Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reveal: New England Patriots’ Grades At The Bye | Who Passes? Who Fails?

Starting point is 00:00:00 We know who's been excellent for the 11 and 2, Pats, but it's time to grade everyone that's been part of this season. It's third quarter report card time, and this is Locked-on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts network, your team every day. What's happening? I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the paths for the past 16 years. Also, co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. On today's episode, find out if the coaching staff has passed the very high preseason expectations we had for the group.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Also, we tell you who other than Milton Williams earned high marks for their work defensively. But first, an up and down evaluation for the offense. Today's episode is brought to by Fandul. If you want to be right in the middle of action this season, visit Fandul.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. My expectations for this offense were about 15th, 16th, and scoring. I got a lot of questions heading into the season. How good could the Patriots be?

Starting point is 00:01:27 Drake May at quarterback and Josh McDaniels as OC. And I had said, well, if the Patriots score about 20 to 21 points per game, that should put them right around 15th, 16th, maybe as low as 18th in the league offensively. And I thought that was fair. 21 points a game would have been a jump from 2024. Drake May at the time, we did not know he was going to play the way that he has played this season. I figured he would really turn it on in the second half of the year. but the first half of the year would be a very steep learning curve and a deep learning process.

Starting point is 00:02:03 But here we are. Here we are. Reality is the Patriots are seventh in scoring. And that is well ahead of where I thought they would be, especially at the time of the byweek. Points per game, 27 points per game for this offense. So Professor Nick Cattles has walked into the classroom and he is going to hand out his grades. Let's start with Drake May. I'm not going to take a long time on Drake May. I spent more than 10 minutes yesterday's episode breaking down how historically good

Starting point is 00:02:38 Drake May's 2025 has been through the first three quarters of the season. If you missed that episode, don't worry about it. You can check it out. It's available for you and anyone else who wants to listen to that. But Drake May, his grade is easy. It's an a plus. He is the front runner for the MVP, Nuff said. Let's look at the running backs. Remandre Stevenson. I'm going to give Ramandre Stevenson AC. I know he's polarizing. He has been up and down this season. He's had good games. He's had bad games. Obviously, the worst game of his season was the Pittsburgh Steelers game at Gillette Stadium. But as a runner, he's been up and down. His past protection, however, has been mostly fantastic. He gets high marks for that. His receiving has been pretty good when

Starting point is 00:03:24 he's been asked to make a play when he has been asked to catch the football, he's mostly done a really good job of doing so. Travion Henderson, this is going to be a very interesting grade for all of you. I'm going to give Trayvion Henderson a C plus. Now, the last month, which by the way, offensive rookie of the month in the AFC, shout out to Trayvion Henderson. He has been much better the last month. But this season is about the three quarters, right, that we've got to to this point. And I'm sitting here, I'm grading the entire season up until the buy week. And Trayvion Henderson just did not do much at all the first six or seven weeks of the year. That has to count.

Starting point is 00:04:05 So I'm giving him a C plus. I also would like to see him catch the football more. I don't think they've utilized him as a weapon as much as I want them to or hope that they would in the passing game. Pass protection, still an issue. We saw it against the Giants. Let's jump to the receivers because Antonio Gibson's incomplete. Torell Jennings, incomplete. The wide receivers, Stefan Diggs, he gets an A.

Starting point is 00:04:29 He has surpassed expectations. He is 11th in the NFL in catches. He has 64 receptions on only 79 targets, which is outrageous. He is 22nd in the NFL in yards. He has become a security blanket for Drake May on big downs. He gets an A. Kishon Booty also gets an A. His downfield efficiency has been so much better this year compared to last year.

Starting point is 00:04:54 He has been vital on third down. He is tied for the fifth most touchdowns in football with six. His route running has been much better and his blocking has been much better. So Kisham Booty, you get an A. Mack Hollins, going to give you a B plus. He's been hit or miss on the blocking, frankly. And that's really the difference maker here. If he was an excellent blocker consistently, I'd have him in the A range.

Starting point is 00:05:19 But I'll give him a B plus because he has had some misses in the run block game. 35 catches already the second best mark of his career. 12.6 yards a catch is the third best mark of his career. Mack Hollins B-plus. Kyle Williams, C-minus. We've seen miscommunications between he and Drake May. We've seen some route inconsistencies from Kyle Williams. He has been better lately with the opportunities he's been given,

Starting point is 00:05:47 including that great catch against the Giants on Monday night. I like where he's headed. But again, this is a grade for the entire season to this point. And Kyle Williams was persona non grata until K. Shambouti went out with the injury and he made that catch against Tampa. So I'm going to give him a C minus. I think he will continue to improve. Pop Douglas, I'm giving a B.

