Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Why New England Patriots Left Tackle Choice is Crucial for Drake Maye: Kelvin Banks or Josh Simmons?

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Can the New England Patriots secure their future with a strategic NFL draft? This episode tackles the Patriots' draft prospects, focusing on the critical need for a left tackle to protect quarterback Drake Maye. Host Mike D'Abate and Thomas Murphy dissect listener-submitted mock drafts, spotlighting potential picks like Kelvin Banks and Josh Simmons. They explore how these selections could reshape the Patriots' offensive line and impact their season. With engaging analysis and expert insights, the hosts evaluate the strategies of the “Locked On Patriots Mock Draft All-Stars,” offering a comprehensive look at the Patriots' draft possibilities. Tune in for a deep dive into the Patriots' draft strategy and discover how these moves could define their success. #nfl #newenglandpatriots Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Left tackle should be the priority for the New England Patriots, but can a vertical threat from the SEC really transform their offense? Stick around, it's Mockdraft Monday right here on the Locked On Patriots Podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxboro faithful. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. I'm your host Mike Debate. I cover your New England Patriots for the Locked On Podcast Network. So reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on X at MDABATENFL. You can catch me over where the skies are blue on bluesky at mdabatenfl.bsky.social. And of course, if you're looking to show some love to Locked On Patriots

social media style, please follow our account there as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pat's fans, today's episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LUCKONNFL at MonarchMoney.com for 50% off your first year. Pat's fans, we are approximately one month away from the start of the 2025 NFL Draft. Your New England Patriots are looking to fill some voids on the roster with their 9 selections. That includes the number 4 overall pick in the first round. What makes draft season truly great, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, is that from now until the draft, everyone out there that calls themselves a football fan can be an armchair GM.

Every Pats fan, every NFL fan, every single media analyst slash expert out there has the chance to predict which players will end up wearing their favorite team's Jersey. And here's a little secret that I'm not afraid to tell you. That's right. You, all of you out there, you have as good a chance of being right as do the talking heads that you're used to seeing on YouTube or used to listening to on your listening device on podcasts just like this. So here on

Locked On Patriots, we're continuing the tradition that was built on this very network right on these very airwaves by my good friend and predecessor Mark Schofield, for bringing you Mock Draft Monday. And once again today on the pod, three segments, three intriguing mock drafts, with a heavy focus on left tackle for your New England Patriots. And of course, if we're talking big round men up front, who else could we welcome but the man who is in the midst of his sixth draft cycle? Breaking down these very drafts with me here on these airwaves from this day forth I W the monster of mock draft Monday the legendary Thomas Murphy

Thank you for coming to me in friendship today Don Murph. Thanks for having me Michael It wouldn't be Monday without mock drafts. And we wait for this all year long. Michael and I get together every Monday for coffee with you folks. And, um, but, but no, this time of year is the most wonderful time of the year. And Michael's absolutely right, man. You guys have every chance of, of getting this down and, and doing it right. And you, and I respect the hell out of you. Cause you put the work in, you know, you're not just out there, you know, um, firing dark guns at boards, you know, like certain people, you know, you guys put the work in, you go out and you watch the film, you know,

who's going to fit in here, who isn't, um, who's rising, who's falling. And, and you do a fantastic job. And we couldn't do this without you, literally. But we wouldn't want to do this without you, especially our everydayers. And we've got three everydayers that Mike chose to focus on this week, and you're gonna love them. Oh yeah, you're absolutely gonna love them

because we age ourselves on this pod regularly. Let's face it Much of the time it's at the expense of our own egos, but you know what? We do it all for the show we do it all for the network and we do it all for our everydayers most importantly and Some of our everydayers out there not everyone listening to this pod right now But some of us will remember when ABC brought us a little show called Battle of the Network Stars. You remember Battle of the Network Stars? Yeah.

We're talking late 70s, that's a little before my time, but the mid 80s, right around my wheelhouse. But stars like William Shatner, Heather Thomas. Yep. I think that one speaks for itself. Good Twitter buddy, Heather Thomas. Absolutely, and of course, all anchored. What else, if it's Absolutely. And of course all anchored. What else?

