Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots Fans Pulse Check: Mac, the Draft and the Latest Lines — 5/6/2021

Episode Date: May 6, 2021

The New England Patriots fanbase’s excitement continues to grow with regard to the team’s 2021 NFL Draft class. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Douglas (a.k.a ‘Douggie Mac’) co-host of the Untitled Patriots Podcast. They discuss fan reaction to the Pats’ Draft selections, Doug’s thoughts on Mac Jones and the Patriots Draftees, and the latest oddmakers’ lines (via BetOnline) on New England’s upcoming season.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnline AGThere is only 1 place that has you covered and 1 place we trust. Betonline.ag! Sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promocode: LOCKEDON for your 50% welcome bonus.Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.NugenixText now, and they’ll include a bottle of Nugenix Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator ever with key ingredients to help you get back in shape, absolutely free! Text DRAFT to 2-3-1-2-3-1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All of you, Foxborough faithful. You are now locked into the Lockdown Patriots podcast. It is Thursday, May 6, 2021. And Thursday is the day for Dougie Mac here on your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

Today's episode of Lockdown Patriots is brought to you by RockAuto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Go to RockAuto.com today and tell them Locked On sent you. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation, and thank you for joining me on this Thursday episode of the pod. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, your comments, your feedback, always welcomed, very much appreciated. So share that feedback, send it to the internet by reaching out to me

and following me on Twitter at M-DATEFPC. And while you're out there doing some Thursday traveling through the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. One week ago today, Pats fans, the 2021 NFL Draft kicked off from Cleveland, Ohio. Your New England Patriots are now eight players stronger as a result. And last Thursday, the Pats stood pat and took Mack. Jones, that is, with the number 15 selection.

And here on Locked On Patriots, we've talked about the selection of Mack Jones on day one. We've talked about Christian Barmore and Ronnie Perkins joining the fold on day two. We've even taken a dive into the day three selections. Ramondre Stevenson out of Oklahoma at the running back position. Cam McGrone, the linebacker out of Michigan. Joshua Bledsoe, the safety out of Missouri. Will Sherman, the offensive tackle out of Colorado. And of course, Ernie Adams' final submitted draft pick as a member of the New England Patriots staff, Trey Nixon out of UCF. But even though the picks have been made, we're just scratching the surface. Because myself and

my colleagues in the media have been telling you all week long what we think of the Patriots' selections, how high we are on Mac Jones' ceiling as the quarterback of this team, whether Christian Barmore and Ronnie Perkins can be significant members of the defense this year. Can Will Sherman and Trey Nixon be diamonds in the rough? My guests and I here on Locked On Patriots have started to answer some of your questions on these players, but all of you, being the great New England Patriots fans that you are, you still have more questions.

And here on Locked On Patriots, we like to try to keep our finger on the pulse of the fanbase. And today, we have a special treat, because my guest is arguably the best source in Patriots fandom when it comes to that very subject. The gatekeeper of the Patriots Discord community, my man Douglas, Dougie Mac is back. And the last time Doug was here on the podcast with me, we talked a little bit about what the Patriots might do in the upcoming 2021 NFL draft. Well, now that the draft is in the books, we'll talk about what they did do.

Is Doug starting to turn the corner a little bit when it comes to his opinion and his optimism on new Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. What did Doug think of the subsequent picks like Christian Barmore, Ronnie Perkins, Ramondre Stevenson, and others? But Doug and I will also delve into a subject that we don't often address here on Locked On Patriots, and that is the oddsmakers books. You know that we here at the Locked On Podcast Network work very closely with our friends at BetOnline.ag. Well, on Doug's Untitled Patriots podcast, he works very closely with betonline.ag as well.

We'll pull some of the latest lines when it comes to your New England Patriots, such as who might win Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, what the Patriots' chances are of winning the Division, the Conference, even the Super Bowl. Are there even a couple of Patriots that have odds of being the 2021 MVP? Well, Doug and I will address these latest lines, courtesy of our friends at betonline.ag, and Doug will provide his keen insight on whether or not the Patriots might be or might not be getting enough oddsmakers love. Folks, I always love sharing the microphone with Doug. He and Lee Schechter are doing great things on the Entitled Patriots podcast.

