Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots A to Z Part 13 - Locked On Patriots July 10, 2019

Episode Date: July 10, 2019

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Hey there everybody and welcome on into the 13th and yes the final installment of Patriots A to Z here at Locked On Patriots. Today is Wednesday, July 10th, 2019. I am Mark Schofield back in the big chair. And we're putting a blow on this series, part two of, or excuse me, phase two of the off-season program here at Locked on Patriots. As you know, phase three is, yes, Papa Bear taking a little time off. You're going to hear some best of stuff.

It's already queued up. We've got some great Super Bowl revisited stuff. We've got some special stuff, some post-game stuff. It's all set, ready to go. So fear not, you will still have stuff to listen to. For some of you, it may be new. For some of you, it may just be a nice trip down memory lane. Either way, going to have some fun as we get ready for training camp. But before we do anything today, which as you might expect, being the 13th and final installment of Patriots A to Z, we got Y and Z today. And yes, there is some stuff to talk about. Your usual reminders, follow along with the antics at Mark Schofield on Twitter. Check out the workplaces like insidethepylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and yes,

that holy trinity of SB Nation websites, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, and yes, Pat's Pulpit. Let's talk Y and Z. Let's close this out. We got a couple of Ys and a couple of Zs in the sort of people aspect of this. Now let's start with the Ys, like I said. And Carlos Yancey, defensive back for the New England Patriots out of the University of Georgia, drafted in the seventh round of the 95 NFL draft, 234 overall. Spent one season in the league, four games, no starts, and then he was out of football.

We have two Yates in Patriots lore. First is Bob Yates. Bob was a member of the Boston Patriots in the 60s, an offensive lineman, played at Syracuse, born in Vermont, local guy. After his playing days, he was a member,

also offensive lineman and kicker, by the way. Some people in the Boston area might know him more as Coach Yates, as in coach at Burlington High School. His son, Stephen, actually played for him. He coached at Burlington for 1979 to 1987 football career. Football program actually saw a bit of rebirth during his time there.

Then there's Billy Yates, reserve offensive lineman for the Patriots and a couple of other teams, Miami and Cleveland. During his time with the Patriots, which spanned 2005 to 2008, he made a couple of starts. And he actually did earn a Super Bowl ring with the franchise, even though he didn't play for them that season.

But he earned a Super Bowl ring as part of the Super Bowl 39 team with the New England Patriots. And the final Y to get to, Tim Ewick, a quarterback for the Boston Patriots for a number of seasons, from 1961 to 1966. During his time in New England, he attempted 206 passes, completed 87 for a completion percentage of a whopping 42.2%. 12 touchdowns, 12 interceptions during his time with the Boston Patriots.

As for some Zs, well, off the top, Scott Zolak. Quarterback for the franchise from 92 to 98, spent his final year in Miami in 99. Appeared in 16 games in both 94 and 95, started seven games for the Patriots over his time in New England. He threw eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He did have a postseason start, to his credit, in 1998. That season he started a playoff game at Jacksonville. We actually talked about this game.

Completed 21-44 for 47.7% of his passes, 190 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a loss to Jacksonville 25-10. Now, he's a member of the radio booth with the one and only Bob Sochi on 985 The Sports Hub, but we're going to talk about that a little bit more

a little bit later. A couple of other Patriots in the Z's here. Steve Zabel, linebacker out of Oklahoma for a couple years in the 70s. Tony Zachary, defensive back from the University of Washington. John Zamberlin out of Pacific Lutheran, a linebacker for the team from 79 to 82. Started one game in the 1981 season. Did have an interception for the franchise. Joaquin Zendas, a kicker for the Patriots in 1983,

appeared in two games, was 3-4 on PATs, 0-1 on field goals. And there you have it for him. Marcus Zusevitz, offensive tackle out of Iowa, did not appear for the New England Patriots in a single game. Amos Zeroy, a running back, selected in the third round, 95th overall out of West Virginia by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Started his career with Pittsburgh, then Oakland.

One season, 2005, with the Patriots, appeared in three games, seven attempts, 14 yards, with a lot of 12. Did earn two first downs for the New England Patriots that year. So there you go. Some of the people that have made this franchise what it is

over the seasons. Up next, some of the plays. And then a little bit later, some Scott Zolak love to close out the final installment of Patriots A to Z here at Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now. Going to continue with part 13 of Patriots A to Z. We're doing the final installment. We're going to talk about some plays now.

