Bedard's initial 53: Defense | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

  • 3 months ago
Welcome to the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast! In this episode, Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles dive deep into the Patriots' 53-man roster projection, with a keen focus on the defensive lineup. From analyzing key players like Matthew Judon and Keon White to exploring trade scenarios and contract situations, this podcast leaves no stone unturned.

The discussion extends to defensive tackle selections, linebacker choices, and the importance of special teams impact on roster decisions. Delving into the secondary, the podcast highlights players like Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers, emphasizing versatility and depth.

Join us as we navigate through the youth movement in the cornerback position and the delicate balance between experience and potential in shaping a competitive defense. Stay tuned for insights on the Specialists group, the challenges faced by kickers, and a glimpse into the Patriots' prospects for the upcoming season.


0:00 - Intro
1:02 - Offensive projection review
3:48 - Matthew Judon's future
9:03 - Interior profiles comparison
10:14 - Defensive tackle group analysis
14:39 - Safety group overview
18:13 - Cornerbacks group analysis
22:18 - Specialists roster decisions
24:32 - Final 53-man roster projection



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Transcript
00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:07Hey everybody, it's Gregg Bedard. Welcome into the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast.
00:12We are back again with part two of our look at the 53-man roster, my initial projection.
00:20But first, this episode is brought to you by PrizePix, the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America.
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00:54So, in part one, we went over the offensive projection for the 53-man roster, which probably has a lot more...
01:05well, probably... it definitely has a lot more questions than the Patriots do on defense,
01:11where they return most of their unit, most of their coaches.
01:14The head coach is Gerard Mayo, obviously one of the former de facto defensive coordinators from when Belichick was here.
01:23A little overview, I kept 25 players on defense.
01:31I kept four players among the specialists.
01:35I got to tell you, I was so happy to go through this and not have four special teams guys.
01:42Only one this time around and I think you can guess who that is.
01:48But let's start on the edge, which probably has a little bit more controversy, more than the other positions.
01:58Traditionally, the Patriots have kept 5.8 edge end type guys.
02:05We don't know how things are gonna go with Gerard Mayo and Demarcus Covington.
02:11But I ended up keeping five. I ended up keeping five interior guys. Most of the time it's four.
02:18I went with five. We'll get into that in a second but...
02:25So at end, the guys I have on my roster as of right now entering training camp...
02:32Matthew Judon, Dietrich Weiss, Joshua Uche, Anthony Jennings, Keyon White.
02:41No big surprises there.
02:43Released, I have O'Shaughnessy, however you pronounce his name, I don't know.
02:49William Bradley King, John Morgan and Jotham Russell.
02:56So I guess I would start here with this group.
03:00I guess, you know, we have to talk about Matthew Judon and his future with the Patriots.
03:06What I know is he may be playing nice publicly and he has.
03:13He has said all the right things and if you want to believe him, take him at his word, you know, go right ahead.
03:19I'm not going to stop you.
03:20What I can tell you is from the people that I've talked to, he is not going to play under his current contract.
03:31At least for the Patriots.
03:32I can't talk about any place else.
03:34That's my understanding.
03:36I don't know exactly what's been communicated to the team but that's my understanding.
03:42You could also put Devon Godshall in that bucket.
03:45So the question gets in, you know, what do you want to do with Matthew Judon?
03:51Do you want to extend him?
03:53Do you want to give him a short-term raise?
03:55Would you rather trade him to a contender or somebody who wants to pay him?
04:02All those options, I would think, are currently on the table for the Patriots.
04:08Here's where I am right now.
04:10I would be in favor as of this moment of giving him a bump, three, four million for this year, something like that.
04:19To get him to around 10, just because I think he's a very good player.
04:26I think that Gerard Mayo is going to want his defense to show out.
04:31It's his baby, just like it was Belichick's.
04:35And quite frankly, the defense is going to be the way this team competes.
04:41So why would you hurt that, at least in the near term?
04:46And the other thought is, all right, you just let Judon, say you let him play out the deal.
04:52He leaves, you get a comp pick.
04:55He's going to be, I don't know, 33 at that time.
04:59I don't know what kind of contract he's going to command.
05:05But you could let him walk.
05:06You would get a comp pick in 2026.
05:12Here's where I am on that.
05:13So I would prefer to have Judon because I do think the defense and this team has a chance to at least compete and learn how to compete.
05:22And there's nothing wrong with that.
05:24Even though they're not winning the Super Bowl this year, starting the train on the tracks to that is important.
05:31And Judon could be one of those guys who does that.
