Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Should New England Patriots SIGN Jadeveon Clowney?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Jadevion Clowney gets released and could be an option for the Pats. That's where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What's up, Patriots fans. I'm your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert host of the everything paths podcast, cohost of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles and also a sports talk show, host veteran on today's episode. The paths make a key addition to the front office and Gronk was on the brink of never being a Patriot. But first a former number one overall

Starting point is 00:00:48 pick is available. We appreciate you joining the show making us your first listen and for being an everydayer, the Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day and this episode is brought to you by the Amazon Fire TV stick 4k turn any TV into your Xbox No console needed head to Amazon comm slash fire TV locked on to learn more Jadevion clowning released by the Carolina Panthers the Patriots should 100% be on the phone They should 100% be making this phone call if it hasn't already been made.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Let's look at Clowney beginning with last year. Pro Football Focus had Clowney ranked as the 47th best edge in football. Now that sounds bad, but if you really think about it, there are 32 teams in the NFL. A lot of teams have two edge players. So Clowney being 47th ranked edge by pro football focus, I don't think is as bad as it sounds. He is still a worthwhile player at the NFL level. He still has the skill no doubt to start if that's what you want to do with him.

Starting point is 00:02:03 And I would look back to 2023. We know Carolina wasn't good at the beginning of the year. For the first few months of last season, they just were not playing well. They had a rookie head coach going through it a little bit. As the season progressed, they got better. Bryce Young got back after being benched, and it was a different team over the final month

Starting point is 00:02:23 to month and a half. So Carolina was a little bit wonky last year. What I would do is I would look at 2023 because in 2023, Clowney was really good. We want to talk about being top 50 via pro football focus. Well, in 2023, Jadavion Clowney was the 19th highest graded edge in the NFL. He was a top 20 edge player in the league in 2023 with the Baltimore Ravens according to Pro Football Focus. Here's what PFF wrote about Clowney's 2023. Clowney recorded 11 sacks for the second time in three years and batted four passes. He set career highs and pass rush win rate and pressure rate while finishing ninth among

Starting point is 00:03:12 all edge players in run stop rate. So just two years ago in 2023, it's not like this guy's 40 years old, just two years ago, he had career highs and pass rush win rate pressure rate, and was a top 10 edge player in run stop rate at 9.6%. He led Baltimore's edge group in total pressures. He had 78 pressures in 2023 78. He led all of Baltimore's edge group in stops with 28. And he also led Baltimore's edge group in tackles for loss or no gain with seven. Clowney in 2023 was practically the best version of Clowney that we've seen in a number of years.

Starting point is 00:04:03 He just turned 32 years old. So looking back at his 2023, understanding that he is only 32, there are edge players, there are defensive line players that can play into their mid 30s. I think Clowney has a couple of years left. Now I don't think he has a couple of top 20 edge player years left, but I think he has a couple of productive years left in that body. And I think that talent is something that you absolutely call about. You get his agent on the phone, you talk to his representation, and you see, you see what

Starting point is 00:04:38 Clowney is thinking, money-wise, where he might want to go. And you also, as you make that phone call You remind the agent if that agent needs to be reminded That mike vrabel just so happened to coach clowny a few years back As we know clowny was drafted number one overall by houston mike vrabel Was the linebackers coach for the texans?

Starting point is 00:05:08 2014 2015 2016 all by Houston. Mike Vrabel was the linebackers coach for the Texans. 2014, 2015, 2016. Then he moved to defensive coordinator in 2017. So he has experience working with Clowney. Day in, day out, understanding what makes him tick. He has that connection with the player. Not only did Clowney play for Vrabel in Houston from 14 to 17, but he also went to Tennessee to play for Mike Vrabel in 2020. So how did Clowney play with Vrabel as one of his coaches? 2014 to 2017. In 2016-2017, Clowney made the Pro Bowl. 2014 to 2017 in 2016 2017 Clowney made the Pro Bowl in 2016 Clowney was a second team all-pro So he had some of his best seasons and you could argue now. I think it pretty much bears out that in 2016 Had his best season in the NFL or at least one of the couple of best seasons that he has put together as a professional football player.