Starting point is 00:06:11 You look at the plays that he has made versus the opportunity that he has been given. And it's been good. Now, he's fallen short of expectations if you were looking for him to catch 80 footballs. And during camp, he was the best receiver in camp, but a lot of things happened, right? Stefan Diggs continued to get better, continued to feel better. And you also remember that, you know, we're not talking about playing with much contact at camp. So Pop Douglas, though, I will give a B. He has become more of a downfield threat, which has been cool to watch him develop that.

Starting point is 00:06:42 And he's become a pretty good third down option for Drake May. Tight ends. Hunter Henry, Mr. Dependable gets an A from yours truly. He is another security blanket like Stefan Diggs for Drake May on big downs. And he is on pace, really, if you look at his numbers, he's on pace to have one of the three best seasons of his career. Austin Hooper, he gets a B. He is what he is. He's a solid second tight end.

Starting point is 00:07:07 He's been hit and miss when it comes to blocking. So I'll give him a solid B, nothing more, nothing less. Jack Westover, C-minus. Really all you depend on with him is his blocking. and it has not been very good for the most part. So I'm going to give him a C minus. Let's get to the big guys up front, protecting Drake May, offensive line, left tackle, Will Campbell.

Starting point is 00:07:31 I'm going to give him a B. I think he's been average to above average. I would not say that Will Campbell has been an A or an A minus. You might want to argue a B plus, but I think that would be a little bit too strong. I'm giving him a B. He has not been a turn style. He has been a good left tackle.

Starting point is 00:07:48 His run blocking, surprisingly, has not been as good as I expected. His past protection has been better than his run blocking most weeks. But I still give him a B and absolutely so far worth the fourth pick in the draft. Jared Wilson, C-minus. Now he has improved and he was improving right before the injury. And yes, he's dealing with a new position. But if you look at his PFF grades, if you just watch him play week to week,

Starting point is 00:08:16 he has had struggles in both the run and the passing game. Some of that to be expected. Again, new position, not the biggest guy to play guard. So I'm going to give him a C minus, passing grade, but just not as good as you need him to be most weeks. Garrett Bradbury, C plus. He had a hot start, hot start, but lately a little bit of a slide. Pro football focus has him 35th in run blocking at center.

Starting point is 00:08:44 they have him 23rd in pass blocking, which is pretty hilarious because coming into the season, we all said, Garrett Bradbury, not good in past protection, really good in run blocking. This year with the Patriots, he's been good in past protection, not nearly as good in run blocking. Michael Wenu, I'm giving him a B. And I think he's really been a B plus to A minus since like week nine. Big Mike has continued to get better throughout this season. You know, he had some huge misses early in the year, some big plays, some game-changing plays, and that hurts his grade,

Starting point is 00:09:21 but I still give him a B because, again, he's just been really good the past few weeks. And if he's that good, he will make a huge impact on this offensive line over the final four games and as they get ready to get into the playoffs. We wrap it up with Morgan Moses, 34 years old, B-plus. think he's been the most steady of all the offensive lineman. He has been good in both the run and the pass. And yes, the by week will certainly help Morgan Moses.

Starting point is 00:09:51 34 years old, 13 straight games taxing on the body. But he has been really good. So I give him a B plus. All right. So that does it for the offense. Let me know how you feel. Throw the comments in. Do you agree?

Starting point is 00:10:05 Do you disagree? One top defensive name has exceeded all expectations. while another has left us wanting more. Our defensive report card is next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. NFL Sundays move fast.

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Starting point is 00:11:47 I want to know what your grades are. Throw into the comment section. I appreciate you. And don't forget to subscribe as we continue to march towards 7,750 subscribers. And of course, the ultimate goal as we get ready for the final month of the season is 8,000 subs. The defense is kind of tricky when you look at grading them through the first. three quarters of this season. They've had the opening drive problems. Thankfully, we did not see

Starting point is 00:12:15 that on Monday night against the Giants. They are literally the worst red zone defense in all of football. They have not been able to get to the quarterback with their four-man rush in several weeks. They just can't do it consistently. However, the results are the results. And the Patriots defense is the fifth best defense in the NFL when it comes to scoring. They're giving up 18.5 points per game. Now, yes, some of that is schedule. Some of that is quarterbacks that they faced, but it is what it is. It's a results-based business, as they say, and they have the fifth best defense,

Starting point is 00:12:54 fifth best scoring defense. All right, let's get into the grades. The interior defensive line, we start out with who I think has been the second best player this season on this team, and that's Milton Williams. He gets an A-plus, just like Drake May, got an A-plus. He is the Drake May of the defense. He is number three, according to ESPN's past rush win rate. He's been good versus the run, and he's played many more snaps this year than he played last year for Philly before the injury.