And whenever he's here with me on the pod, the wit, wisdom, and counsel always get kicked up a notch. So sit back, settle in, as Dougie Mac prepares to join me here on the Locked On Patriots hot seat in just a moment. But first, we've been alluding to this all week long. The New England Patriots have finally done it. An undrafted rookie free agent is now a member of the 90-man roster. Four days after the conclusion of the 2021 NFL draft,

the Patriots and Michigan kicker Quinn Norden have agreed to a contract. And we know this one's true, folks. It comes from a very reliable source, Quinn himself, who took to social media posting a graphic saying, quote, signed and the Patriots team logo right on it. And even though last week I joked that the Patriots might be in the market for a kicker in the 2021 NFL draft, they resisted taking a place kicker. But apparently they've gone the undrafted rookie free agent route, and in my opinion,

they found a very good one here. Norton is a very reliable kicker during his five years at Michigan. Went 42 of 58 on field goal attempts, a career long 57 yarder that was kicked on January 1st, 2020 in the Citrus Bowl. So you know this kid is not going to shy away from the big moment. He's also fairly reliable when it comes to extra point attempts as well, making 119 of his 124 attempts. He did struggle a little during his final season. He made all 12 of his point after tries, but went just 2 of 5 on field goals. But the Patriots definitely see some upside,

and it'll be interesting to see how Quinn is able to compete with incumbent Nick Folk. I would pump the brakes on this a little bit, folks. I don't think he's going to unseat Nick Folk, but he will give Roberto Aguayo a run for his money for a possible reserve spot on the practice squad. So welcome to New England Quinn Norton. Definitely looking forward to seeing what this kid can do in training camp. But as for today's pod, let's get back on track by welcoming in Dougie Mack. As Douglas and I discuss Mack Jones, the impact of this draft class on the 2021 New

England Patriots, and the latest lines on the Pats, courtesy of our friends at BetOnline.ag. All this, plus some of Doug's wit and wisdom, when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, Patriots fans, listen up. Nugenix, the number one selling free testosterone booster at GNC, is offering a complimentary bottle to all football fans in America. To get your complimentary bottle of Nugenics Total T, text the word DRAFT to 231231. This unique man-boosting formula is powered by testophen, which helps boost free testosterone and total testosterone levels and increase energy and

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Patriots fans, the passionate insight of my guest today when it comes to your favorite team in Foxborough is felt in all circles of Patriots Nation. And that's why I'm so happy to welcome him back here to Locked On Patriots. He is the regal regulator, the gatekeeper of the Patriots Discord community and the Untitled Patriots podcast, which he hosts alongside Lee Schechter, continues to be one of the most informative and enjoyable listens in Patriots Nation. I'm a fan. You all should be too.

The legend that is Douglas, a.k.a. Dougie Mack, joins me once again here today on Locked On Patriots. Welcome back to the pod, bud. Thank you, Mike. Thank you for the boost. I love coming on this show. The number one reason I love coming on this show is because your intros are such a self-esteem boost. I feel like Tom Brady every time I come on this show. You're so great at pumping up your guests.

I love it. You said you love the Untitled Patriots podcast with Lee Schechter and Dougie Mack. And I know you mean that because you drop references to things that were discussed on the show here and there whenever we talk, whenever I'm on here or wherever we're in DMs. So, Mike, I know you're real. I know you're not being fake when you pump me up and all your listeners, they can know that you're being real, too. And they can also know that they should go listen to the Untitled Patrons podcast available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and elsewhere, and that it is worth listening to because

the Locked On host himself, Mike, listens to it and enjoys it. Absolutely. And you know I truly do. I do always pump my guests up. I enjoy that, but it always comes from a place of sincerity. And I say that each and every time. I'm humbled by the company that I keep here on locked on Patriots. And you're right up there,

my friend, you provide a great listen. Obviously Leah's Leah's among one of the best in the business of what he does. You guys have such a great blend. And again, one of the big reasons why I love having you on is because you bring that wisdom and counsel that sometimes a little bit lacking here.

I can be a little dry at times. I'll be very honest with the exception. You've got a great voice though. You've got a great voice. Thank here. I can be a little dry at times. I'll be very honest. You've got a great voice, though. You've got a great voice. Well, thank you. I do appreciate that. And with the exception of the occasional celebrity impersonation, like the godfather, I do that.

