Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Senior Bowl Sequel, A ‘Belichickian’ Encounter - 1/30/2020

Episode Date: January 30, 2020

For the second time in consecutive days, host Mike D’Abate talks Senior Bowl 2020 and the best potential fits for the New England Patriots. John Vogel of NFL Draft Rite joins Mike to talk offensive and defensive prospects. And shares the story about his ‘Close Encounter of the Belichick Kind’ last week in Mobile, Alabama. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. Welcome to Locked On Patriots, your daily home for news notes and analysis, infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. I'm Mike DeBate, your host of Locked On Patriots, which is a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team, every day. Please feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATEFPC. And while you're out there in the Twitterverse, please give the Lockdown Patriots account a follow as well at LO underscore Patriots. Folks, it is Thursday. Super Bowl 54 is just three days away.

And since the Patriots season ended on January 4th at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, I've sounded like a broken record, talking about how it just doesn't feel the same without the Patriots involved in this process. And currently, I can feel you nodding in agreement, it's okay, I'm admitting it. But when your franchise history includes a trip to three straight Super Bowls and every AFC Championship game since 2011, yeah, this time of year is going to feel a little different. But I'm reversing my course on this just a little bit, because the Super Bowl is definitely an exciting time for all football fans. It's one of those moments where, save for those that are in attendance, everybody comes together, gathers around the TV, and football is the primary focus of everyone on that day.

Or mostly everyone. But you get the point. The Super Bowl is a special day. And I encourage you as Patriots fans, watch the game, enjoy the game, because there's a lot of great storylines here. Patrick Mahomes and the high-flying Kansas City offense going up against a very stout San Francisco defense. Andy Reid trying to put the ultimate cap on what's already been a Hall of Fame career

and finally win a Vince Lombardi trophy. And of course, as Patriots fans, it's okay to be taking a little bit of pride in seeing Jimmy Garoppolo compete for a Super Bowl championship. That's right, folks. We've already been through this. It's okay to root for Jimmy in this game. Don't let the takers that push the narrative like, sorry, they should have kept Jimmy over Tom type thing.

Don't let them win. If you have a rooting interest in this game, go for it. Maybe you like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelsey, and that high-powered Kansas City offense. I get it. They're fun to watch. If they're your choice, so be it. Maybe you're a fan of Nick Bosa and that dynamic San Francisco 49ers defense.

Maybe it's how George Kittle reminds you a little bit of Rob Gronkowski. Or maybe it really just is the Jimmy Garoppolo connection. These are two great teams to watch, and Super Bowl 54 will be a fun game. I'm looking forward to it. For the first time in the past three years, I can actually watch the Super Bowl and not have to pretend to be objective when I'm really not being objective. So if you're not quite in the Super Bowl spirit yet, I encourage you, get into it. It's a fun week.

As I stated before, there's a lot of great storylines to follow in this one, and I do understand it. The tragic events of last Sunday and the death of Kobe Bryant definitely cast a pall on the week, and it's clear that it dampened excitement with the Super Bowl, I think across the country. And the reality is, is that a lot of you are probably still grieving over that loss. And as I stated on Monday here on Locked On Patriots, there's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes the diversion that is professional sports allows us the opportunity to suspend reality, even if it's just for a moment.

Sometimes an event like the Super Bowl can remind us what it's like to laugh, to get excited, and even in some cases, enjoy life once again. But that being said, this is still Locked On Patriots, and that is still our main priority here. Because the Patriots are not still playing, that means it's their offseason, and they're making preparations for free agency, and most importantly, for the draft. Yesterday here on Locked On Patriots, I welcomed my good friend Mark Schofield, who was down in Mobile, Alabama for the 2020 Senior Bowl.

He gave us a ton of insight. Players both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball that we should be keeping a sharp eye on. Whether or not they're interested in some of these players might have tipped their hand in terms of how they're going to be drafting. But believe it or not, folks, we only scratched the surface of what went on in Mobile last week. In fact, there was such a ton of information to digest coming out of the Senior Bowl last week that for the second straight day, I'm bringing in another guest. Someone who also had boots on the ground

in Mobile. The founder and CEO of DraftRight.com, my former colleague at Full Press Coverage, John Vogel joins me today. And John is a true rising star when it comes to NFL draft coverage. And much like I did with Mark yesterday, I'll be picking his brain about which players stood out, who he thinks might be a good

