Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Tape Monday: Jakobi Meyers and Andrew Beck - Locked On Patriots May 13, 2019

Episode Date: May 13, 2019

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Hey there everybody, welcome on in to a Monday installment of the Lockdown Patriots Podcast. Mark Schofield back in the big chair for today, Monday, May 13th, 2019. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I hope you all took care of your moms. I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother's Day, including my own. Happy Mother's Day, Mom. By the time you're listening to this, of course, we've been together to celebrate with the family and everybody. I hope you all enjoyed whatever you did this weekend, whether it was Game of Thrones, whatever else. Got outside, enjoyed the weather. Hope you all had a wonderful time as we get into

a little bit of sprint time here at the Locked On Patriots podcast. What we're going to do today, we're going to move into the undrafted free agents. We are going to continue our film series, breaking down the new members of the New England Patriots. I'm going to talk about two players today. Jacoby Myers, the wide receiver from MC State, and Andrew Beck, the tight end from the University of Texas. And there's a reason why I paired these two players together. Part of the concern that many of us had going into this draft was how to replace Robert Gronkowski. And you're not going to do it with one person. You're probably

going to have to do it by committee, Gronk by committee, as it were. And think beck and myers as different players as they are wildly different skill sets that they bring to the table they are part of the gronkowski replacement package i believe or at least their backstops for other guys that are the gronkowski replacement package and so we're going to get into those guys in a moment but first first, your usual reminders to follow me on Twitter at Mark Schofield. Check out the work at places like InsideThePylon.com, Pro Football Weekly, The Score, Matt Waldman's Rookie Scouting Portfolio, and of course, that trio of SB Nation websites, Big Blue View, Bleeding Green Nation, and of course, Pat's Pulpit. Let's talk Andrew Beck.

And what's interesting about Beckck is and ben volan pointed this out on twitter and elsewhere if you sort of look at the undrafted free agents and what the patriots gave in terms of guaranteed money to the undrafted free agents you could make a case that new england views andrew Andrew Beck as the guy out of this undrafted free agent class that has the best chance to make this team. For example, his guaranteed money is $115,000. Next is safety Malik Gant at $85,000. Next is linebacker Therese Hall at $85,000.

Next is wide receiver Ryan Davis at $70,000. And Jacoby Myers at $70,000, next is wide receiver Ryan Davis at $70,000, and Jacoby Myers at $70,000, and on down the line. Any rookie that makes the 53-man roster will earn a $495,000 salary at minimum. Obviously, the guys that get drafted will get bigger contracts. But Beck got the biggest guaranteed portion of any of these undrafted free agents. So that tells you that they probably view him at least as a practice squad guy, if not more. Now, what does he bring to the table? Well, some injuries. He missed all of 2017 with a foot injury, but came back last year,

caught 28 passes for 281 yards and two touchdowns, was a first teamteam all-Big 12 guy. But anything you get from Andrew Beck as a receiver is a bonus. Like, I'm not even talking about cherry on top. I mean, I'm talking like, what's a bigger bonus beyond a cherry on top? He doesn't do a whole heck of a lot in the pass game. Now, they lined him up all over the place. In the slot, out wide, Y-ISO, in the wing, in line, H-back. They moved him all over the place. But his primary function at Texas was to occupy space,

mostly as a blocker, but even on route concepts as well he didn't run a huge route tree you're gonna see hitches you're gonna see flats you're gonna see seams you're gonna see benders and that's pretty much it out routes he's a check down type of guy. Doesn't separate a whole lot. If you get any sort of separation from him, from a man coverage situation, it's going to have to be against an inside linebacker. I saw him struggle against safeties. I saw him struggle against slot corners. I saw him struggle against outside linebackers. If he's getting separation, it's going to have to come from an inline or H-back type alignment, working man coverage situations against inside linebackers. Your best bet to get

something out of him as a receiver is when he settles down against zone coverage. I watched his game against Maryland. I watched both of his Oklahoma games. Doesn't really stand out as a receiver. As a blocker though though you're going to get some something from him he will get to the second level quickly whether on play side or back side of zone type blocking blocking diagrams blocking schemes in space he's a very effective blocker in space which is somewhat surprising because he's somewhat limited athletically, but they would put him in trips either as number two or number three. They would put him in the front on stacks. They would put him as the apex player in bunches. They would trust him to block on tunnels, on bubbles, and he can handle quicker guys. He's got good footwork in

those moments. He's got good mobility. He's got good lateral mobility. So he can block pretty effectively in space. And he's quick enough where if he has to sort of, say he's the number three, the inside guy, and he has to block out to the guy cover number two, he can get out there quickly enough and do it and won't throw off the timing of the play. Very good in-line blocker.

He had a down block against Brian Cowart, for example, in that Maryland game, who is a drafted member of the New England Patriots. Very good down block against Brian Cowart, for example, in that Maryland game, who is a drafted member of the New England Patriots. Very good down block against him. If you run behind him, he can handle that responsibility well at the point of attack, whether as an in-line tight end or as a wing-tight player. They trusted him with pass protection as well. Just straight pass protection.

