What will the Patriots do at 3, what should they do? | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast
In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast with Nick Cattles, Greg and Nick dive into the pro days of Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, exploring the latest intel on the top quarterback prospects. They also discuss the NFL's perspective on the options available at the third overall pick and speculate on what the league thinks the Patriots might do. Additionally, they share their own thoughts on what the Patriots should do and examine any mock drafts that are worth commenting on.
EPISODE TIMELINE
0:00 Pro day for Jayden Daniels
6:22 Pro Day for Drake Maye
12:44 Rapid Fire from Cattles
16:42 Maye showing fit in NEs Offense
22:07 Any mock drafts out there we can comment on?
27:25 Wolf wants JJ McCarthy?
39:03 Latest with Matthew Judon
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
EPISODE TIMELINE
0:00 Pro day for Jayden Daniels
6:22 Pro Day for Drake Maye
12:44 Rapid Fire from Cattles
16:42 Maye showing fit in NEs Offense
22:07 Any mock drafts out there we can comment on?
27:25 Wolf wants JJ McCarthy?
39:03 Latest with Matthew Judon
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
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SportsTranscript
00:00 This is the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:08 First this episode is brought to you by PrizePix, the largest daily fantasy sports platform
00:12 in North America.
00:14 Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100 and do us
00:19 a favor.
00:20 If you like the pod and you want to support it, again, go over to PrizePix and use that
00:25 code CLNS to sign up.
00:27 It will help us tremendously.
00:29 Greg, let's start here.
00:30 League meetings, pro days are now done.
00:33 You spoke to some executives.
00:34 I want to start with Jaden Daniels.
00:37 What kind of intel did you get on Jaden?
00:39 Yeah, I've been, Nick, I've been sort of blown away by the sort of consensus.
00:46 And, you know, I'm a guy who I think, I think Jaden Daniels and I haven't done my deep dive
00:52 on him.
00:53 I will start probably next week.
00:55 Like I've pretty much done May.
00:57 I'm skipping over Caleb Williams because everybody knows he's going number one.
01:02 Jaden Daniels, there's a lot to like about him.
01:07 There certainly are concerns about his size, how he plays, his ability to stay healthy.
01:14 You know, but, you know, at his pro day, I think he measured in at almost six foot four,
01:20 210 pounds, almost nine and a half inch hands.
01:24 I mean, that's, that's really good size.
01:27 I mean, the weight isn't there, but I do think you talk to NFL people and they say you could
01:33 see him putting on weight over time, getting to 225, maybe something like that in time.
01:40 So as far as, but the evaluation, as far as Jaden Daniels, I've been blown away.
01:45 So I talked to six executives at the league meetings, guys who I have longstanding relationships
01:49 with.
01:50 I really respect them on the quarterbacks and just sort of, you know, taking the pulse
01:56 on them on the top guys.
02:00 And I, I was blown away by, they are absolutely resolute that Jaden Daniels is by far the
02:06 second quarterback in this draft.
02:08 All of them, all six, all six says Caleb number one, all six say Jaden Daniels number two.
02:13 They just think that he is, he's just, he's just special in terms of, you know, his, he's
02:20 got the running ability of Lamar Jackson, but he has the potential to be a much better
02:26 downfield thrower.
02:28 Now there are some questions about what sort of offense does he fit best in?
02:33 Would he really be an ideal fit for a West coast type offense, like the Patriots where
02:37 you got to make certain reads and it's, it's, it's somewhat similar to the old Patriot system
02:44 as opposed to say you know what the Ravens ran this past year sort of like a high low
02:51 thing giving them options where basically it's an options offense where it's like, all
02:57 right, if this guy does this, then you're going to that receiver.
03:01 So there are some questions about that, but Jaden's ability to throw from the pocket,
03:07 especially deep married with his game breaking running ability, people in the NFL are just
03:13 salivating about him as a prospect and they think he is clear cut.
03:18 No doubt.
03:19 Number two in this draft.
03:21 Any mention of his receivers?
03:23 I know some people say, well, you know, he had neighbors, he had Brian Thomas jr.
03:27 He had those kinds of guys that can go deep, make plays on the football.
03:31 Any thought about them helping him so much that he might not be the same guy when he
03:36 gets to the NFL, unless he has talent like that on the outside.
03:41 I think that's legit.
03:42 Nick, that's, that's a legitimate question to ask.
03:46 Surprisingly, nobody brought that up.
03:49 And I will say that the film that I have seen of Jaden Daniels right now, it, it, it, it
03:57 answers those questions that, you know, I mean, he's throwing into even to these guys
04:01 who are great.
04:02 It's not exactly Mack Jones at Alabama where a lot of guys are just streaming free.
04:07 There are a ton of throws deep on the boundary, tight windows dropping in a bucket.
04:13 There are a ton of those throws on film.
04:15 So I think that people think as long as you have, you know, some sort of representative
04:21 offense in the NFL and it looks like, I mean, I guess we would have to bet that he goes
04:25 to Washington at two.
04:29 Apparently Brian Kelly, the LSU coach slipped the tongue slip of the tongue at the pro day,
04:34 basically like saying like he's going to Washington and you know, you look at the mix with Cliff
04:39 Kingsbury, who was the offensive coordinator there, what he likes to do.
04:43 He does run that sort of high, low offense.
04:46 You know, has had Kyler Murray before.