Starting point is 00:13:22 Christian Barmore, a little bit more difficult of a grade. I'm going to give him a B. There's been three or four games where Christian Barmore's impact just has not been there. And because of that, he falls into the B category. Now, overall, when you look at it, he's in the top 20. and pass rush win rate at number 13, and he has had games where he's been a monster. So I'm going to give him a solid B.

Starting point is 00:13:46 Kairi's Tonga. I think many of you know how I'm going to grade him and what he's done. He has been one of my favorite patriots to watch this season. I give Kairis Tonga an A. He has exceeded all expectations versus both the run and the past, and he is no doubt extension worthy after the season. Corey Durden, you get a B plus for me, Corey Durden. He has been a pleasant surprise.

Starting point is 00:14:10 He certainly looks like a legitimate, rotational, interior defensive lineman at the NFL level. Rookie Joshua Farmer, B-minus. I think he's had good impact compared to his snap rate. He's not getting a ton of snaps, and he usually shows up a couple of times a game. So I'm going to give him a B-minus. That might be a little light, but I'll give him a B-minus. Eric Gregory gets a C, nothing spectacular. I'm moving on. Defense event. Let's talk edge. Caleb on Chase on. I'm giving Caleb

Starting point is 00:14:44 on a B. Now, his pass rush has been very good for most of this year. He has fallen off lately. I think that has a lot to do with how many snaps he's playing. He is on pace to just shatter the most snaps he's played in an NFL season. The biggest issue with Caleb on Chase on and why his grade is a B is because it's not just about the pass rush. He's a lot of football, and he has not been very good against the run. He's given up the edge. So hopefully he resets during this by week, and we see a newly energized, Caleb-on-Cheson for the final month of the season. Harold Landry, B-minus. Now, Harold Landry has truly faded, I would say, after the first five or six weeks. He still remains pretty darn good against

Starting point is 00:15:30 the run, and I give him credit. I'm fair to him with this B-minus, because I do believe he's playing hurt. So when you watch him on the field, he's not really giving you B minus production, but he has been dealing with an injury, which he talked to Mike Reese about recently. It's rather obvious. He has not been the same guy, got off to a great start. Elijah Ponder, B minus. He lost the edge a couple times against the Giants. He has shown some flashes in the pass rush, especially from the interior against New York, which was interesting. And again, he's kind of like the Joshua former here. His impact versus the snap rate. he's not getting a ton of snaps.

Starting point is 00:16:08 He's gotten more snaps the past couple weeks, but I do think Elijah Ponder is a B minus given the impact. Anthony Jennings giving him a solid C. Nothing great. He's played okay with the opportunity. Let's jump to the linebackers. Robert Spillane, solid B. He's been good against the run.

Starting point is 00:16:26 I think he's been a bit up and down in coverage. He has made some impact plays. He's got the two interceptions, but I feel like he needs the buy week. You know, he's been a little bit slower the last two weeks. So he got off to a slow start. The last couple games, he has not been the same guy. So when you look at it all in totality, I'm going to give Robert Spillane a big.

Starting point is 00:16:49 Christian Ellis gets a C plus. He's been better lately, but he's still up and down against the run, and his coverage is kind of me. Jack Gibbons gets a C. He's had some coverage issues. Marte Mapu showed some signs of life against the Giants on Monday, a couple of past breakups. great to see. I thought he had a good game on Monday night. He might be the best

Starting point is 00:17:11 defender of tight ends at the linebacker position for this team. He might get more snaps over the final month. But through the first three quarters, I give him a D plus because he's given up some big plays. But hopefully the Giants game on Monday night was the beginning of a true turnaround and he can play better football consistently. Jelani Tavai give a C. He's had a mix of some good, some bad, obviously injury to start the year. And he's still, I think, trying to get ingratiated to this defensive system and scheme. Cornerbacks, Christian Gonzalez gets a B.

Starting point is 00:17:46 And yeah, you know, the expectations are high. He's a second team all pro. And I think he's been more up and down than you want him to be. You want him to be consistently really good to great. That's his level. And he's played below his level a few games this year. There's no doubt about that. He wasn't as good against Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:18:06 He wasn't as good a couple games before then. But overall, he's still been good, but he just hasn't been Christian Gonzalez to me. Now, against the Giants, against the Giants, I will say that he was much better. He was really good against the Giants. So maybe he's just kicking it into gear, but I need more from Christian Gonzalez.