If it's ABC, it's got to be anchored by the late great Howard Cosell. And Howard had a way of being able to captivate you and just bring you in. He would be telling you why this was about to become the greatest spectacle of pseudo athletic competition you have ever experienced. He made you believe that what you were about to see was true athletic history. You know, in reality, it was really the top TV stars that were competing in athletic competition. So here on Locked on Patriots, we're going to take a page out of that concept today.

We're going to apply it to mock draft Monday. And these three mock drafts that we've chosen are some of our greatest mock draft submitters of all time. Guys that have been with us right from the start here on Locked On Patriots with mock draft Monday, Jason Sullivan, Andrew Carraway, and of course the show himself, the legendary LJ. It's a battle of the Locked On Patriotsots mock draft all stars here today, Murph. So let's get right into it. And we're going to start with one of our long timers, one of our

every dayers, our good buddy, Jason Sullivan. Jason has submitted, I think again, another stellar draft team. He has the Patriots trading out of the number four overall pick and the bats land at number 15, Kelvin Banks, offensive tackle out of the number four overall pick and the bats land at number 15. Kelvin Banks, offensive tackle out of Texas. Murph, I know you're going to have some thoughts on Kelvin. You described why you believe he is the pick. Right.

I'm going to give you a chance to pontificate a little bit on why trading down to 15 could be the steal of the century if the Patriots can pull this off the way Jason has done here, we'll take a look at Jason's entire hall for the benefit of those listening to the podcast, not viewing it at number 46, Patriots next choice, Jaden Higgins, wide receiver of Iowa state. Uh, once again, becoming a rapid draft crush of mine. More I see Jaden and the more I look at him and game situations really like what this kid could do for the Patriots offense at number 56 the Patriots taking defensive tackle out of Michigan.

Kenneth Grant. Or if I know you love to see the Michigan Brawls taken. I like this pick and I like the value here. Edge rusher Jack Sawyer out of Ohio State. A typical Mike Vrabel hire right here. Right. This is a Vrabelesque pick at number 62. Moving right along to 76, Kevin Winston Jr., the safety out of Penn State. At number 77, Patriots taking a running back to give

Ramondre some help in that backfield and Antonio Gibson as well. Jadon Blue out of Texas. Number 106, Elijah Arroyo, tight end out of Miami. I love this. I don't know if he's going to be around at number 106, but I love the ingenuity here, Jason. And of course, at number 144, cornerback out of Oregon, Jabbar Mohammed, someone who, again, continues to rise up several draft boards. So you look at this hall, Murph, and it's hard to argue that Jason has filled all the holes and filled them adequately with some real interesting talent. But I want to get back to banks for a second because I know you are a big proponent of this move.

You said you would go as high as number four. You got Kelvin Banks in New England. If you can pull off a haul like this, and I'm not saying exactly like Jason did because number 15 is a this and I'm not saying exactly like Jason did because number 15 is a phenomenal value here but if you can trade down a little bit and pick up someone like Kelvin Banks and maybe additionally more draft capital either this year or next, how big of a move is that for the New England Patriots? It's humongous man. It's the Lord humongous. You know, we're out here in the wasteland and he brings me Kelvin Banks.

You know, Banks is the best pure pass blocker in this draft. You can talk about size. You can talk about arm length. You can talk to the fact that he's too short. He's not too short. Stop it. All right. This is not a Lilliputian.

This is a very giant man. And that's priority number one. Did, did we all, did we all forget what happened last year? You know, this was the worst offensive line in football. Okay. This has to be addressed early. It has to be addressed often. And our man did that. And our man, he just, he did that.

It was fantastic. The way that he worked this board, he brought these guys on. I think it's a fantastic draft and Banks is the man. or I'm not seeing how the trade went down. The trades went down here. But it was, there's just so much talent in this draft, all the way back down to Jaden Blue at 77. Wow. Wow. But Banks is the man. I have, every year I focus on one aspect

of the offensive line or, know in years past please go get me a scat back somebody didn't catch the ball out of the backfield. But this year it's really been Banks and I've been beating this drum and beating this drum he's the best available offensive tackle in this draft. He's also happens to be the best available left tackle in this draft. Ease also happens to be the best available left tackle in this draft and that's what you need right now. Okay you can address right tackle later, Membo be damned. Honestly please stop trying to take even exceptional right tackles and move them over. It's a project. It really

