Speaker 1: This is the Draft Prospect Review podcast on Patriots dot
Speaker 1: Com Radio.
Speaker 2: Welcome to an NFL draft.
Speaker 1: The Draft Prospect Review podcast is your source for all
Speaker 1: the latest news and information on the NFL Draft.
Speaker 2: The New England Patriots like now.
Speaker 1: Here to preview the running backs the writers of Patriots
Speaker 1: dot Com.
Speaker 3: Back here at Jillett Stadium front of the Draft Podcast Review.
Speaker 3: We're going to talk about running backs today, a little
Speaker 3: bit more of a glamour position, although not first round
Speaker 3: glamour if you want to go by the recent NFL
Speaker 3: draft history. But there are some guys in this draft,
Speaker 3: one in particular, that's getting a lot of buzz around
Speaker 3: New England, and running back is always one of those
Speaker 3: polarizing positions. Don't say that too fast, you pop your
Speaker 3: p's and sound silly, but b Jon Robinson out of
Speaker 3: Texas is a guy that a lot of people really
Speaker 3: I haven't really heard anybody who's not very high in
Speaker 3: this prospect. The the debate comes with if you take him,
Speaker 3: how early do you take him and how much of
Speaker 3: an impact does he have on your team? And some people,
Speaker 3: some of the higher profile draft knicks, have mocked him
Speaker 3: to the Patriots at fourteen, so I want to talk
Speaker 3: about Jon Robinson. First, I'll let you guys go at it,
Speaker 3: and then I want to talk about realistic everybody else expectations.
Speaker 2: For the Patriots. So let's talk about Jon Robinson.
Speaker 4: Well, I think a lot of us were just, you know,
Speaker 4: surprised to see people mocking him to the Patriots. I
Speaker 4: mean it's a mocker, Yeah, it's a mockery. But he's
Speaker 4: you know, he's an outstanding player. So when you say,
Speaker 4: just generally, what does the Patriots offense need? I think
Speaker 4: they need playmakers, They need guys who can do special things.
Speaker 4: I don't think they have, you know, any of those
Speaker 4: guys really right now. So in that regard, I guess
Speaker 4: I understand it. But I think you're just going to
Speaker 4: get to the point in the draft where someone will
Speaker 4: take him mid first round, late first round, somewhere and there,
Speaker 4: and everyone will be like, well, they got to steal,
Speaker 4: They got to steal because they were willing to get.
Speaker 4: You know, what will actually look like on the field,
Speaker 4: How reliant on that player will they become? Will they
Speaker 4: become you know the Giants with Saiquan Will they become
Speaker 4: the Derrick Henry Kunt of dependent Titans? We'll see, but
Speaker 4: I think he'll he'll make a really great addition to
Speaker 4: some team and he'll have an impact, He'll change the
Speaker 4: dynamic of an offense somewhere along that line.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's a beast, but do you really need him, Like,
Speaker 5: you don't end up in a situation where you have
Speaker 5: the fifth year option and you're stuck with this great player,
Speaker 5: but you know he kind of hampered your future with him.
Speaker 5: But I mean, as Mike said, he'd be great anywhere
Speaker 5: he goes.
Speaker 6: So yeah, I just don't think the Patriots are in
Speaker 6: a position to make a pick like this. If this
Speaker 6: was the Dynasty era of Patriots and Tom Brady was
Speaker 6: still here and they still had the roster all figured
Speaker 6: out and everything, and they wanted to add Bejon Robinson
Speaker 6: as the cherry on top to everything else, then that's fantastic.
