage of bad football by taking advantage of turnovers from the opposition, not turning it over yourself. So when you look at the baby steps, you look at less turnovers, less picks from last OTA

practice to this OTA practice in front of the media, and that would be a huge step in May's maturation as an NFL quarterback. And if we continue to see this, because again, it's only one practice. I didn't go crazy last week when May threw four picks. I'm not gonna go banana land when he just has one turnover on a fumble at the next OTA practice. The word for today is reasonable. So I'm trying to be as reasonable as possible.

But if we continue to watch, we get to mandatory mini camp, which will be June 9th through the 11th. You get to mandatory mini camp. which will be June 9th through the 11th. You get to mandatory mini camp. What do those practices look like? Do we still see less turnovers? May taking care of the football. Because as we slowly progress through this camp season, it's pivotal that May's taking care of the ball because not only is that great for May's maturation, but that's

also great for the learning curve within this offense. Because a lot of the mistakes last week that people were reporting about were things that you can fix. Some of it was communication, some of it was confusion. So if you have less turnovers, that usually means you are not as confused. It usually means your communication is better. Everybody is getting closer to being on the same page. So if we continue to see practices moving forward that don't involve multiple turnovers from your starting quarterback, that should mean guys are getting familiar

with this system, they're understanding the the scheme and they know what everybody is supposed to be doing. Baby steps. Will Campbell. Will Campbell had some progress at this second OTA practice. Back to Greg Bedard. He wrote, Campbell had a couple of reps he'd want back but seemed to improve, moves well, and is smart. That's not a shocker. Leading

into the draft, we talked about Campbell's excellent athleticism. We talked about his super high football IQ. So the fact that he's moving really well and seems to be really smart, that should not surprise any of us. Evan Lazar posted the following, Campbell versus Kion White has been a good matchup through two open OTAs. White beat Campbell's two-hand punch for a pressure around the edge. Some wins for the Patriots' rookie, too. The goal for Will Campbell as we move towards training camp in late July. You want Campbell to show that he's generally good at left tackle as he gets to walk into

his first NFL training camp. If by late July we're getting reports that Campbell's done a good job, that's really good news. Because he's so new to this. He's still only 21 years old, just turned 21 a few months ago. So the goal for Will Campbell and pretty much all these rookies is to be generally good by the time you get to training camp. And it sounds like Campbell progressed baby steps. He got better from last week to this week. And by the way, Keon White is a great test for Campbell during these OTAs.

He's going to be a great test for him at Manny Camp. He's going to be a great test for him during training camp. We talk about Will's arm length and all of that. Keon White has 34-inch arms. So he's got 34-inch arm length, which is something that could bother Campbell theoretically. And we also look at Keon White when he was a defensive tackle prospect in the 2023 draft class, he scored a 9.91 relative athletic score, which ranked him at the time 14th out of almost 1500 defensive tackles from 1987 to 2023.

So great test for Will Campbell, cuz Keon White has good length and he has elite athleticism. And those are the two things that could theoretically bother Will Campbell. So getting reps against that guy every single day could be big for his development. Speaking of development, two rookie wide receivers are the talk of the town. 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. The NBA playoffs are in full swing and every night delivers highlight worthy performances,

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Let's talk about Rookie wide receivers. It's early. It's early. There's the caveat, the disclaimer, the warning. It's early, but two rookie wide receivers have consistently opened eyes during these first two OTA practices that the media has watched. In those two rookie wide receivers, we're talking Kyle Williams and Efton Chisholm III.

Let's start with Kyle Williams. It sounds like Williams is taking advantage of the opportunities that he is getting early during this camp season. Let's get back to Greg Bedard writing about Kyle Williams' day. Josh Dobbs had the better day because he made more plays down the field, including the play of the day. A bomb down the right sideline to Williams, who did a great job stacking the cornerback and giving Dobbs room to throw to the sideline. Stick a pin in that term, stacking the cornerback. Evan the czar posted, Williams' separation has flashed in the two practices the media

has attended. Separation is critical. How many times have we spent over the past couple of years talking about the wide receivers and their incapability of separating against defensive backs? The press coverage, man, has been a major issue. Being physical at the line of scrimmage has been a major issue. We've heard guys like Lazar talk about release packages at the line of scrimmage has been a major issue. We've heard guys like Lazar talk about release packages at the line of scrimmage. Can he separate downfield? Can he stack the defensive back? Kyle Williams showing those flashes of separation is so big for this offense. If he can continue to do that as we get closer to training camp and he starts separating against these defensive backs, because let's not get it twisted. Carlton

Davis was not out there during this practice. But if Williams is separating consistently against the Christian Gonzalez's, Carlton Davis's of the world, he is certainly going to separate against most NFL cornerbacks. I mean, even Alex Austin is a pretty good challenge for a rookie wide receiver. The separation is huge, but it's not just the separation because Tyquan Thornton could get separation at times. It's also the technique, it's the route running.