Letters Y and Z. And again, as you might expect, there's not much to get to. We've got two two-man concepts to start off with. There's Z scat and Z jet. Z scat, a two-man concept consistent of an in route and a juke route. On Z scat, the outside receiver runs a 14 yard in cut. That's the end portion of this play. And the number two receiver runs a juke route, which as we all know,

work towards the middle of the field at a depth of about four yards. When you make contact, I contact with the quarterback. That's when you make your decision. Do you sit down? Do you stay across the formation or do you break back to the outside? The one and only juke route, which we

know and love here at locked on patriots this has the potential to sort of high low that middle of the field linebacker because you can get that juke route in front of them that in cut that dig route at 14 yards behind him force him to make a decision and throw off of it then there's z jet z jet another two receiver concept for the Patriots consistent of a comeback and a jet row number one receiver outside receiver runs that comeback a 16 yard comeback break into the outside at a diagonal working back towards the sideline

which can convert as we've talked about before to a go route versus rolled coverage if you get that sort of defender in your face rolling your way you go get vertical and run away from him Talked about before to a go route versus rolled coverage. If you get that sort of defender in your face rolling your way, you go, get vertical, run away from him. Inside receiver runs a jet, which is a juke, plus the potential to break vertically if you sort of get walled off and there's an open field look from the safeties. You can get over the top of that or sometimes a Tampa 2 look

where you can outrace that middle of the field linebacker vertically, split those safeties, get a big play. Moving to the three-man concepts, we've got a couple of those with Y and Z. We'll start with some with Z and these are in the sort of too deep and a short package for New England. It's kind of what they term it in the table of contents to the playbook. There is Z-ring. Outside receiver runs an in at 16 yards. The inside receiver, again, this is a three-man concept out of trip. So the inside receiver runs a shoot route, which as we've broken down so many times, diagonal to six, vertical to 12, then diagonal across the field, 12 to 22. Or if the middle of the field is open to safety look,

you will run a post route to split those two safeties. So those are the two deeps. And the middle trips receiver is going to run a return route. Get to four yards, turn into the inside, then either sit down or break back to the outside. So that is Z ring in the Patriots playbook. There is also Z option, again, in the sort of two deep, one short family of plays. As before, the outside receiver runs a cut, a dig at 16 yards.

Inside receiver, the number three receiver, again, one, two, three, working three working outside in inside receiver number three receiver runs that shoot route again cross 12 to 22 if the middle of the field is closed middle of the field opening a runner post same route this time instead of a return route the middle receiver the number two receiver is running an option route coaching point it's a six yard option The option runner will be tagged. That's why it's called Z option. Then finally in this family is Z bounce. Outside receiver runs an in. Inside receiver runs an in as well.

However, there is an alert to this because the middle receiver is going to run a return route middle receiver gets to four yards and either sits or breaks back to the outside if you as the inside receiver see the mike linebacker dive down on the return route you cut your route short just get behind him so you have to watch the linebacker here this is designed again to work off that middle linebacker if you as the number three receiver start your route and you see that mike linebacker sort of hang deep then your job is to occupy him you get to 12 and you get in his face and you open up that return route underneath. If, however, that middle linebacker, that Mike linebacker,

sees the return route coming from the guy to your right, the number two receiver, and jumps it, then cut your route short and just get behind him and get open. Occupy that space he just vacated. Again, we're closing the book on this series and the Patriots passing playbook, in a sense. And if you haven't realized by now just how much goes in to what the Patriots do offensively,

well, then maybe you won't see it. But so many plays, routes, concepts, etc. have so many reads and options and conversions built into them. And there's so much you have to know as a receiver and by extension as a quarterback. Now, some of you might have heard me again ranted about the system quarterback discussion on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver.

That was on July 4th, actually. I hopped on. I basically forced my way onto the radio on July 5th and WGR up in Buffalo. I'm like, good buddy, Nate Gary. I like, I was in the middle of leg day. I checked my phone. I saw that they were having a discussion about system quarterbacks. And I was like, get me on the air. I literally called forced my way into a live radio show to rant about Tom Brady, not being a system quarterback. Why? Because for the past two weeks or so, I've been doing these shows and taking you through their playbook.

There's a lot to it. It's not just, hey, you guys run two yard outs and Tom's going to throw you the ball. Chances are, if you're listening to this show, you don't think Tom Brady's a system quarterback. But if some of you do, I hope I've tried to dissuade you. That's me doing a little John Oliver bit. I'll move on. Look, we're getting to the end of a long series. We're getting to the end of basically two years of doing this show, day in and day out without a break. Papa Bear, Papa Bear's running on fumes, but let's get through this together. So that right there is Z bounce. Excuse me. Yes. Z bounce. That's what we just did. So we've got some Ys to talk about as well.

There's Y or Z hook. Again, this will be sort of a tag situation where it could be Y hook, it could be Z hook. Three receiver concept. Outside receiver runs a go. Middle receiver runs a diagonal, which you can sit down if you get trapped. We've talked about that before. If it's a cover two trap situation and that corner peels off the vertical and traps you, then don't run into them. Silly.

Sit down. Find grass. and then the inside receiver who could be y who could be z again that's going to be tagged y hook z hook runs a hook route outside release get to six yards then either run to the sideline or sit down this is kind of like stick some of you that maybe you play madden, you watch the college game, you see stick routes a lot. Three receiver concept, outside go, middle receiver out, inside receiver runs the stick route. You can either go, you know, six yards, break to the right and keep going, running towards the sidelines or you sit down. This is the Patriots sort of variation of that.

Patriots also have wide shake. Three receiver concept, this time it's going to be the Ys, the inside receiver. Outside receiver go. Middle receiver invert. Sort of a reverse return route. You break to the outside and then come back underneath. You have to sell the quick out. And Y shake.

