Speaker 1: This is the Patriots Catch twenty two podcasts with Evan
Speaker 1: Lazar and Alex bar and Lazarre.
Speaker 2: Hello, everybody nailed it, Joined has always by our bar.
Speaker 1: Here is Evan Lazar and Alex Bars.
Speaker 2: Are you focused on this right now or are you
Speaker 2: lost in the in the your your appearance on No.
Speaker 1: Sorry, he's saying that I am have a lack of
Speaker 1: height in a bad back. Half of that is true.
Speaker 2: The lack of height is definitely true. I didn't know
Speaker 2: about the back bark. Everybody that that heard that. Alex
Speaker 2: said that I was the pot calling the kettle black. Yeah, seriously,
Speaker 2: I guess is that's that's fair. I mean, like, I'm
Speaker 2: not people that can't tell from me sitting in this chair,
Speaker 2: I'm vertically challenged. I'm not. I'm not exactly six feet
Speaker 2: tall either. But you know, whenever there's a chance to
Speaker 2: take a joke at you, I gotta take the opportunity.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, we end up getting the pit anyway, So shout
Speaker 1: out to David helping us out.
Speaker 2: Oh oh at Springsteen you're talking about now.
Speaker 1: Because that was that's what where that conversation came.
Speaker 2: So I get Bruce Springsteen, also known as the Sports
Speaker 2: Writers convention, Yes, which you saw multiple Patriots reporters.
Speaker 1: Patriots reporters the reporter so as me and Matt McCarthy
Speaker 1: from the Hub. Yeah, saw Mike Reese, Yeah, saw Does
Speaker 1: Sebastian Volmer count as Patriots media?
Speaker 2: He does?
Speaker 1: Now, Sebastian Volmer was there. I saw Land Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was actually him and Marcus Kuhne were there together both planned.
Speaker 1: Who else did I say? As DJ Bean from NBC
Speaker 1: Sports Boston, Yeah, that was his first ever Springsteen showcase.
Speaker 1: Believe there were no it was was there, Tom Giles,
Speaker 1: We saw some other people. It was a fun night.
Speaker 1: It's good night.
Speaker 2: How many tickets do you think that media take up
Speaker 2: to a Bruce Springsteen concert? Like, at least at least
Speaker 2: seventy are of somebody in media.
Speaker 1: Or seventy five percent of sixty thousand whatever.
Speaker 2: People the whole media Boston was at that concert. Morell's agreeing.
Speaker 2: I I think that's really what it was.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of people to be working in media,
Speaker 1: all right, Enough with the pleasant care pandering here to
Speaker 1: the springsteenist, does is that a thing? Springstenie says Springsteen fans,
Speaker 1: it predates the need to have a little kitchen title
Speaker 1: for everything.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Springsteener's that's better. Uh. So we have a lot
Speaker 2: to talk about. As Alex just mentioned, we have, uh
Speaker 2: the fifty three man roster. We've seen him out of
Speaker 2: practice the last couple of days, along with the practice squad.
Speaker 2: And I'll be honest, you know you. I always come
Speaker 2: with an opening take. It's how I like to start
Speaker 2: off the show. I was ready to come in here
Speaker 2: if this show was like yesterday at ten am, before
Speaker 2: waivers happened and before everybody cleared and magically reappeared at
Speaker 2: practice on the practice squad. Yeah, I was ready to
Speaker 2: come in here guns blazing about this whole Bailey Zappy
Speaker 2: situation because my my first immediate reaction was to.
Speaker 1: Analyze Zappi's role in all of this, right, and how
Speaker 1: we went from what I'm not to take any victory laps.
Speaker 2: If you want to take a victory lap on this
Speaker 2: you can. I you know, I try not to not
Speaker 2: take any victory laps this show. If you listen to
Speaker 2: this show all last season, we never wavered on this show.
Speaker 2: We were steadfast in the fact that Mac Jones was
Speaker 2: a better quarterback than Bailey Zappi. Number one and number two,
Speaker 2: what they were doing with Bailey ZAPPI was keeping him
Speaker 2: on the rails. Honestly, like in terms of the scheme
Speaker 2: and what they were.
Speaker 1: At, it was a little smoke and mirrors.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was you know, Fugazi. It wasn't real. It
Speaker 2: was it wasn't real.
Speaker 1: It was real, it wasn't sustainable.
Speaker 2: I think that's You're right, that's a better way of
Speaker 2: putting him.
Speaker 1: It was. It was more we were saying. I remember
Speaker 1: we had this conversation the week Mac came back. We
Speaker 1: had we did a whole thirty minutes on will they
Speaker 1: let Mac Jones run the Bailey's Appy offense?
Speaker 2: That's what it was, right. So there's there's two things
Speaker 2: that play here with with this Bailey's Appy thing. One is,
Speaker 2: for lack of a better phrase, the downfall of Bailey
Speaker 2: Zappy to go from a guy that has his name
Speaker 2: being chanted by the Dlatte Stadium faithful to come into
Speaker 2: the game.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think that's fair to Bailey's Appy
Speaker 1: to call it a downfall.
Speaker 2: It's a pretty significant turn.
Speaker 1: Not but Bailey Zachy, did you go from that Monday
Speaker 1: night against Chicago where sixty five thousand people are going zapy. Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: off the roster, I would just rephrase. But he's the
Speaker 1: same guy he's always been, right, he didn't chill. He
Speaker 1: changed some things this summer, but it's more the downfall
Speaker 1: of the people who because we're on the zappy trade. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's more the downfall of them. The fever has broken
Speaker 1: because I don't think Bailey's at like, did he have
Speaker 1: a good summer?
Speaker 2: Other puns can we come up with on this?
Speaker 1: Did he have a good summer?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: I also don't think he didn't. I I didn't think
Speaker 1: he deserved to get cut me neither. I didn't like.
Speaker 1: I don't think he did anything monumentally wrong. So I
Speaker 1: feel weird calling it his downfall because I think that
Speaker 1: implies significant fault on his part, and I don't think
Speaker 1: that exists here.
Speaker 2: So there's that conversation which we can have, which I
Speaker 2: think also speaks to some of the things that we
Speaker 2: have talked about on the show during training camp of
Speaker 2: why ZAPPI was struggling in the Bill O'Brien offense, What
Speaker 2: were some of the issues we were seeing and the
Speaker 2: biggest thing And I went back and looked this up
Speaker 2: to make sure I had the numbers correct. His splits
Speaker 2: last year with play action and without play action were
Speaker 2: the guy that he is. Like his no non play
Speaker 2: action dropbacks. He was at five point eight yards per attempt.
Speaker 2: That's about what I would expect based off of what
Speaker 2: we've seen this summer. His play action yards per attempt
Speaker 2: last year, well, you want to guess the number is astronomical.
Speaker 2: Do you want to guess?
Speaker 1: It's like the best in the league, isn't it? Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's like, what fifteen sixteen yards something like that.
Speaker 2: Seen seventeen yards per attempt off play action.
Speaker 1: And this is not a Bailey Zapp beat. Every quarterback's
Speaker 1: better with play action. That's just true. Across the league.
Speaker 1: He was exponentially better. But this is why, again you
Speaker 1: go back to it. His play action rate, the percentage
Speaker 1: of his pass attempts that came off play action was
Speaker 1: double mac Jones.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was twenty six to sixteen, so not double.
Speaker 1: Okay, almost almost.
Speaker 2: Ten percent on that sample is pretty.
Speaker 1: The three numbers I remember looking up last year were
Speaker 1: play action rate, RPO rate, was forced play action rate
Speaker 1: RPO rate, under center rate, and extra blocker so sixth
Speaker 1: seventh blocker. They were all everything was struck. One of
Speaker 1: those numbers is ZAPPI doubled up might have been rpr
Speaker 1: rate YEA doubled up Mac Jones. But and it goes
Speaker 1: back to the point where you that's why it looks
Speaker 1: so different, because they were allowing Bailey Zappy to use
Speaker 1: mechanics that helped the quarterback that Mac Jones didn't get
Speaker 1: to us as much. And then what you saw this
Speaker 1: summer was sort of what that looks like on even footing.
Speaker 2: Correct when they put them both in the same system.
Speaker 2: It was it came crystal clear pretty quickly in the summer.
Speaker 1: That it became clear as soon as you sent that text, as.
Speaker 2: Soon as I was ragging on Mac on like day
Speaker 2: four of pads or whatever that was, it came it
Speaker 2: became very crystal clear that Zappie was not made to
Speaker 2: be extremely efficient and uh sophisticated. No bells and whistles,
Speaker 2: no play action like let's just roll the ball out
Speaker 2: and play football and the guy that got the got
Speaker 2: the ducks in the row better pre snap, which I
Speaker 2: think is a huge, huge part of this Bill O'Brien offense.
Speaker 2: Everything you got to be able to set the protection.
Speaker 1: So let me, let me ask you this, you started
Speaker 1: cutting real quick. But like I've said this, and I'm
Speaker 1: curious your thought on it because i don't know I've
Speaker 1: ever said it on the show. Uh, the way the
Speaker 1: Bill O'Brien offense works, Yeah, the result of the plays
Speaker 1: decided before the snap. Once the ball is snapped, it's
Speaker 1: too late. Everything that makes it either good play or
Speaker 1: bad play has pretty much happened before the ball is snap.
Speaker 2: I would say at least like like sixty five to
Speaker 2: seventy five percent of the pre snap stuff, it just
Speaker 2: decides that determines the outcome. Okay, So yeah, so the
Speaker 2: more than half you have to set the protection, right,
Speaker 2: that's the biggest thing. YEA, you know, work with the
Speaker 2: offensive line. Are we three down? Are we four down?
Speaker 2: Are we you know? Is it an overfront? Is it
Speaker 2: an underfront? Like these are the things that they call
Speaker 2: out pre snap, and then you have basically two plays
Speaker 2: most of the time called in the huddle. It's not
Speaker 2: always a run in a pass. Sometimes it could be
Speaker 2: run to run, sometimes it could be passed to pass.
Speaker 2: But the point is is that when you read that
Speaker 2: defensive structure pre snap, you need to make a check
Speaker 2: to the better play. Whether it's staying in the play
Speaker 2: that you called or checking to the second play. Once
Speaker 2: get to that point, then the ball is snapped. Now
Speaker 2: you have to read the coverage. You have to remember
Speaker 2: how the play changes to the coverage right, the side
Speaker 2: adjustments and the route options and all that those types
Speaker 2: of things, the conversions of the routes. You have to
Speaker 2: remember all those different types of things, and then you
Speaker 2: have to make the throw right. But then you have
Speaker 2: to actually do the action of the football part.
Speaker 1: Well, it's not just you have to. I would even
Speaker 1: say there's another step in there. So yes, you have
Speaker 1: to understand how to play it. Just once the ball
Speaker 1: is staffed. You also have to, maybe this is one
Speaker 1: of the same, understand how the other players are going
Speaker 1: to adapt, right, because you it can't be as simple
Speaker 1: as you were. Right, there's an option route here, he's
Speaker 1: good like it's based on the cover. It's going to
Speaker 1: be an out route. You need to make sure you're
Speaker 1: reading it the same way your wide receiver reads it,
Speaker 1: because if you read it one way and you're thinking out,
Speaker 1: if he reads it the other way and he's thinking
Speaker 1: in it, get get picked off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how that happens. So you have all these
Speaker 2: different elements that go into the the mental part of
Speaker 2: the game for this Bill O'Brien offense, and I think
Speaker 2: what became crystal clear is that Zappi really struggled with
Speaker 2: those elements because he was holding the ball for an eternity,
Speaker 2: trying to read out the plays and make the right
Speaker 2: plays and things like that, and his decision making completely
Speaker 2: fell off. And the last thing that went was the accuracy.
Speaker 2: He started spraying the ball up.
Speaker 1: Well, that one. I think he was trying to do
Speaker 1: that like side arm stuff.
Speaker 2: There, and I think, to be fair to him, like
Speaker 2: the timing with the receivers you're working with like Thyrec
Speaker 2: Pitts and Roley Webb and Scottie Washington, and there's just
Speaker 2: this cast of characters that are continuously rotating in and out.
Speaker 2: And then the blocking up front wasn't very good. Like
Speaker 2: all these things played a role, But I think the
Speaker 2: main thing is is that, like, yes, there were real
Speaker 2: causes for concern in the Bailey Zappie camp in terms
Speaker 2: of his fit in the Bill O'Brien offense. He was
Speaker 2: a much better fit in rhythm based offense with locked routes,
Speaker 2: where all he had to do was make a play right,
Speaker 2: whether it's off of play action or even in the
Speaker 2: spread elements that they used him in last year, it
Speaker 2: was down the field, pick a matchup, and throw the
Speaker 2: ball to the matchup right. Like, it wasn't a whole
Speaker 2: lot of all this different type of minutia that we
Speaker 2: just broke down so that there's that angle of it.
Speaker 2: But I actually don't think that's why he was cut.
Speaker 2: I don't think that that's why he was cut. I
Speaker 2: don't think that his play warranted him being released from
Speaker 2: the roster, right, I think why he was cut. And
Speaker 2: this to me is like where we talk so much
Speaker 2: about quarterbacks and receivers and passing, and like that's the
Speaker 2: the quarterbacks draw all the headlines for all the right reasons,
Speaker 2: you know, that's the position that we always talk about
Speaker 2: the most on any football team, not just the Patriots.
Speaker 2: But the reason why the Patriots had to play gymnastics
Speaker 2: with the roster was because currently they have six offensive
Speaker 2: tackles on this roster, because they don't have any tackles
Speaker 2: besides Trent Brown Well that can play.
Speaker 1: That's part of it. I think you could blow it
Speaker 1: up even a little bigger than that. They have eleven
Speaker 1: offensive linemen. Yeah, because they handcuffed themselves into keeping eleven
Speaker 1: offensive linemen. Going back to the draft, you draft three
Speaker 1: guys in the top one fifty, you're keeping all of
Speaker 1: those guys. They then went out and acquired two linemen
Speaker 1: right before cutdowns. Those are guys that are making the team.
Speaker 1: You had Riley Reef with the guaranteed money he was given,
Speaker 1: he was making the team. They probably didn't need to
Speaker 1: activate Calvin Anderson right away until it was clear they
Speaker 1: had no other tackles, right so you're not going to
Speaker 1: activate him from NFI and then put him on PEP
Speaker 1: and put him on IR. That wouldn't make sense. So
Speaker 1: they I'm not saying they had to keep eleven guys.