And that's why I stuck a pin in Greg Bedard's post about how Williams stacked the cornerback, got up on the cornerback, created that space, made the play downfield. So when you can mix your ability to create separation at the line of scrimmage with some technique like stacking the defensive back, when you can combine those two elements, that's what makes you a successful wide receiver. That's what makes you a successful NFL wide receiver. So the fact that Williams is getting separation, the fact that he is showing some technique

makes me feel good. Where is that? Am I telling you he's going to catch 100 footballs? Of course not. Am I telling you he's a number one receiver? Of course not. I'm just saying at this spot in the offseason at this juncture of Your progression and in your development and what you're trying to do as a rookie

These are good signs These are good things to hear they're good things to read But Williams is not the only rookie wide receiver Who is opening eyes. I am here to tell you that the Chisholm hype continues. The disclaimer again is that it's very early and we've seen some receivers, some receivers that have very similar games to F'ed and Chisholm. We've seen these guys before.

We've seen them have some success early in in the camp season And then they get through mandatory mini camp and they get to training camp and then they run into a brick freaking wall And it's just different it is completely different and that can certainly happen to FD and Chisholm But we're looking at this right now in a vacuum and how these guys are progressing and developing and Chisholm, but we're looking at this right now in a vacuum and how these guys are progressing and developing and Chisholm continues to look really good out there in these practices. Mark Daniels of Mass Live posted, Chisholm continues to stand out. He's really quick. Will be interesting to see if he moves up the depth chart this summer.

Back to Bedard. Chisholm continues to pop. Did a great job coming back on an in-cut and then using his jump stop to lose a defender. Let's just go down this road for a minute. And this is well down the road. Again with the caveat that it's very early. He can certainly hit a brick wall at some point. But let's just go down this road.

If Chisholm continues to stand out, if he continues to make plays, if he starts to climb up the depth chart, the UDFA, Efton Chisholm III, could absolutely make the Jalen Polk pick last year less hurtful for you because in a perfect world, if we're looking at which receiver plays which position within this offense, if you're looking at X and Y and Z and you're looking at Jalen Polk and you're saying, well, you could play Jalen Polk some in the slot, right?

He's not going to be devoted to the outside, especially after you drafted Kyle Williams but if you're if you're trying to size poke up to some of these other guys on the roster at his position and You need somebody to play that slot and of course you have pop Douglas, but if you if you want somebody that brings want somebody that brings some impact in different ways than Pop Douglas, like having maybe a bigger frame to block, for example. If you replace poke with chism, then the poke pick, of course, you would want a lot of contribution from the second round pick last year. But let's say, again, going down the road that that pick is for all intents and purposes wasted. Well, you feel a little bit better about wasting that pick if you found somebody like Chisholm

as an undrafted free agent and he has the capability of taking the spot that Polk would have had anyway. So yes, it hurt for a year, But if Chisholm can replace poke, in essence, that makes the poke swing and miss less hurtful for you moving forward. And I would imagine that Josh McDaniels has an affinity for Chisholm based off the receivers we've seen here in the past, and the quick short area bursts and the different things that we have read about in cuts as Bedard wrote in the jump stop to lose a defender. That's very Julian Edelman, Danny Amandola-esque.

So I would imagine that when McDaniels looks at Chisholm, if he starts to think about ceiling, he might get a little bit excited about it. But the biggest question, no matter if we're talking about Williams or Chisholm, is can they continue this kind of trajectory? Can they continue this kind of progression throughout the entire camp season? Because right now, they're opening some eyes.

But you've got to do it consistently. You've got to do it consistently. You've got to do it. Practice in and practice out. You get to those joint practices. When you get an opportunity, you have to show out. When you get into a preseason game, you've got to make sure that everybody notices you for all the right things. So it's great here in late May, but the million dollar question is whether or not they can

carry this over into mandatory mini camp into training camp. More of the offense is installed, more things are being added, things are being subtracted. You get into much more competitive football. Can Chisholm and Williams continue this step in the right direction as we get to late July? More OTA practice takeaways that you don't want to miss coming up next as we get to late July. More OTA practice takeaways that you don't want to miss coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Let's talk about three critical aspects of this camp season for your Patriots.

Number one, deciding the pecking order, figuring out your depth chart, creating the hierarchy, critical. Number two, find the best five offensive linemen that you can find to start week one. And number three, can you develop the second year guys? Now I'm not talking about these being the top three critical aspects of camp. I'm talking about these being three of the critical aspects of camp. And what did we learn during the second OTA practice that was open to the media, in correlation to those three critical aspects I just brought up, deciding the pecking order, let's look at the wide receiver competition.

What did we learn this week about the wide receiver competition? Greg Bedard noted that the wide receiver rotation, you had pop, born, and booty continuing to get a lot of time. So it sounds like those were your top three receivers in the second OTA practice. It was pop, it was born, it was booty. Now a reminder, there was no Stefan Diggs. I don't know if he was on a yacht or what was going on, but there was no Stefan Diggs. I don't know if he was on a yacht or what was going on, but there was no Stefan Diggs. Of course, Diggs was not at OTA practice last week when it was

open to the media. And then we saw pictures of Stefan Diggs participating in football activities like we talked about on yesterday's episode. We saw that picture later in the week when apparently Diggs showed up and was ready to participate in some kind of way. But as far as this practice, this specific practice, no Diggs and no Mac Collins. So neither of those guys, neither of your free agency additions were there at practice and also Jalen Polk was limited. The fact that Pop Douglas and Kendrick Bourne are getting a lot of reps doesn't surprise me. It shouldn't surprise you.