People seem to enjoy that. It's good to bring some additional wit, wisdom, and counsel here. You know what we need to do? We need to – I need to write some jokes for you, and then it'll be like the best possible show ever. What we can do is Evan Lazar and I can team up to write a script together. Evan can do the analysis and I'll do the jokes. And then you read the transcript

and it will be the perfect Patriots podcast. There you go. See, you combine all of the great elements of so many of the people that we run with. And you can't ask for better than that. Team sport. Absolutely. Especially up here in New England. You know, no days off. Do your job. Those mantras really they extend to the media, the fan base as well, folks. So there's no question about it. Doug, last time you were here, we were talking about the NFL draft in future tense.

Well, now we're talking about it in past tense because one week ago today, Patriots selected a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft, first time they did so since 1993 when the team selected Drew Bledsoe first overall. And the buzz surrounding Mac Jones, it actually has been a week, just a little under as we're recording

because obviously it was Thursday night when they selected Mac. But the buzz surrounding jones has been polarizing at times especially right after the pick was made but it's becoming much more positive as a whole as you look at the media analysis that's coming out uh from so many great media analysts you mentioned evan he's he's one of them he's done a lot of deep dives into what Mac has in store for Patriots Nation. Jeff Howe put out a great piece this morning on The Athletic. And it's because of that, it's becoming more positive throughout the fan base. And really, I think the pulse of the fan base has been generally positive with regard to the Patriots draft.

Some players coming with a little bit of risk, but the potential of some pretty high reward. Doug, you're as dialed into the fan base and a direct connection into some of the elite insiders in the Patriots media. What were your impressions of the 2021 draft hall? And what are you hearing from the opinions of those within the fan base on the potential of some of these soon to be rookies? I was up until 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. last night trying to figure out who took the original Logan Airport meme photo and who that actually is in the photo, if not Larry Fitzgerald. So that shows you just how plugged in I am. And despite doing that at 4am, I woke up at 8am to record a podcast with

Lee. And now I'm here with you. So yes, you're absolutely right that I'm plugged into the fan base and the internet and analysts. I also totally agree with what you said about Evan. Evan is, for his age, age adjusted, going by projected peak, he is the best Patriots analyst in the business. Arguably the best outright, but that's arguable. But if you're adjusting by age, he's younger than me. He's in his like mid-20s. Adjusting for, absolutely, no doubt, incontrovertibly the best and is going to peak the highest. Love Evan. So if you're one of the few who still hasn't joined the Evan society with us, definitely do so. Definitely go look at his Mac Jones breakdown. It's probably way smarter than anything I'm going to say today. So go look at that on YouTube. And Mike, I was an early adopter of Evan, as I like to say. I used to say I discovered him, but that's not actually true. So I started saying that I was an early adopter. I was a fan of him before he was cool when he had like 2000 Twitter followers. So I was one of the several people that pumped him up early on. So fans of Evan, we're going to, I decided that we're going to call

ourselves the smoke because back in September or August, he went to a spat with a guy from WEEI. And in a kind of dorky way, but I say that affectionately, he was talking smack with him on Twitter. And he said, you don't want the Smoke. Like, you're afraid to show up at Gillette because you don't want the Smoke. So I thought it would be fun if all of us fans of Evan Lazar, which I am. I love Evan. If we called ourselves the smoke because like we're the smoke that his enemies don't want, you know, like if you

get if you like it, make Beyonce mad if you make Beyonce mad on Twitter, he'll have like the beehive will come get you. So we're the smoke. So if you have a spat with Evan, if you cross Evan Lazar, the smoke is going to come get you. So I hope you all join me on the smoke and I hope that you will go make, help Evan's Mac Jones video on YouTube, get to a hundred thousand views.

It's at 10,000 or was that 10,000 a day or two ago? Probably higher now. So go, go watch it. That's, that's going to be the Mac Jones breakdown to watch for the whole summer. I want to get it to a hundred thousand views by the start of the season. I want to help Evan get it there. But to finally answer your question and you know how much I love to monologue before actually answering your question, I don't, I don't believe in draft grades, but I'm pleased.

And I like the pick. I like the Mac Jones pick. I like the Christian Barmore pick. There's no pick that I see that we made that I dislike, which is not always the case. I'm not that much of a homer. But there's no pick that I can complain about. But before we get too much into the draft, Mike, you know what I want to say and what I intended to say

as my first comment on the draft? You know what? I wanted to say congratulations. Do you know why I'm congratulating you? I appreciate that. I do. Yeah. You obviously, you took a look into the ultimate mock draft that we ran locked on podcast

network. You saw that I was willing to exemplify some Belichickian patients and waiting for Mac to drop at 15. And yeah, I liked them. I wasn't willing to make the move up, but I could read the room. I could read what my colleagues in the Lockdown Podcast Network were going to do.