05:34Maybe you just hold on to him and trade him at the deadline.
05:38If you get there and you see, all right, it's not happening for us this year.
05:43That would be a good time.
05:44When are you going to get more form?
05:46Probably this summer, especially if a contender, somebody who perceives themselves as a contender, gets through training camp, gets to the preseason and says, man, our pass rush is not good enough.
05:57We could really use a boost.
05:58Or a contender suffers an injury to one of their prime edge guys.
06:03Now, all of a sudden, somebody gets desperate.
06:05You could get something.
06:07Waiting for the trade deadline?
06:09Yeah, it could happen.
06:11But might not because they know it's a rental.
06:13There's no guarantee that Judon is going to stick around after the season.
06:18So, but look, the big piece of the puzzle for me here is, all right, what else do the Patriots have?
06:29Keon White is a big component of this.
06:31If he continues to look like he did in the offseason and he looks like, all right, this guy needs to play.
06:36He needs to start and play.
06:39You know, where is that going to be?
06:41Is that going to be opposite Judon?
06:43Are you going to sit Anthony Jennings and Josh Uche?
06:48Are you going to sit Dietrich Weiss, who it seemed like Keon White had passed last year, but it looks like White is in a little different position this year in this scheme, standing up more?
06:59More of a sort of Leo linebacker in this scheme?
07:04Definitely a worthwhile conversation, and I think it's something that's going to evolve over the course of the summer right up until probably the season.
07:16You know, what do they want to do?
07:19I think some of the guys like Xemenes, Bradley King, Russell, you know, I think Xemenes looks like, you know, he has a chance.
07:33He flashed at times in the offseason.
07:35So, you know, maybe you just decide to get younger there.
07:38Maybe the Patriots take the drastic route and just get younger across the board, and they part with Matthew Judon and Dietrich Weiss.
07:47I don't think that's totally out of the realm of possibility.
07:50Two pretty big personalities in that locker room.
07:54I could see Weiss being a career Patriot, and I wouldn't hate that.
07:58You know, he's a good dude to have around, certainly a leader on this team.
08:04But as of right now, I have Matthew Judon on the roster.
08:07That is certainly up for debate, and I think will be a rolling conversation as we go.
08:12At defensive tackle, I have Christian Barmore.
08:16Obviously, just got the big extension.
08:18Devon Godchow, Daniel Ekowale, Armand Watts, one of their free agent signings, and Sam Roberts.
08:28I have cut Jeremiah Farms and Tristan Hill.
08:33I think the only surprise here might be in terms of the numbers, and I can't exactly give you a good reason why I decided to keep five instead of four.
08:46Maybe because Roberts was a draft pick of this team.
08:50But, you know, you sort of see it as Barmore and Ekowale sort of pair together.
08:59Godchow and Watts sort of pair together as far as their profiles on the interior.
09:04So you have a backup in each spot.
09:07Roberts has a little bit of edge versatility, maybe why I kept him.
09:12But now looking at it, I don't know why I did it, and this could be a place that I make adjustments as we go forward and evolve in the 53-man roster.
09:22I get a lot of questions about Godchow on whether he's going to be here or not.
09:28I can't answer that.
09:30All I can say is the Patriots, now he's a guy I could see moving at the trade deadline.
09:35Right now the Patriots don't have a run-stuffing nose tackle besides him.
09:41You know, Watts can do it a little bit, but we haven't seen a whole lot of him.
09:45We haven't seen him in pads yet.
09:47And the Patriots' run defense was really good last year.
09:52Godchow was part of that.
09:55You're not any good on defense if you can't stop the run, and so I see Godchow being here.
10:03He likes to get paid, and he is not going to play under his current contract either.
10:10So what happens?
10:15Do the Patriots give in?
10:18Quite frankly, and I'm sure Bill Belichick's quote that Devon Godchow is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the league
10:26is not doing Elliot Wolfe in the front office any favors.
10:31But that's the group I have at defensive tackle.
10:34I like them.
10:35I would say Roberts is the most expendable guy.
10:39I like Farms in terms of what he gives as a pass rusher.
10:44Don't know much about Tristan Hill.
10:45I'll just admit that right now.
10:47But I like Barmore.
10:50I like Godchow.
10:51I like Ekewale as a sub rusher.
10:53And Watts is sort of the Lawrence guy replacement, and we'll have to see how that goes.
11:00We will get to the linebackers and safeties as soon as we take a break here.
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12:45Okay, so now we are at off-ball linebackers.
12:50Traditionally, the Patriots keep three and a half.