Speaker 6: I would be all for it. It's similar to how
Speaker 6: the Niners traded for Christian McCaffrey. Right, they have everything else,
Speaker 6: but they just needed that one more thing to kind
Speaker 6: of get them over the top, so they went out
Speaker 6: and got McCaffrey. The Patriots have too many immediate holes
Speaker 6: at other positions on this roster that we've talked about
Speaker 6: at nauseum for six months. It feels like now that
Speaker 6: it just doesn't make make much sense from a positional
Speaker 6: value standpoint to take Bejon. I would also have mentioned
Speaker 6: you mentioned Derrick Henry's Titans. I think that's the model
Speaker 6: of what you maybe hope to become if you're gonna
Speaker 6: center it all around and running back, and is that
Speaker 6: really is that really the direction that we all want
Speaker 6: them to take the team in, and all want them
Speaker 6: to take the offense in where you're so heavily reliant
Speaker 6: on the running back being dominant and running for two
Speaker 6: thousand yards and then making your play action passing game ridiculous,
Speaker 6: and all these types of things that went into those
Speaker 6: Titans teams.
Speaker 4: I just I just can't help but imagine, like what
Speaker 4: he would do with the Bills. You know, a team
Speaker 4: that hasn't really looked interested in running the ball, hasn't
Speaker 4: been all of a sudden, they've got a running game
Speaker 4: that's gonna that would totally change their dynamic. So in
Speaker 4: a team like that, he's a great fit and I
Speaker 4: and it makes total sense to him.
Speaker 3: See I look at him as the way Evan said
Speaker 3: with McCaffrey you know that team that has one missing
Speaker 3: piece and whether that's a if that's a running back,
Speaker 3: then then find and I can. This is one of
Speaker 3: those where like I often sort of clap back against
Speaker 3: the uh, well, he wouldn't have been he wouldn't have
Speaker 3: worked for the Patriots. But this is one that I
Speaker 3: think is accurate in that regard. I think he'd be
Speaker 3: a really good player no matter where he goes. We
Speaker 3: all just you know, I agree with everything you guys
Speaker 3: just said. But for the Patriots, they need more than
Speaker 3: just another you know, running back. They need a lot
Speaker 3: of stuff to get more dynamic on offense. And another
Speaker 3: team might get him and it might put him over
Speaker 3: the top, whether it's Buffalo. I mean, I think they
Speaker 3: kind of want to turn it over to James Cook
Speaker 3: and have Damian Harris be there a little short yardage
Speaker 3: guy and maybe be more productive in the red zone.
Speaker 3: But you know, if he goes to like a Kansas City,
Speaker 3: it gives him a different dimension. And I could see
Speaker 3: it now I can hear like my boys on my shows,
Speaker 3: you know, the Patriots couldn't used a guy like that
Speaker 3: or whatever. It's not the same. It's not the same.
Speaker 3: I think a really good offense that's looking for one piece.
Speaker 3: Corey Dillon in right, you know, like it works, but
Speaker 3: I don't think it's necessarily gonna have the same impact.
Speaker 3: I think you'd be a great player for the Patriots
Speaker 3: with vermondre Stevenson. Don't think it would have the same impact.
Speaker 3: I'd rather see if they're gonna go for a back
Speaker 3: Jamiir Gibbs, I think a little bit later, you know, now,
Speaker 3: maybe he doesn't go that much later. Maybe he's a
Speaker 3: first round pick too and you.
Speaker 2: Can't get him.
Speaker 3: But I think if you're going to get a running back,
Speaker 3: you know me, you know my feelings on running backs
Speaker 3: in general, do that on your own.
Speaker 2: I love Gibbs. I think he's such a player. You
Speaker 2: have to keep in mind. You know, we talk so
Speaker 2: much about.
Speaker 4: Say Flowers and you know, slot guys just match up pieces,
Speaker 4: and you know, he's a running back. Yeah, but I
Speaker 4: also think with Bill O'Brien, knowing what he can do,
Speaker 4: he's a matchup piece too, and maybe, you know, maybe
Speaker 4: more versatile than like a James White could be, but
Speaker 4: could be not that they want a three down running back,
Speaker 4: but could be you know, that kind of player that
Speaker 4: could impact the game in so many different ways that
Speaker 4: he could play with So with Gibbs, for me, that's
Speaker 4: what's most intriguing of all.