04:49 So he understands the dynamic running ability of some of these guys.
04:53 And the other thing I would say about Daniels going to, to Washington, you know, Adam Peters
04:58 is the GM now.
05:00 And just remember he was driving the bus in San Francisco for Trey Lance when they traded
05:06 up in that draft.
05:07 He, him and John Lynch sort of bullied Kyle Shanahan into taking Trey Lance.
05:12 And I think it wouldn't be a surprise to me if Adam Peters looked at Jaden Daniels, his
05:18 running ability and his throwing ability and be like, this is the guy I wanted Trey Lance
05:24 to be.
05:25 But this guy is actually the guy.
05:26 He has the talent.
05:28 He has the mix of running and passing.
05:30 And so I think that if he goes to Washington, tons of weapons there, McLaurin and company,
05:37 we saw them last year with Sam Howell against the Patriots.
05:40 I was very impressed with what they have.
05:44 Certainly some work to do on the offensive line and other places and on defense.
05:48 But that would be a pretty good, between offensive coordinator and weapons would be a pretty
05:54 good alignment in my opinion, with Daniels to Washington.
05:57 Yeah.
05:58 Some will tell you, you know, again, Oh, he had these great receivers and he did have
06:02 great receivers.
06:03 But if you watch Daniel's throw, it's a lot about ball placement as well.
06:08 Like where, where he's putting the football in traffic down, you know, outside the hash,
06:14 making those throws pinpoint accuracy on a lot of those deep throws and in great touch.
06:19 So it has more to do with just the talent around him.
06:23 All right.
06:24 What were people telling you about Drake May?
06:26 So I was a little surprised by this this, you know, same sort of panel of six people.
06:34 They're sort of a little bit I wouldn't say all over the map, but there was much more
06:41 concern about May or at least a pause about May.
06:45 Now, they all say he's ridiculously talented.
06:49 And if you didn't believe that before the, the, the show that he put on in his pro day
06:55 to me was a terrific.
06:57 Now I'm not a big pro day guy and I don't really care about, yeah, he missed two throws
07:02 out of like, I don't know, like 50.
07:04 Um, Jaden Daniels miss more, uh, Kayla, Kayla Williams might've missed more JJ McCarthy.
07:09 Didn't he had the best pro day out of all these guys, but in terms of, uh, you know,
07:15 May and his pro day, like just some of the throws that he made off balance with a guy
07:22 in front of him, like flicking the wrist, like it was just in the deep ball accuracy.
07:28 It was just, it was astounding to me.
07:30 And, um, it's sort of, you know, I I've been a little bit wishwashy on Drake May.
07:38 Um, and before, before we get to that, let me tell you about the, so, so the, so the
07:43 NFL people are basically wishwashy on Drake May.
07:45 Now this, when I talked to them, this was before his pro day, but I don't think pro
07:50 days don't matter that much.
07:51 So I don't think it would have changed maybe like one vote, maybe if they were in the same
07:56 boat as me, which is, you know, I like Drake May, but I need to see a little bit more.
08:01 Um, so they were split, they respect the talent and it's there.
08:06 It's real.
08:07 Um, sometimes it's breathtaking, the talent that he has, but I think a lot of, or at least
08:14 some NFL people, um, they didn't like this past year at North Carolina.
08:19 Yeah, there were a lot of things wrong, uh, around him.
08:23 Um, you know, there's, sometimes there's a lot of things wrong around you in the NFL.
08:29 Like, I mean, you know, look at Mac Jones and you know, some people say that Mac Jones,
08:35 they wouldn't cut him any slack because he couldn't make up for the deficiencies in coaching
08:39 and the offensive line and the receivers and nobody cut him any slack and said he needs
08:44 to elevate people.
08:45 But when it comes to Drake May, they say that, well, you could just excuse it.
08:51 Things weren't, weren't good around him.
08:52 So, so just ignore it.
08:54 Uh, I don't understand that, but in terms of the NFL, they were split.
08:59 Um, two people I talked to said the Patriots should stick and pick them because that's
09:04 how talented he is and you, he just needs a little bit of time and the, the, the payoff
09:11 could be huge.
09:12 Um, two said they would take JJ McCarthy at two because they are afraid of Drake May's
09:20 floor, which we heard Gerard Mayo talk about at the league meetings, sort of out of nowhere.
09:27 And two said they would trade down, they would trade out of the pick, accumulate more picks,
09:33 start the rebuild, uh, target one of the secondary quarterbacks and sort of go from there.
09:39 So that's, that's sort of where we are on Drake May at this point in time.
09:43 Now I will say real quickly, uh, I I'm taking a, I'm, I'm taking a huge swing on Drake May.
09:49 I don't care.
09:50 That talent is just, it's too good.
09:52 He's 21 years old.
09:54 There's too much room to grow.
09:56 I believe in Alex van Pelton, Matt, Ben McAdoo coaching him up.
10:00 And you know, I just think, I think the talent is way too much for the Patriots at this point
10:04 in time to pass up on.
10:07 If Drake May is there at three, I agree with you.
10:09 I would run the card up to the podium.
10:11 Uh, I would absolutely do that and feel good about it.
10:14 21 years old, I think is very important to continue to stress.
10:17 I did have a couple of thoughts though.
10:19 One thought, and then one question for you, the pro day with, with Drake May.
10:22 I don't know if I heard a lot of people talk about this.