Speaker 2: Like they they I think they felt like they had
Speaker 2: to keep eleven guys because they had to keep all
Speaker 2: their options open. Well, because if they know and Calvin
Speaker 2: Anderson's a turnstile, they have to.
Speaker 1: But a guy like Jake Andrews doesn't keep their options
Speaker 1: open in that regard. But he was the guy who
Speaker 1: had to keep because it's just that's asset management, and
Speaker 1: they were going to they put themselves in a corner
Speaker 1: where they were going to have to make a decision
Speaker 1: that was poor asset management. Whether it was cutting one
Speaker 1: of the guys they drafted this year, whether it was
Speaker 1: cutting one of the guys they traded for, whether it
Speaker 1: was going short at another position, in this case quarterback
Speaker 1: and maybe even running back. You can look there as
Speaker 1: well because of the like they could have spread out
Speaker 1: their picks more in the draft, they could have attacked
Speaker 1: the position quality instead of quantity and not ended up
Speaker 1: with all of these different offens. Like there's a number
Speaker 1: of places it could have changed.
Speaker 2: But that that's my whole take on this, right.
Speaker 1: But I think it's it's not just tackles, it's offensive
Speaker 1: line as a whole, because a guy like Jake Andrews
Speaker 1: factors into that. Yeah, a guy like Mafi, a Tonio
Speaker 1: Maffi fact but a Tonio Maffi made the team even
Speaker 1: if they didn't. If they were good at tackle like
Speaker 1: a Toni and he was a seventh round pick the
Speaker 1: way he played in camp, Antonio Maffi should have made
Speaker 1: this team. This Jake Andrew's city. So that's where you
Speaker 1: look and you're like, well, those guys are here because
Speaker 1: of their draft talk. A guy like Tyrone Wheatley. He's
Speaker 1: here because he was recently traded for Darien Lowe. I like,
Speaker 1: I liked that move, hand up, I'll say that. But
Speaker 1: they had too many guys that were roster locks for
Speaker 1: reasons other than twenty twenty three talent level, and that's
Speaker 1: where they kind of got put.
Speaker 2: Into a corner. Right, So this all I think we're
Speaker 2: on the same page here and we're getting to the
Speaker 2: same destination.
Speaker 1: Wait, I just think it's bigger than your your miss.
Speaker 2: This all comes down to the fact that in the
Speaker 2: off season, whether when I say offseason, I mean March,
Speaker 2: I don't mean two weeks before the regular season opener.
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's both.
Speaker 2: No, I think in March and then also in April
Speaker 2: during the draft, they had opportunities to spend premium assets
Speaker 2: at the tackles position. Correct, The worst position on the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two Patriot was right tackle, and I don't
Speaker 2: know if it was particularly close. It was an abomination.
Speaker 2: Isaiah Win, Marcus Cannon, Yodney could just Connor McDermott. At
Speaker 2: the end of the season, even Connor McDermott playing like
Speaker 2: replacement level was an upgrade, right, So.
Speaker 1: That was how Connor McDermott was the bright spot.
Speaker 2: That's how bad tackle was. Right tackle specifically was for
Speaker 2: the Patriots last year. And we get this a lot.
Speaker 2: I got this lot. I don't enough. If you did well,
Speaker 2: what could they have done? What could they have done differently?
Speaker 2: And when I hear that, that and the injury excuse,
Speaker 2: like the in camp injury excuse.
Speaker 1: Yeah it did.
Speaker 2: Those two things just blow my mind that were even
Speaker 2: using those as excuses. There were six free agent starting
Speaker 2: tackles in March.
Speaker 1: I talked a lot about it, the whole Sodo thing, remember, right,
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Orlando Brown. Yeah, you Hadwan Taylor, you had mcglinche,
Speaker 1: you had McGarry, you had Andre Dillard who they tried
Speaker 1: to see and got out bid by Tennessee for not
Speaker 1: a lot of money. And then Wiley, who was the
Speaker 1: starting right tackle for the Chiefs last year in the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. So he Wiley is one that I look
Speaker 1: at and I'm like, that was not a ton of money.
Speaker 1: And he started every game for Kansas City last year.
Speaker 1: He pitched a shutout in the playoffs, zero sacks allowed
Speaker 1: in three games in the playoffs, including against the Son
Speaker 1: Reddick and the Super Bowl. And that was a guy
Speaker 1: that wasn't going to cost you a Mike McGlinchey eighty
Speaker 1: million dollars to bring in. So they had six free
Speaker 1: agent tackles that were start as five of them changed teams.
Speaker 1: Caleb McGarry was the only guy that went back to
Speaker 1: his original team out of that group. So you had
Speaker 1: five movable objects on the offensive line that you could
Speaker 1: have signed, and instead you'd, let's call it what it is,
Speaker 1: you cheaped out and you signed Calvin Anderson and Riley Reef,
Speaker 1: a thirty four year old Riley Reef who we knew
Speaker 1: was over the hill in Chicago. Lastyard didn't even start
Speaker 1: out of the gate for the Bears, who had a
Speaker 1: terrible offensive line, by the way, didn't even start until
Speaker 1: like midway through the season when they had injuries. He
Speaker 1: was essentially their swing tackle last year. Calvin Anderson, who
Speaker 1: has twelve starts, he was their uh. Conor McDermott, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Twelve starts in three years for Calvin Anderson. He was
Speaker 2: another option that you threw out there.
Speaker 1: Which, like signing those guys individually isn't necessarily a mistake,
Speaker 1: but this is so it's it's only signing them and
Speaker 1: not bringing in right, right, right.
Speaker 2: See, this is where the depth thing becomes. Like, this
Speaker 2: is where the conversation starts, right because if you have like,
Speaker 2: let's just put a placeholder in there. They tried to
Speaker 2: sign Andre Dillard, so let's go with Andre Dillard for
Speaker 2: arguments sake. If you come into the season with Trent
Speaker 2: Brown and Andre Dillard as your tackles and then you're
Speaker 2: telling me that Riley Reef is your swing tackle, fine,
Speaker 2: that's about those guys should be. That's how you feel
Speaker 2: out depth, right, Like, that's how you have an established
Speaker 2: pecking order. That's how you have two capable starters. Then
Speaker 2: you have your tackle, and then go ahead and draft
Speaker 2: City So in the fourth round as a developmental tackle
Speaker 2: because you like the.
Speaker 1: Trades like that, that's that's your four Like, that's how
Speaker 1: you That's how a real team does this, right, Like,
Speaker 1: that's how you're supposed to do it.
Speaker 2: Instead, they just threw darts. They just started throwing darts.
Speaker 2: They signed Reef and Anderson, they draft so now they're
Speaker 2: trading for Tyrone Wheatley and Vaderian Low who I like
Speaker 2: both of their games for separate reasons. We can get
Speaker 2: into that a little bit if we want. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, I'm sorry, but Tyrone, Wheatley and Vaderi
Speaker 2: and Low are also dart throws. Neither one of those
Speaker 2: guys is a sharp eeden starter on your offensive line
Speaker 2: for any team. They're also lottery tickets. And all they
Speaker 2: had to do was in free agency because look, I
Speaker 2: will give them this, and I mean this, they did
Speaker 2: a really good job with their first three picks in
Speaker 2: the draft. I can't get on them too much. For
Speaker 2: Christian Gonzales, Kean White and Marty Mapu, all three of
Speaker 2: those guys can play. Was there a better way to
Speaker 2: use those assets? And maybe you're still taken Zaliz in
Speaker 2: the first and you get a tackle on Day two.
Speaker 1: I even look early on day three, Evan, like Dwan
Speaker 1: Jones has kind of being a star.
Speaker 2: Was headed Dewan Jones. I need I need some Belichick
Speaker 2: Macro truth serum on Dewan Jones. Why was Dewan Jones
Speaker 2: off the Patriots?
Speaker 1: To be fair, it wasn't just them, He was off
Speaker 1: a lot of teams.
Speaker 2: Boards But that's why I need to know.
Speaker 1: So that's I do think there's something there, But whether
Speaker 1: it was which, by the way, I need to take
Speaker 1: I was telling you about Dwan Jones in like October. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll get to it.
Speaker 2: We'll get to it.
Speaker 1: We'll get to it. So listen to me this time.
Speaker 3: J C.
Speaker 1: Latham, Alabama.
Speaker 2: This is just like you had to do that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I had to.
Speaker 1: I had to. Well, because it's it's week to get
Speaker 1: to it's we won. College football starts on Saturday. I
Speaker 1: want to give you a reason to watch. My reason
Speaker 1: being there's no reason to watch now.
Speaker 2: I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: There is reason. Whether it was Dwan Jones, whether it
Speaker 1: was Blake Freeland, whether it was Warren. I think you
Speaker 1: were big Warren McClendon right from from Georgia guard antack
Speaker 1: Jalen Duncan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you had these guys that were tackled, that were
Speaker 2: right so that we're not guards, that you're making a tackle.
Speaker 1: It's the mystery box. Well what could city so be
Speaker 1: a big people moving right tackle. Okay, So like he
Speaker 1: could be Dwan Jones or and I know Dewan Jones
Speaker 1: went a little before him, but I think he went
Speaker 1: after Ryland Right Andrews.
Speaker 2: So they drafted Jake Andrews a pick or two before
Speaker 2: Dewan Jones. And it's sorted by positions, so he sort
Speaker 2: of drafted. When I say you, I mean the Patriots. Yeah,
Speaker 2: the Patriots drafted a backup center to one of their
Speaker 2: best players.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jake Andrews went one oh seven, Dwan Jones went
Speaker 1: one eleven, Chad Ryland went one twelve, and then City
Speaker 1: So went one seventeen.
Speaker 2: So you drafted a backup center to a team captain,
Speaker 2: a pillar of your current team when you had a
Speaker 2: young satit you like on the roster, and Cody rus
Speaker 2: Cody rusy and you drafted that over Dewan Jones, who
Speaker 2: might not start in Cleveland this year just because they
Speaker 2: have Conklin and uh, Worf's already not worth. So who's
Speaker 2: there to the other tackle? I can't remember. Uh, it's
Speaker 2: coming to me, it's coming. It's on the tip of
Speaker 2: my time.
Speaker 1: Oh, I get there.
Speaker 2: Jedrick Will's right, yes, yeah, yes, uh and warfs will
Speaker 2: same same draft. I think two really good tackles Conklin
Speaker 2: and now Will. So those guys are starters. But Dewan
Speaker 2: Jones is going to be a starter in Cleveland at
Speaker 2: some day. He'd start here right now, easily, day one,
Speaker 2: starting right tackle. I I can't figure that one out.
Speaker 2: So don't don't sit there and tell me that they
Speaker 2: had no other options. Don't tell me that they had
Speaker 2: no other option, that there was nothing else that they
Speaker 2: could do, because that's baloney. There was There was talent available,
Speaker 2: whether it was in the draft or whether it was
Speaker 2: in free agency. If they just spent a little bit
Speaker 2: more money on the tackle position, and then we wouldn't
Speaker 2: be in any of this mess. We wouldn't be worried
Speaker 2: about the Eagles defensive front dominating the game in ten days,
Speaker 2: and we wouldn't be worried about Bailey Zappi being on waivers.
Speaker 2: Because if you had a proven.
Speaker 1: Right tackle right now on your roster, or even just
Speaker 1: a more high upside, high floor right the guy that
Speaker 1: I can sit here and say I can start Week
Speaker 1: one right pencil the min I'm gonna say that because
Speaker 1: we're saying Dewan Jones be the answer. He's not proven,
Speaker 1: but sure he's there's enough there that I don't need
Speaker 1: to go.
Speaker 2: I would have gone the free agency rode. I guess
Speaker 2: that's why I keep saying proven. I means I would
Speaker 2: have signed somebody.
Speaker 1: I was Soto signed one draft one. I wanted both,
Speaker 1: I thought you were talking about like Wan Soto for
Speaker 1: no sign draft one s O d oh, I wanted
Speaker 1: both of them.
Speaker 2: Okay, So then you have your five starters right that
Speaker 2: you're you're locked in on the roster. You have your
Speaker 2: top swing tackle, you have your top interior guy, and
Speaker 2: then you have one or two spots for development guy.
Speaker 1: Eight or nine is general the number or something like that.
Speaker 1: They are at eleven, which is a Belichick era high.
Speaker 1: By the way, they've never carried eleven guys on the
Speaker 1: initial roster, and meanwhile they're at a Belichick low. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's Belichick lo. I have the numbers
Speaker 1: for the last ten years. Last ten years, fewest running
Speaker 1: backs they've carried his three. They did that once every
Speaker 1: other year. It's been four.
Speaker 2: Right, so you have one quarterback, which I and I
Speaker 2: get it. People are gonna sit here and say, Evan,
Speaker 2: what difference does it make they're on the practice squad.
Speaker 2: They can elevate them on game day, they can sign
Speaker 2: them to the fifty three after they put some guys
Speaker 2: on ir like who cares? And I get that, but
Speaker 2: that's not the point. The point is that right tackle
Speaker 2: is still a major question mark on this team. It
Speaker 2: was a major question mark last year. It was a
Speaker 2: major question market going into the offseason, and they did
Speaker 2: absolutely nothing to solve the problem. And now we're here
Speaker 2: where Bailey Zappi has to be waived. You have to
Speaker 2: carry two running backs on the initial fifty three man roster.
Speaker 2: You have to carry two tight ends, which I really
Speaker 2: don't think they ultimately wanted to do, honestly, because I
Speaker 2: think they're gonna play a lot of twelve and I
Speaker 2: think they're gonna want some depth at that position. So
Speaker 2: you have to do all these things, and all of
Speaker 2: this could have been avoided if you had just given
Speaker 2: Andre Dillard three million dollars more than what the Tennessee
Speaker 2: Titans offered him, all of it could have been avoided.
Speaker 2: And so the story today and yesterday in the shock
Speaker 2: wave on Tuesday, on cutdown Day is that the Patriots
Speaker 2: cut Bailey's appy, and that sticker shock is legit. But
Speaker 2: the real crux of this whole thing is that their
Speaker 2: offensive line is a complete mystery even to the people
Speaker 2: running the team. And that's why they made two trades
Speaker 2: for tackles fourteen days before the start of the season,
Speaker 2: and that's why they're carrying a Belichick or a high
Speaker 2: eleven offensive lineman on the roster. And that's why your
Speaker 2: backup quarterback was just put on waivers the other day.