Starting point is 00:06:08 2020 was different with Tennessee. He was hurt a lot. He only played eight games. He didn't do much. But if you go back to Clowney's beginning, you go back to his early time with the Houston Texans, his time with Vrabel. He had some really good seasons with Mike Vrabel in Houston. And I don't think, I don't think that Jadevion Clowney is going to cost you a ton of money. The Patriots still have a bunch of cap space.

Starting point is 00:06:40 This is not going to be a financial issue. I don't think Clowney is going to be asking for the world and I don't think the Patriots would have any trouble paying Clowney a reasonable salary to offset it with what he was going to make in Carolina this year with some of the guarantees. I don't think the Patriots would lose sleep over the money they would have to pay Clowney to bring him to town if he wanted to be here if Vrabel wanted him here. Now there are a couple of key questions. The first key question for me is how does this current regime, this new regime, Terrell Williams, Vrabel, defensive staff, how do they feel about Anthony Jennings? Because I thought Anthony Jennings had a pretty good year last year, all things considered. He wasn't great, but Anthony Jennings had a pretty good year last year, all things considered.

Starting point is 00:07:25 He wasn't great, but I thought he had a pretty good year. Against the run, I think that he has shown from time to time, flashes, little bit of pop in the pass rush, but not much. He's mostly a set the edge kind of guy, which makes you wonder. And that's why I wonder how the new regime feels about Jennings because Jennings is not necessarily the super aggressive violent type of defensive end. That's what Vrabel and Williams ask their defensive ends to be.

Starting point is 00:07:58 Jennings doesn't really fit that criteria. He is not an ultra successful pass rusher. He's more of the responsible guy, set the edge, do the right thing, make the tackle, move on to the next play. If the regime loves Jennings, if they believe in Jennings, then Clowney is much less likely. But if they think Clowney is a better fit for their system, if they think Clowney is an upgrade in multiple areas because Clowney again, he has proven he can play the run. He's not just a pass rusher. If Rabel and Williams feel like Clowney is an upgrade over Jennings, then I think it's

Starting point is 00:08:38 absolutely on the table. I know many of us are excited about Braden Swinson and being able to draft him in the fifth round. Young man from LSU, he does have pass rush pop. Some believed he would be a second round pick, at worst a third round pick. He falls to the fifth, but Braden Swinson is not guaranteed. No rookie is guaranteed. You don't know what you're going to get out of him. So if this regime doesn't quite

Starting point is 00:09:06 Love Anthony Jennings if they don't necessarily believe that he can be that guy Consistently for this team for this defense You can't bank on Swinson Chase on is more of a sub pass rusher more of like a Joshosh uche as is swinson harold landry can play all downs so it just comes down to jennings they signed landry they paid him the money he has the connection with rabel landry's on this team he will be starting at one of the ends it all comes down to jennings if rabel believes that jennings the answer, then Jadavian Clowney is unlikely. But if Rabel believes Clowney is an upgrade, I absolutely believe there's opportunity here.

Starting point is 00:09:52 And I would not mind whatsoever if the Patriots brought him in, because I do think he could help this defense. Just whether or not they're sold on Anthony Jennings. All right, the Pats have made a critical addition for a key role in the front office. That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Did you know that your Fire TV is also an Xbox? Turn any TV into your gaming and entertainment hub with Fire TV Stick 4K devices. No console required. Just grab your paired controller, subscribe or sign in to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with

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Starting point is 00:11:17 including Fire TV Stick 4K 2nd Gen, Fire TV Stick 4K Max 1st and 2nd Gen, and Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen. Any director role is usually vital. When somebody has the title director in front of their name, means they're a pretty big deal. And when you talk about a front office, when you have a director role, you're a pretty big deal. And AJ Highsmith, who yes, is Alonzo Highsmith's son, has just been hired by the Patriots to be the director of pro scouting. Now, Pat Stewart left that position a couple of months ago to go to Nebraska. We see this now a lot.