10:24 I talked about it for a few minutes on my podcast last week, the Nick cattle show, a
10:28 little plug for you, but I was talking about Drake's pro day and what stood out to me,
10:33 Greg was, I don't know if it stood out to you.
10:36 What was the challenge of the pro day?
10:38 And what I mean by that is may knows he's very likely going to go top three.
10:44 It could have been easy for him to go out there, make 45 to 50 scripted throws, do the
10:50 things that he's best at, wipe his hands, walk out and be like, there I am.
10:54 I'm top three pick.
10:56 See ya.
10:57 See on draft night.
10:58 He didn't do that.
10:59 He, he went 70 plays.
11:01 He gave you red zone.
11:03 He gave you deep throws.
11:04 He gave a lot of bootleg action back to the offensive line, quote unquote under center.
11:11 He went for more than 30 minutes and I just thought to myself, I remember reading an article
11:19 about Jalen Brown before the draft.
11:22 I fell in love with Jalen Brown.
11:24 The moment I read how he was working out with Jimmy Butler on the beaches running through
11:30 the sand with 95 degree weather going 6am to like 6pm and I was like that dude with
11:37 his athletic talent, if he cares that much and he works that much.
11:42 Yeah, I'm in on that guy.
11:44 And I just thought that jumped out at me with may, you know, Daniel's not to say he wasn't,
11:48 you know, he wasn't good.
11:49 He was good in his pro day, but I thought may really took the challenge of, I want to
11:54 prove to all of you how much I can do given again, pro days or pro days.
12:00 I completely agree with you.
12:02 I thought it was an extremely challenging pro day.
12:04 I couldn't believe for how long he was throwing.
12:06 I really liked the way he sort of directed his teammates, uh, working off the script,
12:12 the, the, the huddle that he ran, um, you know, along with just the, the, the downfield
12:17 accuracy that he had.
12:19 I thought, I think you're exactly right.
12:21 You know, when you compare Drake may and Jaden Daniels, there are two pro days.
12:24 I thought Drake maze was much more challenging and his ability to throw off platform, you
12:30 know, he'd do an RPO and throw off the wrong foot and those sorts of things.
12:34 And just his ability and the zip on the ball.
12:37 I mean, it's just, it's real and it's impressive.
12:40 All right.
12:42 Rapid fire.
12:43 Three questions for you.
12:44 Number one, uh, I was reading Evan Lazar last week after the pro days and chip Lindsey,
12:49 who is the UNC offensive coordinator made it a point speaking to the media to say, Hey,
12:54 look, I know a lot of people are discussing maze footwork and he needs, he absolutely
12:59 needs help with the footwork and he needs to polish that up.
13:02 But Lindsey, he had said that they changed maze dropbacks.
13:06 The offense was different.
13:08 May was used to dropping back a certain way in 2022.
13:12 They changed that up in 2023.
13:14 And Lindsey said, I, you know, I thought he did a decent job of kind of transitioning
13:19 at his age of dealing with that.
13:21 If you're Alex van Pelt, do you buy that?
13:23 Do you buy that explanation that, you know, maybe the footwork was a little spotty because
13:27 the drop back had him in different rhythm and he just tried to get used to it.
13:31 No, no.
13:32 Um, I, I, I reject that it it's on film and in the footwork problems, we're not talking
13:38 about like dropping back from center or anything like that.
13:41 We're talking about that Drake may, and look, the offensive line maybe wasn't that great
13:45 and maybe it affected him.
13:47 Um, you know, but number one, he, he, he has a tendency to drift and he even admitted this,
13:54 I think at the combine, like he drifts in the pocket, like for no reason.
13:59 Um, that's not a drop back issue.
14:02 That's a, he's not sure what he's going to get.
14:04 Maybe the guys are covered that sort of thing.
14:06 So he drifts.
14:07 And the other thing is when he's under duress, he is his footwork for such a big, strong
14:13 guy.
14:14 Like his, his feet get very narrow and instead of throwing with a good base, he, you know,
14:22 it looks like he gets a little bit scared.
14:24 So his feet get narrow.
14:25 And so his balance is off and that throws off as a mechanics.
14:28 And this shows up.
14:29 And I was talking with Gaspar about this cause we've sort of gone back and forth, uh, on,
14:34 on may on, on Sunday night on TV, but it's not like, like, I'm not looking at Drake May
14:41 and seeing his struggles from last year.
14:44 And it's not about like, nobody's open or he's not getting blocking to me.
14:47 And this goes for all the analysts who, you know, have looked at this and sort of, we,
14:52 we both, we all see this the same, whether it's Dan or Lofsky or Greg Cosell or, you
14:58 know, people like that.
14:59 Um, it's the easy throws that he missed because of his footwork, because of drifting, because
15:06 his weight gets off balance.
15:08 I mean, you just go watch the NC state game from last year and the amount of just gimme
15:15 throws guys are open, just little checkdowns and stuff that he was just completely missing.
15:22 Those are the issues.
15:23 Like if he was, if he was like fine on that stuff, but maybe couldn't find people downfield
15:29 or the blocking, then I'd say like, okay, I understand.
15:32 It's it's the easy throws that he misses that causes people the most concern.
15:38 All right.
15:39 We have more on may.
15:40 We have more on the draft, some mock drafts out there, including a recent report about
15:44 Elliot Wolf's fascination with JJ McCarthy.