Speaker 1: Yeah so, but at the same time, at the same time,
Speaker 1: and Bill said this when you put it because because
Speaker 1: he gets out, Oh, I din't put this player in
Speaker 1: the prak squad. When you wave a player, you never know.
Speaker 1: You may think you know, but you never know. Right,
Speaker 1: they were okay potentially losing Bailey's appy. Doesn't mean they
Speaker 1: wanted to lose him. Doesn't mean they wanted to get
Speaker 1: rid of him. They clearly didn't. They brought him back. Right,
Speaker 1: They were okay losing Bailey's appy.
Speaker 2: And that's why I say that it's not about Bailey's
Speaker 2: appy because quite frankly, no, but I was okay with
Speaker 2: them losing.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. But it is a little bit
Speaker 1: because the theories about and maybe he's got put to
Speaker 1: rest Thursday night, Friday night in Nashville, but the theories
Speaker 1: about Mac being on a super short leash, and we
Speaker 1: could see Bailey's appy by the end of September and
Speaker 1: it might end up being his if they really felt
Speaker 1: there was a chance Bailey Zappy was going to start
Speaker 1: in meaningful games for them this year. They would not
Speaker 1: have been comfortab. They shouldn't have been comfortable potentially losing him,
Speaker 1: and they were comfortable potentially.
Speaker 2: I guess my point when I say that, like, I
Speaker 2: don't care about Bailey's Zappy, not to be like mean
Speaker 2: about it, but is that I think that a.
Speaker 1: Lot of them, you think it's a bigger deal. Why
Speaker 1: why they had to wave him in the fastest way?
Speaker 2: And I also think that bailey'sz appies are a dime
Speaker 2: a dozen. I think that Colt McCoy, I think that
Speaker 2: Will Greer. I think Brett freakin' Ripping probably could come
Speaker 2: in here and back up Mac Jones just as well.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I that's look, that's what I think. I already gave
Speaker 1: this giving other shows.
Speaker 2: Who had have been a preseason Will Greener Bailey's Appy.
Speaker 1: I don't really know how I know real good last
Speaker 1: game it wasn't okay, uh I Well, Nathan Rourke was
Speaker 1: the guy I was looking for former Nathan. What is
Speaker 1: Nathan Rourke notable for?
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Ask me, ask me what you're about to ask me.
Speaker 2: What is the difference between Nathan Rourke and Bailey's appen.
Speaker 1: Nathan Rourke has won the Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player. Uh,
Speaker 1: here's the yeah, he he tore it up for the
Speaker 1: last year. Why do you not know these things because
Speaker 1: you have a life? The difference the thing and here
Speaker 1: people on both sides of the Zappi argument hate me
Speaker 1: Evan because we've talked about this. Right, you either have
Speaker 1: to think he's the starter who should push mac Jones,
Speaker 1: or you have to think he doesn't belong in the league.
Speaker 1: I am where I have been on Bailey Zappie since
Speaker 1: day one. He's a good backup quarter He's probably somewhere
Speaker 1: between the thirtieth and fortieth best quarterback in the league.
Speaker 1: If he's your starter, it's not great. There's he's in
Speaker 1: terms of going to an emergency starter, he'd probably beat
Speaker 1: towards the top of that list. Yeah, but he's one
Speaker 1: of the better backups and there is value in having
Speaker 1: a good backup and being a good backup quarterback does matter,
Speaker 1: and that is why I would rather they not have
Speaker 1: cut him and burned a rookie contract on a guy
Speaker 1: that is a good backup quarterback. So that's where But
Speaker 1: I'm also not under the illusion that he's going to
Speaker 1: come in here and take over the team.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, and that's the one thing that I will
Speaker 2: say that makes it about Bailey zappy to me is
Speaker 2: the rookie contract. I hate the idea that they just
Speaker 2: ripped up his rookie contract because, on the one hand,
Speaker 2: now they're a year to year with him, right, That's
Speaker 2: just the nuts and bolts of it. He's a year
Speaker 2: to year player whether he stays on the practice squad
Speaker 2: or he signs back to the fifty three, unless they
Speaker 2: give him a multi year deal when they sign, which
Speaker 2: is possible. But bottom line is he's a year to
Speaker 2: year guy now, and he was anyways because his money
Speaker 2: wasn't guaranteed in year three and four. And I get
Speaker 2: all that, but they had team control on the player
Speaker 2: for year three and four. So now, and let's just
Speaker 2: play this out. You mentioned him like, you know, spot
Speaker 2: starting and things like that and being effective. Let's say,
Speaker 2: and I hope this doesn't happen. We don't wish injuries,
Speaker 2: so don't come at us about this. But what happens
Speaker 2: if the exact same scenario happens that happened last year
Speaker 2: where Mac gets hurt, and I'm not saying that Mac
Speaker 2: is playing poorly. Like, let's take that out element out
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: Now, Mack gets hurt, Mac cannot play. Mac gets hurt,
Speaker 1: and Bailey's Appy comes in for two games, keeps the
Speaker 1: team afloat, wins them a couple of games to keep
Speaker 1: the train on the tracks of the season, Mac comes
Speaker 1: back whatever. So basically what happened last year, exactly what
Speaker 1: happened last year minus the Bears game.
Speaker 2: Is Bailey's APPI going to get paid in the offseason? Well,
Speaker 2: because he's a free agent now.
Speaker 1: So this year he wouldn't because he's gonna be an ERFA.
Speaker 1: If you have less than three years of team controller
Speaker 1: what's called an exclusive rights free agent, which bass in
Speaker 1: the RFA. Now he would be at the end of
Speaker 1: the season. He don't leave two years, so he's not
Speaker 1: an unrestricted free agent. Oh, currently, when if his deal expires, right,
Speaker 1: his practice squad deal aspires, they would have to sign
Speaker 1: to a SUTs deal right in order to have him
Speaker 1: under contract. Yes, right, But but if they didn't, he
Speaker 1: would be an e r F A Okay.
Speaker 2: So I didn't.
Speaker 1: Okay, So as long as he's on the practice squad.
Speaker 1: He's a free agent if he's on the press. Let's
Speaker 1: say some team loses their quarterback in Week one, Right,
Speaker 1: they can go and he doesn't have to sign. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but they could go off Bailey offered contract sign uh
Speaker 1: because if he's going to sign and then get cut
Speaker 1: when the quarterbacks come, there's a number of reasons he
Speaker 1: might not. But like I mean, he's a free agent.
Speaker 2: I would be looking for the first exit door. Fair.
Speaker 1: He is a free agent as we sit here today.
Speaker 1: Bailey's appy. A team could call and offer they can't
Speaker 1: off from practice squad spot. They have to offer him
Speaker 1: a fifty three man rocks spot. But they could do that.
Speaker 1: That is true until if and when he signs to
Speaker 1: the fifty three. Once he signs to the fifty three,
Speaker 1: if that's a one year deal, at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, he would become an eerf So if he
Speaker 1: if he finishes the year on the fifty three, okay, crap,
Speaker 1: if he finished on the practice squad, it would be
Speaker 1: futures deal, which is a free agent. Right. Well, if
Speaker 1: you can't sign a guy to a futures deal from
Speaker 1: your fifty three, so he would become a free agent.
Speaker 1: He would become what's called an E RFA exclusive rights
Speaker 1: free agent, which means only the Patriots can negotiate with him.
Speaker 1: For other teams to negotiate with him, the Patriots basically
Speaker 1: have to give up rights. They essentially they have to
Speaker 1: without putting them get I didn't realize that we're so
Speaker 1: very bogged down in this cause this is what we
Speaker 1: do BRFA. I didn't realize that he was going to
Speaker 1: become an RF. E RFA is two years of experience
Speaker 1: and less after three years, And this is where he'd
Speaker 1: essentially be like an undrafted for agent because UDFA contracts
Speaker 1: for three years, then he becomes an RFA. That's trick
Speaker 1: gets really interesting if you get to this point, if
Speaker 1: he's shown some promise, you never see our restricted free
Speaker 1: agent quarterbacks. You never see that. If you drafted a quarterback,
Speaker 1: if you don't think he's good enough, you've cut him
Speaker 1: generally at that point, and then it becomes can you
Speaker 1: tender him? Would a team give up a second round
Speaker 1: pick for Bailey's appy problem that then not that long
Speaker 1: ago a team get up a second round pick for
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo, And how that got they're still paying for
Speaker 1: They're still paying for you. What have they done?
Speaker 2: He's better than him at the time.
Speaker 1: At the time Jimmy Garoppolo was traded, he had started
Speaker 1: two games, won them both played part of a third game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what what is Bailey Zappy done?
Speaker 2: You've already thought this out.
Speaker 1: I know I've given this takeabok.
Speaker 2: This is your your sick o the point.
Speaker 1: But whatever they're unless they it's not. I just think
Speaker 1: he's overrated. Unless they signed Jimmy to a multi year deal.
Speaker 1: When they signed him back to the fifty three, he
Speaker 1: is now year to year. That is the reality of it.
Speaker 2: So that's the Bailey Zappy offensive line take off the
Speaker 2: top of the show. I just I want to continue
Speaker 2: to hammer home the point that the biggest issue of
Speaker 2: all of this is that the Patriots did not do
Speaker 2: enough to address the tackle position in the off season.
Speaker 1: And and now they're overcommentation.
Speaker 2: Yes, and you have to remember that this was like
Speaker 2: the injuries thing bugs me too, Like people are, oh, well,
Speaker 2: Riley Reef got hurt, Like, what do you want them
Speaker 2: to do? This was already going off the rails before
Speaker 2: Riley Reef got hurt. Okay, Riley Reef was already moved
Speaker 2: inside to guard. By the time Riley Reef got hurt,
Speaker 2: they already had determined that Riley Reef couldn't play tackle anymore,
Speaker 2: so he's already moved inside to guard Connor McDermott's mia.
Speaker 2: He was also playing poorly going into that injury, so
Speaker 2: they knew that this. We all knew this was a
Speaker 2: problem already before anybody got hurt. So that's where the
Speaker 2: Patriots are at. And now they have the Eagles, who
Speaker 2: had the second rated pass rushing football last year in
Speaker 2: terms of pressure rate. The Jets have had the seventh.
Speaker 2: The Dolphins were not in the top twenty, but they
Speaker 2: have a good bookend ed rushers. I think they're gonna
Speaker 2: be better this year.
Speaker 1: In the past game they were well, they didn't have
Speaker 1: Bradley Chubb for the.
Speaker 2: Start of the year, and then the number one rated
Speaker 2: pass rushing football last year, the Dallas Cowboys. In your
Speaker 2: first month, so you have one two and seven and
Speaker 2: another team that I think is potentially going to be
Speaker 2: in the top half of the league as well.
Speaker 1: Are you holding out any hope that we get out
Speaker 1: there Week one? Riley Reef of he's healthy at right guard,
Speaker 1: Mike Wint right tackle or Antonio Maffi and Mike and
Speaker 1: Winno on the right side.
Speaker 2: There I'm holding out a little bit of hope. But
Speaker 2: he did play a snap of right tackle. Why why
Speaker 2: why make all of these this? Why jump through all
Speaker 2: these hoops just to be moving Mike on went to
Speaker 2: right tackle?
Speaker 1: Because you're worried about the backups, because you know that
Speaker 1: if you lose trend, you're right.
Speaker 2: But if you worry about the backups, like can you
Speaker 2: keep like two layers of depth? Like why do you
Speaker 2: have to keep six?
Speaker 1: Because because they're gonna do essentially what you said, they're
Speaker 1: gonna figure it out. Like I don't Tyrone Wheatley daring Low.
Speaker 1: I doubt both those guys are on the team for
Speaker 1: seventeen games. They're essentially going to have a September's an
Speaker 1: extension of the price.
Speaker 2: So here's the other.
Speaker 1: They're gonna have a competition and one of those guys
Speaker 1: will stick. Yeah, those moves make more sense when you
Speaker 1: look at it through the lens that they brought those
Speaker 1: guys into be backups rather than compete for the starting trick.
Speaker 2: I agree, But at the same time, like this is
Speaker 2: the other my ang on, this is it because I
Speaker 2: wanted to work down the roster and then we're gonna
Speaker 2: take some calls, I promise. But running back, they have
Speaker 2: two running backs on the roster, Tome Montgomery and Kevin
Speaker 2: Harris are on the practice squad. They traded Pierre.
Speaker 1: Strong, who, Yeah, I didn't like that trade.
Speaker 2: Maybe they were to cut him anyways, Like maybe that's
Speaker 2: where that was heading. I know that's always the adage,
Speaker 2: right of Oh they were, they just were gonna cut
Speaker 2: him anyways. I didn't like the trade either. I did
Speaker 2: not because I disliked Tyrone Wheatley. I think Tyrone Wheatley
Speaker 2: has some really exciting trades. From an athletic standpoint, I
Speaker 2: think he's an athletic kid. I think he's got good
Speaker 2: foot speed. I think he can block in the run
Speaker 2: game using his positional blocking with the foot speed. There's
Speaker 2: things to like about his preseason film, absolutely, but I
Speaker 2: didn't like it for two reasons. One, I really didn't
Speaker 2: think Kevin Harris or J. J. Taylor were rosterable running backs,
Speaker 2: so Pierre Strong was the one.
Speaker 1: JJ. I thought you had a really good I didn't
Speaker 1: have a kid there.
Speaker 2: I think that ultimately, unless you're like Darren sprolls quick
Speaker 2: and fast at that size, it's just.
Speaker 1: Really tough, you see, fund right, that's.
Speaker 2: A good unless you're one of those guys that's just
Speaker 2: different in terms of how they move on the field
Speaker 2: at five foot six, it's really hard. So I think
Speaker 2: JJ Taylor is like is like the football equivalent of
Speaker 2: a of a four A player. You know, he's right
Speaker 2: in the middle. So Pierre Strong to me, felt like
Speaker 2: the one guy that had the talent and the upside,
Speaker 2: but that really the talent to be a rosterable running
Speaker 2: back as your third running back. And the other reason
Speaker 2: why I didn't really like the trade. Where's your speed
Speaker 2: now out of the backfield? Now you can talk?
Speaker 1: You hope it's time Montgomery.
Speaker 2: Your other speed's on injured reserve right now, right with Taekwon,
Speaker 2: and who knows what's gonna happen with that. And so
Speaker 2: really you're looking at in terms of bringing guys that
Speaker 2: move differently in this offense, that have that explosive gear.