Speaker 2: Right, Hey, we didn't get one of the top slot receivers.
Speaker 4: You know, if you can't get Save Flowers, is it
Speaker 4: really do you really go down to like the Josh
Speaker 4: Downs of the world, or do you consider somebody like Gibbs.
Speaker 2: I think that's a conversation.
Speaker 6: So let me just set you guys up.
Speaker 3: Wont to set the table for you guys and let
Speaker 3: it rip for you know, the next five minutes or so.
Speaker 3: That's the high end running backs that are available. I
Speaker 3: think we all agree, really good players, probably not the
Speaker 3: smartest picks for the Patriots at fourteen. So we remindri
Speaker 3: Stevenson year three, he's the guy. They clearly need some
Speaker 3: help for him. Last year we saw him wear down
Speaker 3: toward the end when Damien Harris wasn't available. They need
Speaker 3: to replace Damien Harris. They have James Robinson, some sketchy
Speaker 3: injury history there, so not necessarily a guy that you
Speaker 3: rely on. They have two young guys and Kevin Harris
Speaker 3: and Pierre Strong. Okay, running back is probably a secondary need.
Speaker 3: Can we all agree on that. Yep, yes, okay, So
Speaker 3: how early are you guys willing to take a running
Speaker 3: back and then give me some examples of guys that
Speaker 3: maybe catch your eye. I have one guy who I
Speaker 3: absolutely love. I'll save him if you guys don't mention hum.
Speaker 6: So, I think I've had one rule about running back
Speaker 6: sinceays Bijon stuff came out, and that is it just
Speaker 6: can't be the first pick in the draft. I can't
Speaker 6: stomach that. If they take a running back with the
Speaker 6: first pick in the draft, I'm out. Now. If they
Speaker 6: take Jamiir Gibbs with their second pick in the draft,
Speaker 6: then I'm okay with that. But I actually think that
Speaker 6: there's a slight chance. I'm not saying it's a high chance.
Speaker 6: I think there's a slight chance that Jamiir Gibbs the
Speaker 6: first running back off the board because his ability in
Speaker 6: the passing game and his speed. He's just a different
Speaker 6: kind of back than Bijon Robinson. Robinson's the type of guy.
Speaker 6: He's a Derrick Henry. He's gonna have to carry the
Speaker 6: ball three hundred times a year to really maximize his impact,
Speaker 6: whereas a guy like Jamiir Gibbs is kind of like
Speaker 6: what Mike was talking about is just a matchup weapon
Speaker 6: that you find space for him, and he's gonna make
Speaker 6: big plays happen. A little bit more of a twenty
Speaker 6: twenty three running back than Bijon is And I think
Speaker 6: there's a chance at a team that is very, very
Speaker 6: pass heavy, like a Kansas City or like Cincinnati, or
Speaker 6: like a Buffalo that doesn't necessarily look at their roster
Speaker 6: and say we're going to run it fifty to fifty,
Speaker 6: We're going to try to throw it still. I could
Speaker 6: see Gibbs being that type of guy. He's got one
Speaker 6: of the best. You know, he he goes zero to
Speaker 6: sixty faster than anybody I've seen in a long time.
Speaker 6: You know, he's got that ability to just put his
Speaker 6: foot in the ground and go. Now, if you want
Speaker 6: to talk about the other running backs, I think there's
Speaker 6: a couple that that stand out in that middle round area,
Speaker 6: you know, maybe the third to the fifth let's call
Speaker 6: it uh Taji Spears from Tulane's a fun player. I
Speaker 6: think he's just I think he's a little bit Deon
Speaker 6: Lewis e maybe a little bit bigger. I love him, Yeah,
Speaker 6: absolutely love him. He was great at the Senior Bowl.
Speaker 6: He's got that jump cut ability to just make guys
Speaker 6: missing the hole and just there's just evidence of him
Speaker 6: just making guys flat out with.