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16:39 All right, Drake may.
16:44 The script seemed to me it was aimed at Alex Van Pelt and that could be an overreaction.
16:51 But is there any thought like, Hey, all right, I could go to the Patriots at three.
16:56 I want to prove to these guys that I can do a lot off the bootleg action under center
17:00 back to the offense and defensive lines.
17:03 Do you feel like may try to make that a point, especially running that kind of, Hey, I can,
17:08 I can do the West coast offense thing.
17:11 Alex, I will say that I thought it was not Patriots specific, but I thought it was a
17:20 blend of basically every type of passing off a element that you need in the NFL for varying,
17:28 you know, offensive schemes.
17:30 So you know, plenty of, I love the under center stuff and I loved how he flipped back and
17:34 forth because he would do under center, he would do shotgun, he would do RPO throws,
17:39 he would do, you know, boots.
17:41 So I think that anybody from, you know, Alex Van Pelt to Brian Dayball to Kevin O'Connell
17:49 to, you know, the Raiders and I'm trying to, uh, Zook, uh, Antonio Pierce, uh, Luke Getsy,
17:59 their offensive coordinator.
18:01 I think that they're basically every offense was able to, to see something and say that
18:07 translates to us, that works with us.
18:09 So that's the way I took it.
18:11 I forgot where I heard it or read it because there's so much out there right now.
18:15 I apologize to the person who had this unique idea or this idea.
18:20 Wanted to pass it along to you, Greg.
18:21 I heard somebody recently say in the past few days that Dan Quinn might lean towards
18:29 Jaden Daniels because as a defensive mind, it's much more difficult to defend somebody
18:36 like Daniels than it is may because Daniel's obviously the athleticism, the running ability,
18:42 today's athletic, by the way, and can run.
18:43 He's just not at the level of Daniels Patriots.
18:46 Last time I checked, they have a defensive minded head coach.
18:50 Do you think Gerard Mayo would lean towards Daniels over may with the same idea?
18:55 Uh, that's a very good question.
18:59 Um, now, now what would be my answer?
19:03 Um, I, you know, I, I don't know where you read it.
19:06 Um, I think that's maybe you read it on Reddit.
19:10 Uh, to me, I think that's, uh, that's reaching a bit.
19:14 I mean, I think we're into now we're into April.
19:17 The draft is getting closer.
19:19 It's been a long, hard process.
19:21 Um, I, to me, I really don't think these head coaches have a, I don't think they have a
19:27 huge say in terms of the quarterback, especially in Washington.
19:32 I mean, Adam Peters was hired first.
19:34 He hired the coach.
19:36 He's in charge.
19:37 Now you could say that's a little bit different in new England, um, where, you know, they're
19:42 all sort of communing and sitting by the fire and Kumbaya.
19:45 We're all gonna, we're all in a, we're all in the same silo instead of different silos
19:49 and collaboration and all that crap.
19:52 Um, it could be a little bit different in new England.
19:54 I just think Adam Peters is the guy he's gonna, he's gonna pick the quarterback.
19:58 The head coach is going to go along.
20:00 I mean, sure.
20:01 I'm sure they're going to weigh in and things like that.
20:04 Um, I think both of them, when you're talking about a defensive head coach, I think you're
20:09 just, you're looking, yeah, it's hard to defend Jaden Daniels.
20:13 Um, you also probably think that you could pulverize him and he won't make it out of
20:17 week six.
20:18 You know, we've all seen the injury issues that Lamar Jackson has had, uh, in his career.
20:24 But I think that when you look at the talent of Drake may, I don't know how any, any coach
20:29 could look at him and say like, well, that guy's easier to offend.
20:33 I mean, he is very athletic.
20:35 He can throw anywhere.
20:37 He's like, to me, he's Josh Allen light.
20:39 He's like somewhere he's lesser than Josh Allen, same sort of traits, but also, you
20:44 know, Justin Herbert.
20:46 So I think he's, he's below those guys by a little bit, could get to their level at
20:51 some point, just because like we said about his age, his build, um, love the family background
20:57 with the dad, the former quarterback, the brothers who are professional athletes.
21:01 He's the run of the litter.
21:02 You knew he used to get the crap kicked out of him.
21:05 It's very similar to Brady.
21:06 Yeah, he had sisters, but they were all kick ass athletes.
21:10 And Tom was sort of the run of the litter and had to fight for everything.
21:13 And so, um, I just think, I just think, uh, both of them present different difficulties,
21:21 but I think that's reaching to say a defensive head coach would want, uh, the, the, the,
21:27 the more versatile quarterback.
21:29 I think part of the thought process was looking at the Cowboys schedule last year and who
21:33 that defense had a tough time against.
21:36 And you know, when, when you look at some of the, some of the quarterback matchups,
21:40 Cowboys gave up some points to, to quarterbacks that, that can run.
21:45 Maybe that was part of it too, but the point is the point.
21:47 All right.
21:48 Uh, so we know Patriots, obviously the evaluators you spoke to, uh, they, they were split two,
21:54 two and two on what the Patriots should do in the draft at number three.
21:57 Uh, not necessarily in love with the Drake may option.
22:00 Uh, and, and you and I talked about Drake may if he was there at three, both of us would
22:06 run up and make that pick.
22:07 So let's look at some mock drafts here.
22:09 We got two.