Speaker 2: It's essentially Pop Douglas and that's it. Like Kendrick Bourne
Speaker 2: and I think does a little bit, but I don't
Speaker 2: know if it's really truly on that elite level. It's
Speaker 2: but it's it's good. You know, Kendrick Bourne is the
Speaker 2: guy that's got good burst and good energy with the
Speaker 2: football in his hands. But that's what I was hoping,
Speaker 2: holding out hope with Pierre Strong. It's not that you
Speaker 2: necessarily need him to carry the ball twenty times and
Speaker 2: be this bell cow running back, but four or five
Speaker 2: touches a game on a screen or on an outside
Speaker 2: run or a toss player, just something to get him
Speaker 2: out in space. He was the one guy that was
Speaker 2: dangerous in space with the ball in his hands, and
Speaker 2: I just feel like they lost it a little bit
Speaker 2: in this trade.
Speaker 1: We have some news.
Speaker 2: Oh what's the news, Ian Rappaport.
Speaker 1: The Patriots have claimed former Panthers quarterback Matt Corral.
Speaker 2: So we have a new quarterback.
Speaker 1: We have a new After all of that, we have
Speaker 1: a new so let the plot that get oh wait
Speaker 1: in eight weight. So they claimed him on waivers, so
Speaker 1: that means he's on the fifty three. So that's your backup.
Speaker 2: That's your backup quarterback, Matt Corral.
Speaker 1: So that's the roster spot.
Speaker 2: Uh by Taekwon Thorn probably what I go back you
Speaker 2: said that I couldn't call it a downfall.
Speaker 1: Of Bailey's appy. I'm calling it a downfall. You're gonna
Speaker 1: now I not only better than Ma Correll.
Speaker 2: You got cut and you got replaced like they're giving
Speaker 2: Ma Correl a fifty three min roster spot over you.
Speaker 2: That's what's happening here. That's shocking. I mac Correl's been
Speaker 2: a disaster in the NFL. Now, granted he's been in Carolina,
Speaker 2: right in Carolina.
Speaker 1: Uh well no, he he broke his ankle in the
Speaker 1: preseason game here last year and hasn't played the rookie
Speaker 1: last year. That was it. Yeah, but he's I don't know,
Speaker 1: he hasn't been anything in the end. He hasn't played
Speaker 1: in the NFL, but he played in the preseason this year. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that that that's interesting. Well we'll give some
Speaker 2: mac correl takes here in a second, but let's get
Speaker 2: to the phones. John is in Louisiana. John, thanks for
Speaker 2: hanging on. What's up? John? Hey? Hello, hello, Hey there
Speaker 2: you are all right?
Speaker 4: So uh Evan, first off, ausseems like you are thinking
Speaker 4: that victory left one that Zabie seever.
Speaker 2: Can't help it.
Speaker 4: But uh yeah, I already know. So I got a
Speaker 4: question about the left tackle situation. So you said a
Speaker 4: free agency would say, do you think that would have
Speaker 4: affected the contract that Jabrill Severs and everybody else isn't
Speaker 4: brought back?
Speaker 3: Uh?
Speaker 2: No, I don't because I think that you can find
Speaker 2: cap space in a million different ways. You can stagger
Speaker 2: contracts in a million different ways. So I would I
Speaker 2: have given like an Orlando Brown Mike McGlinchey contract to
Speaker 2: a tackle and been able to afford all the rest
Speaker 2: of it? Like, maybe not U, but I think that
Speaker 2: there was options out there, like a Diller, like a Whiley,
Speaker 2: like those players at that level that would have been
Speaker 2: better than what you got and would have been able
Speaker 2: to spread the money around just the same.
Speaker 4: So in as far as the draft, who would you
Speaker 4: have placed if you would have drafted somebody? I know
Speaker 4: you said you like the first, but like I'm I'm
Speaker 4: kind of confused. Who would you have rather not take?
Speaker 2: PREDENTI someone at the Dwan Jones from Ohio State. I
Speaker 2: would have taken Blake Freelan from BYU. I would have
Speaker 2: taken Jalen Duncan, the Maryland guy, any of the Day
Speaker 2: three picks, literally any of.
Speaker 1: Them except Pop Douglas. Oh yeah, of course, except Pop Douglas.
Speaker 1: Sure take the receiver for the early day three the
Speaker 1: late day three picks. You're telling me that this team
Speaker 1: needs Jake Andrews for what? Like, I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: pick on Jake Andrews. I'm just if David Andrews gets hurt,
Speaker 1: then you're in trouble anyways, right, regardless of who his
Speaker 1: backup is. But is Jake Andrews at this stage of
Speaker 1: his career significantly better than Russi or James Ferrence. I
Speaker 1: don't think so, not based off what we've seen over
Speaker 1: the summer. I would also say that I like Mafi.
Speaker 1: I think Mafi is going to be a starting caliber
Speaker 1: guard the way that they play football here, he'll be.
Speaker 1: He'll be a starting caliber guy next year. But you
Speaker 1: had a more immediate need at tackle, so that those
Speaker 1: are the picks that I would have replaced him. I
Speaker 1: think that's that's the obvious way to go.
Speaker 4: Okay, appreciate you guys, Thanks.
Speaker 2: John, Thanks for the call. All right, Patty is an
Speaker 2: agua on what's up? Patty?
Speaker 5: Tough guys? Hey, So I got something for each of you.
Speaker 5: First off, the college football Minute, for actually half a minute.
Speaker 5: I'll make it quick Evan Alex, Yeah, you're gonna watch.
Speaker 5: I know you're watching college football this weekend. Of course,
Speaker 5: pay attention Boston College wide receiver Joe Grifton junior from
Speaker 5: my hometown, from my alma mart Or Springfield Central High School,
Speaker 5: the home of Champion. This kid's going to be a stud.
Speaker 5: He's not coming out this is coming year, but he's
Speaker 5: eligible in twenty twenty five. He's like the perfect, the
Speaker 5: prototype guy that's going to replace Davante Partner. Hopefully, I'd
Speaker 5: love to see it, all right, So, Evan, the one
Speaker 5: thing I'll disagree with you with was I was hoping
Speaker 5: that they would like you. I know, you said you
Speaker 5: want them to dry tackle and free agency. I'm with
Speaker 5: you with those guys with Dwan Jones, and I was
Speaker 5: big on Blake Freeland. I mean, I wanted them to
Speaker 5: get young guys and develop them and into this system.
Speaker 5: And I mean, both your tackles are going to be
Speaker 5: gone next year unless they extend Brown. But that's kind
Speaker 5: of a crap you because you never know what you're
Speaker 5: gonna get with them, you know. So I'm just I
Speaker 5: feel the frustration. I'm right there with you. Hopefully I
Speaker 5: do have fate that Billy O'Brien and Clem are gonna
Speaker 5: piece this together. I'm not gonna take too much out
Speaker 5: of Week one. I never do anyway. But I mean,
Speaker 5: as long as Mac comes out of the game healthy,
Speaker 5: I'm good, and that's all I care about. And that's
Speaker 5: all I got, guys.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, Patti, thanks for the call. Look, I don't
Speaker 2: want to. I know I'm sounding like alarmists when it
Speaker 2: comes to the offensive line Situationian, I think it's workable.
Speaker 2: I just think that a lot of the things that
Speaker 2: have happened this summer, and that it happened on cutdown day.
Speaker 2: I feel like a lot of these things happened because
Speaker 2: as they put themselves in this in a hole, like
Speaker 2: they created a hole and now they're trying to get
Speaker 2: themselves out of it, and now we have all this
Speaker 2: cat you know, uh roster gymnastics and jockeying and all
Speaker 2: this different stuff going on, and I feel like a
Speaker 2: lot of this was so avoidable if they had just
Speaker 2: addressed it with a real answer, like instead of throwing
Speaker 2: blind darts at the board and saying, well, hopefully one
Speaker 2: of these guys is serviceable, they could have just went
Speaker 2: out and made a real move and solved the problem.
Speaker 2: And that's where we're at. I'm gonn take this last call,
Speaker 2: and then Alex you got to give your your mac
Speaker 2: correl take. We've talked about mac corral a little bit
Speaker 2: off the air.
Speaker 1: I'm learning about Matt Corrow right now. Do you know
Speaker 1: he wants try to fight Wing Gretzky's son.
Speaker 2: Why is that relevant?
Speaker 1: Is it not?
Speaker 2: All right? Let's take Tony in Canada. Let's up Tony.
Speaker 6: Hey, hi guys. I have a comment, And then I question,
Speaker 6: I guess the comment and is regarding regarding the Patriots
Speaker 6: as I think that this year, my prediction is they'll
Speaker 6: be struggling to make fourth place, they'll be out of
Speaker 6: the playoffs. And I think this year, at best, they'll
Speaker 6: do as well as he did last year or lose
Speaker 6: a few other games. And the question is regarding Bill Belichick,
Speaker 6: and I know, like, yeah, I mean, things didn't work
Speaker 6: out with the tight end or not tight end, sorry,
Speaker 6: the offensive tackle position. But Belichick really hasn't spent a
Speaker 6: lot of money this year, so in your opinion, like
Speaker 6: what is the what is Belichick trying to do? Like
Speaker 6: he's obviously not signing players he didn't go crazy this
Speaker 6: year like he did a few years back. What's the plan? Like,
Speaker 6: what is he planning to do? What do you speculate
Speaker 6: on is he planning on maybe possibly extending a lot
Speaker 6: of the other players, or what's the reason? I guess
Speaker 6: what do you think is the reason for it? For
Speaker 6: the way he's he's been managing the team this so
Speaker 6: far this year.
Speaker 2: Thanks for the call, Tony, I honestly know how you
Speaker 2: feel about this, Alex, so just speak for myself.
Speaker 1: Well, second week in a row. Apparently they're trying to
Speaker 1: get my attention on the sportshop right now because Felger
Speaker 1: doesn't know how waiver claims were.
Speaker 2: Oh my god. Uh. I don't think Belichick's managing the
Speaker 2: roster any differently than he always has. Like that's that's
Speaker 2: the thing that I think that maybe doesn't get talked
Speaker 2: about enough or gets missed or something like that. Like
Speaker 2: other than the free agency spending spree in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 2: this is how they've always done it, Like they have built.
Speaker 2: Their whole thing is conservatives, spending solid, miiddle class, build
Speaker 2: from within, draft and develop like that. That's that's their
Speaker 2: whole thing. Like the twenty twenty one free agency class
Speaker 2: was the outlier. That's not the norm. Now. Sometimes they
Speaker 2: do go out and make like one splash, you know,
Speaker 2: a Stefan Gilmour, a Darrell Revis Uh obviously didn't work out,
Speaker 2: but like a daily as Thomas right, like they they've
Speaker 2: done that in a vacuum. But going out and spending
Speaker 2: a ton of money in free agency, like they did
Speaker 2: it a couple of years ago. That was the one
Speaker 2: time they did it, and other than that, they've never
Speaker 2: done it again or done it in the past. So
Speaker 2: their methodical approach is exactly how they've always done it,
Speaker 2: and I there's obviously some legitimate reasons for it, Like
Speaker 2: there's some real sound reasoning for it. I think the
Speaker 2: biggest being that the real sweet spot is by drafting
Speaker 2: players and being good in the draft and then developing
Speaker 2: from within. That's how they built the teams in their
Speaker 2: early two thousands for the most part. Like that's how
Speaker 2: you build your roster for sustainability in the NFL. But
Speaker 2: you know, to the caller, like if you're expecting them
Speaker 2: to go out and spend a ton of money on
Speaker 2: free agents, like you got the wrong team, Like that's
Speaker 2: not going to be who they are, at least not
Speaker 2: as long as Belichick is here. If that's truly the
Speaker 2: trigger man of all of this, Like that's never how
Speaker 2: they've operated, that's never how they are. All right, Uh,
Speaker 2: let's let's get your macarel take Alex because you obviously
Speaker 2: remember him from Old it's a whole lot more than
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: So Matt Corral was a really interesting quarterback going into
Speaker 1: the draft last year because his career has been a
Speaker 1: roller coaster. Came out of Southern California in high school,
Speaker 1: was a five star recruit US Army, All American, all
Speaker 1: of that stuff, Like this is a guy who's usc UF.
Speaker 1: I don't remember if Alabama was interested in him. Ends
Speaker 1: up going to Old Miss, where they had another top
Speaker 1: ranked recruit in Jordan Tamu, who people might remember. I
Speaker 1: think he was here on the practice squad for like
Speaker 1: a week once. But really roller coaster his first few
Speaker 1: years in college. Struggled to get playing time as a
Speaker 1: freshman as a red shirt freshman, started to play a
Speaker 1: little more, but was really a run first quarterback his
Speaker 1: junior year, there were so lean Kiffin comes his junior
Speaker 1: year in twenty twenty, and there's flashes, but he turned
Speaker 1: the ball over a ton and then in twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one he started to put it together. Thirty three hundred yards,
Speaker 1: twenty touchdowns, five interceptions, ran for another six hundred and
Speaker 1: fourteen yards eleven touch downs. He was a layane kick like, well,
Speaker 1: Lane Kiffen wants his quarterback to be Matt Corral. And
Speaker 1: then that was sort of a down year for quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and people start talking about is Matt Carral first round pick?
Speaker 1: And it was kind of trending that way. And then
Speaker 1: he hurt his ankle in the bowl game. A lot
Speaker 1: of people were like, he's not. It was kind of
Speaker 1: consensus he wasn't gonna play in the ball game. This
Speaker 1: is guy who's gonna be a first round pick. A
Speaker 1: quarterback played in the ball game, which people like, this
Speaker 1: is great. Look at that leadership, like he's definitely gonna
Speaker 1: be a first round pick. Now. No, But that's the thing,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like when those guys right.
Speaker 2: At the fact that people like believe that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think teams look at that. Oh, you're willing
Speaker 1: to play the ball game even though your first round pick.
Speaker 1: You can't. You love football, you care about your team,
Speaker 1: your teammates. Hurt his ankle, and it then struggled during
Speaker 1: the pre draft process, goes to Carolina. Last year, the
Speaker 1: Panthers actually traded up with the Patriots to get him.