fit in New England. And John just happens to have a great story to share about a close encounter with a certain Patriots head coach. That's right, folks. Close encounters of the Belichick kind today on Locked on Patriots. So sit tight, folks, and I hope that you enjoy today's podcast. But in light of what we talked about earlier, I know that you're all in the midst of making Super Bowl party plans. It's that time of year. Planning a party, getting the snacks ready, and know that you're all in the midst of making Super Bowl party plans. It's that time of year,

planning a party, getting the snacks ready, and getting your wagers locked in because the Super Bowl is finally here. You've got a feeling about who's going to bring home the Lombardi trophy, and you do not want to miss out on your last chance to get your bets in before the NFL season ends. Whether you're choosing the straight-up winner of the game, or making a side bet with a friend, MyBookie offers you the most up-to-date odds and a site that makes winning extra cash easy and fast. MyBookie features the

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Enter promo code LOCKEDON when you make your deposit that's promo code locked on l-o-c-k-e-d-o-n to give your bankroll a jump start my bookie play win get paid my guest today is one of the fastest risers in the NFL draft coverage world. He is the founder of Draft Right website, which I've read it, folks, and I'll tell you, it is one of the best out there. Comprehensive coverage, both written and audio. You have to check it out. He is a former colleague of mine at Full Press Coverage and someone who I hold in very high regard. A great writer, great analyst, and also Army National Guard Reserve. He is one of the people that is charged with the defending and protecting our country. And to me, there is no greater honor.

My honor is definitely to welcome him to Lockdown Patriots today. My good friend John Vogel joins me. John, thank you so much for joining me today on Lockdown Patriots. Mike, thank you for having me. I know that you have a lot of people that you rotate in and out of here that are much more esteemed than I am. So just the opportunities really, you know, I'm very appreciative for. I don't know about esteemed, my friend. No, I'm only kidding. No, I do.

I am humbled by the guests that I have no more so than you uh today uh what you do uh you know in terms of the service that you provide to this country i personally thank you for i know i join all of my listeners in thanking you for that service it really is remarkable but bottom line i brought you on here today because i admire your coverage of the nfl i admire your coverage of the draft you provide provide phenomenal insight. And I think a lot of great things that Patriots fans and football fans in general can take away when it comes to this year's draft. So my friend, let's get right into it. When we talk about the NFL draft this year, the senior bowl is usually the first springboard for people to start getting names

out there in terms of who might be drafted, who's impressive, who looks good, who looks the part of the NFL, you know, landscape. Also who can make a name for themselves. People we haven't heard before you. I welcomed Mark Schofield in yesterday here on locked on Patriots. And we talked a lot about the pats and their prospects and what they may do. But you had boots to the ground as well as Mark did, and as well as so many young journalists did down in Mobile.

What were your experiences like, and who stood out to you above all else that you think that not only Patriots fans, but also everyone related to the NFL draft should have their eye on in April when the draft comes about? Right, right. So good summary of what the Senior Bowl is. Because I get asked that all the time first off. You know, oh, what is the Senior Bowl?

Like a lot of people don't know what it is. It's essentially a first-round interview, you know, for NFL prospects as they're getting ready to go through the NFL draft cycle. So getting into some of the prospects that really looked good after, first off, the experience was great. I can't thank Jim Nagy and that staff enough for inviting me to come down there and letting me participate in that. But some of the prospects that looked really good, first off, I think one guy that I came into the week that I didn't like as much and left the week liking a lot, I believe, was Joshua Che out of Michigan. I think that's how you say his last name. Yes.

Joshua Che was one of these guys that was kind of misused in the defensive scheme that he played in at Michigan. They tried to use him as a hybrid linebacker that could cover tight ends. Kind of what a lot of people are looking to use Isaiah Simmons as out of Clemson. But he's got the size for it. He doesn't have the quicks. He doesn't have the speed. He doesn't have the, you know, just doesn't have the correct skill set to pull off that position. And really, he's actually a true edge rusher. And so by going to,

through the senior bowl, they played him almost exclusively as an edge. And he was phenomenal, especially in one V ones today. I think they just, this defensive line thing retweeted, you know, a video that I put out of Uche where it shows how low he gets to the ground. They were pointing out his hands.

He came up. He missed the offensive lineman's hands, but his bend made up for the miss. He responded to it. He said, no, no, no. I call that the touch and go. I looked at it again. He throws a quick tap and bam, he gets their arms up and goes under them. He was really impressive throughout the week just because of first off, his burst off of the line of scrimmage and secondly because his bend is absolutely out of this world. As long as someone uses him exclusively

as an edge rusher, I'm not trying to get Patriot fans all excited, but I can see the Patriots, him sliding to them at some point in the draft and then pulling the trigger on this guy. He's legit. Yeah. And I think so. And that's one thing that Mark and I discussed yesterday. And I'm glad that you brought that up is possibly looking to the edge rush for someone that might be a fit or a help for this team. I think that I think the Patriots could definitely use some youth and some ability to be able to mix in with some of the young edge rushers that they have, like a Chase Winovich or, if he comes back, a Dietrich Wise.