I don't need to talk in chip and release. Just drop back, kick step, slide, slide block a guy he can handle it pretty well and so i think in terms of where he fits in circle him back to the main point he is the guy that is going to replace or at least potentially replace the blocking element of Gronkowski. Anything you get from him as a receiver is a bonus. His ceiling is probably a tight end 2 at best. In all likelihood, he's a tight end 3, blocking type guy.

And if you get something out of him as a receiver, great. But in all likelihood, his contributions in the past game are going to be to occupy space, maybe do something underneath against inside linebackers. maybe you just use him in 12 personnel as an extra blocker because he can handle pass protection maybe he would have to develop it a little bit better to you know block against defensive ends in the nfl as opposed to

guys on maryland and oklah. But he's a blocker. But for $115,000 guaranteed, the Patriots probably feel pretty good about his blocking ability. Now, the last thing I sort of say about him is this. While he doesn't get a ton of separation, you could see potential there because the footwork, as I was talking about him blocking in space, the footwork isn't half bad he can sink the hips he can one step and go on cuts and so there's potential there on film

is he's got a lot of work to do as a receiver he's primarily primarily a blocker but there's some potential and for an undrafted free agent probably not much more you can ask for up next we'll talk to Kobe Myers. He's a player that I'd seen a ton of. He's a player that I talked to Ryan Finley about. I'd like to do some things with him out of the slot. But I'm going to take you back to driver's ed. That's where we're going to start our discussion about Jacoby Myers next,

here at Locked on Patriots. Mark Schofield back with you now on this Monday installment of the Locked On Patriots podcast. We're talking Andrew Beck, the tight end from the University of Texas, as well as Jacoby Myers, the wide receiver from NC State, two of the Patriots' undrafted free agent prospects. We're going to work our way this week through the undrafted free agent prospects, and then we'll be done. We'll be done with these film reviews, looking at all these guys, and then we'll be getting

into some recap stuff. I think we're going to do some recap week-by-week stuff of the Patriots' season. And then I think we're going to do a little Patriots glossary. I think that's what's going to be sort of the summer game plan here. We're going to look back at the season. Then I'm going to do some Patriots glossary-type stuff, like a term or two a day, things that the Patriots do,

offensively, defensively, special teams, X's and O's, history, all sorts of stuff, kind of like a Patriots A to Z type of thing. And that will get us up until the season., and of course, there's news breaks and things like that, we'll have special shows, but hey, look, this is the quiet time, you know, so the shows will, again, last year, we did football and film, we did an entire month or so of shows on football movies, and so, you know, we do what we can here in the summer. But let's talk to Kobe Myers. And I'm going to start in a very, very different place. I'm not going to start on the football field. I'm going to start in driver's ed. Do you remember driver's ed? Maybe you did it on a

private class. Maybe you did it like I did at a couple of classes through my high school, big auditorium, you're watching movies, lots of carnage, lots of blood, pedestrians getting run over, things you don't want to do as a driver. But somewhere along the way, you were probably taught one of the most important lessons of driving a motor vehicle. 10 and 2, right? You remember that. You have one hand at 10 o'clock on the wheel, the other hand at 2 o'clock. And I know, look, we all do other things sometimes. We get the hands resting. I like to rest my hand sometimes on the shift. Sometimes I'll be driving with the other hand.

And you get out the window in the summertime. I remember in one of my high school classes on social studies and history, they talked about the steering wheel knob that they used to have. And the placement of the knob would tell people whether the guy was single or not. Because if you had it sort of on the left-hand side of the wheel, you had the right hand to put your arm around your girlfriend. If you had it on sort on the left-hand side of the wheel, you know, you had the right hand to put your arm around your girlfriend. If you had it on sort of the right-hand side of the wheel, you're driving with the right hand, the left hand is out the window, showing the muscles on the arm. At least that's what my high school teacher told me. I don't know if there's truth to that, but maybe there's some truth to it. Anyway, why do you put your hands

at 10 and 2? Because if you don't have them there and something happens in front of you and you need to suddenly take control of the wheel, your hands instantly go to 10 and 2. And sometimes that little bit of timing to get your hands from wherever they are to 10 and 2 could mean the difference between avoiding an accident and causing one. And so why not have your hands there all the time? Save yourself that extra second. Now let's talk to Kobe Myers.