Speaker 1: The Patriots used those picks later on Bailey Zappi and
Speaker 1: Marte Maphu. So that's that's a good trade. That's a
Speaker 1: very good trade. And then I remember he was so
Speaker 1: they saw him in joint practices and we know this,
Speaker 1: the Patriots like the guys that they see in joint practices.
Speaker 1: I didn't think he's very good here last year that
Speaker 1: week and then early on in that preseason game he
Speaker 1: suffered I said ankle injury earlier as wrong was a
Speaker 1: Liz frank injury. That's his foot foot, and missed the
Speaker 1: whole season. So this summer I think he was kind
Speaker 1: of hit and miss. He was never gonna start, right,
Speaker 1: They have Bryce Young and he was always going to
Speaker 1: be the guy. But really athletic, he's not. He's a
Speaker 1: different kind of quarterback than what they've had. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to find his height weight. I know he's on the smaller,
Speaker 1: on the smaller side, moves around a lot, makes plays
Speaker 1: out of structure, Definitely a threat with his legs. He
Speaker 1: can be a reid option guy, but the accuracy is
Speaker 1: an issue. He does have a bit of a quick trigger.
Speaker 1: He doesn't handle pressure super well, so kind of an
Speaker 1: anti Mac Jones. I don't think the things he's good
Speaker 1: at are he's as good at as the like Mac Jones'
Speaker 1: best traits. But he's a he's a different kind of
Speaker 1: passer and it's gonna be interesting to see what the
Speaker 1: for him.
Speaker 2: So I what I remember of him is is mainly
Speaker 2: you telling me to watch Alabama ole Miss a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago when it looked like ole Miss was
Speaker 2: actually going to be able to go toe to toe
Speaker 2: with Alabama.
Speaker 1: So that that year, that was that twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: year where he had a year in Kiffin's offense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he was like a heisman he was a Heisman candidate. Yeah, No,
Speaker 1: he was eismen get I'm trying to remember who. They
Speaker 1: had a really good receiver on that team too, I'm
Speaker 1: trying to remember who was.
Speaker 2: So the thing about ole Miss's offense that's that's important
Speaker 2: to mention is that they are they are a modern, modern,
Speaker 2: modern scheme under Lane Kiffin. They're an air raid team.
Speaker 1: Is Jonathan Mingos, Yeah, they do a bunch of crazy
Speaker 1: stuff offensively, like we're talking about motions options like a
Speaker 1: want to say it's as new age as you get.
Speaker 2: Read option, they like never punt right, like they're just
Speaker 2: like this aggressive pedal to the medal spread everything that
Speaker 2: you hear about, like you know, where's football going, and
Speaker 2: like new age football like Ole Miss does all of it.
Speaker 2: So in some respects, it was a little bit difficult
Speaker 2: when I did, like do a little bit of an
Speaker 2: EVL on some of those quarterbacks just thinking that maybe
Speaker 2: they would draft one. It was tyficult to project how
Speaker 2: Matt Corrale is going to play in an NFL system
Speaker 2: because Ole Miss is just very, very unique and weird.
Speaker 2: So that was a big part of it. But the
Speaker 2: one thing that I will say about Matt Corral and
Speaker 2: let me be clear that this is one hundred and
Speaker 2: ten competition for Bailey Zappy, not competition for Mac Jones,
Speaker 2: but with Matt Corral I think, and you you know,
Speaker 2: grieve me or not, Alex, I think that Mat Corel
Speaker 2: has more tools at his disposal than a guy like
Speaker 2: Bailey Zappy, Like I think he's a little bit bigger.
Speaker 2: I think he's got a bigger arm. I think he's
Speaker 2: a little bit more mobile, not necessarily, like a little
Speaker 2: bit like I think Billy Zappi's got decent elusiveness in
Speaker 2: the pocket and like he's pretty light on his feet
Speaker 2: in the pocket. But Coral can run, you know, with
Speaker 2: the football, like in designed run fashion. So what this
Speaker 2: looks like to me is that they have these two
Speaker 2: quarterbacks and Mac and Zappi. And we talked about this,
Speaker 2: and I think this is why a lot of people
Speaker 2: latched to Malie Cunningham was because they don't really have
Speaker 2: like the toolsy, developmental upside guy, right, Like, they don't
Speaker 2: have that guy. And I don't know if mat Correll
Speaker 2: is ever going to be anything more than than a
Speaker 2: journeyman backup. I don't think so. But he does have
Speaker 2: a little bit more of that athleticism gene that everybody's
Speaker 2: clamoring for all. You know, the teams that don't have
Speaker 2: a Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen Mahomes type of player, that's
Speaker 2: what everybody wants. That's not ma Correl. Mac Correl is
Speaker 2: a I think a designed runner more than he is
Speaker 2: like a scrambler and a or a out of structure playmaker.
Speaker 2: But he's got some mobility, and he's got a bigger
Speaker 2: arm than Zappy, and he's got some of those tools
Speaker 2: that everybody is clamoring for. So in a lot of ways,
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting because I expected them to be
Speaker 2: looking for a more stable, experienced veteran option, like a
Speaker 2: Colt McCoy type of option, or you kind of know
Speaker 2: what you're gonna get. Mac Correll is another is a
Speaker 2: ball of clay like mac Correll is a developmental player.
Speaker 2: He is I think, and again, you know, feel free
Speaker 2: to disagree with me. If they had to thrust somebody
Speaker 2: into a to a game, yeah, I think it's Bailey Zappy.
Speaker 2: I still don't think that you would put mac Corel
Speaker 2: in a game. I get, you know, picking out the
Speaker 2: fact that like he has to learn the system and
Speaker 2: like I'll get integrated and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: I just mean in general, I don't really look at
Speaker 1: mac Correll as like a stable steady like Brian Hoyer. Backup, So,
Speaker 1: Matt Correll is, remember when we were going into the
Speaker 1: draft and every there was that take that a lot
Speaker 1: of people had that was like, oh, look at what
Speaker 1: the Eagles did with Jalen Hurts. They had Carson Wentz,
Speaker 1: but they still took Jalen Hurts in the second round.
Speaker 1: Is like a project, right, and I met, we got
Speaker 1: blue in the face telling people that guy does not
Speaker 1: exist in this draft. That might be Matt Corrall. Matt
Speaker 1: Corrall might be the this guy's got a ton of tools.
Speaker 1: Let's see what we can turn him into.
Speaker 7: Guy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but he's not as good as challenging.
Speaker 1: He's not as good as Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 2: No, but he wasn't. Like he wasn't as good as
Speaker 2: Jailen Hurts in college, and he's not as good now.
Speaker 2: Like I'm no, he wasn't as good as Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 1: He wasn't as good as Oklahoma Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: at Alabama.
Speaker 2: Was limited as a passer.
Speaker 1: People forget what Lincoln Riley did for Jalen Hurts.
Speaker 2: Well, he doesn't hurt everybody, so that's true. I just
Speaker 2: it's interesting to me that this is the path that
Speaker 2: they took because I think a lot of the reporting
Speaker 2: out there, and I'm not like bashing on the reports
Speaker 2: or anything, but a lot of the reporting out there,
Speaker 2: and and my indication would be, let's go after a
Speaker 2: Colt McCoy. Let's go after like a backup that's like
Speaker 2: a steady presence that can come in and you know
Speaker 2: somebody that's like a little bit better than Trace mcsorly, right,
Speaker 2: like basically that kind of guy that is not this guy.
Speaker 2: Macarel is an athlete. Ma Correl is a developmental prospect,
Speaker 2: and uh, it'll be interesting to see what becomes of him.
Speaker 2: You know, I don't think that you're thinking much of
Speaker 2: it right now. The other thing that I would say
Speaker 2: about this that I find a little bit interesting. Now
Speaker 2: it costs nothing to claim a guy on waivers and
Speaker 2: then he gotta pay him.
Speaker 1: Right, so they Now it's funny for all this stuff
Speaker 1: we were talking about the rookie contract, they now have
Speaker 1: a quarter They now have a contract on quarterback on
Speaker 1: a rookie contract from the same draft is.
Speaker 2: For the purposes of facilitation, because that's what I do here.
Speaker 1: Sometimes, Why not Trey Lance, Like why if youn't have
Speaker 1: to give up a draft pick?
Speaker 2: But if you were gonna do this, you didn't have
Speaker 2: to give up a draft pick. He but Trai Lance
Speaker 2: is just enough. Draftick trailiance is just better mac Correl.
Speaker 2: I also wonder if they thought Trey Lance was you wonder.
Speaker 1: I nothing in Matt Corrall, like, yeah, he hurt his
Speaker 1: foot last year. I don't think you look at him
Speaker 1: and you say, here's the guy whose growth has been hindered.
Speaker 1: I think in Trey Lance, you look at him as
Speaker 1: a guy and and you know, did the Niners ruin him? Basically?
Speaker 1: Is he passed? I also return.
Speaker 2: So the reason why I brought this up is because
Speaker 2: my real theory on it is that I think that
Speaker 2: they looked at Trey Lance and they said that guy
Speaker 2: could be looked at as a real competition for Mac Jones.
Speaker 2: And I do think that there's something to be said.
Speaker 2: I'm not totally in on the conspiracy that Bailey z
Speaker 2: Appy was cut as a message to Mac Jones. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't necessarily think that, but I definitely think that
Speaker 2: they want to make sure that there is no question,
Speaker 2: there's no question who the starting quarterback of the team is,
Speaker 2: and if you bring in a guy like Trey Lance,
Speaker 2: it's gonna be He's gonna be there.
Speaker 1: I honestly my thought was, is this maybe Lane Kiffin
Speaker 1: and we know he's like indirectly in the Belichick with Saban.
Speaker 2: I wonder who knows what his relationship was with Bill
Speaker 2: O'Brien too. It might they might have a relationship as well.
Speaker 1: Well they I would think they wouldn't. The other thing
Speaker 1: about it is Corral. I don't know how much carry
Speaker 1: over there it'd be here. But remember Bill O'Brien didn't
Speaker 1: run his offense at Alabama.
Speaker 2: This was old.
Speaker 1: When he was brought in, Mac Jones taught him the
Speaker 1: lane or the Steve Starkesian but it so he ran
Speaker 1: a lot of his offense at Alabama, but then there
Speaker 1: was a lot of Alabama staples. But those Alabama staples
Speaker 1: came from mine Kiffn. I'm saying. So, I don't think, Matt.
Speaker 1: I don't think the Patriots playbook, even though it's kind
Speaker 1: of three or four degrees removed. Oh yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: think the Patriots playbook is going to be totally foreign.
Speaker 2: Too, like the the RPO stuff, the empty stuff, like
Speaker 2: all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I'm sure as president, but I don't even say. I
Speaker 1: bet even some of the terminology there's going to be
Speaker 1: carryover from what he was doing at or from what
Speaker 1: Corral was doing at Ole Miss with Alabama's former offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely so very interesting stuff. Matt Corrall on fifty
Speaker 2: three man roster claimed by the Patriots. So on the
Speaker 2: fifty three man roster now Bailey Zappi is still on
Speaker 2: the practice squad. Malie Cunningham is still on the practice squad.
Speaker 2: Last thing on Macrrel because we kind of broke down
Speaker 2: Macarrel enough. I want to get to some of the
Speaker 2: other things about the initial roster. I want to go
Speaker 2: back to the what I just mentioned briefly. Week one,
Speaker 2: Philadelphia comes to town. Who's the backup quarterback? Because in
Speaker 2: mcare on the.
Speaker 1: Roster, I think, because you're not going to activate or
Speaker 1: you're not gonna elevate Bailey's Appy, why not and then
Speaker 1: use the third quarterback or your quarterback.
Speaker 2: Cratch mac Correl. He just would be Then why is
Speaker 2: why is mat Corral here developed to develop them? Clearly?
Speaker 1: I guess maybe I think it's Zappy. I think they
Speaker 1: have too many other guys that need to elevate. They're
Speaker 1: gonna need to elevate a running back. They're probably gonna
Speaker 1: need to elevate a tight end.
Speaker 2: Maybe they don't elevate the tight end.
Speaker 1: Mm I'd like maybe I just I think it's too.
Speaker 1: I think you can rule out we we thought it
Speaker 1: was kind of a lock that Bailey's Appy was going
Speaker 1: to end up back on the fifty three at some point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that's out the window.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm I'm honestly, this whole thing is really surprising
Speaker 2: to me. How I know, you don't want me to
Speaker 2: call it a downfall, but I'm calling it a downfall.
Speaker 1: I just think it's on.
Speaker 2: I'm so surprised that we've come this far though with it.
Speaker 2: I really am like to I take, like I said,
Speaker 2: you do, but to go aux, to go from what
Speaker 2: we saw on that Monday and I did against Chicago.
Speaker 1: But chanting, is it really take the media thing out
Speaker 1: of it if you're looking at it in the room, Like,
Speaker 1: here's a guy that played really well in two games
Speaker 1: against two of the worst defenses in the league and
Speaker 1: then struggled against the worst defense in the league and
Speaker 1: then had a bad summer. Take the whole Zappi fever
Speaker 1: thing out of it. Yeah, there, it was not that
Speaker 1: hot of a take to say you were worried about
Speaker 1: their backup quarterback situation. I don't know how much Matt
Speaker 1: Correll fixes. It doesn't to me Matt Correll is a
Speaker 1: ball of clubs. I think I think Bailey's Appy right
Speaker 1: now is a better quarterback. Me too, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: So I had him, I had him ahead of Mat
Speaker 1: Corral in that draft. Zappi be the backup in a week.
Speaker 1: That's my point, on top of the fact that you
Speaker 1: have to get more integrated. All right, you might be right,
Speaker 1: you might be right, like I just think Bailey Zappi
Speaker 1: is the floor. Right Like Bailey Zappi is a floor backup.
Speaker 1: Matt Corral is a guy that has a little bit
Speaker 1: of a ceiling, totally different blairer than Bailey Zappi. Jonathan
Speaker 1: emailed in and I wanted to weigh in on the
Speaker 1: Zappi thing, and uh, you know he he plays out
Speaker 1: a compelling argument here about how much Zappi has regressed
Speaker 1: and how you know, we really should be you know,
Speaker 1: talking about that more. I think, without any tools to
Speaker 1: give guy a guy upside, you want a certain floor
Speaker 1: to be happy with that spot, meaning the backup quarterback.