Starting point is 00:12:01 This is becoming a thing where NFL front office talent end up leaving the NFL to go to college to be the college football general manager of a certain school. They get paid more money. They've got some gravitas now with NIL and all those kinds of things. So Pat Stewart left, went to Nebraska to go work with Matt Ruhl, a a friend of his and The Patriots needed to fill this director of pro scouting role and They have tabbed aj highsmith as that guy now. Let's start here because I know some people might say are you kidding me? They hired Alonzo highsmith son to run pro scouting. This is an inside job.

Starting point is 00:12:46 This is nepotism 101. A lot of the things that we used to hear about Steve Belichick until we realized Steve Belichick was a pretty good defensive play caller. AJ Highsmith deserves this job. He is qualified for this job. He has been in the NFL for 11 years, from an area scout to a national scout to an even bigger job we'll get to in just a minute. But he has been in the NFL for 11 years working in front offices, working in scouting departments.

Starting point is 00:13:16 And he has not worked with his dad. This has not been a situation where dad was carrying his son under his arm, keeping him close to him, departments. And he has not worked with his dad. This has not been a situation where dad was carrying his son under his arm, keeping him tucked, and going from organization to organization with his kid to make sure his kid was all set.

Starting point is 00:13:36 That's not the case. Because A.J. Hysmith has not only been in the NFL for 11 years, he spent the vast majority. He spent 10 of those years split between San Francisco and Buffalo. Two of the best programs in the NFL. When you look at what Highsmith did, he spent five seasons in San Francisco as the 49ers scouting assistant and pro personnel scout, which means he was working with guys like Rand

Starting point is 00:14:05 Carthon, who was the Tennessee general manager before he got kicked this past off season. But he worked with Rand Carthon. He worked with John Lynch. He worked with Kyle Shanahan. He worked with Adam Peters, who is running things now in Washington with the commanders who had a terrific 2024 off season. AJ Highsmith has worked with some high caliber cats in the NFL. Now from there, as Mark Daniels writes, Highsmith went to Buffalo. He worked as an area scout and national scout

Starting point is 00:14:35 for five seasons, which means he was hired by and worked with Brandon Bean. Brandon Bean is the GM of the Bills. Bean is another guy that is very well respected, held in high regard, has a great reputation for evaluating talent. And so when you start to look at these names, not only the fact that AJ Highsmith has been in the league

Starting point is 00:15:00 for 11 years, and that he's gone through the grind for more than a decade, but years and that he's gone through the grind for more than a decade. But the fact that he worked with Adam Peters and John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan and Brandon Bean, these are some of the best names in the league in front offices and helping make decisions. Obviously Shanahan's a head coach, but he has a lot to say in the decision making out there in the Bay Area. And then he went from Buffalo, AJ Highsmith went from the Bills to being named Tennessee's scouting director.

Starting point is 00:15:32 And he held that position in 2024. Now why is he gone from Tennessee? Because there's a new regime. And usually, when a new general manager comes in, they start to make these kinds of changes. So Mike Borganzi is now in Tennessee, he left Kansas City to go to Tennessee, Borganzi is running the show, Borganzi is going to have his people take the show over with him. So it's not as if AJ.J. Highsmith just failed for a number of years at Tennessee and flunked out of the course, so to speak. It's a victim of circumstance. And so that's why he's not in Tennessee anymore. Now there are a couple of things that I find fascinating

Starting point is 00:16:18 here that we can infer from the hiring of A.J. Highsmith. Number one, I would say Mike Vrabel seemingly trusts Elliot Wolf. Why do I say that? Because this is Elliot Wolf's front office. Vrabel makes the final decisions. But Elliot Wolf being able to hire Alonzo Highsmith's son and Alonzo and Elliot are very tight. The fact that Elliot Wolf hired Highsmith's son tells me that he has a pretty significant

Starting point is 00:16:57 impact on the front office that he's running. That he's not just a puppet and Vrabel's not just plucking guys and putting guys into top roles AJ Highsmith, even though he hasn't worked with Elliot. He has not worked with Alonzo He's obviously an Alonzo guy because he's his kid And so if Elliot Wolf brings AJ Highsmith into the front office and gives him the title like director of pro scouting That means that Wolf has a lot of influence within the front office that he's running. He might not have the final decision, but he certainly still has some pull because this