22:11 And before we jumped on, you mentioned this one to me, I had not seen it.
22:15 It was released an hour ago, but dart all over this stuff.
22:18 Guys just like on his phone with his big thumbs.
22:20 Oh yeah.
22:21 I'm all over it.
22:22 So Lance airline of nfl.com came out with his latest and he's got Caleb Williams, one,
22:29 no shocker.
22:30 Daniel's going to, and then with the Patriots at three zero line has the Patriots trading
22:36 with the giants, the child, the giants coming up from six to draft Drake may.
22:42 And then the Patriots, they end up, uh, using the sixth pick on Malik neighbors.
22:49 So that is the trade that is done.
22:52 I'm trying to find this.
22:53 You saw, you saw this in full, does he write exactly what picks in the second round, or
22:56 he just says they moved down to six.
22:58 No, he, he doesn't write.
23:00 So this is what he writes about.
23:01 He said in this three spot, move up the board, the giants probably have to pay more than
23:05 the standard trade chart would indicate since the supply side of the quarterback position
23:10 is dwindling, but the demand remains high.
23:12 This is, you know, when it comes for trading out for a quarterback, there's a premium.
23:16 That's just the way it works.
23:17 Ryan Dayball fostered Josh Allen's raw talents in Buffalo and could have a chance to do the
23:22 same with this toolsie, but inconsistent North Carolina product.
23:26 I completely agree with his reasoning as far as day ball, Alan day ball could see this
23:31 is this guy's a lot like Josh Allen.
23:33 I was able to, to, to mold him into what he is.
23:36 I could definitely see that.
23:37 So he doesn't say specifically what the trade is, but looking at what the giants have, I
23:44 think it would, it's at least it's definitely 47.
23:48 I would say that's their second round pick is 47 and then there's gotta be a sweetener.
23:54 So it could be their third round pick to me, or it could be a future second or first round.
24:04 To me, it's all about the value of the trade.
24:08 The theory of trading down from three to six I don't mind and I'm not going to reject it.
24:16 Yes, I'm leaning heavily towards just taking Drake may as we talked about Nick but I'm
24:22 certainly listening to this offer.
24:26 If it's a two and a future first for moving up three spots, I have to seriously consider
24:33 this now.
24:34 I'm not taking Malik neighbors at six.
24:37 I'm sorry.
24:38 I'm taking Joe alt and then I'm using the ammunition, either the second round pick or
24:44 the future first to trade back up and get my next quarterback.
24:47 I prefer Pennix.
24:49 Um, uh, JJ McCarthy in this mock draft goes, sorry, the Vikings trade up to five.
24:57 No, excuse me.
24:58 The four, where is this?
25:00 What the car?
25:01 Sorry.
25:02 They traded, they trade up to four to take JJ McCarthy.
25:04 So McCarthy's off the board.
25:06 I would take Pennix.
25:07 I prefer him over, you know, bow Knicks or spent or Spencer Rattler or any of those guys.
25:12 Um, but depending on if the giants to move up three picks are willing to give you a bounty,
25:18 a second and a future first, I have to seriously consider that.
25:22 Well, I go back to Daniel Jeremiah, the NFL network.
25:24 He mentioned this going back a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago on his conference call.
25:29 He said, talking to some people for the giants to move up to three, it would take three future
25:34 seconds.
25:35 And so his deal was, well, three seconds, not three future seconds, but three seconds.
25:41 So his deal was 39 47 in this year's draft and then next year's second round pick.
25:49 And the giants have 39.
25:50 Yeah, they got 39 and 47.
25:53 So I just looked at, okay, go ahead.
25:55 I think they do.
25:56 I mean, unless, uh, unless Jeremiah was wrong, but he said two second round picks this year
26:03 and a second round pick in 2025.
26:06 So sorry, one, one, um, breaking in on that, the, the giants shipped 39 to the Panthers
26:13 for Brian Burns.
26:15 So that pick is not there.
26:16 All right.
26:17 So that has, that has been traded since that has been traded since Jeremiah said that.
26:20 So they did have the pick, they did have that pick.
26:23 So now they only have 47, uh, and then 70.
26:26 So I mean, look, if it was 39, 47 and a future second, that's a no brainer.
26:31 Uh, I would do that if I didn't love the quarterback there, but I would hold off.
26:36 I feel like you, if I'm going to move out of the three spot, I need a future first,
26:39 I feel like, and even if I'm only going down to six, I still feel like I need that future
26:44 first round pick from the giant.
26:46 So I would take the second round pick this year and I would take next year's first, uh,
26:50 if they were into that idea.
26:52 All right.
26:53 Another mock draft we wanted to talk about was Tony Pauline from sports Kida.
26:58 He released his mock draft and he had the Patriots drafting JJ McCarthy and he had a
27:04 report with that.
27:05 Some people might say mock drafts aren't reports, but within the pick he did report some things.
27:10 Uh, he said that the buzz around the comp, not the combine, the pro days, the pro day
27:17 circuit, the buzz was the Patriots wanted JJ McCarthy and that Elliot Wolf is quote
27:22 unquote pushing hard for McCarthy and believes he has as much upside as any quarterback in
27:28 this draft.
27:29 Just your initial reaction, Greg, to the pushing hard Elliot Wolf regarding JJ McCarthy.
27:36 Well, I'll say that, um, I've known Tony for years.