And I had a feeling that Mac was going to be there at number 15. So thank you. I do appreciate that. Although I do have to be honest and full disclosure, I did make a couple of calls, a couple of inquiries to try to move up to possibly snag Justin Fields. So before anybody thinks that I am a complete soothsayer, I did. I made a couple of calls. And then when I read the room and I said, OK, well, maybe the Patriots said the same thing. They might have.

They very well might have, you know. And yeah, just that it it struck me as being funny when it actually happened the way it happened in our mock draft. It was like, wow, it was like deja vu. But thank you. I appreciate the congratulations and I appreciate the props. Yeah. And you didn't have to trade up or anything. So it really worked out very similar to how the real draft did.

That was impressive. And you guys, the thing that made me interested in your mock, because I don't hate mocks as much as I hate draft grades, but I do think they go overboard. Draft grades, I just think should be canceled completely. M grades, I just think, should be canceled completely. Mocs, I just think, go overboard. They get excessive.

But I was interested in your mock because you told me the last time I was on that the Lockdown Network only does one mock. So when I heard only does one, I was like, sold. That's the mock that I want to listen to because you only do one. And I respect that. Both because oversaturation is silly, but also because it loses meaning if you do a bunch, right? Because which one are you actually saying is what's going to happen? You know, once it update every day, we're ridiculous. I'm so glad that's over, but yeah, congratulations on that good call.

And I think it was a good call for the Patriots as well. And some people might raise their eyebrow at that because those who follow the inside jokes and memes on Discord and those who've heard me discuss the quarterbacks in this draft in the past probably see me as a Mac Jones critic or even a Mac Jones hater. Definitely I was never a hater. I was a critic and I was sort of usually on the negative side of that argument when Mac Jones was being discussed. But I like him, and I like him because we took him at 15. I think there were five quarterbacks in this draft. I think there were five quarterbacks that have a good chance of being a franchise guy.

Not necessarily a superstar, not a sure thing, but let's say about even or better than even chance of being a franchise QB. So say better than Jimmy Garoppolo or whoever you think is say the 20th best quarterback in the league. I think, I think there's about 20 franchise QBs in a given time. So will at their peak at the plateau for, you know, five or so years at the height of their career,

will they at least be the 20th best quarterback in the league or better? How many guys are there where there's a reasonable chance that they're going to meet that minimum to really be worth it, to be a franchise QB, which is something you need to win in the NFL. You don't need a star QB. You need a franchise QB pretty much to win in the NFL, unless you get extremely lucky while also having otherworldly defense and special teams play like the 2000 Ravens.

But that's not going to happen again anytime soon. I don't think it's going to happen to us anytime soon, so we needed a franchise QB. Even if Cam Newton rebounds, which I think is more likely than people think, he's a mobile QB, he's dealt with injuries, he's clearly declined somewhat, so even if we love Cam for the

next two or three years, super optimistic scenario, Cam is good for the next two or three years. He would still want a QB of the future. So yeah, QB, franchise QB of the future is a top need for us. I think there were five guys in this draft who had a reasonably good chance of being one. I think Mac Jones was the worst prospect,

not necessarily going to be the worst in the NFL because it depends on what team you go to and people have different floors and ceilings and upsides and downsides and stuff like that but just in terms of their value to the average NFL team on draft day ranking the prospects I would have had Mac Jones fifth out of those five guys but it doesn't matter because we got one of them and that's the most important thing so at equal value would I rather had Trey Lance or Zach Wilson or Justin Fields? Yes. And I stand by that. I don't think Mac Jones is quite on that level.

I think, I don't think it's as guaranteed that he's going to work out as people think, but just because he played for Nick Saban, I think that increases his floor or his downside a little bit, increases the risk a little bit. He is the more conservative choice, but it's not a guarantee. And I don't think the upside is there. I don't think he's very likely to be an all pro, whereas if Zach Wilson or Trey Lancer, Justin Fields work out, I think there's a very good chance that they're an all pro. And I think there was a lot of quarterback pitches in this draft. So my take on Matt Jones is the same.