is and if somebody does it and and you does it and they can wait it out, go right ahead. But you need somebody right now that you can draft and put in there, knock on wood, health, consider on day one as your left tackle and get through the next five years. That is perhaps the best point to make here, at least in my estimation,

because you have Drake May under your control for five years at the max. He's already got his rookie year under him. There's no doubt that he is your starter this year. The job is his. In order to keep that, in order to make sure that he is your quarterback for the entire season,

you gotta keep him upright. You got to keep him away from opposing pass rushers as much as you possibly can. And you've got to keep him feeling secure in that pocket. And even when he rolls out, the best way to do that is to get a left tackle that's capable of playing the position right out of the box today with no questions asked. Obviously if you're putting a rookie in there, there are rookie growing pains

that every rookie is gonna have, but you have to make sure that they're well suited to play the position and all they need is tutelage to fine tune their craft. That's not the case when you move a right tackle over the left. Murph is absolutely right. We saw it happen last year with disastrous results.

That cannot happen again this year. So do whatever you need to do to secure that left tackle. But the more I'm looking at it and the more that you have enlightened us here on Lockdown Patriots, starting to see the banks would be a great pick for the New England Patriots to anchor their draft on this season. So great stuff right off the bat. And, you know, Jason wastes no time, you know, going into some of the subsequent needs that the Patriots have on their roster. We've talked about Jaden Higgins again, did more recon on Jaden over the weekend, watching what he is able to do at the point of the catch.

And I do believe that there is enough speed for him to be able to be effective in areas where certain contested catch machines that were brought through the doors here in New England weren't able to succeed. Jaden does have a leg up on the competition so at 46 I think this is also a great value. Murph, the next two picks, really the next three picks, very intriguing considering that the Pats have made move, the Pats have made moves to shore up defensive tackle, their edge rush and their safety. But when you're dealing with three depth pieces, like Kenneth Grant, Jack

Sawyer and Kevin Winston, this is a great way to not only strengthen those three areas, but I think bolster this kind of puts your defense and at least in my estimation at a whole new level. Yeah, without a doubt, man. Let's, let's start right at the, uh, the, the top here with Kenneth Grant. I mean, he's a, he's a natural leverage advantage guy, you know, he's got a small powerful frame. He excels at resetting. It's a no-brainer. We talked at Nausium about the lack of depth on this squad last year. Guys being asked to do too much. In what they

did in free agency and then backing it up in the draft is the way to go. His hands are exceptional. The way he gets up and takes away passing lanes is really impressive. And he's had three years of high level production against the best in the business right now. And he's come out on top. And grabbing him here is without a doubt an absolute steal. You know, Kenneth Grant is somebody at 56,

I would really love. Jack Sawyer, the edge guy, just quick off the ball, a fantastic understudy and Kevin Winston Jr. Oh my God. Oh my God. Wait until you folks go out and watch some tape of Winston and you're just going to be floored. You're really going to be floored. I'm not a huge Penn State guy. Never have been. That is an opinion that's been slowly changing over the last few years but uh he's an elite run defender and Tyrell Williams talked about uh the type of pass rushers that that he enjoyed and and what they

needed to bring was violence that's what this kid brings he's a violent individual just a violent man when he's on the football field i don't know him off the football field but on the football field, I don't know him off the football field, but on the football field, that's what you get It's grading time Murph for our first mock draft all-star here on locked on Patriots How are you grading Sully's hall here Sully Sully gets an a-plus a Plus and there there isn't a miss in this draft going all the way down to job Chabar Mohammed who will Definitely make this squad this year. He's not going to be practice squad fodder. They're not going to have to try to, you know, squeeze him in anywhere and worry because somebody's going to be worried about grabbing him up.

All right. Arroyo is a fantastic piece there at 106. Look at this. And he's got, I'm going gonna call it seven players inside the top 100 I'm not sure all of them are gonna be there Kevin Winston jr but you know Everybody everybody on this team will be on this team week one

And you can't ask for more than that and he hit on every single need Every single need Jay every single need. Jaden Higgins is a top 10 fight out in this draft, people. Absolutely. Just outside the top five. And you got him at 46. That's a great, great haul. Somebody give Sully a call and get him into the war room.