Speaker 4: You know, watching him in the Senior Bowl. He had
Speaker 4: one where it was like a ninety degree cut. It
Speaker 4: was like he just stopped and then he was going
Speaker 4: right Like.
Speaker 2: Believe it or not.
Speaker 3: I watched him play for two lane, and the guy
Speaker 3: is incredible. It's not the most Uh, it's not the
Speaker 3: most talented team. And I watched them play against teams
Speaker 3: that I thought were more skilled. Central Florida a little bit.
Speaker 3: It I think Houston, maybe Cincinnati, I'm not sure if
Speaker 3: I saw saw that one, but Central Florida definitely. And
Speaker 3: he just carries. He carries the offense. He's a small guy,
Speaker 3: but he can catch passes. Uh. He'd be the guy
Speaker 3: that I would look for, you know, in the middle,
Speaker 3: somewhere in the middle of the draft. If you could
Speaker 3: get him in the fourth round, might be, might be.
Speaker 6: A little so last year, that was when the running
Speaker 6: on running backs happened, was in the fourth rounds when
Speaker 6: the Patriots drafted Pierre Strong and Damon Pierce in Houston.
Speaker 6: Like that's when that whole run started, and I think
Speaker 6: a guy like Spears is probably gonna be the first
Speaker 6: one in that that run. I think Roshawan Johnson from
Speaker 6: Texas to is Beijon's backup, has a lot of the
Speaker 6: same running qualities as Bijeon. He just doesn't bring it
Speaker 6: in the passing game like Bejon does, so he's somebody
Speaker 6: that if they wanted to truly replace Damien Harris's skill
Speaker 6: set in the offense. I think Johnson has also a
Speaker 6: chance to be a better pro because he's gonna get
Speaker 6: more opportunities as a bro. And then there's a couple
Speaker 6: of other guys later, But those are the two guys
Speaker 6: that I would say in those in the fourth round
Speaker 6: when there's that run at running backs like there seems
Speaker 6: to be every draft now, Spears, Roshan Johnson, I think
Speaker 6: those guys are are guys that stand out.
Speaker 5: I really. I think fourth round, fifth round is a
Speaker 5: sweet spot just you know, get good value there. Eric
Speaker 5: Gray and Kenny McIntosh McIntosh McIntosh the really stick out
Speaker 5: to me. Yeah. McIntosh. The thing with him is he
Speaker 5: was stuck behind a lot of stars at Georgia, so
Speaker 5: I think there's a lot of untapped potential there and
Speaker 5: Eric Gray Boomer sooner, you know, just very clean out
Speaker 5: of the backfield. Icy can catch the ball, and I
Speaker 5: really think that's what the Patriots need back there.
Speaker 4: I think that's what I look at at look at
Speaker 4: is you know, guys who have some receiving ability. Is
Speaker 4: as much as you know, Tome Montgomery coming back seem like,
Speaker 4: you know, maybe was penciled into that role for last year,
Speaker 4: played one game, got hurt, you know, never really saw
Speaker 4: it out of Pierre Strong. Seemed almost more you know,
Speaker 4: like Pierre Strong's more of a runner than that.
Speaker 2: That pass catcher we thought he might be.
Speaker 4: But I gotta throw Duce induce Vaughan. Right, Yeah, but
Speaker 4: similar thing, you know, an undersize, kind of explosive, dynamic
Speaker 4: little toy to play with.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they're willing to invest in that.
Speaker 2: At what point you've had JJ Taylor here for a while,
Speaker 2: he hasn't really been able to so.
Speaker 4: At least shows to me that like they're not totally
Speaker 4: averse to looking at a little guy like that. But
Speaker 4: I also wonder is this just kind of a roster
Speaker 4: presence to prepare them for certain backs things like that?
Speaker 4: Does that does that kind of play really have a
Speaker 4: role within the offense. I don't know, but at least
Speaker 4: I know it's kind of on their radar.