It's just a matter of context in the sense that, well, the Patriots taking him makes me a little bit higher on him just because I trust the Patriots. I trust the Patriots taking him makes me a little bit higher on him just because I trust the Patriots I trust the Patriots to evaluate quarterbacks and I trust the Patriots to know better than I do or the people I talk to do but what's a good fit for them but that doesn't make that much of a difference um but that that's maybe like a five percent boost in how I evaluate them but the the main reason my tone on Mac Jones has changed is that the context is different and that after the national championship he went not from second round grade projection which is what he had been you know in December but to all of a sudden he's getting top five talk now that really built up

after the 49ers trade but there was just this phase between the national championship and the draft where the hype over Mac Jones at his upside, both from people on the Internet, especially Bama fans or Patriots fans, or rumors from insiders like the 49ers talking about potentially drafting him third overall, which means at least two of the four guys I had ahead of him would still be available. That was the new context for discussing Mac Jones and that I disagreed with, but then reality played out in front of us and NFL teams. It turned like, it's not so much of the Patriots like Mac Jones more than I do, as it turns out that we were all wrong. And the 49ers and the teams ahead of the Patriots,

like Mac Jones, similar to the level of, of had a similar evaluation of Mac Jones as I did ergo the Patriots were able to get him at the evaluation of the Patriots and I had all along if that makes sense to you so no I don't think Mac Jones is I think it would have been stupid for the 49ers to take him third overall I would not have liked it very much if the Patriots traded up for him um I don't think he is... He maybe has a little bit of a higher floor than Lance or Wilson

because they're so raw. Or higher downside. I don't like the word floor because it sounds absolute. But maybe he's a little bit less risk than Wilson or Lance. But I think the upside for all four of the guys taken ahead of him is higher. And I would have rather had at equal cost any of the four guys ahead of him. But that doesn't matter. It's a good fit for the Patriots.

Good chance he's a franchise QB. If it works out, I think it will probably be Kirk Cousins or Jimmy Garoppolo. But guess what? That's enough for the Patriots to win. I mean, we were trying to get Jimmy Garoppolo. So obviously we don't only want our all-pro QBs because we were trying to trade for Jimmy Garoppolo

on a huge contract. And one last point on Mac Jones. Like, let's say that Mac Jones, if it works out, is just going to be, I don't want to say game manager. I hate that. Another misleading buzzword, but an average QB, an average starting QB, like say Jimmy Garoppolo, okay? If it works out and it might not work out, let's say there's a 50% chance it works out. So by drafting Mac Jones, we have a 50% shot at Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, what was the market price for Jimmy Garoppolo per the 49ers? Or what was the price we would have had to pay to get Jimmy Garoppolo from the 49ers? A first round pick, which is exactly what we spent on Mac Jones.

And guess what? Jimmy Garoppolo only has a 50% chance of being Jimmy Garoppolo because he's injured every other season. So we spent a first for 50% of Jimmy Garoppolo only has a 50% chance of being Jimmy Garoppolo because he's injured every other season. So we spent a first for 50% of Jimmy Garoppolo. If you want to look at it in terms of averaging the probabilities to assess the value, you could say we spent a first on a player that has a 50% chance of being Jimmy Garoppolo. Well, we were almost spent a first on Jimmy Garoppolo, who's only Jimmy Garoppolo every other season and and also is older and costs a ton. So, yeah. I don't, I'm not as high on him

as some Patriots fans are, but I'm also realistic about how important it is to have a franchise QB, and how hard franchise QBs are to get. So, adjusting for that, I like the pick. It's a good value pick for a guy. He's QB5, he was QB5 for a reason. He's a good fit for the Patriots, and we didn't have to

give up any future draft capital for him, so fine. Mid-round first on a potential franchise QB. I like the pick. Yeah, and I think a lot of Patriots fans would probably agree with that assessment. I know some are higher on Mack than not. There are some that share some of your curiosities. There are still some out there that just don't like the pick for any reason, but look, the bottom line, I think you hit on a point that is so uh important and one that I don't think is made enough and that is the value that the Patriots use to get him the first round quote-unquote value for someone that they would have paid for Rapolo if they wanted to bring him in with Max upside and his ability to live up to that

expectation it gives the Patriots a good chance to have a suitable and starting quarterback for a number of years. And look, there is a chance that he may not work out, but there's also a chance that he may be the ideal quarterback for this system moving forward. Maybe the Patriots are going to balance their attack a little bit more. People have Tom Brady embedded into the brain, and they believe that the next quarterback has to come in and be Tom. Mack is not going to be. I had yesterday here on the show Luke Robinson, the host of the Locked on Bama podcast, who watched this kid throughout his career in Alabama and said right away, take the Tom Brady off of this kid's shoulders. He's not going to be Tom.