I think these guys can form a nice core. And obviously the Patriots are looking for veterans, but they're always looking to get younger and more explosive at that. So I think that's excellent insight and definitely someone that Patriots fans will keep an eye on throughout the course of the coverage now until we reach the draft. Now, John, I don't think I'm giving a stretch of the imagination here to say that a lot of Patriots fans are curious as to what they might do on the offensive side of the ball. Mark and I talked a lot about yesterday when it comes to sure-handed wide receivers. I know James Proch was a guy that a lot of people said the Patriots were, quote, fawning all over.

We talked a little bit about him yesterday, talked a little bit about some of the tight end prospects that were there as well. The Patriots did not go and make a big splash in the tight end market last year. And a lot of people were surprised, especially with guys like TJ Hawkinson and JC Sternberger. And, you know, some of the big time tight ends that were available, it was considered a very deep tight end class in the draft last year. That's not really how people are evaluating the 2020 NFL draft. But in some of the coverage that I saw of the senior bowl, there were some tight ends that could turn heads in this draft. If you're the Patriots, should there have been a tight end that you saw in this draft that could end up being someone

that they might have on their draft board radar when it comes to April's draft? Oh yeah. So first off, look at the tight ends that have been successful in the Patriots system over the past 10 years. Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, rest in peace. So, like, these guys were big physical athletic guys, you know, that used those mismatches 6-5, 6-4 into the secondary against linebackers, kind of attacked, you know, zone coverage and found the weak points and were because of their size were a threat vertically as well so what that does is that stretches defenses right um so instead of playing two or three guys over the top sometimes you have to play four and that's a whole lot more that's a whole lot more space underneath and so when Gronk left unexpectedly as he did last year, there was kind of this void right there at that position where the Patriots were normally able to stretch the field and get a lot of these defenders to back off the underneath coverage.

And I guess they didn't think it was going to hurt them as much as they did. Adam Trotman is one of these guys that really fits what the Patriots want to do. Six, five, two 50 red zone type target. Very quick in and out of his breaks for a guy, his size. He really had a great week in mobile as well, but it was, he was a guy I came into the week already, you know, really curious about because when you watch his tape, fantastic prospect athleticism and you're you're sitting there going well maybe i'm thinking too much because he's a d2 guy you know he played at dayton and as opposed to you

know some of these other tight ends like bryson hopkins you know played at purdue in the 10 but chopman is really really came on as not only as a really good player on the field, but he really, from what I heard, he knocked out his interviews as well. So that's something the Patriots are obviously going to hold higher than a lot of other teams in this process. Absolutely, and I'm so glad that you mentioned Trotman. Mark and I talked a little bit about him yesterday, and he was someone that really kind of entered my field of vision. I had known Trotman. Mark and I talked a little bit about him yesterday, and he was someone that really kind of entered my field of vision.

I had known Trotman. I had not scouted him, but I had watched him a little bit, watched some minor film. But I've really delved into it within the last day or so since Mark and I had our conversation. And I'm glad to hear that he's someone that caught your eye as well. Obviously, Hopkins is one of the guys that is the name is out there without any question. You mentioned the Purdue connection, and he tends to be at the top of a lot of people's wishlist, but the Patriots don't always go for the big name necessarily. It's the right fit within the organization. And I, for one, from what I've been seeing, and it sounds like from two minds that I take an awful lot of stock in folks and you should too. That's Mark Schofield and my guest

today, John Vogel. They seem to think that Trotman could be a good fit as well. So keep a sharp eye on that name. That's one that I would definitely watch for and one that I definitely take a look at and try to absorb some of his playing if you can, folks, because I think you'll really like what you see out of this kid. When it comes to the quarterback position, John, it's definitely a fluid position when it comes to New England. And obviously, you know, Mark and I talked a little bit about, you know, yesterday about Jordan Love and about, you know, obviously, you know, there's no question about it. Guys like Jalen Hurts and things of that nature. Obviously, Justin Herbert made the most, the biggest impact on the senior bowl, and he elevated his draft status to another level.

