Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - OTA INTEL: Drake Maye, Mike Vrabel And The New England Patriots

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

New England Patriots hit the practice for Mike Vrabel’s first OTAs, and we’ve got intel on Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez, Will Campbell and more!What did Drake Maye look like? Who stood out and why? Who wasn’t on the field? A lot to get into, so pull on up and listen to today’s episode!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.Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL.LinkedInPost your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.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)

Drake may and the Patriots offense hit the field for OTAs. 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 fans? I am your host Nick Cattles born and raised in New What's up, Patriots fans? I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert, host of the Everything Pats podcast,

co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles, and also a Sports Talk Show host veteran. On today's episode, one of the Patriots' best players looks ready for prime time in May, and big picture takeaways from Tuesday's OTA practice. But first Drake May's up and down day on the practice field. We appreciate you joining the

show making us your first listener for being an everydayer. The Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner. The Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I expect a slower start in camp for this offense. I expect the slower start in camp for this offense for a couple of reasons. A lot of young players on that side of the football, Trevion Henderson, Kyle Williams, Will Campbell, Jared Wilson, Drake May, Jaylen Polk, Jayvon Baker, you get the point. Lots of youth on the offensive side. And lots of youth working with a new offensive coordinator, working with a new scheme in Josh McDaniels, even for the guys that were on the team last year. You're going from Alex van Pelt to Josh McDaniels.

That is a significant change in scheme. There are less guys also on the offensive side that are experienced with the current staff. If you think defensively, Harold Landry has a history, we know that already. Spillane has a history, Carlton Davis has a history. At least there are some guys on that side of the ball that understand what the defensive coaches are looking for. Now there are a couple of guys on the offensive side. Hunter Henry obviously has worked with Josh McDaniels in the past, so that is at least one name. The guys from 2021 like Kendrick Bourne and Ramondre Stevenson who is is not currently in camp, unfortunately, for the passing of his father.

But Ramondre would be another guy. But there's just a lot of new on the offensive side. And there is less experience working within this scheme on that side of the ball. So I'm expecting a slower start for the offense. I'm not expecting a super slow start at the beginning of the season. I'm talking about May, June, and maybe even some of July.

But once they get to joint practices, they should be fully understanding what they're supposed to do, the strengths, the weaknesses, all those things. But for right now, at the very start of this camp season, we had OTAs this week. We've got mandatory mini camp coming up in a couple of weeks. Then you've got training camp after that in July. The beginning of this process, getting out there on the field practicing, I'm not surprised if the offense is getting off to a slow start. I am especially not surprised if Drake may get off to a tough start at the OTA practice, the media witnessed. I'm not surprised at that at all. Now, of course, you don't want Drake may going out there throwing not one, not two, not three, but four

interceptions on his first eight or nine pass attempts. That's never good. But I don't want to go crazy. I don't want to lose my mind. I'm not going to be running around this room because May threw four picks at the beginning of an OTA practice. His first two 11 on 11s, they didn't go well, but he's learning the new scheme. He's learning the new verbiage.

He's learning how to work with a number of guys in his supporting cast. He's trying to put all of these pieces together. He's working for the first time with Garrett Bradbury at center. He's working for the first time with Will Campbell at left tackle. So there's a lot of moving parts. As I mentioned a minute ago, there's a lot of new. Drake May is going to take some time figuring out what McDaniels wants from him and what

works best for him within this offense. So you've got the newness to it all, the scheme, the OC. You've got the rough start, but you also, you have some injuries. You've got some guys limited. You've got some guys that are not out there at wide receiver Jalen Polk limited at Tuesday's practice Stefan Diggs Matt Collins your two free agent additions at wide receiver both guys Did not practice on Tuesday

So you really have to put all of this into perspective. It was the first two sets of 11 on 11s. You're dealing with a new scheme, new offensive coordinator, some new components on the offensive line, some new components at wide receiver, new component at running back with Trevion Henderson. Two of your receivers that are pretty much guaranteed to make this roster,

including the best receiver on this roster, practicing another guy second round pick last year somebody that you do have at least some chemistry with even though we all wish it was better Jalen poke he's limited I would also mention it would be disingenuous not to mention this that may finished seven of eight so we get off to a brutal start but he calmed down. He improved throughout the practice. That's point number one for the offense. Point number two, the offensive line group. We're all wondering who's going to start. We have a good idea, but there's competition in this camp. There could be a couple of surprises. Now, the first offensive line group, no surprises whatsoever.