Let him be Mac Jones. And what that will be is someone that Patriots fans are very happy grow into his own and become that quarterback of this team, whether it's this year and whether he takes the reins in the latter part of 2021, or if Cam does have a good year and finishes the year as the starter, does that mean that Mack finally gets a chance to start in 2022? Jerry's still out on a lot of that, Doug, but I think we'll find that out in short order when we see these guys take the field. I agree with what you just said. I agree with what you just said. He's a good fit for us, and

I think in a rational marketplace, he ends up on the Patriots. I didn't think it was going to be a rational marketplace. I thought someone else was going to draft him too hot. I bought the BS on that one, but it turned out the marketplace was rational, and these other teams where he wouldn't have been as good a fit didn't overpay for him. But yeah, he's a great fit for the Pats, like you just said.

Yeah, exactly. And I think ultimately, I think that's what's going to endear him to Pats Nation is the fit that he will provide here, even in the early goings. And who knows, maybe the floor and the ceiling is pretty high for Mac here in New England, but ultimately he's going to have to prove it on the field. Pats fans, the wit, wisdom, and counsel of Dougie Mac has livened up the studios here on Locked On Patriots. It's a totally different year.

But we're not done yet. We're not done yet because, after all, now that the 2021 NFL draft is in the books, it might just be time to take a look at some other books, maybe some wager books with a sponsor that now both of us know very well. Douglas gives his thoughts on whether the Patriots are getting adequate oddsmakers love

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Pats fans, my good friend Douglas, Dougie Mac, the gatekeeper of the Patriots Discord community and the host of the untitled Patriots podcast, joins me here today on the pod. And Doug, you now share a valued friend with us here at Locked On Podcasts. Our friends at BetOnline.ag have been ingratiated into your presence as well. And our guys over at the Locked On Bets podcast, your boy Q and Lee Sterling, they have you covered with all the latest lines, props. They do an amazing job, folks. Definitely check out that pod.

But since you were here today on Locked On Patriots, I thought it might be fun to check out what the odds makers have in store for the Pats this year. And as of this morning, courtesy of our friends at BetOnline.ag, they have the following lines on the Patriots' upcoming season in 2021. And you know what?

Since we were talking a little bit about rookies, let's talk rookies. The Patriots right now, plus 750 odds, 15-2, for Matt Jones to be the offensive rookie of the year in 2021. A couple of other rookies on the Patriots' radar as well. for Mac Jones to be the offensive rookie of the year in 2021. A couple of other rookies on the Patriots' radar as well, plus 2,500 or 25-1 odds for Christian Barmore to be the defensive rookie of the year. And finally, Ronnie Perkins bringing up the rear here, 40-1 plus 4,000 for the Patriots' new defensive end

to be the defensive rookie of the year. It's always fun at this time of year to take a look at these, and I know you're taking a deep dive into the betonline.ag pool, Doug. When you take a look, especially just mentioning some of the other lines that I've heard, what type of fun can you expect Patriots fans to have with some of the lines this year, and how much love do you think they're getting, adequate love do you think they're getting from the oddsmakers? What type of fun can you expect Patriots fans to have with some of the lines this year? And how much love do you think they're getting? Adequate love do you think they're getting from the oddsmakers?

Well, first off, I just have to say that I love BetOnline. I have always loved BetOnline. If I ever made fun of you for shilling BetOnline, that was a joke or a myth or an impersonator. That's all off the record. I am uh i am totally on board the bet online train just imagine this is like a robotic monotone voice like that apple commercial with 1984 where they're all like looking at the big face on the screen it's like that's the bet online guys for me right now i i love i love they love Big Brother. Now, seriously, after your show, I thought we should try to get some last-minute sponsors for the draft, right? I reached out to the

Patriots Pro Shop. They were nice enough to donate a signed Teddy Bruschi football for one of our contests for the draft prop sheet contest. Mike, thank you for participating in that. I won't tell anyone where you ranked, the winner the winner got a signed teddy bruski uh football which is awesome it's a lot of value and then bet online uh also funded some prizes and expenses and stuff like that for all the stuff that we

wanted to do so that was awesome so yeah we uh have a sponsorship with ben online now and like i was kind of i made fun of you for all the ads you guys have. The first time I was on and I was obviously making some sort of self-aware humor about the whole battle line situation a minute ago. But that's part of why they're a good sponsor is that they let me do that. Like I talked to them and I said, I don't want to do boring ad reads. I know other guys do that. That's fine.