This is brilliant. Yeah. Once again, I agree with you. This is an A-plus draft. If you look at the Patriots slate right now, they're slated to make nine picks in this draft. He turned nine into eight. Obviously not getting a lot of present-day draft capital back, but he does pick up a second rounder from Atlanta in 2026. He picks up a fourth rounder from Dallas in 2026.

And from my understanding, and the reason why I'm going a plus and not a here is Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter are already off the board when he is making his selection. He's looking at guys like Will Campbell. The quarterbacks are still up there. I think he makes a judgment call here to say that I can move down significantly and still pick up the guy that I want to pick up. Right.

Does it twice and he ends up with Kelvin Banks. This is a great pick for the New England Patriots and to do it at 15 is phenomenal. I love what you said about Higgins. Um, anybody worried about his big game ability, go ahead and take a look at what he did in the C-Bowl. This kid is capable of making plays like that. He's the boundary guy that we need. Right. And he's capable of making plays like that. He's the boundary guy that we need. Right. And he's capable of making plays like that off script

if he needs to do that. So we know Drake May loves to go off script when he wants to make something happen. This kid can be right in sync with him. And I love the arguments that you made for Grant, for Sawyer, and for Winston. You want a quarterback that extends plays, you have to have wide receivers that play to the whistle,

and this kid plays to the whistle. Absolutely. He truly does. And for the New England Patriots, once again, a challenge in 2024 under Mike Vrabel in 2025, it will not be. Sully, what can we say? A tip of the cap right off the bat. Murph, we're already batting a thousand

when it comes to our mock draft, but have we even shared the best that there is? Well, our listeners are going to have to determine that, but we're going to provide our grades in just a moment to what I am close to calling a masterpiece from our good friend, Andrew Carraway. You're not going to want to miss this folks. Stick around as mock draft Monday continues right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast, a

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on Locked On Patriots as we continue our battle of the Locked On Patriots mock draft all-stars. And of course, if it's mock draft Monday, who else would join me here on the airwaves of Lockeddown Patriots, Mock Draft All-Stars. And of course if it's Mock Draft Monday, who else would join me here on the airwaves of Lockdown Patriots but my good friend and the new monster of Mock Draft Monday, my good friend the legendary Thomas Murphy. In the previous segment we shared a Mock Draft submitted by Jason Sullivan, one of our most valued everydayers. You mentioned going into this about our every dayers putting a solid amount of work into this

and Jason takes it seriously. And so does our next submitter here. And it took us a while to get this man up here on the Cadillac board, Murph, for mock draft Monday in 2025. But his submission is truly worth it. Our good friend, Andrew Carraway. And here we go, Murph, right off the bat, Kelvin Banks Jr.

coming to the New England Patriots at number 12. So we're already again, going into that type of vein that Jason Sullivan just took us through, Patriots trading down, getting the guy that they want at left tackle. And again, Murph has made the argument so well I don't know if you can make it again But you know what we're gonna give him an opportunity to do it in just a moment at number 38 wide receiver out of Ole Miss This is the SEC vertical threat that I talked about to open the show today. Wow, that is one Trey Harris Yeah, if I'm really liking this pick and I'll tell you why I'm liking it in just a

moment, but once again, for the benefit of our valued listeners that are not watching on YouTube at number 46, the Patriots bring in God Tate Ratledge. And we've talked about Tate a little bit here on locked on before you knew Carraway was going to throw in a Georgia Bulldog, but he's thrown in a great one. Should have thrown in more. Yeah, exactly. This is not, yeah, exactly. This is not a vanity pick, folks. Tate Ratledge is for real, and the Patriots would be a better team for it to be able to

suit him up in 2025. Weinbacher Barrett Carter out of Clemson comes to the Pats at number 75. Defensive tackle out of Texas, Alfred Collins at number 77. The hometown hero, the guy everyone wants to sign up. I would love it as a depth pick. I'm not sure he's there at one-on-one, but I love the ingenuity. Boston colleges, Ozzy Trapillo, um, 106, the safety out of Alabama, Malachi