Exactly who you thought would be out there. Maybe left guard would surprise you a little bit. I'm not surprised. So left tackle, Will Campbell, obvious. Left guard, Cole Strange. That might surprise you. Maybe you thought it would be Robinson. Maybe you thought it would be City So.

Get to him in a little bit. Center, Garrett Bradbury. Right guard, Michael Wenu. Right tackle, Morgan Moses. Left guard is the only one that I think we could go back and forth and wonder about. But I would say that's pretty much expected. Now, the offensive line did change during drills. And there was a heavy rotation during the practice.

Mark Daniels posted this, when full team drills started, it changed due to some guys being limited. So when full team drills began, you had Campbell still at left tackle, you had Wes Schweitzer at left guard, interesting, not Leighton Robinson, you had Brad Berry at center,

you then had Strange at right guard, not Awenu. And you had Kaden Wallace at right tackle. Now the guys who were limited, Awenu was limited. So it stands to reason he's not out there doing the full drills. Strange moves to right guard, which is interesting because maybe they think Cole Strange can give them that interior offensive line flexibility.

Drafted as a left guard out of the first round. They tried him at center last year. Now he's swinging to the right guard position in the full-time drills today. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. Morgan Moses apparently had a little bit of a knee cleanup, so he's working his way back. He said he feels good. He'll get there. Jared Wilson was limited. Vidarian Lowe was limited. And of course, with Vidarian Lowe limited, that means Campbell got a ton of reps today. Who's your backup left tackle if it's not going to be low?

Not sure, because Campbell got a ton of the snaps. So you had some guys limited, and that's going to impact things. City So was out. Now, this is a big year for City So and he might have a great shot of starting on this offensive line at left guard if he can stay healthy, but he wasn't healthy last year and now OTA startup and he's out because of something. Now it could be physical, it could be some other personal reason, we

don't know. But if it is an injury, then so is going to have some issues. And I think City So in 2023, he proved in stretches he could be a starting offensive lineman at this level. But if you can't get out there, as they say, you can't make the club in the tub. And he missed a ton of time last year and now he's out during OTAs. We'll see if he gets out there during mandatory minicamp. I remind everybody it's very early. It's very very early so I'm not freaking out about any injuries just yet. I also tell you it's very early because apparently FDN Chisholm the third made a big first impression

to the media that were out there during this OTA practice. Mark Daniels posted, Chisholm III popped on offense, had three catches from Josh Dobbs and one from Ben Wooldridge. Evan Lazar posted, Chisholm was heavily involved. He can separate and knows how to get to his spots. Mike Reese posted, Chisholm has a combination of quickness and sudden change of direction that could fit well based on

what we have previously seen from McDaniel's offense in the slot. Talked about Chisholm before, not surprised he's made it make a couple plays here and there. And he does certainly fit McDaniel's offense, his style of play, his strengths. So not too surprised that Chisholm's out there catching some footballs, especially with the guys that were limited or out, but it does beg the question, is Chisholm getting this opportunity just because it's a numbers game? And inevitably when guys start to come back hopefully fingers crossed if you've got poke out there and Hollins out there and digs out there How many reps how many snaps is Chisholm going to get is he going to get that true opportunity? We'll see because he could end up pushing guys. It would be a great story

I don't have him on the roster right now But it would be a great story and I don't think it's crazy to believe that he might be able to find a spot But we've got to give it time. It's very early. May's tough day had a lot to do with one guy on the other side of the ball. 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. As a small business owner, your work doesn't end when the clock hits five.