Speaker 2: Last year he gave that, gave you that. This year,
Speaker 2: while a line player was a problem, he also took
Speaker 2: looks like he broke his mechanics, and he misses his
Speaker 2: easy throws without pressure weights too often. If you have
Speaker 2: both a low floor and a low ceiling, you have
Speaker 2: an issue. We've obviously seen. You can do worse watching
Speaker 2: Trace sorely shots fired. But Zappi's regression should hugely change
Speaker 2: their view on him. So this is what I wanted
Speaker 2: to address. Should do you? Is your view on Bailly
Speaker 2: Zappi hugely different than it was a year ago.
Speaker 1: M No, that's all the I said it. For a second.
Speaker 1: He's a good backup quarterback. Yeah, he's not a starter.
Speaker 1: He does belong in the league. He is a good
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. Matt corral may or may not be an
Speaker 1: NFL court He may be a starting NFL quarterback. He
Speaker 1: may be an XFL starting quarterback. Like, I don't know yet.
Speaker 2: I'll watch him in the XFL.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm saying, like, I have zero idea what
Speaker 1: Matt Corrall is an NFL pass. I didn't think he
Speaker 1: was great in joint practice last year. Yeah it was
Speaker 1: two days. I'm not gonna give my whole opinion based
Speaker 1: off that. Yeah, I didn't love him coming out of college.
Speaker 1: I thought, all right, this is a guy that's really athletic.
Speaker 1: I don't know what else he does. We'll see how
Speaker 1: they coach him up. He's a lottery ticket.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how I feel. My opinion on Billy Zappie
Speaker 2: has not changed. It all because of a couple things. One,
Speaker 2: I think we're both in agreement that we kind of
Speaker 2: thought this is who Bailey Zappi was all along, and
Speaker 2: he was propped up in the situation that he was
Speaker 2: in last year. Get as much as we destroy Matt
Speaker 2: Patricia on this show, and we enjoy doing it based
Speaker 2: off of what he put us through last year. You
Speaker 2: got to give him a little bit of credit, Like
Speaker 2: he made Bailey Zappi look look pretty good for two games, right, Like,
Speaker 2: give him a little bit of credit for that. I
Speaker 2: guess there's one thing that we can give him credit for.
Speaker 2: But my feeling on Zappy hasn't changed. I think that
Speaker 2: this is who he always has been. But I also
Speaker 2: think at the same time that if you put him
Speaker 2: with the starters right, starting offensive line, starting receivers, and
Speaker 2: then you watered down Bill O'Brien's offense to make it
Speaker 2: similar to what he ran last year, if you had
Speaker 2: to start him in a game like the scenario we
Speaker 2: laid out earlier where the exact same thing happens as
Speaker 2: last year. I think that they could put a game
Speaker 2: plan in for Bailey Zappi to be okay, just like
Speaker 2: he was last year. So that's why my opinion hasn't
Speaker 2: changed on him. I think he showed us this summer
Speaker 2: what we already knew to an extent, but he proved
Speaker 2: to us this summer that he is not a starting
Speaker 2: quarterback that's capable of opening up the birth of your playbook,
Speaker 2: right Like, he's not going to come in here and
Speaker 2: run all these different things and change all these different
Speaker 2: things at the line of scrimmage and make all these
Speaker 2: checks and these audibles and all. That's not going to
Speaker 2: be Bailey Zappi's game. But if you absolutely if you
Speaker 2: had to start Bailey Zappy in a game, and you
Speaker 2: go back to some of the stuff they did with
Speaker 2: him as a rookie and you water it down and
Speaker 2: you narrow it down to the things that he's good at,
Speaker 2: I think that he would still be serviceable as a backup.
Speaker 2: So I guess my opinion hasn't changed that much. I
Speaker 2: do agree with the email that his mechanics and like
Speaker 2: all the s side arm stuff. I think messed with
Speaker 2: it a lot. He missed a lot more short throws
Speaker 2: in the quick game than I remember him missing as
Speaker 2: a rookie. You know, slance, you know that type of
Speaker 2: stuff a lot more this summer than I remember him
Speaker 2: last year. But again, I don't think my opinion on
Speaker 2: him as Drassic change because I still think you could
Speaker 2: make him a competent spot starting backup if you absolutely
Speaker 2: had to. And I still feel that way. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: I think mac Corral is a totally different animal. I
Speaker 2: think that's that's a ball of clay that you're hoping
Speaker 2: it can develop long term into something.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: All right, let's take this call from Eddie in California. Eddie,
Speaker 2: what's up?
Speaker 3: What's going on?
Speaker 4: Guys?
Speaker 3: Hope you guys are doing good today. I kind of
Speaker 3: like the route that the Patriots are taking in these
Speaker 3: three development quarterbacks. Cunningham's at the end now Corral, and
Speaker 3: I think I do prefer that over veterans like Colt McCoy,
Speaker 3: because I feel like if we get a veteran like
Speaker 3: Colt McCoy, it won't it won't light up the offense.
Speaker 3: And I get that these developments won't light him up
Speaker 3: as well, but I think it'll just be more fun
Speaker 3: to watch. And I feel like we know that we
Speaker 3: probably don't have a playoff push, and so taking a
Speaker 3: veteran quarterback probably is just like I just feel it
Speaker 3: won't make the games enjoyable. What do you guys think
Speaker 3: about that?
Speaker 2: Okay, Edi, Yeah, I understand your point. You know, there's
Speaker 2: a little bit of h and thanks for the call.
Speaker 2: There's a little bit of the unknown, right, there's a
Speaker 2: little bit of the upside, and like maybe with corral
Speaker 2: to a little bit of mobility, Like just like Blie
Speaker 2: Cuttingham goes out there for one drive in a preseason
Speaker 2: game against Houston in the fourth quarter against a bunch
Speaker 2: of guys that just got cut, and everybody goes crazy
Speaker 2: because he can run around, right Like, So I guess
Speaker 2: there's there's sort of that element that makes it more exciting.
Speaker 2: We've got a couple of calls, and I was really
Speaker 2: putting on doing this this last week or next week.
Speaker 2: Excuse me, but just quickly, am I a homer and
Speaker 2: am I a good team employee? Alex? If I say
Speaker 2: that I disagree with these people that are calling in
Speaker 2: that say the Patriots have no playoff chances.
Speaker 1: They have playoff chance. I mean they should contend for
Speaker 1: that that fun a wildcard spot. Yeah, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's a guarantee. I don't think it's a lock, but
Speaker 1: like they're not going to be out of it before December.
Speaker 2: I don't right, I agree with you. I don't agree
Speaker 2: with the car say we don't really have a chance
Speaker 2: to make the playoffs this year. I don't agree. Last year,
Speaker 2: this team was eight and nine, and granted we've talked
Speaker 2: about this, it was kind of a fake playoff race
Speaker 2: for them down the stretch last year. They weren't really
Speaker 2: in it. They needed a lot of help and they
Speaker 2: needed to beat Buffalo and have other teams completely fall apart.
Speaker 2: So I get they weren't really in it, but they
Speaker 2: were technically one win shy of the playoffs. Like if
Speaker 2: they had gone nine to eight instead of eight and nine,
Speaker 2: they would have had tiebreakers to keep them out of
Speaker 2: the playoffs. So I think that they have playoff hopes.
Speaker 2: Do they have hopes to win a playoff game? Probably not?
Speaker 2: But do I think that they could make the playoffs? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Why not? Like I think you take an eight and
Speaker 2: nine team last year you give them a real offensive coordinator,
Speaker 2: you upgrade in a couple different spots. I think I
Speaker 2: don't think it's that crazy. Let's get to some of
Speaker 2: the other things about the roster before we wrap it
Speaker 2: up here. I don't think either one of us was
Speaker 2: surprised about two tight ends. I think that I talked
Speaker 2: myself into three at a couple points, but I don't
Speaker 2: think it was totally shocking to see them only roll
Speaker 2: with two. I am interested to see how they block it, right, Like,
Speaker 2: is Hunter Henry gonna be a better blocker this year
Speaker 2: than he was last year? Maybe, like with the coaching
Speaker 2: and the scheme and the angles and all that stuff improved,
Speaker 2: Like maybe he can be KAUZICKI I still view as
Speaker 2: a receiver. I don't think he's gonna block very much
Speaker 2: for you. Do they use like a guy like Tyrone
Speaker 2: Wheatley played tight end in college? Like, do they use
Speaker 2: him as like a sixth offensive I.
Speaker 1: Think you're gonna see a lot of six offensive one,
Speaker 1: especially early on. We talked about the past rushes. I
Speaker 1: think you see some of that.
Speaker 2: I think that's possible as well, So not a huge
Speaker 2: shock there. Their running back situation, we've talked about it
Speaker 2: a little bit. This one did surprise me because, yes,
Speaker 2: I know again similar to the Zappi thing. Yes, they
Speaker 2: have their running backs on the practice squad. Time Montgomery
Speaker 2: and Kevin Harris are on the practice squad. Remember when Belichick,
Speaker 2: there's two years that I feel like Belichick in Belichick
Speaker 2: so bad when it came to running back depth that
Speaker 2: I never thought we would go back there again. It
Speaker 2: was the Stephen Jackson year. What was that twenty fifteen
Speaker 2: I think it was fifteen, Yeah, where they had to
Speaker 2: place Stephen Jackson's corpse in like the last two games
Speaker 2: of the season because they didn't have any other running backs.
Speaker 2: And the other one ended up being something that they
Speaker 2: were kind of ahead of the curve on with Cordell
Speaker 2: Patterson and they actually they discovered he was a running
Speaker 2: back before anybody else did. And now he's a great
Speaker 2: running back in Atlanta, which is kind of ironic. But
Speaker 2: in eighteen, right, it was eighteen that they had to
Speaker 2: use Patterson at running back, and after that I just
Speaker 2: thought there was no way that they would they would
Speaker 2: leave themselves high and try it running back none And
Speaker 2: they're not totally high and dry because they have the
Speaker 2: guys on the practice squad. But I go back to
Speaker 2: the pier strong trade and I wonder, you know, is
Speaker 2: Time Montgomery really the change of pace back, if you
Speaker 2: want to call it that that this team needs, Like
Speaker 2: is he really capable of doing that? Is he going
Speaker 2: to be healthy? Is he going to be ready to
Speaker 2: go that? Those are the big question marks. But how
Speaker 2: surprised were you about two running backs? And like, where
Speaker 2: do you think they go from here?
Speaker 1: At this I thought j Taylor into roster spot. I
Speaker 1: understand them being hesitant giving Time Montgomery one because of
Speaker 1: his injury history, and I think the practice squad is
Speaker 1: perfect spot for him. But they yeah, it's it's well
Speaker 1: under what they usually do. I was, I was pretty
Speaker 1: surprised by that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Uh me as well. All right, let's go over
Speaker 2: to the defensive side of the ball and then I'll
Speaker 2: we'll wrap with with your kickers, your your rookie kickers
Speaker 2: winning the jobs. I know that that makes you happy.
Speaker 2: Uh well, I guess really quickly. I'm sorry. I know
Speaker 2: I said we were gonna go defense. Was there any
Speaker 2: question in your mind at the end that Pop Douglas
Speaker 2: and Kasehan Boody were both going to make the team now.
Speaker 1: After that, after the way I was a little on
Speaker 1: defense about kash On Booty going into the final preseason game,
Speaker 1: but once they they didn't give him a chance to
Speaker 1: earn a spot, which told me, yeah, he's got one right.
Speaker 2: Right, So you could have read that one of two ways. Obviously,
Speaker 2: you could have read it that they didn't want to
Speaker 2: put any more film out there and have them not
Speaker 2: sneak into the pie. I was with you, I.
Speaker 1: Don't believe in that the whole there trying to bury Hi.
Speaker 1: They're trying to hide him. You give players every chance.
Speaker 1: They can't turn a round.
Speaker 2: The only thing that I thought that maybe they hid
Speaker 2: was Malik at quarterback. They hit that a little bit.
Speaker 1: You can hide things schematically, Yeah, but I don't think
Speaker 1: you're like, all right, we're gonna bench him and sneak
Speaker 1: him on another practice Like that doesn't right.
Speaker 2: I thought sense the second that Kaishan Boody took that
Speaker 2: slant forty two yards of the house at Lambeau, that's all.
Speaker 1: That's when I knew I wanted him on this That's
Speaker 1: when I knew I wanted him on the team. On
Speaker 1: the team, I didn't know if that was going to
Speaker 1: be enough for them, but apparently.
Speaker 2: Yes, and they're like that.
Speaker 1: And then he had the good week when they came
Speaker 1: back when they were getting ready.
Speaker 2: For tennis sae. Yeah, and he was good in the
Speaker 2: practices in Green Bay too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So what I love about that that cat sit.
Speaker 1: He's a gamer, dude, I'm telling I wonder if he
Speaker 1: kind of got the feeling that he was maybe on
Speaker 1: the fence and was just like, all right, let's show
Speaker 1: him what I can do. Let's open it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I love when people are like, all, like the
Speaker 2: safety took a terrible angle in Green Bay. Yeah, like
Speaker 2: it wasn't a good angle, but he also ran through
Speaker 2: the angle like you know, like he took the ball
Speaker 2: and he exploded after the.
Speaker 1: Safety took a bad angle because the margin for error
Speaker 1: was so minuscule because of the way. Yeah, that's what
Speaker 1: he does. I remember the comp for him before the draft,
Speaker 1: like if he maxes Max's maxes out, Oh no, it
Speaker 1: was not mine, Debo.
Speaker 2: Oh man, that's a big comp.
Speaker 1: But like that kind of player.
Speaker 2: I don't know if he's I don't know if his
Speaker 2: breakaway speed is like quite as good as Debos, But
Speaker 2: what he's good at is he's it's weird with him
Speaker 2: because his his straight line speed doesn't show in his
Speaker 2: route running, like he doesn't run by people on like
Speaker 2: a go route or something like that, but he hits
Speaker 2: a different gear with the ball in his hand.
Speaker 1: It's more a you Also, for his size, you don't
Speaker 1: expect a guy to move that fast. And so you know,
Speaker 1: bigger receiver, you think you got to square up, tackle him,
Speaker 1: go low. The smaller, quicker receivers, you give yourself more room.
Speaker 1: You kind of can't with him, yeah, because if you
Speaker 1: square him up, he'll run over you. And if you
Speaker 1: hesitate to get to the point to give him more
Speaker 1: room to cut, he exactly what he saw against Green Bay.
Speaker 2: So it's just he's weird because like when you watch
Speaker 2: him on film, you're like he just has no juice,
Speaker 2: Like he's not running by anybody, and he's not really
Speaker 2: threatening on a vertical stem or Like there's just no
Speaker 2: juice to his route running.