Moore, a pick I continue to like more and more every time our everydayers put him in a mock draft and every time I keep looking at it, keep thinking this kid could really bolster that safety room. Number 144, tight end Mitchell Evans out of Notre Dame. Hi Claire. Number 147, Seth McLaughlin, the center out of Ohio State. Number 217, Edg Rusher out of Alabama, Quay Robinson. And then the final two picks that Andrew makes at number 220, running back out of USC, Jocavius Marks,

and at number 238, Jason Marshall Jr., the cornerback out of Florida. And as you can see, picked up a couple of pieces of draft capital for next season with the Dallas Cowboys and a seventh rounder in 2026 from the Baltimore Ravens. I'm going to give the floor to you, my friend, your thoughts on this draft and what Andrew was able to come away with and how it's going to help the 2025 New England Patriots. Well, first of all, you know, vote Caraway 2028.

Whoever put this draft together, I want and run in my country. Honestly, I'm not kidding. This is brilliance up and down the board, the way he moved up and down the board to get banks at 12. We just talked about it earlier at 15 was a steel. It's still a steel here at 12. It's a good pick at four or six or eight at 12. And then coming back with Trey Harris. Okay.

Let's, let's talk about Trey Harris for a second, man. One of the best boundary receivers in this draft 5.5 YPRR is, is off the chart. Okay. Um, the only reason we're not talking more about Trey Harris is that he only was able to play eight games last year due to a lower body injury and he still put up 60, 1030 yards and seven touchdowns averaging 128 yards per game. You know that it's unbelievable what he was able to do in a short amount of time. If you play off this kid, because what he can do and worried about running past you,

he's going to get something across the middle and then burn you with Yak later on. If you play him tough man to man, bump and run, he's just going to blow past you and make you look stupid all right opposing defenses through a ton of press coverage at Harris last year excuse me knowing that he was he was the first read okay he's he's the first read on every snap that he's on on the table for and these guys like almost like to get the ball out quick, you know something else that that were all that You know, we know is going to be utilized a great deal this year with with Josh McDaniels coming back And it's it's unbelievable what he's able to do. He's so twitchy fast

He's he creates separation and if he can't for some reason he runs into coverage. He wins that catch anyway Alright, this is a fantastic pick. This is a beautiful pick and it's just you know Brilliance Tate Ratledge. We all know about Tate Ratledge You know, yes fix the entire left side of this this line for the next five to ten years in one draft It can be done and Caraway has done it here. I think he's definitely done it here and then some and for reasons that you've already described. I mean banks coming in at number 12 that's phenomenal value that gives you the opportunity now to set the rest of your

draft towards upgrading the Patriot skill positions and really strengthening the trenches and that I think is where New England at least should be looking I know you mentioned Harris and you mentioned how much you love this pick. I have really grown into it I'll be very honest when Andrew submitted this draft to us last week Yeah, first thing that I did was I looked at Trey Harris and I said a lot of the draft pundits out there had this guy Going in the third round and I bought into it originally the skill this kid brings on the perimeter. Like you said, he is a tremendous boundary receiver and he'll blow past you. He's Alan Robinson, dude.

Absolutely. He will stretch the field without any question. The one thing that I worried about in some of the scouting reports that I read on him was the difficulty that he had with some of those hard angle routes, some of those cuts, and that some of those hard angle cuts. And that is a staple of a Josh McDaniel's offense. So you look at it and you say, okay, well, is this really going to be the best fit? Then I started to do a little more recon on him.

I started to watch him in game settings. I started to watch him away from the ball. If there is an area of his game that needs work I can't argue this is it but you're going into a spot with one of the best With one of the best offensive minds that is coach players to these hard angle routes and coach them up into being Phenomenal threats all over the field and that's Josh McDaniel's. Yeah, if this kid comes in plug-and-play today I think this kid can overwhelmingly be one of your best Z options. I think he can play the X ideally and if you need him to you know adapt into so many different roles, he has the ability to do it. His size to me and his speed is really what puts this

over the top. If you're looking for a field stretcher folks, someone that can illuminate this offense and give Drake May that deep threat, Trey Harris is the guy that can do it and if he can hone in the skills to really use the short area of the field at his advantage, look out this kid has got star level receiver written all over him. I really like this pick. Yeah so do I. It's a fantastic grab he this kid has has more than one club in his bag Right. We talk about we talk Mike just talked about his ability to make dramatic He he uses a lot of different aspects of his body and of his skills to to to manufacture

Separation okay, it doesn't always it doesn't have to come in in us right there If this doesn't work, he'll do something else throughout there He'll he'll slow down and then speed back up during his the route You don't see a lot of young wide receivers do this in a way that is Successful and he is he's really successful with this. I mean, this, this kid is, is, um, is fantastic. He really is really, it, this is an amazing pick. I'm almost stumbling over my own, my own words here.