27:41 He's been around a long time.
27:43 He's had various jobs.
27:45 Um, I will say he's, he's pretty good at his job.
27:49 He's good at the draft talking to people.
27:51 He's a, he's a big rumor monger.
27:53 Uh, I can't tell you the accuracy of his stuff, but just in terms of my own believability
28:00 that Wolf would think this way.
28:05 Uh, I'm a little bit doubtful on this.
28:06 I'm a little dubious on this, just from this aspect.
28:10 And again, with a lot of this stuff, cause Elliot's sort of a blank slate in terms of,
28:15 we don't know what he's going to do.
28:16 He's never directed a draft.
28:18 He's always been in the second in command or third in command.
28:21 So we don't exactly know, but just going off history, especially his genes, which means
28:26 his dad, Ron Wolf, Ron Wolf believed in getting the dynamic passer.
28:34 Um, yeah, you know, leadership and toughness, which we heard, uh, Wolf talk about certainly
28:40 vital and you need to start there.
28:44 But, um, Ron Wolf came from the thinking of, he was going to bet on sort of the, uh, how
28:54 do I put this?
28:55 The big swinging Schmenzer at quarterback.
28:59 Like he wasn't, he wasn't this neat guy.
29:02 Let me get a game manager.
29:04 Now I'm not saying JJ McCarthy.
29:05 We don't know what he's going to be because Michigan was just, they were built a certain
29:09 way.
29:10 They played a certain way through their defense.
29:11 Um, so it's hard to tell exactly what JJ McCarthy is capable of.
29:18 Um, but you know, you look at, you know, Ron Wolf, especially, you know, his, his trade
29:24 of, uh, Brett Favre, um, some of his other moves, he always, Ron Wolf believes one of
29:30 his number one tenants was if you don't have a great quarterback, a transcendent quarterback,
29:39 you don't have a very good shot at winning the super bowl.
29:41 Everything else has to be perfect.
29:43 He wants the guy that elevates everybody.
29:47 And at this point in time, and I could be wrong, but where JJ McCarthy is right now,
29:52 I don't think you can say that.
29:54 And I would be surprised if Elliot Wolf believed that JJ McCarthy was one of those transcendent
30:00 quarterbacks that has the potential to be great in this league.
30:04 I would be surprised about that.
30:06 I have a lot of thoughts about JJ McCarthy and the Pauline stuff and what Elliot Wolf
30:12 could be thinking.
30:14 But before I get to that and a few questions for you, what do you make of all the McCarthy
30:19 talk to me, Greg, at this point, it's really starting to feel like a smoke screen.
30:24 I mean, there's just so much every week about McCarthy being said, and all of it is pretty
30:33 much glowing, and it really started since as soon as the season ended, it was McCarthy
30:40 could go up.
30:41 McCarthy could be a top 10 guy.
30:43 Don't be surprised if McCarthy's top five and Jim Harbaugh out there saying, I think
30:47 he's the best quarterback in the draft.
30:49 Everything is positive about this guy coming out.
30:52 Everything is how he's rocketing up draft boards.
30:57 If you're Elliot Wolf, do you think that your poop detectors are popping up a little bit
31:01 with all this McCarthy jazz?
31:03 Yeah, probably.
31:05 I mean, I just don't look.
31:07 There's certainly a lot to like about JJ McCarthy.
31:10 You know, he's a he's a winner.
31:13 He was able to play within a system he's got.
31:16 I like the snap that he has in his throws.
31:19 He's like he's like Mac Jones, but more talented, more athletic, better thrower, has really
31:26 good stats on third downs, other crucial stats.
31:33 You know, got to have it drives.
31:36 I mean, I just remember that I forget.
31:38 I don't know if it was the national championship game or the semifinal.
31:41 And again, I don't watch a lot of college football, but he had I don't know if it was
31:45 fourth down or third down and long, and he had some in cut that he hung in the pocket
31:50 and put it like right where it needed to be over the middle.
31:53 I mean, that shows stone.
31:54 So I definitely see the potential.
31:57 But you know, there's so many games where he didn't even throw 20 passes and you could
32:02 say all you want about Michigan was built through their defense and Harbaugh wants to
32:06 play this way.
32:08 But again, Nick, I bring this up all the time when we talk about, you know, whether it's
32:13 Patriots players or other NFL players like.
32:18 You should you should when the coaches tell you something, you should listen.
32:22 If J.J. McCarthy was this transcendent quarterback that that was potential to be the Heisman
32:30 Trophy winner and the best player in the country and capable of all these great things, the
32:36 coaching staff would put him in position.
32:38 He would he would be the offense.
32:40 The offense would run through him.
32:41 It did not run through him.
32:42 And in fact, yes, he made some.
32:44 There are some he has really good stats on third down.
32:47 He's made some really good, crucial plays.
32:50 But there's also a lot of plays where you're like third and five, third and 10, and they're
32:55 running a quarterback keeper or they're handing the ball off like very conservative.
32:59 So it makes you wonder, like, what are the coaches know that we don't know when the coaches
33:04 tell you something that they're not they're not putting this guy in position to to be the
33:09 star or to lead things, listen to them.
33:12 And so, yeah, I'm surprised by it.
33:14 I don't think Wolf will listen to it.
33:16 All right.
33:17 So McCarthy and the Patriots here here's the only reasonable thing I could come up with
33:21 as far as why they might like him.