Speaker 1: It's not dynamic like Pop Douglas runs dynamic routes like
Speaker 1: that guy right it was explodes off the line, gets
Speaker 1: into the break like all that with with Kaishawn Booty,
Speaker 1: it's like he just he's like a different guy with
Speaker 1: the football in his hands.
Speaker 2: It's very weird. It's a little Kendrick Bournish like. I
Speaker 2: think that there's a little bit of an overlap there
Speaker 2: in terms of skill set, but it's it's a it's
Speaker 2: kind of a cool, uh study. Let's go over to defense.
Speaker 2: I was happy for Sam Roberts. I thought, I thought
Speaker 2: he played his butt off the entire preseason and made
Speaker 2: the team like he We talk, you know, you talk
Speaker 2: a lot about Alex like the at large roster spots. Yeah,
Speaker 2: he was competing for an at large roster spot and
Speaker 2: he took the dang thing like he he made the
Speaker 2: team like it wasn't like, oh, we need like six
Speaker 2: defensive linemen and to meet the threshold, we're gonna keep
Speaker 2: Sam Roberts. He forced his way on.
Speaker 1: He was too good. He was too good. Love seeing
Speaker 1: guys like that, and you know he's gonna be here too.
Speaker 1: He might play too, He might play a little bit.
Speaker 1: I'm not exactly sure where, but the fact he can
Speaker 1: play pretty much any spot on the defensive line. Like
Speaker 1: last year, I did he he dressed only one or
Speaker 1: two games.
Speaker 2: He played like very spare, Yeah, but he did. He
Speaker 2: did play.
Speaker 1: He might play a little more this year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, edge rushers your favorite. No, Ronnie Perkins back on
Speaker 2: the practice squad.
Speaker 1: Didn't surprise me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's that's the one that you just like,
Speaker 2: can't really take the take the bait of the final
Speaker 2: preseason game beating up on like six string tackles.
Speaker 1: Well, it was more so my when I was doing
Speaker 1: my last roster projection, my last spot was Sam Roberts
Speaker 1: Ronnie Perkins. That's what it came down to. And like
Speaker 1: Sam Roberts was good in Green Bay, he was good
Speaker 1: in the Green Bay game. Ronnie Perkins was hurt for
Speaker 1: most of that and then just came back and had
Speaker 1: a last good preseason game. So it was one game
Speaker 1: versus two weeks. And maybe if he wasn't hurt that
Speaker 1: down that stretch, he makes a stronger case. But yeah,
Speaker 1: just off one game, it's it's tough to give it
Speaker 1: to him.
Speaker 2: Where As Mac Wilson made the team.
Speaker 1: Yes, and no, I no, no, I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I was surprised.
Speaker 1: I was like, what's his role like a special special
Speaker 1: teams Okay, Marte Mophu's backup?
Speaker 2: Do you really need like Marta Mapu as a rookie
Speaker 2: might already be a situational backup, Like, do you really
Speaker 2: need a backup to the backup?
Speaker 1: I think they're playing have bigger plans for map that.
Speaker 2: I hope so, but I'm not convinced of it.
Speaker 1: Leadership, he's been here that kind of thing. I think
Speaker 1: he just made it on intangibles.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: I just I I wouldn't have It's one of those
Speaker 1: ones like I wouldn't necessarily have put him on. But
Speaker 1: I understand based on the way they operate, why he
Speaker 1: made the team.
Speaker 2: I feel like, and maybe this is just my bias
Speaker 2: coming in. First of all, his run defense film last year,
Speaker 2: in his run defense film in the preseason, is not playing.
Speaker 1: He's only gonna play on third downs.
Speaker 2: He can't play in the run game.
Speaker 1: He's only gonna play on the third down.
Speaker 2: The second thing I would say is that I get
Speaker 2: I do. I get a little bit frustrated when they
Speaker 2: keep guys like this, where you have these younger players
Speaker 2: like a Mapou that are better than Mac Wilson. And
Speaker 2: sometimes I fear that he'll play the veteran guy, right
Speaker 2: like I fear that Bill will play the veterans.
Speaker 1: Oh that's all valid, but I'm just saying like, that's
Speaker 1: the kind of guy they keep for exactly what you
Speaker 1: just said. I I just that's why they want him
Speaker 1: as a fallback.
Speaker 2: Nothing to do with mac Wilson. If he's listening to
Speaker 2: ob he doesn't take this personally. I almost like it
Speaker 2: when they cut those types of guys so that Bill
Speaker 2: doesn't have the option to play the veteran over the
Speaker 2: young guy. That's just where I stand with with Mack
Speaker 2: Wilson corners, no big surprises at the top, right like
Speaker 2: Christian DAWs, John Jones, Marcus Jones, Jack Jones.
Speaker 1: Are we like out of the woods at this point
Speaker 1: that Jack Jones like he's gonna uh no, no he.
Speaker 2: Has is I think the next hearing is in between
Speaker 2: week one and two.
Speaker 1: No, but like at this point he's gonna be on
Speaker 1: the field week one. Yeah, okay, so unless the league
Speaker 1: steps But I'm saying like they usually step in by now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: probably that's what Okay, Yeah, but usually the league also
Speaker 1: lets like the legal stuff right carry through before they
Speaker 1: really get involved. One quick thing on Miles Bryant, take
Speaker 1: your your little your little tweets out of my replies
Speaker 1: on Miles Bryant is on the roster, all right, Like
Speaker 1: I understand that Patriots fans have frustrations with Miles Bryant.
Speaker 2: I get it. We all have the same frustrations. You
Speaker 2: know how many people, Alex, you get their applies to,
Speaker 2: like the initial why is Miles Bryan on this team?
Speaker 2: Like why why can't we move on from Miles Bryant.
Speaker 2: Miles Bryant is not a man cover corner. He's not
Speaker 2: a man to man guy. He's too slow and he's
Speaker 2: not capable of keeping up with starting caliber NFL receivers
Speaker 2: in man to man. We know that. But they have
Speaker 2: really really big shoes to fill. And I'm writing about
Speaker 2: this for Monday, so you can check that out. They
Speaker 2: have really really big shoes to fill. With Devin mccordy,
Speaker 2: they're gonna be a little bit more too high. I
Speaker 2: think they're gonna still play some zone like they those
Speaker 2: are the roles that Miles Bryant's gonna be competing for.
Speaker 2: I think, I hope I would assume that he's gonna
Speaker 2: be out of Week one or week two against Miami,
Speaker 2: Like you know, Miles Bryant, you got Jalen Waddle, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't think we're doing that anymore. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, I he's somebody that is really heady and
Speaker 2: zone coverage. He's a sound tackler, he's got good instincts.
Speaker 2: He's a good zone player, zone player, and a smart, savvy,
Speaker 2: veteran type of guy. I have no problem with Miles
Speaker 2: Bryant being on the team, and I think we need
Speaker 2: to stop picking so much on Miles Bryant. That that's
Speaker 2: my soapbox moment with Miles Bryant.
Speaker 1: Miles Bryant. It like Miles Bryant is not as bad
Speaker 1: as he's looked because they haven't used him correctly. If
Speaker 1: they're not a corner, if he's not if they're gonna
Speaker 1: use Miles Bryant correctly, I actually think it makes a
Speaker 1: lot of sense to keep him for a lot of
Speaker 1: the reasons you just said. If they're gonna have him
Speaker 1: try to man up on an island the other team's
Speaker 1: fastest wide receiver, yeah, it's not gonna go well, right,
Speaker 1: Isaam right exactly, So I don't mind them keeping him.
Speaker 1: I think he's a very smart football player. I think
Speaker 1: he's a very physical football player, especially for his size,
Speaker 1: and there's value in having that. He'll play on special
Speaker 1: teams He's a good guy to have on the back
Speaker 1: end who can come forward and make him play. But
Speaker 1: you now have the whole thing's built out of slot
Speaker 1: corners pretty much. John Jones, Marcus Jones, Sean Wade. There's
Speaker 1: no reason Miles Briant should have to play slot corner
Speaker 1: reps this year. As long as they keep him out
Speaker 1: of that role. I'm fine with him making the team
Speaker 1: because I do think that he does bring an element
Speaker 1: of toughness and football IQ to the secondary.
Speaker 2: Let's lay off Myles Brian. That's all I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I just just just understand what you're watching.
Speaker 2: Also, you mentioned Sean Wade, Yeah, made the team, and
Speaker 2: I am I allowed to be like, I don't want
Speaker 2: to use the word excited, because I'm not. You know,
Speaker 2: he's probably gonna be like a fifth defensive back and
Speaker 2: he he he might even be in active honestly for
Speaker 2: game day. But I'm like a little bit intrigued. Is
Speaker 2: that the right word? Maybe by Sean Wade. And the
Speaker 2: main reason is We've talked about so many times with
Speaker 2: Sean Wade that his big season at Ohio State was
Speaker 2: playing slot cornerback. It was not playing on the boundary seasons. Yeah,
Speaker 2: his big The reason why he was on the NFL's
Speaker 2: map was because of how good he played in the
Speaker 2: nickel role in Ohio State, its slot corner role. The
Speaker 2: Patriots have moved him back there this year. They've played
Speaker 2: him there in a little bit at free safety, and
Speaker 2: I thought he had a really good summer. And I
Speaker 2: think between that, the fact that he's really a natural
Speaker 2: slot and not an outside corner, and the fact that
Speaker 2: he actually brings some size to the slot as well.
Speaker 2: Because as much as they're gonna play Miami twice a
Speaker 2: year and they're gonna have to go up against Waddle
Speaker 2: and Hill, and they're gonna have to go up against
Speaker 2: speed slots every week, they're also going to potentially see
Speaker 2: some slots that are bigger, you know, like a guy
Speaker 2: like a Garrett Wilson for example. And I know you
Speaker 2: probably don't want to put Sean Wade on Garrett Wilson,
Speaker 2: but I'm just using him as an example. They are
Speaker 2: going to play some bigger slots too, and they needed
Speaker 2: somebody with some size one two hundred pounds. He brings
Speaker 2: that element to it. I think he can play safety
Speaker 2: and he can play corner. I'm a little bit intrigued
Speaker 2: by Sean Wade. I thought he had a good summer,
Speaker 2: and I think that he's just at home playing out
Speaker 2: of the slot.
Speaker 1: So this is another one like Matt Corral. They love
Speaker 1: signing these guys that were like elite high school talents,
Speaker 1: yeah that didn't pan out, and seeing if they can
Speaker 1: tap into that. How impressive was Shawn Wade in high
Speaker 1: school eleven he won the Game USA D National Football
Speaker 1: Player of the Year for defense. He was named of
Speaker 1: all the defensive players in high school football nationally in
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen. The best other guys who have won that
Speaker 1: Caveon Thibodeaux first round pick Kooyd McKinstry gonna be a
Speaker 1: first round pick. Solomon tulia Pupu is an edge rusher
Speaker 1: for USC. I don't know if you're familiar with him.
Speaker 1: It's the Trojans, are you actually no?
Speaker 2: I think does he have a brother, Tully?
Speaker 1: I think that is him. I think he goes by
Speaker 1: TULLI yeah, oh yeah, he just got drafted. Oh no, no, no,
Speaker 1: so it is his brother, Yeah, sorry, no, because he's
Speaker 1: still there. It's gonna be his.
Speaker 2: Last His older brothers in the NFL, his older brothers.
Speaker 1: In the NFL. Jabrill Pepper's won this, Jadavian Clowney won this,
Speaker 1: Bryce Young, Trevor Lawrence on offense, Kyler Murray, Leonard Fron,
Speaker 1: Like you talk about the guys that Sean Wade's in
Speaker 1: company with. He went to Ohio State, was a really
Speaker 1: good slock owner, really good slock owner. For two years.
Speaker 1: People thought he was gonna be a first round pick.
Speaker 1: And then in that twenty twenty season, and remember we
Speaker 1: loved him going into that drifts, You're like, here's value.
Speaker 1: This is a guy's a first round pick fell to
Speaker 1: the fifth round. Why they played him on the boundary
Speaker 1: and he just couldn't do it. And I think it
Speaker 1: messed him up. Because he's talked about his confidence level.
Speaker 1: It seems like he's gotten back in that groove. He's
Speaker 1: playing back in the slot where he's comfortable, he's confident,
Speaker 1: he's making plays there. There is a ton of natural
Speaker 1: talent when it comes to Sean Wade to tap into.
Speaker 2: I intrigued.
Speaker 1: I really think the last couple of years was all mental. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And if they have him back on the right track,
Speaker 1: you're talking about a guy who can be a top
Speaker 1: three corner. You're talking about a guy who was the
Speaker 1: potential to be we'll see if he gets there, potential
Speaker 1: to be a starting slot corner.
Speaker 2: So I think we saw some of those flashes in camp. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean he had that pick on the goal line
Speaker 2: and it would have been a pick six in a
Speaker 2: game that showed some really, really heavy instincts. He sniffed
Speaker 2: the screen out, jumped the pass, and ran it back
Speaker 2: the other way. I talked to him briefly in the
Speaker 2: locker room on Wednesday after they cut downs and officially
Speaker 2: made the team, and when I asked him about playing
Speaker 2: back at home in the slot, I think, is how
Speaker 2: I freez like you could. The relief on his face
Speaker 2: was just like, yeah, like this is where I belong,
Speaker 2: this is.
Speaker 1: Who I am. And I again, I think the theme
Speaker 1: of this show. He's kind of been taking flyers on
Speaker 1: players in those Ball of Clay players. If there's a
Speaker 1: guy you're gonna bring in and you're not really sure
Speaker 1: where you're gonna use him, but you want to give
Speaker 1: him a roster spot because of potential, this is the
Speaker 1: kind of guy you do that with. This is absolutely
Speaker 1: the kind of guy you do that with. Okay, So
Speaker 1: speaking of so shout out and again that he came
Speaker 1: back and made the team after two rough years, like
Speaker 1: super happy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, speaking of balls of clay and making the team.
Speaker 2: And I I gotta admit I didn't see a mere
Speaker 2: speed making the team. And I guess I probably should
Speaker 2: have seen a little bit more once Isaiah Bolden's injury
Speaker 2: happened and that kind of opened the path for him.
Speaker 2: They Belichick what like a week ago, two weeks ago,
Speaker 2: called him a developmental player.