Um, but I want to talk for just a second about Alfred Collins. Please do. All right. The defensive tackle out of Texas, Collins is a huge, massive man. Six foot six, 332 pounds. You could put another 10 pounds of muscle on him, and he's just going to be unstoppable. His strength at the point of attack

is not found in everybody that's in this draft. He maintains his gap integrity. I talk about it weekly, gap integrity. This kid should just have his gap integrity. I talk about it weekly, gap integrity. This kid should just have gap integrity tattooed across his forehead. All right. He knows his job. He knows his lane.

And he stays in it. He has exceptional length. He shows impressive patience. As a two gap defender, let's see how he's going to fit in here. And timing. All right. I watched this kid's tape and I watched him bat down every pass that got thrown, tried to get thrown past him.

All right. Every single pass, he's got his hand up and he's got a finger on it. All right. At least a finger, if not a forearm, because he's that long. This is another phenomenal pick. I don't want to overlook that.

Our buddy Ozzy Trappillo, sure, right there in 101. Junior, you know, Carraway just wants to rub it in my face and draft the right tackle. Ozzy, it'd be a great pick. Malachi Moore, I love me some Malachi Crunch. And you know, that's what we get there at 106 and Mitchell Evans is is you know a fine, um a Fine tight end that could that could definitely come in. He's not in my top five

But look where we're picking here. We had an a plus to start. I've got to go a plus plus here This is a take this home. I'm gonna print this out and put it on my refrigerator. Yeah, I'm once again going A plus here as well, Murph. And then it's tough to argue with the results. I mean, not only with the talent that Andrew was bringing back, but also the way he utilized the draft board. Brilliant. When it comes to using drafts to enhance what you need

in 2025 and also fill your draft card for 2026 and he did it with realistic moves. I get it. A lot of times these draft simulators give you scenarios that are a little beyond the stretch of reality, but he's done it and he's worked it extremely well here. Again, Banks, Harris is a pick that really I I think, puts this over the top for me. Barrett Carter, the linebacker out of Clemson, Patriots, I think, could definitely use his services to the best of their ability.

Malachi Moore, I think, is a sneaky good pick for the Patriots here. Again, what it comes down to is versatility. He's listed as a strong, but he plays so well in coverage. I think much better a coverage player than he is against the run. He's got the frame to be able to do it. Very good field awareness and he can track the ball. And I think that's something that the Patriots could definitely use more of in the secondary this year.

Jalen Hawkins coming in, Marcus Epps is coming in. It's a crowded room, but I think Malachi Moore can come in and absolutely compete for a spot. And who knows, stranger things have happened. Sometimes the rookies outplay the vets in these situations. So anything is wide open for the New England Patriots right now. But one thing I think we can agree on is Andrew Carraway has put forth another draft that Murph, dare we say, locked on Patriots' Louvre here.

Murph, we've had two great submissions already when it comes to Jason Sullivan, Andrew Carraway. Why are we not, we shouldn't be surprised by this. They are our locked on all-stars. But our last submission today, I don't know if we saved the best for last or the most intriguing for last. I'm gonna leave it to your great estimation

and the estimation of all of our great everydayers out there who tune in each and every week to catch mock draft Monday. Our buddy, LJ, the legend himself, the man they call the show is about to contribute big time to this show right here on Locked On Patriots, like his predecessors. LJ is going left tackle, but he's going in a much different direction. He's going all the way down to the bottom of the draft to do it. We're going to discuss LJ's haul in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast

Network, your team, every day. Patriots fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots. It is mock draft Monday We are joined by the monster of mock draft Monday himself My good friend the legendary Thomas Murphy and it is battle of the locked on Patriots mock draft all-stars And Murph so far two amazing mock drafts submitted by two of our most valued everydayers Jason Sullivan Andrew Carraway a pluses across the board so far, folks. But the one that we've saved for last is from the man they call the show.