But I want to sort of try to promote you in my own way and make it entertaining and amusing for everyone. And they were totally okay with that. So I figured like sort of try to promote you in my own way and make it entertaining and amusing for everyone. And they were totally OK with that. So I figured, like, people are going to be betting anyway. Right. I already bet on sports. It's fun. It's a fun hobby. So they might as well go to the one where it's going to give their favorite Internet mod slash podcaster slash Twitter personality a cut. Right. So why not? Absolutely. Absolutely. No, it makes perfect sense. And, you know, we're definitely happy to have you along the betonline.ag train. They're a great partner. They've been a great partner to Locked On since inception. Of course, the Locked On Bets podcast is the flagship for our, you know,

all your betting needs. And we've done that as well. But you've incorporated that so well into what you guys do with the Untitled Patriots podcast. And it's done that as well, but you've incorporated that so well into what you guys do with the untitled Patriots podcast. And it's fun. It's really, it's fun. We don't talk about the odds that much here on locked on Patriots, but once I started delving into them and I looked at the fact that there's three rookies right now on the books that, or, you know, right now that have odds laid on them for, you know, defensive and offensive rookie of the year.

It's fun. And the Patriots team, interesting odds as well. Right now, there's 7-2 to win the AFC East, plus 350, folks. 14-1 to win the conference. 28-1 to win the Super Bowl this year. So, you know, if you're feeling a little overaggressive when it comes to the New England Patriots, maybe some of those odds might be to your liking. MVP, not a whole lot of love for the Patriots. Cam is on the list at 50 to one. Mac Jones, 80 to one odds for him to be MVP.

You want to talk about the definitional long shot, folks, but believe it or not, he's not the longest shot on there. But those are some of the patriot lines uh that you'll see from uh from betonline.ag so happy to have you aboard the train my friend and i'm glad that you you've come around to uh i don't want to say see the light because you kind of had a point but i want to say it's good to have you on the team and good to have you on the train well it wasn't it wasn't the marketing sorry do you want me to talk about the odds oh yeah no go ahead please so it wasn't the marketing. Sorry, do you want me to talk about the odds? Oh, yeah. No, go ahead, please. So it wasn't the marketing part that I had an issue with,

or really I didn't have an issue at all. But basically, when I listened to your interview with Miguel, it took a long time for the actual interview to start because of the ads and intros. That was the part that I was sort of teasing you for. The mere fact of having a sponsorship definitely is not something I ever would take issue with like i don't think content creators are paid enough you know so i mean if people

don't want sponsorships they should start paying for content but people hate paying for content so sponsorships is the only way that a great creator is like you can get compensated and you deserve to get compensated for the work you do so in terms of uh the situation, so I'm going to maybe give proof of my integrity here. People on Discord, I forgot to say this, people on Discord, the Discord regulars in our community, they know that I'm famous for getting really angry at parlays because I always do these complicated parlays and they're always like one leg away from winning and then they lose. So that's been a running joke on our Discord. you know that i actually do enjoy the the sports gambling life um in terms of the odds you just mentioned i would not touch so if i were to go to bet online

dot patriots dot fans bet online dot patriots dot fans where you can go if you want go to your use your desktop computer to a 50 deposit no deposit fee can go if you want go to your use your desktop computer do a $50 deposit no deposit fee with bitcoin if you want me to get a cut and lee and the other people that help with our community um if i were to go to bet online.patriots.fans i would not touch the mac jones mvp prop uh or future or the mac jones rookie of the year future or the Mac Jones rookie of the year future or the Barmore rookie of the year future at all I would no did not take me half a second of thought to come to that conclusion because this is the Patriots we're talking about this is Bill Belichick we're gonna redshirt Jones I would but I mean if he starts this year maybe I think it unlikely. Maybe like a one in five chance he even starts this year.

It would be, you know, at least a month or two into the season. And only because Cam was terrible, but the rest of our roster was still good enough to make it, make us a contender maybe if we switched up at the quarterback position. But I think there's a negligible chance he starts week one, like less than 5%. I think unlikely he starts at all this year. I think we're going to redshirt him.