One of the more interesting things I saw with him, he is a converted quarterback. He's just come into the position and he earned sort of the trust of Ryan Finley and he does some nice things as a receiver, but he is still learning. And one of them is this, his front foot and his stance is either at 10 or two,

depending on what side of the formation he's at. And while that's great for driving, it's not good for getting off the line of scrimmage. You know, one of the things that people noted about him was not explosive, didn't get a lot of opportunities to face press, but struggles to get his releases. Not an explosive athlete, doesn't get off the line of scrimmage quickly. Well, I might have the reason why. When he is on the right side of the formation, his left foot is in front of him. And when he's on the left side of the formation, his right foot is in front of him. And that's fine. That's okay. But say when he's on that right side of the formation, he has his left foot in front of him that left foot is not pointed straight ahead at 12 o'clock but rather it's pointed towards 2 o'clock when he's on

the right side that left foot is ahead and he's got that foot pointed out to sort of 2 o'clock and then when he's on the other side of the formation you know he's got that foot pointed to 10 that front foot isn't pointed straight ahead but it's pointed at 10 o'clock and what is his first thing that he does at every snap of the football fix the front foot and get it back to 12 and now he kind of does that sometimes with the flow of his first step but not always it detracts from his ability to get off the line of scrimmage quickly. If nothing else needs to happen with him, fix that front foot, whether that left foot or right foot, get it to 12 o'clock, get it pointed straight ahead.

It'll give him that extra little bit of explosiveness off the line of scrimmage. That's the first thing I noticed with him. And it's one of those things, once you see it, you can't unsee it. Fix his front foot. Get it pointed straight ahead or at least close to it so he's not flipping that foot at the at his first movement it's costing him that half second that

might mean the difference between separation and no separation now he's a big slot type guy you know six two six three type of guy. Has a big frame. Contested catch situations are big with him. Partly because he doesn't get a ton of separation right now. But any bit of separation is open for him. Ryan Finley trusted him a ton. They put the ball on him and he would make catches. They used him on slants.

They used him on hitches. They used him on swing routes at times. On bubbles. On fade routes. He had a slot fade routes at times, on bubbles, on fade routes. He had a slot fade catch against BC, which was very impressive. Didn't get any separation, but he was able to high point the football and go get it. You could use him on out routes. He didn't see a ton of press, and so that will be an adjustment for him. That will be a work in progress.

He was primarily a slot guy, almost exclusively. If he get off coverage against him, he's going to be open for him because he can use his frame. A lot of body catches to him, but he uses that frame very well. He plays well in the phone booth, which is one of those phrases we use. He does a very good job of sort of sitting down against zone coverage. While he doesn't get a ton of separation versus man, he will sit down in zone coverage and find space. He won't give you a ton after the catch. They used him on a bubble against Clemson. He was the number three receiver in a trips formation. They used him as a bubble. Doesn't get you a ton after the catch. He's basically just downhill, falling forward type of guy. I didn't see a ton of explosiveness. I didn't see a ton of yak ability. If he gets a

step of separation though, Ryan Finley was going to throw him a football. If he gets off coverage, Ryan Finley is going to throw him the football. And we talked about Ryan Finley a ton, and I watched Ryan Finley a ton. He's a smart, cerebral quarterback. And I talked to him about Jacoby Myers, and they'd like to put him in the inside and the slot or inside number three receiver in trips and get him some advantageous matchups and get him some space in separation. But he trusted him, and he put up some big games.

I mean, 10 catches for 99 yards and a touchdown against BC. Eight catches, I think, against Clemson, which, as we know, is a pretty good team. Won a national championship. Went to the White House. Ate some burgers. He had five catches for 36 against Syracuse. Ryan Finley trusted him a ton.

And that probably speaks volumes for how they view him. Or how Ryan Finley at least viewed him. Willen Blocker does another thing I noticed with him. And this, again, goes to the stance thing, goes to the 10-2 thing, goes to the fact that he's new to the position. When he's aligned in the slot or off the line of scrimmage, he aligns too deep. You see more experienced wide receivers.

They realize you just need to be off the ball. So get yourself, at most, a yard off the ball. But he's aligned in four, five yards deep. He's deeper than the quarterback at times. I know this because when I was a sophomore in college, I played wide receiver for one season, and that was one of the bigger adjustments to me. I know it sounds silly, but making sure that you're off the line of scrimmage,

but yet not so far off that you're running five yards just to get to the line of scrimmage. That's something he needs to learn. And so there's potential here. He's a big slot type guy. I think he's sort of a replacement for what Gronkowski can do sort of in the slot. Use his frame, get up the seam a little bit, some fades, some contested catch type throws. But fixing the footwork fixing the stance fixing his alignment

fixing where he just puts himself on the field could be a huge thing for him and sort of unlocking what he could become and so i look at him as basically a developmental wide receiver i wouldn't expect anything from him you know next year at all now he's a practice spot squad developmental type guy and a year or two down the road, we're going to see what they have in him. But for right now, I wouldn't expect to see him on the field. I think he's a work in progress type of guy that shows potential.

He's going to need some NFL coaching to get him where he could be, fix the stance, fix the footwork and some of that stuff, and they might have something. But that's a look at these two guys. We'll work our way through the udfa class as this week rolls on as always if you want to be a member of the lockdown patriot slack channel hit me up for an invite at mark schoolfield on twitter you can also again send me an email

mark.schoolfield at insidethepylon.com be a part of the conversation over there we talk draft stuff we talk thrones we talk scheme all that fun stuff so come on join us it's a fun time to be had by all that will do it for today. I'll be back tomorrow. Until next time, keep it locked right here to me, Mark Schofield, and Locked on Patriots.