Speaker 1: I think So here's the thing. I don't think they
Speaker 1: think he's a corner. I think they see him as
Speaker 1: a Matthews Slater type, as a pure special teamer. Well,
Speaker 1: then in that context, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: So if they well they they basically listed him I
Speaker 2: think on one of our graphics as a stage.
Speaker 1: So I was going to bring that up. I wasn't sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the graphic you guys did, which looked really cool. Shout
Speaker 1: out to the graphics team. YEA, yeah, No, I liked it.
Speaker 2: I liked it.
Speaker 1: It was a cool graphics. All the offensive players had
Speaker 1: read behind them, all the defensive players they blew behind him.
Speaker 1: It was like all the head shots and then the
Speaker 1: special teamers. So Nick Fole not nick Fole, Chad I
Speaker 1: got I'm just defaulting to that. Chad Ryland, Bryce Baringer,
Speaker 1: Joe Cardo, and Matthew Slater had white behind them, So
Speaker 1: did Chris Board would you kind of expect and a
Speaker 1: mere speed?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: So I maybe that telegrams. I know the graphics people
Speaker 1: are making them football decisions. But did they get like
Speaker 1: a list and he was listed as a specialist.
Speaker 2: I think I think they did.
Speaker 1: So. Yeah, I don't think he's ready to play corner
Speaker 1: in the NFL. Maybe in a year or two he
Speaker 1: could get there. I thought Isaiah Bolden showed me much
Speaker 1: more in that regard. But spend a lot of time
Speaker 1: with Matthew Slater, spent a lot of time with cam
Speaker 1: Ac Cord. Bill Belichick, you know, was complimenting him and
Speaker 1: the way he plays in the kicking game. So did
Speaker 1: Matthew Slater. In that context, it makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: We were kind of talking about, Oh they're keeping less.
Speaker 1: This is specialist.
Speaker 2: Brendon Schooler I think is technically like a safety or
Speaker 2: a dB.
Speaker 1: I think Brendan Schooler was he might have had white
Speaker 1: behind him.
Speaker 2: That he is now you know, we know he's a
Speaker 2: special team.
Speaker 1: Right it's a Brendan schooler. But Brendan schooler we knew
Speaker 1: from the beginning.
Speaker 2: Shout out to Dylan and Karina for the great.
Speaker 1: Because he made it. Brendan's schooler who had white behind him,
Speaker 1: Bryce Barrier, Chris Bord, Joe Cardona, Chad Ryland. Yes, Brendan
Speaker 1: Schooler did, Matthew Slater and a mere Speed. So that's
Speaker 1: and that's the full group.
Speaker 2: So they're special teamers.
Speaker 1: Those are the special teamers. So I if they're going
Speaker 1: to play a mere Speed at corner, I'd be spriced.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Oh I would be too. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: that's a long way. I think essentially six guys that
Speaker 2: can play corner that are actual corners. All right, we're
Speaker 2: going to clear the floor. Your your rookie specialist, Your
Speaker 2: your Patriots punter and kicker for the twenty twenty three season.
Speaker 2: Chad Ryland, Bryce Berenger, the young kid, the kids. The
Speaker 2: kids won the jobs.
Speaker 1: The kids are all Alex.
Speaker 2: How close was it really for either of them?
Speaker 1: I think it got a little close with Barringer when
Speaker 1: he had that rough week in Green Bay, if that
Speaker 1: makes sense. This is what it always should have been.
Speaker 1: I know you don't want to hear it. The only
Speaker 1: question of Kicker was whether they were going to keep
Speaker 1: both of them or not. And I honestly believe Evan
Speaker 1: that that was a consideration.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to push back on you on it
Speaker 2: anymore because they didn't do it, so we don't have to.
Speaker 1: But I do think it was something they thought about.
Speaker 2: I think, I'll give you this. I think that it
Speaker 2: was something that they thought about. But I think the
Speaker 2: only reason why they seriously might have considered it was
Speaker 2: because for leverage for a trade like I think that
Speaker 2: they might have looked at it like.
Speaker 1: Made the trade later. I kind of wondered that as well, like.
Speaker 2: They might have looked at it and said, you don't
Speaker 2: want to give us what we want in the trade
Speaker 2: for Nick Folk, well just keep him right, like that
Speaker 2: sort of thing, and then eventually in season like Tennessee
Speaker 2: comes calling and they're desperate and they and they make
Speaker 2: the trade happen. I I was a little bit. So
Speaker 2: were you surprised that all they got was a twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five seventh? I was a little bit.
Speaker 1: I wonder you talked a lot about the reason that
Speaker 1: they were letting Nick Folk rep as much as they did,
Speaker 1: was a respect thing. Yeah, right. I wonder if Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick went to Nick folk and said, where do you
Speaker 1: want to go? Yeah, and that.
Speaker 2: Well, I've talked in Tennessee, I think earlier today. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And he has said that the Patriots initially said that
Speaker 2: they were waiving him or cutting. He wasn't going to
Speaker 2: go on waivers, so cutting him. But I don't know
Speaker 2: if it was the Patriots that came to him then
Speaker 2: and said, but Tennessee is showing interest. And I think
Speaker 2: that they asked Nick Folky like, would you rather be
Speaker 2: a free agent or would you rather go to Tennessee?
Speaker 2: Like what? He you know, what do you and he
Speaker 2: said that he I think Frable actually called and recruited
Speaker 2: him to Tennessee and he he said, let's make the trade.
Speaker 1: All right. So I wonder if there was an element
Speaker 1: of that yeah in there. As for this so little
Speaker 1: spoiler alert, I'll have my bold predictions up next week.
Speaker 1: My bold predictions for the Patriots season up on ninety
Speaker 1: eight five of the sports sub dot com. One of them
Speaker 1: is going to be chat ed Ryland and Bryce Bearinger
Speaker 1: both play seventeen games. I hope so well, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you why that's a bold prediction, Evan, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's bold, but the numbers tell us it's bold.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The last team to have two rookie kickers start Week one, Yeah,
Speaker 1: was the twenty eleven, twenty fifteen you've already heard me
Speaker 1: do this, Miami Dolphins.
Speaker 2: I stole it from you.
Speaker 1: The last Oh did you use this?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: Of course, well, I stole it from PFR. The last
Speaker 1: team to have two rookie kickers play rookie kicker and
Speaker 1: punter play at least ten games both was actually more recent.
Speaker 1: It was it twenty eighteen than Oakland Raiders because Daniel Carlson,
Speaker 1: people forget started the season Minnesota. Yeah, the last team
Speaker 1: to have two a rookie kicker and rookie punter both
Speaker 1: play a full season. It Actually, it's never surprised. It's
Speaker 1: never happened in the seventeen game season. You have to
Speaker 1: go back to twenty eleven. Alex Henry and Chris Henry
Speaker 1: not related, they're spelt differently for the Philadelphia Eagles, So
Speaker 1: this is pretty unprecedented. You don't see this so in
Speaker 1: that sense, Well, I.
Speaker 2: Mean, I do think it's a little team that draft
Speaker 2: a punter and kicker in the same draft in like
Speaker 2: one hundred years or something like that.
Speaker 1: No, because the Raiders did that like three times under Altavis.
Speaker 2: No, they were the first time team in a while
Speaker 2: to do that, though, I.
Speaker 1: Think it's been done more recently than twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: Though. Oh, they drafted a punter and a kicker in
Speaker 2: the same draft. Yeah, that was like going around, was it?
Speaker 1: Either way? It hasn't happened since twenty sixteen that two
Speaker 1: guys have played a full season. So I'll be interesting because.
Speaker 2: It's our job to be uh, you know, to poke
Speaker 2: holes and everything. Right, that's that's just the gig.
Speaker 7: Yeap.
Speaker 2: What is your biggest fear?
Speaker 1: Oh, sorry, no, it's not twenty eleven. It's twenty twelve. Oh,
Speaker 1: it's twenty twelve, twenty twelve, and it's actually so this
Speaker 1: is a good omen. It was the twenty twelve Saint
Speaker 1: Louis Rams, Greg Zerline and Johnny Hecker, which if these
Speaker 1: guys turn into Greg Zerline and Johnny Hecker, pretty good,
Speaker 1: it's a pretty good draft.
Speaker 2: Get Bill Belichi'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Both of those guys are drafted. Okay, Oh no, Johnny
Speaker 1: Hecker was undrafted, So build and take.
Speaker 2: Him sing, What is your biggest concern, not not about
Speaker 2: the roster decision, Yeah, just their biggest concern about Chad
Speaker 2: Ryland and Bryce Behnger individually their performance this season.
Speaker 1: Uh, like looking ahead or my biggest concern from what
Speaker 1: I saw in the summer. But yes, so it kind
Speaker 1: of almost goes to what you talked about with Mac Wilson. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be growing warts with Chad round there are,
Speaker 1: and I think he's an NFL caliber kicker, but there's
Speaker 1: gonna be growing pains. And I hope that they don't
Speaker 1: panic it. They like part of having a rookie kickers
Speaker 1: that you're just that's what you're signing up for. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I hope that they know that's what they've signed
Speaker 1: up for. So I when that comes one, how's he
Speaker 1: going to handle it? And how's the team gonna handle it?
Speaker 7: Uh?
Speaker 1: My biggest concern with Baringer, I thought it was pretty good.
Speaker 1: I don't know he he It's not even a weather
Speaker 1: thing because he's been in in Michigan.
Speaker 2: I think Bearinger is like a classic. He's a classic
Speaker 2: long ball hitter. Though, like he's gonna have some shanks.
Speaker 2: We saw some shanks and so in the three.
Speaker 1: But I would also say this. I I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: my biggest concern every punter is shanks. My biggest concern
Speaker 1: is touchbacks. Yeah, I think they're gonna be more aggressive
Speaker 1: going for it un fourth down over the fifty. That's
Speaker 1: a Bill O'Brien specialty.
Speaker 2: No, I've been I've been hoping and dreaming of that
Speaker 2: since twenty eighteen. Hasn't happened.
Speaker 1: They did a little bit nick fall early on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, they were kind of aggressive. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I yeah, there's gonna be a shank. There's gonna be
Speaker 1: shanks with Bearinger, but I don't think it's gonna I
Speaker 1: don't think he's gonna shank the ball more than the
Speaker 1: average punt.
Speaker 2: I actually agree with the you know the shank stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you're probably right, will be pretty look much.
Speaker 1: He's not gonna perfectly hit every pun he's gonna kick
Speaker 1: this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, touchbacks, I would say, is a big one. And
Speaker 2: like and in the same vein as like I'm kicking
Speaker 2: your coverage is a thing like I did it like
Speaker 2: in life, but like it's a thing to do it
Speaker 2: like in general. Right. Ah, that was good? Can we
Speaker 2: click that and said that home. Uh, it's good to. Uh,
Speaker 2: it's good to you can really out kick your coverage,
Speaker 2: Like that's a thing that can happen. And I we
Speaker 2: saw it a little bit in Tennessee, like you bomb
Speaker 2: one seventy yards and it's like, you know, Matthew Slayer
Speaker 2: has got a long way to go to cover that.
Speaker 1: Look, they kept one of their fastest players in a
Speaker 1: mere Speed. Maybe those two things are related. The need
Speaker 1: for speed is so, I would say. So. The thing
Speaker 1: is he kicks it far, but he doesn't kick line drives.
Speaker 2: No, he gets it. He gets it up there.
Speaker 1: He really does. And this goes back to my thing, Evan,
Speaker 1: what's the proper application of the forty yard dash? Do
Speaker 1: you know this at this point? So the reason they
Speaker 1: were on the forty yard dash when they started the combine,
Speaker 1: it was very simply the average punt at the time
Speaker 1: was forty yards and it was can you get down
Speaker 1: the field in time? Teams would compare the forty yard
Speaker 1: dash to their punter's average hanngtime, and it was can
Speaker 1: you get down the field in time to cover a punt?
Speaker 1: A mere Speed's forty four point three four seconds. He'd
Speaker 1: throw half a second on they're getting jammed at the
Speaker 1: line right dang fast. But that's a guy that's gonna
Speaker 1: get to how many hangtimes did Bryce Bearinger have this summer?
Speaker 1: Even on those boomers that.
Speaker 2: So you think Gunner week one slater a mere Speed.
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think who else they put out there.
Speaker 1: Seems like the schooler played Gunner a little bit last year,
Speaker 1: but he's.
Speaker 2: More of an articular guy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you need fast gunners if you're gonna have a
Speaker 1: punter like this. But a mere Speed is very fast.
Speaker 2: All right, there you go. That's that's that's what you get.
Speaker 2: On even another one, we connected dots of how a
Speaker 2: mere Speed is on this roster. Pretty surprising that he
Speaker 2: made it, and he's on the roster because he's got
Speaker 2: to cover punts.
Speaker 1: I'll give you one more tay, you want to go
Speaker 1: to another level on this. Yeah, if they're going to
Speaker 1: elevate him at all this year, Malie Cunningham would be
Speaker 1: one of their faster gunners. And we saw him practice there.
Speaker 2: You think Malie Cunningham can play gunner in an NFL game.
Speaker 1: No, But they were giving him off, they were trying
Speaker 1: him out there.
Speaker 2: So all right, Well that does it for this show.
Speaker 2: We're gonna be back next week, hopefully back at two
Speaker 2: o'clock if the schedule permits for the Patriots, but it
Speaker 2: should because it'll be a regular Thursday, and it'll be
Speaker 2: a longer break in between practice and open locker room
Speaker 2: next week, Alex, So Philadelphia the Eagles, h oh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're we're We're back in, back in.
Speaker 2: To season mode. We will well, we'll maybe talk a little, Brady,
Speaker 2: but I want to mostly focus on the game. And
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you next week. And I've already brainstormed
Speaker 2: this with the Alex off the air, but this is
Speaker 2: a pro tease right here. I'm gonna tell you next
Speaker 2: week why I think the Patriots offense, the offense can
Speaker 2: actually score some points against his Eagles defense. Alright, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna tell you that next week. You're gonna have to
Speaker 2: come back next week and hear why. I'm outside my
Speaker 2: mind thinking that the Patriots are going to hang thirty
Speaker 2: on the Eagles in ten days. But until then, signing
Speaker 2: off for Map behind the Glass, Alex, I'm Evan Lazar.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. We'll see you guys next week, and
Speaker 2: thanks for watching on YouTube. Keep that up. Thanks.
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