Starting point is 00:17:31 hire is not made unless he's got some pull. And if he has that kind of pull, that means Mike Vrabel trusts him, which is great. It's great to know. We've read stories recently about Vrabel and how he has led this team and led the front office and he had these conversations with all of the scouts before the combine and laid out his player profiles, the that Vrabel and Wolf have worked pretty well together so far. And the results of this offseason on paper have been very good. And this would be the latest indication to me that Vrabel and Wolf are getting along, that Vrabel trusts Wolf and is allowing him to add to his staff in the front office the way he sees fit. It also tells me that it's more likely than not, Alonzo Highsmith and Wolf are going to

Starting point is 00:18:31 be here for the long term. Now that doesn't mean five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten years. But if you thought Elliot Wolf and or Alonzo Highsmith were going to be out the door as soon as training camp starts. I don't think that's going to be the case because you don't hire Alonzo Highsmith's son and then fire Alonzo Highsmith. You don't have Elliott Wolf replace the director of pro scouting if Elliott Wolf is out the door pro scouting if Elliott Wolf is out the door within the next couple of months. So I think this move bodes well. If you're wondering whether or not this front office is going to stay

Starting point is 00:19:15 here with Mike Vrabel as the head coach, it feels right now that they're actually getting along. And that's the plan. Now one final piece of this that's very interesting to me is that there's no prior working relationship with this current front office for AJ High Smith. Again, yeah, his dad is on the staff, but he's worked with different personalities. I'm sure that he evaluates talent in some ways differently. And as the director of pro scouting, is AJ High Smith going to have any kind of influence to bring others into the front office, into the scouting department, into the pro scouting

Starting point is 00:19:51 department? I don't know. So that'll be an interesting thing to see unfold. But I think this move, it's a huge addition because it's a key role in that front office. And it does give us an idea about the relationship between Vrabel Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith a Fascinating sliding-door story from Gronk that would have changed the landscape of the Pats offense and maybe just the Pats in general That's coming up next as we continue with today's episode of lockdown Patriots part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day

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Starting point is 00:21:36 Did you imagine Gronk never in New England? It's really tough to imagine, right? No Gronk with the Patriots. It's weird. Well, Gronk was the Patriots. It's weird. Well, Gronk was on the Dudes on Dudes podcast. No, I have not listened to this podcast in full. I am not a listener of the pod, but on the Dudes on Dudes podcast, Gronkowski said that the Baltimore Ravens wanted to draft him.

Starting point is 00:22:02 Now, here's the story. Gronk says the Ravens wanted him. Baltimore had the 25th pick in the draft back in 2010, but they traded that pick. They traded the 25th pick to Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos. It's kind of crazy how this is all linked to Josh McDaniels. So Baltimore trades the 25th pick to Denver. So the Broncos can draft Tim Tebow, ouch. Now, of course, the Ravens, they didn't have that first round pick anymore.

Starting point is 00:22:36 They had pick 43. And if you remember, the Patriots traded up to 42. They leapfrogged the Ravens in that draft. Fascinating. Fascinating for a couple of reasons, but let's just stick a pin in that. So the Patriots move up to 42 to leapfrog the Ravens at 43. And of course, as we know, with the 42nd pick in the draft, they decided to draft Rob Gronkowski. So it's a very interesting move when you look back to that draft,

Starting point is 00:23:20 behind the scenes, what was going on, what made the Patriots move up, the fact that they knew that the Ravenvens were interested in grok again will get into that in a minute but it's just it's very interesting. To realize oh that's why not usually teams move up the draft guys they want right so that's captain obvious walking into the room. the room. But you don't know if that's because they feel like a team right below them is going to pick that guy or a couple of teams down is going to pick that guy. You don't know if it's because the team is battling, like the Patriots were battling another team to move up to 42 to draft. So you don't really know. But according to Gronk, it's because the Ravens wanted to draft him now the Tebow decision is

Starting point is 00:24:06 Just wild by McDaniel's you go back and you you not only drafted Tim Tebow in the first round You made a deal to get into the first round to draft Tebow just wild But the Patriots and Belichick Obviously had great Intel They had terrific Intel. They knew. They knew that the Ravens wanted Gronk. Now, of course, the Patriots didn't have the means or didn't want to try to move back into