33:24 I don't think they'll pick him at three.
33:26 I would not pick him at three.
33:28 Judging on what you just said, Greg, you would not pick him at three.
33:33 However.
33:34 Let's try to put this together and have some fun, Greg.
33:37 I mentioned this hypothetical on my podcast earlier today.
33:40 So let's say Elliott Wolf.
33:43 Thanks JJ McCarthy could be really good.
33:46 He's not there right now, but he could be really good.
33:50 And Wolf is looking at this through a twenty twenty five lens.
33:53 And he's saying to himself, if McCarthy was drafted next year, he's a top three pick.
33:57 It's a top five pick.
33:59 So I don't love the idea of McCarthy at eleven.
34:02 I mean, at three.
34:04 But I do really like slash love the idea of McCarthy at eleven.
34:09 And if Wolf isn't buying all of the smoke screen stuff and he thinks McCarthy could
34:14 find his way down to eleven because Minnesota really wants Drake May at three.
34:20 Then if you kind of put that together, Greg, does it make sense if Wolf is looking at this
34:25 and says, all right, I can walk out of this draft.
34:28 Let's say it's eleven twenty three and a first next year.
34:32 OK, so I can walk out of this draft with McCarthy at eleven twenty three.
34:37 I can pick my tackle thirty four sixty eight.
34:40 Let's say we double dip at wide receiver.
34:43 And then I'm going in a next year's draft with my quarterback of the future, my left
34:47 tackle of the future, two wide receivers that are young and developing and building.
34:53 And I have two firsts in twenty twenty five.
34:56 Now I would I would take Drake May, as I have stated, I would take Drake May.
35:00 I would take Jaden Daniels at three.
35:02 That's what I would do.
35:04 But I do think it's reasonable.
35:06 I don't think it's a crazy thing.
35:09 If Wolf looked at it and said those things, what do you think of that hypothetical?
35:14 Yeah, I'm I'm on board with you.
35:16 I mean, I just think the Patriots are in a position.
35:19 And again, I don't think that they're, you know, yeah, they're they're in a tough spot
35:24 and they're probably two years away this upcoming season.
35:28 And so, you know, a year away, I guess this is sort of like a rebuilding year of, you
35:34 know, really sort of threatening for the postseason and doing something being heard from again.
35:41 So I understand the sentiment of, you know, building up the team and you're still getting
35:48 a good quarterback.
35:49 You know, a lot of it's going to come down to and this is going to be the tough part
35:54 of this draft, because I do think and this is every draft.
35:57 There are so many teams that are QB needy that you don't know what's going to happen.
36:03 I mean, you know, you might look back at, you know, yeah, trading back and, you know,
36:07 maybe I have a shot at JJ McCarthy, but maybe that might not happen.
36:12 But I do I don't I'm assessing everything and I don't mind your scenario where that
36:17 you laid out, including, you know, having multiple picks in the future.
36:21 But I'm building a building up on the young core that the Patriots have.
36:25 And I think that's going to be the secret to their success long term.
36:28 And you led me perfectly to like my my thought process, where if if you are thinking that
36:33 if you're Wolf again, I want to make it clear I would draft the guy with the high ceiling
36:37 at three.
36:38 I would take the big swing.
36:39 But if you are Wolf and you're thinking, I'm not in love with Mayor Daniels and I can move
36:45 down to 11 to get McCarthy and supplement him with better talent.
36:51 I would say, obviously, inherently, there's a risk.
36:54 And Greg brought up the first thing, which is you could lose your guy.
36:58 You move down to 11.
36:59 You can't move back up.
37:00 Somebody leapfrogged you.
37:01 Oh, yeah.
37:02 Now, now we might have to pick Bonick's at like twenty three or Michael Pennix at twenty
37:07 three or thirty four and figure it out.
37:09 And you don't want to be in that situation.
37:11 I would also just say this.
37:13 It's about the eval.
37:14 If you're going to make that kind of a move, it's all about the board and how you read
37:18 the board and what you know around the league and your evaluation.
37:22 And we've seen teams, Baltimore Ravens.
37:27 Move up into the first round after drafting Hayden Hearst at twenty five and draft Lamar
37:32 Jackson.
37:33 They had Hayden Hearst obviously rated above Lamar Jackson in that draft room.
37:38 So think about that for a second.
37:41 But they looked like geniuses because, I mean, Hayden Hearst didn't end up being an all pro
37:45 or anything.
37:46 I don't think not from my recollection, but nobody goes, oh, man, you took Hayden Hearst
37:51 before you took Lamar Jackson.
37:53 Nobody cares about that.
37:54 So in two years from now, J.J.
37:56 McCarthy is a good to very good NFL quarterback.
37:59 And you got all the things that you around him that are necessary to help him get there
38:03 because you made that trade down.
38:05 We saw with the Celtics, different league, obviously, but you moved from one to three
38:09 because you love the Jason Tatum.
38:11 But you knew the board.
38:13 You knew that Philadelphia was picking Markel Fultz, which allowed you to make the deal,
38:17 i.e.
38:18 Minnesota Vikings picking Drake May.
38:20 And you knew that the Lakers wanted Lonzo Ball.
38:23 And because you knew that, you knew you could get Jason Tatum at three.
38:26 And that's exactly what you did.