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Terms and conditions apply. I have top 10 ish expectations for this defense. If you're ranking this defense among the 32, I'd be very surprised if we're talking middle of the pack. It's very difficult to predict with a lot of this newness going on. And a lot of the free agency additions, it's it's difficult, I think to sit here in May, and predict this defense finishing in the top five, I'm not writing it off. I'm not saying it's impossible. But I look at this defense, and I say to myself, top 10 ish expectations anywhere

from like eight to 12 makes some sense to me. And plenty of reasons why the defensive line we've talked about it, Keon White, Christian Barmore, Milton Williams, you've got the two outside cornerbacks and Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. You've addressed the middle of the field with Robert Spillane, you've got your hybrid safeties who are probably going to play closer to the line of scrimmage.

Mike Vrabel knows what he's doing on that side of the ball. Terrell Williams, a highly respected defensive coach. Now you're DC. And I think we'll see them get off to a good start because they have a lot of experience on that side of the football. And you also look at the schedule and the schedule would lead you to believe that there's going to be opportunity there for your defense to play some really good football. But your defense has an excellent chance of playing really good football if one Christian Gonzalez balls out. Now I've talked about Christian Gonzalez this week and I have mentioned, talked about him

on my Everything Pats podcast which you can check out on my youtube channel again everything pats is the podcast talked about christian gonzalez high expectations for gonzalez this year debin mccordy on the forge in foxborough first episode said that he believes he thinks gonzalez is going to be the best cornerback in football this season and if we're going to go off of one ota practice that was open to the media, which we are not going to go off of, but if we were going to go off of that one practice, we would say Devin McCordy was certainly onto something. Christian Gonzalez did not have just one, but he had two picks on Drake May.

And here's what Evan Lazar posted, Gonzalez was in mid-season form. His two interceptions included bailing on the flat to fall underneath a Kyle Williams post corner route for an over-the-shoulder INT. Williams flashed open deep downfield, but Gonzo was alert to it. We talk about the new scheme and how it's going to impact players and certainly the new scheme defensively is going to impact Gonzalez. You hope that you get more pressure up front, more pressure up front means that the cornerbacks have less time to cover, which is great news for them. But Gonzalez, he plays a ton of man coverage. The Patriots last year played a ton of man coverage and how good Gonzalez is, I don't know how much the defensive coaching staff is going to want to change him, change his approach, change what he does. Gonzalez strikes me as that kind of guy where you just say you do what you do young man because

you do it at a very high level. Why do we want to get in the way of that? We don't want to get in the way of that. We think you're very good at what you do. So just do what you do. We're going to play some man. You stay on your man. You cover him. Easy peasy. You bring in Carlton Davis.

So now I think you play less zone because you've got two outside corners that can play man press and you've got Gonzalez out there just doing what he does. And he goes off of his instincts. And he obviously watches plenty of film. He has an unbelievable amount of natural talent, athleticism, length, frame, skill set. And truly, truly it feels like there are no limits to his game. And he obviously got off to a great start at that first OTA practice open to the media. We got more good news with Christian Barmore. Talked about good news with Barmore last week. The good news keeps on coming.

Andrew Callahan posted this during the practice. Barmore, full participant, great sign. Tom Curran posted, Barmore moving very well was an eye-opener to me. So not only was Barmore out there as a full participant, but Curran says that Barmore was moving quote unquote very well, and it was eye-opening to him, which tells me if you were walking into this OTA practice expecting Barmore to be going, I don't know, 65%, 70%,

if you thought he was going to lay off the gas a little bit. Tom Curran is telling us that's not the case. Barmore was out there. He was not only a full participant, but he was moving very well. Now I'm not going to go crazy again. This is very early. And just because Barmore might have exceeded Tom Curran's expectations as far as how he was moving doesn't necessarily mean that he's 95% or a hundred percent, but if he's moving around very well, and he's a full participant in OTA's Then we leave the door open is what we do here on this podcast. We leave the door open For bar more ceiling to be just a bit

higher in 2025. We'll have to keep an eye on him, given his health situation especially. But if he continues to be out there, he continues to practice, he continues to move very well. He continues to show signs that he's the 2023 Christian Barmore, then we leave that door open. Happily, we leave it open. Getting these early reps and looking the way he's looking, that is key. It's key not only for him, but key for this defense in totality. I truly believe that this coaching staff is going to unleash Christian Barmore and his potential is

huge his potential might be The same level of Christian Gonzalez's potential although I would rank Gonzalez ahead of him because Gonzalez has been already a second-team all-pro if ahead of him because Gonzalez has been already a second team all-pro, if Barmore can cook with this defensive coaching staff, if he's feeling healthy, I really think he's got tons of potential. Final defensive note that I want to make here about the OTA practice. The safety position was fluid, and we've got to keep an eye on this. Who's going to be free safety?