I mean, Bill Belichick redshirts running backs. He's not going to redshirt a quarterback. He liked Brady more than Bledsoe in 2001 in training camp, but he started Bledsoe anyway, partially because of the contract, but partially because Belichick defers to veterans. The locker room also loves Newton. All the smart people think Newton's going to be better this year. So I the mac pick for the long term i don't think he's gonna start this year so i would not bet on him for rookie of the year let alone offensive rookie of the year let alone

mvp i also would do the bar more thing just because we're going to switch players out so much like we like to do things situationally and he's going to be a uh someone who eats blocks probably more than someone who compiles sacks and And like it or not, fair or not, awards are generally about statistics, not some kind of deep analytics. So he's not going to rack up the statistics he would need to get defensive rookie of the year. So I wouldn't touch those. But if I were

to go to batonline.patriots.fans and play some future bets, I would be all over. I mean, the Patriots winning the Super Bowl or even winning the AFC, that's more of like a long shot. That's the kind of thing you do as a like, oh, I want a payday if this lucky thing happens situation. The value is good, but it's still kind of not super likely. But I hammered, I already hammered,

and I'll probably hammer it even harder. I hammered the Patriots winning the AFC East because we're getting like three to one, four to one odds on that. And I think there's a very good chance it happens. I think the Jets have almost no chance. Dolphins are very unlikely. I think it's going to be very close between us and the Bills. I think the Bills are probably going to regress.

Josh Allen is probably going to regress just because that's how things work mathematically, right? Like you regress to the mean. So Josh Allen had one really good season. Is he going to be like Patrick Mahomes and just that's just who he is? Maybe. Or is he going to be like Carson Wentz or Nick Foles or to a lesser extent, 2018 Mitch Trubisky,

like all of these young quarterbacks we've seen over the years that have like one really good season and people hype them up in that off season as this future long-term perennial pro bowler, but it doesn't actually turn out to be the case. So I think we, and with all the free agent signings we did, I think there's really good value on on the patriots winning the afc so i've hammered that i also hammered kyle pitts for winning uh offensive rookie of the year because he is a generational talent as far as tight end prospects

go and a lot of these quarterbacks are in iffy situations mac jones probably won't start justin fields he has to play for the bears trevor lawrence used play for Urban Meyer. So I would be really concerned about the coaching situation for Wilson and Fields and Lawrence. And then Lance has a better coaching situation, but Kyle Shanahan has come out and said that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be the week one starter. But it's almost not even going to be a competition

because Lance is so raw and because Jimmy Garoppolo knows the playbook so well. It doesn't look like they're going to get the big offer they were hoping for for Jimmy. These guys, Fields, Lawrence, terrible four Jimmy. So like these guys, fields, Lawrence, terrible coaching situations. I mean,

fields, Lawrence and Wilson, all have terrible coaching situations. And then, and then Lance is not going to be starting. And then Matt Jones, isn't going to be starting. So I don't think it's,

I think there's a good chance. It's not a quarterback. And pits is like a great, great tight end. Like he is the Trevor Lawrence of tight ends. If he were a quarterback and Pitts is like a great great tight end like he is the Trevor Lawrence of tight ends if he were a quarterback you know he would be as hyped up as Trevor Lawrence going by ability there's a reason that I correctly

predicted when I was doing our pre-draft betting episode I correctly I told everyone take out a mortgage on Kyle Pitts going fourth overall or at least Kyle Pitts going don't literally do that but but a lot of money as much as you're comfortable risking on Kyle Pitts going don't literally do that but uh but a lot of money as much as you're comfortable risking on on Kyle Pitts going in the top five and that paid off for

me very well on bet online.patriots.fans uh and I think uh Kyle Pitts could bring me another big payday because not only is there a good chance it's going to be a non-quarterback that wins offensive rookie of the year but Kyle Pitts at like 14 14-1, 12-1, 10-1, that is incredible. That is incredible. So please, go to betonline.patriots.fans and lay whatever you're comfortable risking on Kyle Pitts, offensive rookie of the year, and the Patriots winning the AFC East. And so, Pats fans, you already know that Locked On Patriots

has you covered with all the latest news notes and analysis you need when it comes to your favorite team in Foxborough. But get all the sports news you need in under 20 minutes with the Locked On Today podcast. Host Peter Bukowski updates you on the latest news in every major sport with the help of our local experts. Follow the Locked On Today podcast on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, tomorrow is Friday, which means it's time to close out the week in style here on Locked on Patriots.

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