12:54As this scheme has evolved, that's changed because they use a lot of safeties.
12:59You can get by with less.
13:01I kept four.
13:03I think that the Patriots, this could be a position that is more critical in special teams with the new kickoff rules.
13:09Those type safeties, linebackers, tight ends, big receivers, they're going to play larger roles.
13:18So on the team, I have Juwan Bentley, Jelani Tavai, no surprise there.
13:25Sione Takitaki and Raekwon McMillan.
13:31I would say the only mild surprise is Raekwon McMillan.
13:34We'll see how long he lasts on the field.
13:36This is a guy who the Patriots coaches love.
13:39They always have big roles for him.
13:41He always ends up getting hurt sometime during the summer.
13:43It's unfortunate, and I hope he gets over that because I've always thought he's a good player,
13:48certainly a good blitzer in his younger days.
13:51He was a pretty fast guy.
13:53I think the Patriots could use more of that.
13:55Cut, I have Christian Ellis, Steve Chambers, Joe Giles Harris, and Jontre Hunter.
14:05I like all their linebackers.
14:08I think they all have promise.
14:12I mean, I don't really have much to say about this group.
14:15I think it's pretty straightforward.
14:17We'll see whether it's McMillan, can he stay healthy, or does one of the younger guys,
14:22sort of the unheralded guys, do they unseat him and take his spot?
14:28I think that's possible.
14:29I think they could also go with three linebackers and beef up at safety or another spot.
14:34That is certainly possible.
14:36Let's get into the safeties.
14:38This group is probably the easiest.
14:4553-man average I have is three.
14:47I have five on the roster, Kyle Duggar, Jabril Peppers, Marte Mapu, Jalen Hawkins,
14:54free agent addition, and Joshua Bledsoe.
14:57I have cut Del Pettis, who I assume is an undrafted free agent.
15:01I have him as a rookie.
15:04I don't know much about him.
15:08Duggar, Peppers, Mapu, definitely here.
15:11Hawkins, got a lot of playing time in the offseason at free safety.
15:18A little undersized, decently quick.
15:21I wouldn't say he's a blazer or anything like that.
15:23I don't think he's a long-term future guy here, but certainly a stopgap for the team if they need it.
15:32We'll have to see what Mapu does.
15:34Does he get more snaps at free safety come training camp?
15:38We haven't really seen that yet.
15:40He's been mostly a sub linebacker.
15:43We know all about Duggar, contract extension, Jabril Peppers, sort of the heartbeat,
15:48the heart and soul of this defense, could see him being a long-term patriot.
15:55Bledsoe certainly flashed at times last year in training camp, some in the offseason.
16:03I like Bledsoe.
16:04I want to see more run.
16:06Again, he's another one of these bigger, stronger sort of athletes back there for them that are more,
16:15you would probably say, are box safeties.
16:17I would like to see the Patriots get some more guys with range because this is a space game.
16:24They prefer that at moving safeties to linebackers and taking advantage of it there.
16:30We'll see whether they're still good enough at free safety or not.
16:35That is linebacker and safety.
16:37We'll be back in a second with cornerbacks and specialists.
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18:08Welcome back, everybody.
18:09Okay, we are now on to the cornerbacks.
18:14Another group on defense.
18:16As we said, the defense is pretty much chalk at this point.
18:2056-man average is 5.6.
18:23I have the Patriots keeping 6, cutting 5.
18:27On the roster, Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Marcus Jones, Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden,
18:36and rookie Marcellus Dial.
18:39Cut, Marco Wilson, Sean Wade, Mikey Victor, Azizi Hearn, Caleb Ford-Dement.
18:50I would say a couple interesting things here.
18:53If the Patriots go to a youth movement, could Jonathan Jones be on the way out?
19:02I haven't heard too much discussion about it.
19:04I love Jonathan Jones.
19:06I don't even care about the cap implications or anything like that.
19:11Again, this would be another spot where the Patriots perhaps look at this and say,
19:18is Jonathan Jones at 31 or whatever he is?
19:21Is he part of our long-term plan, the team that we want in two, three, four years
19:27to contend for a Super Bowl title?
19:29If not, like say if Marcus Jones takes a step, and he hasn't really done much to this point
19:36except punt returns, has dealt with injuries, he's undersized, he's been a little injury-prone.
19:43But let's just say for the sake of argument that Marcus Jones looks like a world-beater,
19:49that he looks like he's the next great slot cornerback for the Patriots, and he's the guy.
19:58He's passed Jonathan Jones, who has traditionally been the Patriots' best slot cornerback.