How many guys are going to be out there rotating? The safety room is congested. You've got a bunch of different options, but Kyle Dugger, Jabril Peppers, both guys were limited at this practice. So that gave other guys opportunities. Jalen Hawkins played a number of reps. Craig Woodson, your fourth round pick, was out there playing a number of reps Safeties accounted for two picks So you've got Dell Pettis who had a pick and you've got Woodson who had a pick So nice little nice little play from the rookie at this OTA practice So safety is gonna feel a little bit fluid here

Especially now a guy's limited, but we've got to see the rotations as this continues. What do these rotations look like? Mandatory minute camp, training camp, what do they look like at joint practices? We've got to keep an eye on that. It's one of the biggest questions I have about this defense. Who's playing free safety? What's going on back there? Is Duggar and Peppers both making this team? Duggar with the contract, you would imagine,

does Peppers make it? He fits the profile of a Mike Rable guy. If those guys both make it, are they playing closer to the line of scrimmage? Are they being asked to play in coverage? Safety's a fascinating position on this roster. We've got three big picture takeaways from OTAs coming up next as we continue with today's episode of lockdown

Patriots part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. When we're talking about football this early on individual performances are going to be up and down, up and down early. Not all the time. Maybe some guys just have terrific camps from beginning to end, but there are going to be a number of players where we see the roller coaster happening. If you're watching us on YouTube, I'm doing a little bit of the roller coaster motion with the hand. We're going to see some of that up and down. Drake may we talked about him earlier in the first segment, up and down day. That first OTA practice open to the media,

he's out there. First eight or nine pass attempts, he throws four picks, but then he finishes strong. There's going to be some up and down here and we all have to embrace that idea. Nothing is going to be flawless. Nobody's going to be out there looking perfect Especially when we talk about May and June first few training camp practices. There's probably going to be occasional clunkiness from certain players But let's have with all of that said some big picture takeaways because there are some big picture takeaways available even when you watch an OTA practice. Phil Perry, for example, posted, got a quick taste of the Josh McDaniels offense, a potpourri

of looks as you might expect given his history. Zone and gap concepts in the running game, reverses, fake reverses, screens, heavy personnel groupings, empty sets, reverses, fake reverses, screens, heavy personnel groupings, empty sets, short stuff, deep stuff, a lot on their plates early. Now interesting, I wonder if McDaniels is trying to find a baseline for this offense. And he's throwing a lot of different looks, a lot of different groupings, a lot of different ideas out there because he's trying to find this specific offenses baseline, so to speak. What are people comfortable with right now?

Let's have a little bit of a feeling out process. And this approach would be much different from 2024. It felt like Alex van Pelt, and for good reason, it's Drake May's rookie season. It was Joe Milton's rookie season. It felt like there was a very slow, methodical pace to the offense. A very slow, methodical pace to developing Drake May.

Working on Drake May's footwork and fundamentals over and over and over again during training camp. It was just a slow kind of methodical approach. Doesn't seem like McDaniels is doing that with this offense. You read Perry, what he posted, a potpourri of looks, a bunch of stuff. Zone gap concepts in the run game, reverses, fake reverses, screens, they go heavy, they go empty, they throw short, they throw deep.

It feels like McDaniels is getting more of his playbook out there from the jump than Van Pelt did. And we can certainly expect McDaniels to adapt. He has that adaptability. He's going to adjust. He's going to understand how guys learn and how he can get the best out of certain guys. He did that with Kendrick Bourne in 2021. He will figure out what works for each individual within this offense and do what's best for

the group. So there's going to be a lot of adapting and adjusting as time goes on here. But very interesting that this is really early in the process and McDaniels is throwing a lot of stuff at these guys. Maybe he'll take some stuff away and say, all right, that didn't go too well. Let's let's take this out and throw it to the side. We know McDaniels with this interview alongside Julian Edelman several months ago talking about how you develop a young quarterback. You got to fill the bowl, all that kind of stuff. You put a little bit in the bowl each time a little bit in the cup each time and a little bit in the cup each time, and you want to make sure that it's not overflowing.