If the Patriots, Mark and I talked a little bit about what would happen if the New England Patriots had to either trade up or look to replace Tom Brady. If Brady comes, I'm going to put you on the hot seat a little bit with a more difficult question than I asked Mark, believe it or not. And that is, if the Patriots end up having Brady come back, do you see someone on this, did you see someone in Mobile on last week's time and even on the field on Saturday maybe that might push Jared Stidham in terms of being a successor to Tom Brady. If in fact, Tom returns to New England, because yesterday I asked

Mark the question, if he leaves, who might be a fit and who might the Patriots want to target? My question to you is, is there someone that you've identified that could be a potential successor to Brady that might push Stidham out the door? Right. So Stidham, I don't think there's a lot of people that likes Jared Stidham as a, you know, a potential starting quarterback for the Patriots or really anywhere in the league. There were a lot of us that had a lot of questions about him when he came out, and we were kind of surprised that the Patriots pulled the trigger on him when they did. That's not to question the Patriots organization because obviously they've nailed a lot of these scouting you know uh type things much better than we have but you this is an

interesting question because I think that there is a guy that could potentially fall so say the fourth round ironically where you know you're to start Kind of looking for you know developmental Guys and You know I saw Nick Saban talking with Bill Belichick on the sideline day two of practice For 30 minutes and I guarantee you Bill had some questions about Jalen Hurts

So Jalen is somebody that I actually Like in this class alright so He's actually I have him ranked higher than some quarterbacks. It would shock a lot of people because I know what I'm getting with him. I know what he needs to improve on. There's not really any for Jalen on you know like social media and kind of within NFL draft circles and stuff because to me he's a lot like

Dak Prescott and I said the same thing about Dak when he was coming out of Mississippi State in 2016 I thought you know this is a late first round You know, you know what you're getting with him. You know, the ceiling is probably not there to be more than a mid-level starter, but you can work with that. A lot of mid-level starters have won Super Bowls. Absolutely. Jalen is kind of that guy. Right.

So like Jalen is that guy, you know, their skill sets are similar. I think Jalen's a little bit more athletic than Dak was or is at this point. similar i think jaylen's a little bit more athletic than dac was uh or is at this point and so they their skill sets and in the sense of arm talent isn't wowing but it's it's there it's okay it's workable uh the accuracy isn't quite there right now it's workable you know the mobile ability is definitely a big outstanding type you know part of the the process so it's not a traditional Patriots quarterback pick but it's somebody where if he slips into the fourth because people target prospects that they feel are more ready in the first three rounds I wouldn't be shocked if they took it that's interesting that is extremely interesting because again Mark and

I talked a little bit about quarterbacks and Jalen's name absolutely came up I had mentioned it yesterday and he had thought that there might be a learning curve when it came to quick decision making, quick release and being able to read defenses, something that Jalen has traditionally had some difficulty with. He thought it might be a difficult move for the Patriots to make. However, I think the argument that you've laid out is very interesting because it's predicated on having Tom Brady there to mentor you. And if that's the case, who is better at being able to read a defense than

Tom Brady? He's one of the best to ever do it in the NFL. So if you can harness that type of talent and combine that with the wisdom and counsel of a quarterback that is nearing the end of his career, I know New England Patriots fans love to believe that Brady can play until he's 50, but that's not realistic, folks. And I don't think Brady wants to play until he's 50 either. 45, maybe. 50, no. And if he is indeed back in New England this year, it could be an interesting fit.

So again, folks, some different viewpoints, but that's why we bring these guys on to Lockdown Patriots. It's to give you the entire perspective and to also be able to give you a little bit of a different look at some of the players that are very highly touted. Last but not least, my friend, and thank you for so much of the great wisdom and counsel that you've lended. Offline, we talked about a pretty interesting story that you have regarding Coach Belichick. I would love to give you the floor right now and enlighten our listeners on yet another Belichick tidbit, which we love here on Locked on Patriots. All right. So it was the first day of practice in Mobile's Tuesday. It's crazy when you go down to Mobile because there's NFL people walking everywhere. That's the one thing that's really just you're kind of unsettles you at first because, you know, you're walking down the street and that's really just, you're, it kind of unsettles you at first

because, you know, you're walking down the street and Daniel Jeremiah walks by, you know, and then you walk a little bit farther. And now here comes the Redskins scouting department, you know, so like in Mobile, everybody is there. And it's, I guess at first it's a little bit on, it's a little, it's a little nerve wracking, but you kind of work into it. So it was day one. Practice was getting ready to get started for the South. So Jalen Hurts, Justin Herbert, they were warming up in this one side of the end zone.