Starting point is 00:24:35 the first round to draft Gronkowski. But they thought, hey, he's going to be there in the the second round if he's there in the second round We're gonna be aggressive and if the Ravens they're sitting there at 43 We know they want Gronk. We've got a leapfrog them to draft Gronk. That's what we're going to do So they had fantastic Intel Heading into the 2010 draft to know that the Ravens were interested in Gronk So they make that move now, of course the million dollar question is what would have happened if there was no deal? What if the Patriots were incapable of moving up to 42? Didn't get the deal done and Gronk fell

Starting point is 00:25:17 to the Ravens and was drafted at 43 by Baltimore. What would have happened? Well according to Gronk again from the Dudes on Dudes podcast, here's what he said, quote, I also heard through a grapevine, not the grapevine, a grapevine, if I didn't get drafted to the Patriots, Greg Olson was going to get traded to the Patriots because the Patriots were looking for a tight end." Of course, they ended up getting two tight ends, as we know. So it would have been Greg Olson with the Patriots instead of Rob Gronkowski. I find this stuff so fascinating. If you're wondering, it all adds up.

Starting point is 00:26:01 It all adds up because, again, the Ravens were drafting at 43. The Ravens made the deal out of 25 The Patriots traded up to 42 and they drafted Gronk So that part of it adds up the Greg Olson part of it also adds up because 2010 was the last year Olson was in Chicago. It's the last year he played for the Bears so if it wasn't Gronk it was going to end up Greg Olson, according to Gronk. And Greg Olson, he's not Gronk. I consider Rob Gronkowski the greatest tight end of all time because of his ability to catch, run after the catch, red zone play, and he could block his butt off.

Starting point is 00:26:42 So Greg Olson was not Rob Gronkowski, but Greg Olson was a top tier tight end. And when you look at what he did from 2012 to 2016, receptions, 69, 73, 84, 77, and 80. From 2014 through 2016, Greg Olson had three consecutive 1,000 plus yard seasons receiving at the tight end position. He was a top tier tight end. He was one of the best in football, not Gronk, but he was still one of the best. And one of the most one of the best and one of the most interesting things about Olson's career is at the end, like a lot of people kind of fell off because of injury.

Starting point is 00:27:33 But this guy, he played every week. He posted as they say. Greg Olson did not miss a single game in the NFL from 2008 through 2016. Did not miss a single game. He played 16 games from 08 through 2016. That was the one difference between he and Gronk. Olson was there every week. Incredible durability for that position and one of the best pass receiving tight ends that we've seen in the last decade or two. And his best stretch of football came with Cam Newton as his quarterback. And as we know, Cam wasn't always the most accurate best passing quarterback on a consistent

Starting point is 00:28:21 basis through his career. Even when he was having his greatest seasons in the league, he still wasn't that guy. What would Olsen do if he had Tom Brady? I don't know. I think it would have been fun to watch. Not as fun as Gronk because of the personality, because again he's the greatest that I have watched play the position in totality. But Greg Olsen would not have been a bad booby prize. Olson and Brady wouldn't mind it. And then you get into all the sliding doors, right? The fact that Hernandez is Hernandez brought in, if it's Olson instead of Gronk. I would imagine what would the Hernandez-Greg

Starting point is 00:29:02 Olson combination look like? Very interesting stuff. What would Gronk's career look like if he ended up in Baltimore playing with Joe Flacco instead of Brady? We'll never know. Would the Patriots have been better, the same, or worse with Olson instead of Gronk? We'll never know. But it's such a cool story. It is such a cool story. Gronk almost to Baltimore. That close to never being a New England patriot. That close to Greg Olson being a patriot. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Let me

Starting point is 00:29:42 know your thoughts on today's topics. Reach out to me on Twitter at Nick C radio and don't forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel Thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today for your second listen check out Lockdown NFL scouting Of course the draft is over But the league keeps on ticking hosts Kyle crabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this offseason Find Lockdown NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great weekend and I will see you on Monday.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Should New England Patriots SIGN Jadeveon Clowney?

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