But a lot of information thrown out there according to Phil Perry. So we'll see if this changes at all as we go throughout the offseason. You'd imagine if this is where you start, there's going to be even more later on. But McDaniels has talked about learning while he was away from the game for that year that he was away. And he talked to a lot of different coaches and visited different systems and programs and figured out different ways to coach. Maybe this is part of it. Maybe he throws a bunch out there at first to check the baseline, but he's working on a lot of different things. And he's got Drake May thinking a lot.

Maybe it's a challenge? We'll see. Big Picture Takeaway Number 2. The Mentoring Has Begun, Ladies and Gentlemen. Andrew Callahan posted, Will Campbell and Morgan Moses among many players staying late after practice and chatting about what seems to be technique. Moses is expected to be a mentor for the Patriots first round pick. He's now working with Wallace, DeMontre Jacobs and Marcus Bryant. So Morgan Moses out there mentoring not only Campbell, but

also Wallace, Jacobs, Bryant, Mark Daniels posted that Moses told the media that his locker is right next to Campbell's and that Campbell asks him every day to get reps alongside with him. And this is so pivotal for the youth. It's just so crucial to have the young guys learning from the sage veterans. It's very important for this offensive line to feel that cohesion. And a big part of that is Morgan Moses embracing all of these younger guys, working with all of them. They feel comfortable between each other. They understand technique. They are clearly on the same page.

All of those things. With some of these young pieces on this offensive line, the Campbells, the Wallaces, the Wilsons, we can go on. There's a number of young offensive linemen and it's very important that those young guys learn under the tree of Morgan Moses because he's somebody who has done it right. He's taken care of his body for a long time. He played at a high level for a while. So he gets it. And if you wanna set the culture,

this is important for the culture. You need veterans willing to embrace this role. You don't want selfishness, you want selflessness. You want Morgan Moses to feel like he needs to do this. He wants to do this. He loves to do this. And that's how you build the culture correctly. And you want your younger guys to be hungry for that education,

to learn from the veteran, to want to learn from the veteran. And I'm not surprised that Morgan Moses and Will Campbell have hit it off. If you've read enough about either guy, we should have expected that. Some tidbits, heavy rookie reps at practice. Andrew Callahan, tons of run for Campbell, Trevion Henderson, and Kyle Williams. So those three guys were out there a lot. Woodson got time at safety. Jared Wilson, of course, was limited. Joshua Farmer, if you were wondering, was out. Brayden Swinson made a play or two in the pass rush. Afton Chisholm stood out. So a lot of work for the rookies early on. Kyle Williams got off to a slow start.

Again, it's not freak out, it's early. But Andrew Callahan posted, usual rookie struggles and meh, M-E-H, meh day for Kyle Williams. One catch out of four targets, pass breakup, and an interception. So heavy rookie reps, guys getting involved early, try to ingratiate themselves within this system. Something else that stood out, Tom Curran posted that this practice was very up tempo,

exceeded expectations as far as the tempo of it. And as far as the 11 on 11s, maybe more competitive than you would have thought for the first OTA practice you've witnessed from this coaching staff this season. So more up tempo, more competitive. Frable's trying to set this pace. He's trying to set this tone. And if you're looking at the wide receiver position with poke limited digs and Hollins out, your top receivers were really Pop Douglas, Kendrick Bourne and Kaishan Booty. Those were your three top receivers. And I'm sure, again, they mixed enough of Kyle Williams in there, but those were the guys that were out there

a lot. Those were your top receivers according to multiple reports. I stand by it. I think Kendrick Bourne has a shot to make this team. I know some people are writing him off. I think he's got a shot. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C Radio and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today for your second listen. Check out lockdown NFL scouting Kyle crabs, Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason. Find a lockdown NFL

scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great day and we will see you tomorrow.