And I went down there, and I was just kind of watching, getting a couple videos and some pictures and stuff for Twitter. And I kind of turned over my shoulder because I was going to look to walk around into the back of the end zone and kind of look for a better angle, and there's Bill Belichick standing there just by himself, just kind of observing the practice as the quarterbacks are stretching. And so I'm kind of, oh, that's freaking Bill Belichick. I'm going to leave him alone for a little bit. So I kind of walked off to the side, did my thing, Like, that's freaking Bill Belichick. I'm going to leave him alone for a little bit, right? So I kind of walked off to the side, did my thing, and started to, like, do I walk up and introduce myself?

Do I just – what do I do? Like, you know the guy, he looks intimidating. Like, he's just got this scowl on his face all the time, and he looks like he's ready to kill somebody. And you've heard the stories before, and you're just like, I don't know you're just like, I don't know if I want a Bill Belichick story. But my friend Donnie Druin, he's with the Steelers Maven, I think that's part of Sports Illustrated. He comes up and he's kind of like, that's Bill Belichick over there. It's like, yeah, you want to go meet him? He's, yeah, sure.

So at this point, okay, fine. I must have the courage. So I walk up. I just walk up to him and I introduce myself. Bill, I'm John Vogel with Draft Right. Do you happen to have any film analyst jobs? And I got this. It was a part scowl, part chuckle, part I don't know what it was. He said, but it was a, I'm going to take that as a no.

And I moved on. Absolutely. Meeting Bill Belichick. Absolutely great story. That was my experience meeting truly a remarkable story. And I know it's one that's definitely going to make our listeners here chuckle. You made me laugh, quite honestly, pretty loudly as well. So great story. And again, it only speaks to the great experience that you have when you're down in Mobile, Alabama for the Senior Bowl.

It's truly an amazing experience for those of us that haven't had the opportunity to go down and check it out. Definitely highly recommended for those that are in the media realm. It's definitely worth something exploring and seeing if you could, because the experiences that you get going up to players and being able to have access to players to interviews, like you said, it's just something that's great. And maybe you, too, can have a bill belichick story just like my friend john vogel here and i thank you for sharing that with us today john what can i say thank you so much for coming on today thank you for your insight definitely appreciated you gave our listeners a lot to look for and i appreciate that before i let you go my

friend please let everyone know where they can find your great work where they can follow you on social media and just a little bit of background on Draft Right, which really is becoming one of my favorite sites coming up for the NFL Draft. Right. So you can find our work at NFLDraftRight.com because somebody took Draft Right from me. It's actually spelled R-I-T-E, so kind of a tribute to my faith and stuff you can find me on social media at JohnDAVogel those are my middle initials and it just happens to spell duh

and I guess the duh now is the cool thing to say so I was like alright cool and you can go follow DraftRight at DraftRight on Twitter we're on Facebook, we're on Instagram not as much on Instagram and now we're getting podcasts onto Spotify. So, you know, we're pretty excited about that. Draft right was kind of started basically because I wanted to do NFL draft coverage, but I, I kind of wanted to

fill that void where it's not so, you know, media centric and sort of click bait, you know, to a sense, I wanted it to be more, you know, authentic, more like an NFL scouting report type database. And so the team that I've put together and have joined me with this website have been phenomenal. And we've been really, really just starting to thrive in this environment. Absolutely, folks. And again, I do highly recommend it.

It is a very stripped down and a very honest and straightforward approach to the nfl draft and that's much like john himself he's very honest very straightforward very forthright i was honored to call him a colleague at full press coverage i'm honored and humbled by the service he provides to this country and again check out the draft coverage because it definitely is great you'll want to absorb a lot of this heading in toward the NFL draft in April and always keep a sharp eye out on what he's saying about our New England Patriots, folks,

because he's got some good insight and I've got a very sneaking suspicion that he's going to be right about a couple of these darts that he's throwing out there when it comes to potential Patriots prospects. John, again, thank you for your service. Thank you for coming on today. Hope you enjoyed the spot here on Locked On Patriots.

Look forward to having you on again sometime. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mike. Appreciate it. Absolutely. Have a great day, my friend. You too, man. And I hope that you enjoyed today's episode of Locked On Patriots, including John's insight from the Senior Bowl and also his story on his brush with the greatness that is Bill Belichick. But before we put a wrap on today's podcast, if you've been a listener here of Locked On Patriots,

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please be sure to join me each and every day on the locked on Patriots podcast, subscribe and download via your preferred podcast provider. Once again, I'm Mike debate. I think John Vogel for his time, insight and appearance today. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening

and for staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Have a great day, everyone.