38:28 You ended up with the best player out of that draft and picking up a future first round
38:32 pick and one of the most outrageous trades Danny Ainge ever pulled.
38:35 So you got to know the board.
38:37 You got to trust your evaluations.
38:39 And of course, everything is just, you know, you're throwing some darts as well.
38:43 All right.
38:44 Just two more things for Greg before we bid you adieu today.
38:47 But I do want to remind you, the episode is brought to you by PrizePix, largest daily
38:51 fantasy sports platform in North America.
38:53 Download the app today.
38:54 Use that code CLNS for a first deposit match up to 100 bucks.
38:57 And of course, Greg over at BSJ, check him out.
39:00 50 bucks for the year.
39:02 Great coverage of the Patriots between Greg and Mike Giardi.
39:05 All right.
39:06 Quick update on Matthew Judon.
39:08 Mike Kadlik at EEI spoke with Judon, who apparently opened up a restaurant down in Dallas.
39:13 So congratulations to him on that.
39:14 Good luck.
39:15 Food business ain't easy.
39:16 Judon said this, quote, I think with the contract stuff, if it happens, it happens.
39:22 If we can get a new contract worked out to where I try to end my career in Boston, that'd
39:27 be great.
39:29 So first of all, Judon's telling us, yeah, I want a long term deal.
39:35 If we can get a deal worked out and I can retire in Boston, I'm all in on that.
39:39 What do you think happens with Judon?
39:46 You know, I think that Wolf has left himself a lot of options.
39:52 I think, you know, bringing back Uche and Anthony Jennings along with the draft coming
39:58 up, I think that Wolf could go any number of directions.
40:04 Now, part of me, and I think I've said this before, that since they didn't add a premium
40:09 edge player, which I thought they might do, I thought they might swap out Judon for somebody
40:13 else like we talked about, like Daniel Hunter or somebody like that.
40:16 They did not do that.
40:18 So it would seem to indicate that Judon would be back.
40:21 I mean, he's sort of, I mean, he's basically their only blue chip player.
40:26 He's their only elite player.
40:27 So why wouldn't you have him back?
40:29 But I think, I think, I think what's going to happen is we're going to have to wait for
40:33 the draft to see what they do.
40:35 If, and if they take an edge guy up higher than many of us think, I mean, I think they
40:39 could go all offense in this draft, or at least a majority of it, maybe take a cornerback
40:44 or a free safety, something like that.
40:46 But if they get an edge guy, it's, it's, it's very possible that they move on from Judon,
40:52 Judon.
40:53 But as of right now, I think they'll figure out some sort of smart deal to keep them here.
40:58 But I think it's really, it'll only extend it by like a year or two.
41:03 I don't think they're going to make a huge investment in them.
41:06 By the way, Judon also told the EI that the plan is for him to be in Foxborough for the
41:10 start of the off season program.
41:12 So six days from now, we'll see if that happens and we'll see how much he's participating.
41:17 Last one for you, Bill Belichick didn't get to this.
41:20 It came out late last week.
41:22 Sounds like Billy B might be writing a book or at least Burge, somebody that knows him
41:26 is writing a book about Bill Belichick.
41:30 Doesn't sound though, like it's going to be a drama filled shot fest at the Patriots,
41:34 right Greg?
41:35 Yeah.
41:36 Not yet.
41:37 At least for that book.
41:38 Um, from what I hear, Bill's I'm writing multiple books when he's done.
41:42 Now he doesn't think he's quite done, but for now as, as sort of a project, um, he,
41:49 from this was a scuttlebutt at the league meetings.
41:52 And I don't know how true it is, but the scuttlebutt at the league meetings was Belichick's writing
41:56 a book.
41:57 It's about leadership geared more towards businesses and is being written and maybe
42:01 just ghostwritten by bears Nigerian, his former, uh, director of football, uh, administrative
42:08 assistant with the Patriots who is now Bill O'Brien's chief of staff at Boston college.
42:13 That's at least the rumor mill at the league meetings.
42:17 Hmm.
42:18 Billy B all of a sudden, does that, does that interest you?
42:22 He's going to write many, many volumes.
42:24 Apparently look at all my leather bound books.
42:26 He's going to, he's going to become an author when he, when he retires.
42:30 I didn't see that one coming.
42:32 Hey, by the way, bill, bill, call me the things we talked about before.
42:36 Still interested.
42:37 Call me.
42:38 Oh, look at you.
42:39 Uh, I don't, I don't anticipate bill Belichick writing anything, uh, controversial, not at
42:46 least not, not right now.
42:47 I don't see it.
42:49 Uh, he, he still wants to coach and he's not going to do that.
42:52 He's not going to come out and, uh, write a scathing book about Robert craft and the
42:58 Patriots organization when he still feels like he'll be coaching in the league next
43:03 year because that would just start a, just a storm of crap.
43:07 And that's not what Belichick wants.
43:09 You don't want to put that in the lap of his new owner.
43:12 Hey, how about you hire me so everybody can ask me about that book.
43:15 I just wrote burning the, the, the Gillette stadium facility down to the ground.
43:19 I don't think that's happening anytime soon.
43:21 All right.
43:22 He's Greg.
43:23 I'm Nick.
43:24 We'll be back later this week, uh, with more Patriot stuff.
43:27 Everything, you know, things are flying every single day, so we'll have something to talk
43:30 about.
43:31 I'm sure until then be well.
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