If you remove Stefan Diggs, I'd say less Hollins because I don't think Hollins is going to get a ton of snaps. I think he might play a little bit more than we might expect him to, but I don't think he's going to be a vital part of this offense. He's going to help this offense. He's going to help special teams, but I don't think Mack Hollins is going to be out there the majority of the time. But with Diggs not being at practice, it's not a surprise that Kendrick

Bourne is the one that for all intents and purposes takes the digs spot because Kendrick Bourne has the experience with McDaniel's offense. He is a proven NFL receiver. So it makes sense. And pop Douglas was the team's best receiver last year. You could argue. So pop Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, not surprised. I wonder if when digs comes back and he's actually practicing day in and day out, does

he just easily replace born or does McDaniel's mix and match a little bit more. And say, no, we have this. Ability on offense at that position to be more versatile than many might think. Like digs can play inside. It could play outside. Bore could play inside. It could play outside. So I don't know if it would be a one for one swap where Diggs comes back and he

replaces born something we keep an eye on. Also to keep an eye on, as we mentioned last segment with Kyle Williams, does he start to impose his will during this camp season as it moves forward? And does he overtake Kaishan Booty and become that guy in that spot? So in essence, Diggs comes back and everybody kind of moves down a peg, but instead of Booty moving down a peg, Williams leapfrogs Booty. And now you're looking at Diggs, Pop, Bourne, and Williams as your top four receivers, Booty probably would be five and then you've got that fight for the sixth spot between Polk, Baker, Chisholm, and others.

You got Mack Hollins involved too, so if Diggs is ready to play week one, I mean you've got Pop, you've got Bourne, you've got Diggs, you've got Hollins, you've got Williams, you've got Bos. You've got Hollins. You've got Williams. You've got booty If you're taking six Can two guys leapfrog booty? So these are the things we'll be paying attention to keeping an eye on but the wide receiver competition is certainly going to be a story as we Move all the way through camp and that competition

Includes J von Baker and I want to give you a J von Baker update Can Baker enter the chat because I think people including the one that is talking into a microphone right now with all of you. I Would look at Baker in Poke pretty much in the same spot that you got poke you got Baker you got chism booty is ahead of those guys. And the battle between Williams and booty is going to be fun to watch. What can Baker make enough of an impact during this camp. To make the argument that he should be the one that makes this time this team ahead of booty, poke, chism.

Is he going to do enough? And I just thought, you know, it was like the perfect J Von Baker story from what happened at practice that was open to the media. Mike Reese posts this. Mike Vrabel walked to the locker room with Baker after practice, continuing to coach him based on one play. Baker caught a deep pass appearing to push off and celebrated afterwards. Vrabel wanted him back in huddle quickly and had let him know that in decisive terms. Greg Medard also posted that Baker made a few plays down the field.

It's really just like the perfect Baker anecdote because when you think about Jayvon Baker, he's got that enticing talent that we all saw with the highlights and what he did in college. But then it just seems like there's always something else with Baker. Same kind of vibe with Jalen Polk last year. Just as always something else. There was the airport thing. There was when he got drafted and talked about people jumping out of wheelchairs. There were these celebrations during camp like he obviously had during this practice where, you know, all right, settle down a little bit.

You made a play, but relax. You're slowing the process down. And it's, you know, it's the on-field enticing talent in hopes that he can figure it out, but it's the off-the-field and even on-the-field shenanigans that he seems to get himself into. And I think Jayvon Baker's going to be a very interesting litmus test for Mike Vrabel's approach and can he get something out of guys that have some of those shenanigans?

Because the idea is that Vrabel is that kind of guy, that kind of head coach that can make the connection and help Baker understand if you want to be a successful NFL player, this is what you've got to do. So this is going to be a nice early test for Vrabel and the offensive coaching staff to see if they can get that out of Baker and knock some of the other stuff off. All right. One last note, a surprise left guard competitor. Tyrese Robinson, according to reports, got more reps at this practice, was out there playing a decent amount at left guard. And it feels like the Patriots might be going with the,

the more the merrier approach at left guard. Tyrese Robinson, we haven't talked about him nearly at all. He was brought in from Minnesota last year, the practice squad, and he's getting more reps. And he was more a part of the conversation in this OTA practice versus last week's OTA practice. And I just wonder, it goes back to the idea of picking the best five offensive linemen for week one, what kind of timeline are the Patriots working with?

Because you've got to make these decisions and you've got to make sure that you have your best five to give them time during camp, during joint practices, you've got to make sure you give them enough time to build that chemistry and get into the season week one feeling like they're ready. And maybe Robinson ends up being that guy at left guard wide open competition that wraps up this edition of lockdown patriots. 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 in on the YouTube channel. And thank you for making lockdown patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Lockdown NFL Scouting. Crabs Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find

Lockdown NFL Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow. Transcribed by https://otter.ai