You're running a six-yard, an eight-yard, excuse me, shake route. Get to eight yards, a couple steps to the outside, and then break vertically. So it's kind of like an out and go. The Patriots call it a shake route. Get to eight yards, a couple steps to the outside, and then break vertically. So it's kind of like an out and go. The Patriots call it a shake route. So that's why shake in the Patriots playbook. And the final play we are going to discuss

here in this entire series, believe it or not, is a why. And that play for you is why follow. It is a why and that play for you is why follow it is a three receiver goal line end zone kind of play you have a stack slot formation outside receiver comes in motion into the bunch that outside receiver runs a juke route so you come in motion towards the bunch run a juke route. So you come in motion towards the bunch. Run a juke.

Coaching point on here. It is locked for you. If this gets Y follow HO, it will be locked. You will stay on the move and run an under route. Otherwise, it's a juke. Number two receiver runs a toggle. We've talked about this before. You run to the end line of the end zone. And then you break off the safety's leverage.

If he is inside of you, you break to the outside. If he is outside of you, you break to the inside. Number three, you run a diagonal. As we've heard so many times before. So there you go, folks. I have taken you on a three-week tour or so of the Patriots playbook. I hope you enjoyed it.

If not, I do apologize. I try. I do my best. Anyway, to close it out, the sounds of Scott Zolak to close out Patriots A-Z and Phase 2 of the off-season program here at Locked on Patriots. Brady's in the gun.

Colley and Tompkins left. Brady throws it to the end zone for Kenbrough. Tompkins leaping. He's got it. Push it around. Patriots. Kenbrough. Tompkins.

Brady's back. That's your quarterback. Pull off the building. Unicorns show ponies. Where's the beef? Mark Schofield back with you now to close out Patriots A to Z, the entire series here at Locked on Patriots. And what you just heard, Scott Zolak losing his mind,

just absolutely losing his mind back in a call when the Patriots came from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints in 2013. And that call right there sort of kind of put Zolak on the map. He was a host on 985, the sports hub. He was riding shotgun with Bob Sochi, and you heard him scream it. He did it. Brady's back.

That's your quarterback. Who left the building? Dropped references to unicorns, show ponies. Where's the beef? And he said in interviews after that call that it was a game where the Patriots were fortunate to get another chance of victory. The Saints failed to run off the clock on two different drives.

He just felt like it was random. He said maybe that's why it worked. And when he was asked about his praise for Brady, Zolak said fans may take for granted Brady's greatness at the helm and his ability to do the unthinkable, saying, quote, 12's not going to be around for much longer. And I to do the unthinkable, saying, quote, 12's not going to be around for much longer. And

I wanted to sort of close with Zolak in that call because I wanted to sort of talk about being a fan. And at times, and I think that's why Zolak identifies with so many people and touches so many people in a way,

especially, obviously, Patriots fans, is because he at times can capture, like in moments like that, what it's like to just be a fan again. What it's like to just root for a team and be excited when they win. Look, local radio announcers, they're allowed to sort of be Homer-ish.

And we like that. And Zolak does that extremely well. He sort of taps into that aspect of being a fan. And doing this show has allowed me to tap into that as well. There are highs. There are lows. There are moments that I'm so excited to come here. There are moments when I'm like,

I can't believe I have to talk about what we just saw. Miami game. Tennessee game. I sat down after the Patriots lost a Super Bowl in heartbreaking fashion, dead sober, with my notes, to do a post-game show live because I felt like it needed to be done. I could have easily said, I'm not touching this until tomorrow, but no. Because being a fan of a team, it's a journey.

It's a marathon. It's a marathon. It's sometimes a lifelong pursuit. And we as Patriots fans have been so lucky over the 20 years. This series has sort of solidified that in my mind, and I hope it has in yours as well, that there have been some lows for this franchise. But we right now are living in the midst of perhaps the greatest of highs that any sports franchise has seen.

I mean, you can make a case that, yeah, Pittsburgh in the 70s or Dallas at certain times in the 90s perhaps, the Niners in the 80s, sure. But they've done it over 20 years. Two separate dynasties perhaps. That's unheard of. And it's unheard of in a salary cap era when guys leave. But two haven't.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. And we just saw last week a video of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. And we just saw last week video of Tom Brady running a 5.1740 yard dash just before his 42nd birthday. Look, I ran track in high school. I was recruited to run track in college. I was a sprinter. My junior year, I was undefeated in the 300 and indoor. I didn't lose. In college, I was clockfeated in the 300 in indoor. I didn't lose. In college,

I was clocked at a 4.5. I was clocked at a 4.6 at times. Again, I'm older than Tom Brady. I doubt I could break 6 right now. Tom Brady went a 5.17 just short of his 42nd birthday.

When he was at his scouting combine, we've seen the video, we've seen the awkward photos. He ran a 5.28. There's a reason we love this guy. There's a reason Zolak lost his mind on that moment. He is still getting better. And as crazy as it seems, maybe Brady's best is yet getting better. And as crazy as it seems, maybe Brady's best is yet to come.

That will do it for this show, this episode, this series. As I said, we've got some best of coming your way. All the best in the weeks ahead, friends. I will be back soon. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.

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