At show underscore one on Twitter. That is our good friend, LJ Murph. We're not going to waste any time. We're going to dive right into what LJ had to bring us. And here it is. He has taken the number four overall pick, trade it down, trade it down, lands at number 24 and he takes offensive tackle Josh Simmons of Ohio State. We're going to come back to the remaining hall in just a moment because this is a big move, Murph.

To quote the late great gorilla Monsoon, it took a lot of intestinal fortitude to do what LJ did here to land at Josh Simmons. Murph, you've sung the praises of Josh Simmons here on these airwaves several times, calling him one of the most talented tackles in this draft. Looking at what LJ did here to trade down to arrive at number 24. First of all, what do you think of the guts it took for LJ to do that? And him landing Josh Simmons at number 24, does it maximize the value that the Patriots may have lost in the number four overall pick to get a talent of Simmons in the first round like this?

Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt. I'm going to be surprised if Josh Simmons is there at this pick. I really am. That surprised if Josh Simmons is there at this pick. I really am. That's how good he is. The only reason that he's not talked about in the top 10 picks, top 5 picks is the injury that he dealt with last year. But Josh Simmons has everything that you want in an NFL left tackle. You know, exceptional lateral ability, a devastating punch at the point of attack.

He has started and played well at both tackle spots against quality competition, but this man is a left tackle backing this pickup right, right there with Andre Ursery, you know, we, we often talk about the, uh, the best ability being availability. Okay. Andre Ursery started 38 straight games, right? 38 straight games Finisher this is a man that you want to run behind we talked before about

about right left tackle Ability this this kid could come in and be a swing tackle for you right now. All right, never mind sitting and and a swing tackle for you right now. Alright, never mind sitting and possibly understudying for that right side. He's a great pick, man. He's got some timing issues that can be cleaned up. Delayed stunts can mess with his head a little bit, but this is a fantastic pick. And then he comes back at 49 with Harold Fanning Jr. easily one of my top five tight ends.

Uh, we, we love princely you, you know, you know, Prince you is just a fantastic pick. And then we get Jared Wilson again from Georgia. All right. But let's just fix all the problems again. Exactly. Jared Wilson again from Georgia. All right, let's just fix all the problems again. Exactly, and when you're bringing in Jared Wilson, especially at number 69 here, which he has done, I think you're playing the board exactly as it lies. And I wanna come back to Fannin Jr. for just a moment,

because Harold Fannin is an intriguing prospect for a lot of reasons when it comes to tight endage, simply because this kid plays like a receiver. And we know LJ has been clamoring for a pass catcher here in New England for so long. He's been paying his dues and he's been really, really wanting this. It surprised me when I first looked at this draft that he didn't draft a receiver high enough up. And then I realized that he kind of did here in Harold fan and someone that has the ability to beat his, his prey downfield.

Uh, this kid again is someone who can vertically stretch the field at the tight end position. You know, you're winning a lot when it comes to that. He's not going to give you much in the blocking game. That's not his style. Think more Travis Kelsey than Rob Gronkowski in this one. But if the Patriots bring him in purely for that standpoint, this kid can excel as a receiving tight end in this league. That's it. Without a doubt. Without a doubt.

Jalen Royals would talk about a wide receiver. An absolute steal there. He's inside my top 10 absolute steal there. He's inside my top 10 for wide receivers this year. He's sleek. Acceleration is just off the charts. He's a strong route runner. His ability to separate is in the intermediate area and run after the catch forces defenders to play up on him but he's so good deep that he's going to end up burning everybody. Royals could easily have a better release package, but he's been getting by on his athleticism so much. I think that's a steel pick right there. And then he backed up that with Savion Williams. Yeah. And again, Savion dropping a little bit here, some off the field issues, some on field fit concerns, but when this kid's dialed in, the action that he's

performing on the field, yeah, he can be an effective weapon. So again, at number 97, is it worth the risk? I believe absolutely. Maybe he even is, maybe he's even worth the risk at a little bit more of a draft capital, maybe a little bit earlier. Patriots are going to have to determine what that, they're going to have to determine their ceiling. A couple of years ago, they decided that Kaishan Budi was worth an opportunity. He's coming in and is actually right now, one of your top options, the way this wide receiver crew is currently constituted. So let's see what the country is view.