Starting point is 00:18:28 Carlton Davis, I give him a B minus. The penalties hurt his grade. His coverage, I think, has been fine. He's a second cornerback. He's not a shutdown guy like Christian Gonzalez is expected to be. I think his coverage for the most part has been good to really good. He's been very, very good the last two weeks. So again, you can kind of see this where Carlton Davis and Christian Gonzalez might be, you know, getting better at the perfect time as you get ready for the final month. Marcus Jones, meanwhile, at the nickel gets an A. And I'll throw special teams in

Starting point is 00:18:58 there as well. He's had an A season through three quarters. He's been. really good. He's had good coverage. He's flying around. His tackling has mostly been on point, and he no doubt earned the extension that he got earlier this year. Alex Austin gets an F. He was terrible when given opportunities with Christian Gonzalez out. Safety. Jalen Hawkins, I'm giving you a C. There have been some pretty high moments for Jalen Hawkins. He's had some good games. He was bad against the Giants. He's been up and down, so that deserves a C. Craig Woodson, C minus. Lots of responsibility, the expected kind of inconsistencies from rookies that you see. I think he's on the upswing. I think he will continue to get better.

Starting point is 00:19:44 But for now, I'm giving him a C minus. Del Pettis gets an A. The impact Del Pettus has had with the very few snaps that he has been given. He's been terrific. So I'm giving him an A. And if you want to throw special teams, I'll throw special teams in the mix. respect those guys. Julian Ashby, long snapper, gets a B. A B Nick for the long snapper? Yeah, he's had a couple of flags. He's had a couple of flags thrown on him, which is kind of crazy. But I think otherwise, the operation has been pretty good. His snaps have been mostly good. Andy Boregalis gets a B plus. He's 18th in field goal percentage. He's 27th in extra points. He's been hot, but let's not forget the slow start. And then he missed a field goal against the Giants. So, I can't quite put him in the A range. Bryce Berenger, C-minus, I could go D-plus. Too many shanks.

Starting point is 00:20:40 He's been way too inconsistent this year. He needs to be better. All right, Mike Vrable was one of the easiest grades to hand out. But for the rest of the staff, it gets interesting. Find out why next is we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I had high expectations for this coaching staff. I was a huge fan of what Mike Vrable assembled before we actually saw it play out in camp.

Starting point is 00:21:13 And I'll tell you what, this coaching staff from the top on down has exceeded my high expectations. This coaching staff has been tremendous. You know what I'm going to give Mike Vrable. I'm giving Mike Vrable an A-plus. Drake May is an A-plus, Milton Williams is an A-plus, Mike Vrable is an A-plus, the culture that we see unfolding in front of us. He has absolutely set the foundation as I would have thought he would have and hoped that he would have. The culture is fantastic through three-quarters. The preparation, having his guys ready to play. They really have not. I said this earlier in the

Starting point is 00:21:58 week. I feel like they really haven't had a quote-unquote let-down game since maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers game, which you could say it was the offense who let them down with all the turnovers. But you could also look at that game and say the offense was moving the football and the defense was pretty darn good. They really haven't had that letdown game. They might still have it. You got four games left. But man, oh man, what a job by the head coach. The endgame strategy, fourth down aggressiveness, handling the end of the half. handling the end of the game, a couple of key challenges which helped his team win games. Mike Rables, an A-plus.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Josh McDaniels, A-minus, you might not believe it. I'd say, come on, Nick, Josh McDaniels absolutely deserves an A or an A-plus. Look, the Drake-made development, the most important part of this season has gone nearly perfect, according to the plan. So the made development is a huge check mark. The wide receiver room, the production that you're getting from the wide receivers and the tight ends, thank you very much, Josh McDaniels, the offensive line and working with the young left side of the offensive line, the two rookies, and making sure that your game plan is helping them protect has been really good. And again, the Patriots have 27 points

Starting point is 00:23:23 per game. Almost said they're 27 the points per game. No, they have 27 points per game, which as I said during the first segment, that is the seventh highest scoring team in the league. So how is Josh McDaniels an A-minus? Two things.

Starting point is 00:23:39 They have not been able to consistently run the football. They're mostly a one-dimensional offense. So that's a knock on McDaniels. And the red zone offense, the red zone offense has completely fallen apart over the last few weeks.

Starting point is 00:23:56 And if you're in the middle to lower pack with red zone offense and you can't consistently run the football, your 29th in success rate running the ball, that's going to hurt your grade a little bit. But I can't overlook the bigger stuff, as I mentioned, the Drake made development, the production from your receivers and being seventh in scoring. I mean, you give them all the credit in the world.