Speaker 5: Kind of with Evan, either you get Gibbs or you
Speaker 5: just wait to the late round.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the two guys I want you guys
Speaker 6: just mentioned Gray and Duce, so were the next two guys.
Speaker 6: I think kind of that next tier. Eric Gray is
Speaker 6: a really fun player, really quick, really agile. He's got
Speaker 6: that ability to just jump cut out of things, but
Speaker 6: also has I think at the top of the route
Speaker 6: is going to be a devastating guy at the top
Speaker 6: to stay with for linebackers in middle of the field
Speaker 6: players and then Deuce darren Sprolls right like that's basically
Speaker 6: who he And apparently I said that in our friend
Speaker 6: video guy Bradley, I laughed in my face because I
Speaker 6: didn't realize that darren Sprolls went to Kansas State. So
Speaker 6: he was like, yeah, Evan, no kidding, he's darren Sprolls
Speaker 6: two point zero, Like that's literally that's exactly what he is.
Speaker 7: I know, I can hit a yeah, that's why I like, yeah,
Speaker 7: and uh, and he was I guess, you know, Duce
Speaker 7: fawn I I I talked to him a little bit
Speaker 7: at the combine and I mentioned what about the Patriots,
Speaker 7: and his face just lit up because he was like,
Speaker 7: that's a place that I know would know exactly how
Speaker 7: to use me, like James White, Dion Lewis, Danny Woodhead, Kevin.
Speaker 6: Falk, like go right on down the line. And he
Speaker 6: felt like that would just be a perfect fit for him.
Speaker 6: So that one's almost too obvious that maybe it won't happen.
Speaker 6: But duce Vaughn with a Day three pick feels like
Speaker 6: a slam dunk fear of the pate.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would agree with the past catching ability that
Speaker 3: that's what would stand out to me. Deuce Vaughan absolutely
Speaker 3: has it. Electric player, really small like five to five,
Speaker 3: like really really small guy. I'll give you two other
Speaker 3: Day three kind of guys TCU Kendre Miller and Minnesota's
Speaker 3: Mohammed Ibrahim. He you know, Ibrahim is a guy who
Speaker 3: was really productive in the Big Ten for a while.
Speaker 3: I had some injury problems. Kind of worry sometimes I
Speaker 3: don't have the exact numbers in front of me, But
Speaker 3: sometimes the guys that have a lot of carries in
Speaker 3: college don't always translate. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Speaker 3: But we're talking day three picks, not anybody that you're
Speaker 3: like looking at. Oh, if we can get out of
Speaker 3: this draft and get Kendre Miller like you, No, no, no,
Speaker 3: we're talking about later on.
Speaker 5: I like Travis Daye out of USC is a late,
Speaker 5: late round guy, you know, downhill runner.
Speaker 6: Another receiver had a bad injury ankle injury last year
Speaker 6: in the fall season, and he was at the Shrine
Speaker 6: with the Patriots, Travis Dye, and I was looking forward
Speaker 6: to seeing him practice, and unfortunately the ankle is really
Speaker 6: bad ankle injury, like one of those like Gordon Hayward
Speaker 6: type injuries. So hopefully he's gonna be okay and we'll
Speaker 6: be back to his normal self because he's a perfect
Speaker 6: pass catching third down.
Speaker 5: Back for the Patriot.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I just out there too. I know you lak him.
Speaker 6: Evan Hol's got a little bit of James White in them.
Speaker 6: He's got He's not necessarily the fastest guy. I don't
Speaker 6: think he's gonna necessarily blow anybody away with his just
Speaker 6: overall athleticism, but he's got that little quickness at the
Speaker 6: top of the route to get open. He's got some
Speaker 6: good feel of the passing game, so a.