20:03Marcus Jones passes him, gets the mantle.
20:09Now what do you do with Jonathan Jones?
20:11Do you keep him?
20:14Would you rather trade him?
20:18And perhaps in Alex Austin or Isaiah Bolden or Marcellus Dial or even Marco Wilson or Sean Wade,
20:26I'm going to allow Marco Wilson has had his moments, so has Sean Wade.
20:30That some of these guys look ready to play, ready to be in a bigger role.
20:38Do you trade Jonathan Jones and go with Gonzalez, Marcus Jones, and any of those guys,
20:43Austin, Bolden, Dial, Wilson, Wade, as the other boundary cornerback?
20:49Can you keep Marcus Jones at slot cornerback?
20:52I don't totally rule that out.
20:55I think that's certainly possible.
20:58But I would say this is another spot on this team where they will look to get better,
21:05not only turning the bottom of the roster, but also possibly in free agency next year, the draft.
21:12We know Christian Gonzalez is good, or we think we know that he's really good.
21:16But other than that, a bunch of question marks.
21:19And the team does need to develop depth there.
21:24And do you start now by shipping off of Jonathan Jones and letting the kids play,
21:29letting the kids sink or swim to let you know what you need going in the future?
21:33I would be a little disappointed in that because, again, I've always been a big Jonathan Jones fan.
21:38And I would like to see this group go forward to see Jonathan Jones one more time with the Patriots.
21:46Hopefully he can stay healthy and see what they have on defense.
21:50Because if your cornerbacks aren't good enough, I don't care how good your pass rush is or your linebackers or your safeties,
21:56you still got to go up against all these really good quarterbacks that the Patriots are going to face.
22:02And you better be able to cover.
22:05So as of this moment, I think that six is the best route.
22:09Gonzalez, Jay Jones, Marcus Jones, Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, and Marcellus Dial.
22:17Specialists, 53-man average in the past, 6.6.
22:23That might be generous.
22:25I might have listed some other people at their normal positions.
22:30I now have four.
22:32Probably the most controversial move here is that kicker.
22:36I am keeping Joey Sly and releasing Chad Ryland.
22:41Yes, he was a draft pick.
22:43He was not good enough last year.
22:45He was not good enough in the offseason moments that we saw.
22:49Sly was better.
22:51I have no patience.
22:53Two things I don't have patience for this year after watching last year.
22:59Really crappy offense.
23:02So three things.
23:03Really crappy offense, stupid-ass turnovers, and kickers who can't kick.
23:09And I'm not dealing with it again.
23:11If I'm Gerard Mayo, I'm not going down like Bill Belichick
23:14and adhering to his draft pick who might have cost him his job last year.
23:21Whoever does the best this summer between Sly and Ryland, I'm going with.
23:25At the moment, it's Sly.
23:27Of course, that can change.
23:29Chad Ryland could come back a much better kicker.
23:32Who knows?
23:33Punter Bryce Berenger.
23:36Hopefully, he gets off the golf course enough to be ready to punt.
23:39I'm just kidding, Bryce.
23:40I'm just kidding.
23:41I'm glad to see you out there.
23:43Joe Cardona and the lone, quote-unquote, special teamer, Brendan Schooler.
23:50I got some questions about that.
23:52Look, they love him.
23:53He's really good.
23:54He's fast.
23:55He's an animal on special teams.
23:57Love it.
23:59Got to stop with, number one, the penalties.
24:02He has to stop getting so many penalties.
24:04And number two, yap into the officials like he's Matthew Slater,
24:09like he has some sort of standing.
24:10He doesn't.
24:13He's a special teamer.
24:15Just go do your job.
24:18Don't ruffle any feathers, and just get out of there.
24:23And that's all we ask of the special teamers on this team.
24:29So that is my initial 53-man roster projection.
24:34We will be back next week, hopefully, with Nick back from vacation,
24:39hopefully with Aaron Schatz from FTN and his new almanac out there.
24:44He's pretty high on the Patriots, you might be surprised to learn.
24:49Remember, this episode is brought to you by PrizePix,
24:51the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America.
24:55Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to
24:59$100.
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25:07Download the GameTime app, create an account,
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25:28Thanks for listening, everybody.
25:30Hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.
25:32We will see you back next week.
25:35Camp is going to be here before we know it.
25:38Hopefully the humidity breaks at some point or else the medium-sized boy is
25:44going to be skinny boy and dehydrated.
25:48See you, everybody.
25:49Thanks.
25:50♪♪♪

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