Starting point is 00:24:21 Zach Corr, this is going to. to be, I think this will upset some people. I'm actually giving Zach Corr a higher grade than Josh McDaniels. And I'll tell you why. I'm grading on a curve. Zach Corp was not supposed to be the defensive play caller for this team this year. That was supposed to be Terrell Williams and hopefully Terrell Williams is doing well physically. So I have to grade this on a curve. Zach Corr was thrown into the deep end unexpectedly. I mean, his first year in the NFL as a coach was in 2020. Think about that.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Just five years ago, he's breaking into the NFL with the Tennessee Titans. Fast forward five years, defensive coordinator or play caller to respect Terrell Williams, the defensive play caller for the number one seat in the AFC after 13 weeks. So yeah, I'm going to give him an A given what my expectation was when he took the job. The defense is only giving up 18 and a half points per game. If you're giving up less than 20 a game, I'm tipping my cap to Zach Corr, given the circumstances. I think he absolutely deserves an A.

Starting point is 00:25:35 This thing could have went way off the rails if Zach Corr struggled as the defensive play caller. If he wasn't showing adjustments, if the defense wasn't getting better throughout games, if they weren't inevitably limiting offenses, I mean, this could have gone bad. There's a very, very difficult responsibility to take over after the season kicks off. And I think given what he's had to deal with, he's done a very, very, very good job.

Starting point is 00:26:04 Jeremy Springer, I'm giving you a B plus. The return game has been good. Thank you, Marcus Jones. Antonio Gibson had a house call earlier in the year. The coverage teams have mostly been good. So that's nice to see, including Monday night. I thought they were terrific. He's working with a rookie kicker.

Starting point is 00:26:20 and we mentioned Andy Borogales is a B-plus so far. The punting is kind of eh. But I will give Jeremy Springer overall a B-plus. Other guys on the coaching staff, I'm not going to sit here and run through every single coach, but I do think some other guys need mentioning. Clint McMillan, the defensive line coach, I'm going to give him an A.

Starting point is 00:26:44 You look at Milton Williams, you look at Christian Barmore. Yes, those guys are talented, but you also look at the development. and the impact of Corey Durden and what they've gotten out of Kyrie's Tonga. And you look at Joshua Farmer. I think Clint McMillan's done a great job. You should go check out Ryan Baldinger's Twitter. He tweeted out a video of a play on Monday night where it's,

Starting point is 00:27:07 I think it's Cory Durden and Joshua Farmer side by side. And they stack and shed perfectly as interior defensive linemen. I think he's done a tremendous job with, you know, some of the young guys, as well as getting just top-notch play from Milton Williams. Mike Smith, outside linebackers coach, pass rush specialist B-minus. You need more pass rush. But overall, Kalaun Chase-on's been good. Harold Landry has been good given the injury situation, as we discussed earlier.

Starting point is 00:27:37 Todd Downing gets an A-plus for me. I mean, what more can you ask for from the wide receivers? We've looked at wide receiver coaches over the past few years, and they just have not been able to get nearly as much productive. Yes, Stefan Diggs and Mack Hollins, the veterans certainly helped Todd Downing. This is a better wide receiver room, but look at Kishon Booty in what he's doing. Look at pop Douglas in what he's doing at times. Kyle Williams is making some plays.

Starting point is 00:28:04 I really can't ask more from the wide receiver room, and Todd Downing is running that room. Finally, Thomas Brown, tight ends coach, passing game coordinator. The passing offense has been terrific, blending the offense with the Josh McDaniel Daniels old school system with some of the West Coast Sean McVeigh stuff. Thomas Brown has had a big hand in that. And you look at the tight ends and how they've played. They've played very well. And Thomas Brown helps with the offense from week to week.

Starting point is 00:28:34 So Thomas Brown gets an A. All right. The grading is over with. Let me know how you feel. Throw the comments in. Which grades do you hate? Which do you love? Agree?

Starting point is 00:28:45 Disagree. Want to know it all. Don't forget to throw that thumbs up as well watching here on YouTube if you are, comments and subscribe. that wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an everydayer. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C. Radio. And for your second listen, get a double dose of the Lockdown NFL podcast with Tyler

Starting point is 00:29:05 the Madman Roland and Tony Wiggins. By the way, I'm on that show on Fridays. So check it out. Find Lockdown NFL on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday. Thank you.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Reveal: New England Patriots’ Grades At The Bye | Who Passes? Who Fails?

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