Speaker 3: Lot of different kinds of running backs. I think that
Speaker 3: the group here is more focused on some of the
Speaker 3: more versatile guys that can catch catch passes and maybe
Speaker 3: work in the passing game. I think that was an
Speaker 3: element that was lacking a little bit, even though Stevenson
Speaker 3: caught so many passes last year. I think that maybe
Speaker 3: they might might have wanted that going in that three
Speaker 3: down back, that they didn't have to dictate based on
Speaker 3: personnel what they were going to do. But then I
Speaker 3: think when you see it in practice, you see the workload.
Speaker 3: I felt like that really caught up with Ramondre Stevenson
Speaker 3: down the end. I think he ended up with almost
Speaker 3: seventy catches, So it's not like he wasn't productive. He
Speaker 3: was really really good. But I think if you had
Speaker 3: to do it over again, I think Bill Belichick would
Speaker 3: look and say, maybe the way we have been doing
Speaker 3: it is the more more preferred route.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think you could just get a sense of how
Speaker 4: they feel about some of these unproven guys too. You know,
Speaker 4: if I not to say, I think you take somebody
Speaker 4: like Gibbs, look, he's that'd be different player. But as
Speaker 4: we get into like you know, or are they third round,
Speaker 4: fourth round? Are they getting a guy that you might
Speaker 4: expect to come in and play immediately?
Speaker 2: It might, you know, reflect a little bit on how
Speaker 2: I would strong hair.
Speaker 3: It'll make a good conversation come this Saturday or the
Speaker 3: draft when when Paul's out of gasps and you know,
Speaker 3: I'm hoping it's running backs because it's a position that
Speaker 3: I can at least speak intelligently on and not necessarily the.
Speaker 2: String guard.
Speaker 6: I hope they draft Uce. I really do.
Speaker 2: Oh, I would love that obviously.
Speaker 7: Yeah, right now he gets college hockey player drafted in
Speaker 7: the end.
Speaker 6: How many times joke to him and he's looked at
Speaker 6: me like I had ten heads.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, what do you mean?
Speaker 6: And he's like what.
Speaker 2: Because I started talking, Like what's he talking about? That's
Speaker 2: the first time I played into it. So we're getting
Speaker 2: it down.
Speaker 6: If they draft a guy like us von though, I
Speaker 6: think it's exciting, even if it's later on in the draft.
Speaker 6: It's somebody that you go watch him against Alabama and
Speaker 6: he houses that seventy five yard touchdown in the Sugar
Speaker 6: Bowl and you're like, okay, cool, Like this is a
Speaker 6: fun player, and I think that that's going to be
Speaker 6: something that people will will be excited about.
Speaker 3: I do all right, So running backs not always my
Speaker 3: favorite position, but definitely one of my preferred spots to
Speaker 3: talk about come draft time because of exactly what even't
Speaker 3: talked about, the electricity that comes with uh some of
Speaker 3: these guys in the big playability that they might bring
Speaker 3: to the table. So that's going to put an end
Speaker 3: to the offensive portion of our podcast. And now, just
Speaker 3: to give everybody a little bit of a heads up,
Speaker 3: I know everybody's always listening to our draft podcasts, right,
Speaker 3: we will have one more just ahead of the draft
Speaker 3: where we'll sort of wrap it all up. We'll tie
Speaker 3: things together and I'll put the guys on the spot
Speaker 3: and have them come up with some first round picks
Speaker 3: for the Patriots and the positions of need and all that.
Speaker 3: So we'll tie that all together. Thanks for listening to
Speaker 3: all of our position podcasts though, and we'll see you
Speaker 3: for that wrap up next week.
Speaker 5: Thank you for downloading this podcast. Subscribe on Apple, Google Play,
Speaker 5: and everywhere else you listen. Like the show, Please rate
Speaker 5: and review us. Listener comments and ratings help keep us
Speaker 5: high in the podcast rankings so new listeners can find us.
Speaker 5: Be sure to check patriots dot com for more news
Speaker 5: and more podcasts.