I know we talk about the character guys to bring in or something, but I mean, this kid at this pick, many of you roll those dice. Like I said, he's Cordero Patterson. More than half the time, this kid is either lining up in the slot or in the backfield and he plays out wide. He's, it's, he's, he's, uh, he's that Swiss army knife on offense that, that so many NFL teams need. And I like the role of the dice that LJ made right here in, in backing up

and going, uh, double dipping at wide receiver. Absolutely. And anytime you can anchor your draft and, uh, and finish it off with number 220 Trevor ATN, the running back out of Georgia, who is one of Murph's big time draft crushes. Uh, you know, you're doing some special things. So once again, Murph, I think a very gutsy, but also balls. Yeah.

This was definitely a gutsy draft, but I also do believe that LJ put an awful lot of work and awful lot of thought. This had, this made, once you dissect it and you get over the initial shock of seeing the Patriots go from 4 to 24, you look at what he did with the haul here and you see the work and the ingenuity that went into this. I was impressed by what LJ did here. Right, without a doubt. This was brilliant work on his part in moving around the draft, picking up an extra second rounder from Cincinnati next year. And of course, what he was able to do early and late, you know, Jordan know Jordan Phillips the tackle out of the defensive tackle out of Maryland Luke Kendra that he's gonna be a good depth piece right out there outside the top 100 he could even push for for time at

left guard I believe but Ursory and Simmons that it's just you know that's that's you know bases loaded two outs and LJ hit a home run at 24 and 38. Wow. And that Vane Murph, it is grading time for our good buddy, the show. What say you when it comes to giving a grade to LJ's hall for this week on Locked on Patriot? This is an A. I'm not giving it an A plus because LJ made me wait until 24. No, sorry bud.

You kept me up all night. The point being is if he had taken Josh Simmons at 15 or at 12, I still would have been happy. I still would have been thrilled. But he got him at 24 and that's just brilliant. I honestly, I don't think he's going to end up being there at 24. I don't know if Ursory is going to be there at 38, but you, you, you draft the board that you're given. LJ killed it.

All right. This is a, you know, I say, Hey, it's an A plus draft. We all know it's an A plus draft. Go ahead and convince me otherwise. Well, I am willing to go the gamut here. I am going to give him an A plus on this draft, simply because he saw the board the way it was going. And he understood that if he stood the course and understood the way other teams were drafting, that his prey would be there at number 24.

And you know from LJ, and LJ is very vocal about this, he's not the type of everydayer that keeps things close to the vest. If he's got an idea, he's going to share it. And he's been talking about Simmons and trying to trade down to get Simmons or him being the first rounder that the Patriots need. I really like what he did here because he stood his ground and he said, you know what? He's the guy I want and I believe that by moving to 24, I'm still going to be able to get him in the real world I agree with you. I think this move needs to be made at 12 15 Maybe I don't see him lasting into the 20s Simply because the upside is too great for a lot of tackle hungry teams to lay off of and there are tons of them In the NFL, right a lot of holes hungry teams to lay off of. And there were tons of them in the NFL.

Right. A lot of holes still need to be filled in New England. Our three every dayers have done an amazing job, at least in my estimation of filling those holes and complimenting the current roster that the Patriots have as we speak at one Patriots place in Foxborough. Pets fans. It's always an honor when Murph joins me here on Locked On Patriots. Time ran a little thin and our Monster Master of Disaster had to exit very quickly, but we thank him for all of his wisdom, his counsel, his wit, his grit, and for being my battery mate here on Locked On Patriots

each and every Mock Draft Monday. Of course, a major tip of the cap to all of our submitters here today, all of our Mock Draft All-Stars, of the cap to all of our submitters here today, all of our mock draft all-stars, Jason Sullivan, Andrew Carraway, LJ, we appreciate your contributions and thank you for the great mock drafts that you've submitted here to make Mock Draft Monday possible. But most importantly and the biggest tip of the cap goes to all of you Foxboro faithful out there, all of you locked on Patriots every dayers that continue to make Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. In the meantime, on behalf of my good friend Thomas Murphy, I'm Mike Debate reminding

all of you to stay safe, to stay well, to be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day everyone and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked On Patriots.