Alex Barth and Brian Hines go LIVE for another edition of the Patriots Beat Podcast. In this episode Alex and Brian preview the New England Patriots Week 1 matchup vs the Cincinnati Bengals!
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SportsTranscript
00:00All right, everyone, welcome back into another live edition of the Patriots Beat podcast
00:25here on the CLNS media network presented by our wonderful friends over at prize picks
00:30and game time. It is Brian Heinz back as always with Alex Barth. It's been a minute, I feel
00:36since it's just been us. Yeah, it's been a lot of crossovers. But we have a real life
00:42regular season Patriots football game to break down because they are on to Cincinnati very
00:47shortly here to open the twenty twenty four regular season. Finally, right. It's a season
00:53to change lots of change, but it will be exciting to actually watch some real football on television
01:00instead of just breaking them down at training camp practice. And we'll get the we'll get
01:04the full thing for real this time on Sunday and just a couple of days. So we'll break
01:09that down today. We'll end with probably a little big picture stuff around the NFL. But
01:15you wanted to start with a little news on some old news that got updated today from
01:23Albert Breer on the sports hub talking Brandon Iuke and that, you know, the reported contract
01:29offer that the Patriots did offer him included up to was up to or 80 on the dot, 80 million
01:34in guarantees. I think it was over 80. Yeah, over 80. So that was the one thing, you know,
01:39we heard they offered this thirty two average per year on this big contract, but we didn't
01:45know the guarantees. I think Jeremy Fowler had it maybe a few weeks ago that it was,
01:49you know, substantial guarantees, but more of an exact number from Breer here. So it
01:54was over 80 million offered on that contract to Brandon Iuke. You had a take on it. Let's
02:00hear what you had. Yeah. So so there's been two contracts. There were reports that there
02:05were two contracts out there, a three year and a four year. And we've now seen these
02:09two numbers for guaranteed money. One one number that's been put out there is in the
02:1360s by Jimmy Stewart, Felger and Mazin and other numbers in the 80s by Albert Breer.
02:18And people say that, you know, oh, Breer's making it up because Jimmy had 60. They can
02:23both exist. They can be for the different likes of the contracts. The point is this.
02:28Either one of those numbers is significant. And it's not really a new take. I've had this,
02:33but I think now that we have this number, we can finally put this thing to bed. The
02:38Patriots have shown they are willing to make the necessary investment, both in terms of
02:43draft capital and or financial compensation to get a number one receiver here. The reason
02:49I was so annoyed by the whole. Guaranteed money thing was there was a report I want
02:56to say was from Jocena Anderson. It might have been Diana Rossini. Um, shortly after
03:01the trade fell through, that basically said he didn't want to play here because he didn't
03:05have any faith in the con in the quarterback situation, which I think is true. I do think
03:10that's the driving force, but I will that. And I think he just always wanted to stay
03:13in San Francisco, but I don't think the quarterback situation was attracted to him. I don't blame
03:18him. I like Drake may as a prospect. I'm on the record as saying that, but he is just
03:23that he is a prospect. He's an unknown. It is all potential. There is nothing tangible
03:29as a guy like Brandon. I hook. Are you willing to bet your career on him panning out? I understand
03:34him being a little hesitant when he has a good setup right now in San Francisco. So
03:38this goes back to my big point about the season. The Patriots are willing to make the
03:42move they need to make, to get a big name player here, but it doesn't matter how much
03:46money you offer.
03:48If nobody's willing to take it. And that's what this season's about. It's about this
03:52coaching staff, building a culture, a foundation that is attractive to players around the league
03:59that will make other players want to come here. And players who are currently here want
04:02to stay here and buy in. And it's about Drake may, whenever the time comes showing receivers
04:10DK Metcalf, that he is somebody who can allow them to maximize their talents and maximize
04:16really how much money they can make and get the ball in their hands and help them put
04:19up big stats and get accolades and things like that.
04:23That to me is you asked me what this season is about. What's a successful season. It actually
04:28isn't so much internal, it's external to players around the NFL. Look at the Patriots,
04:34what they do this year and say, yeah, maybe they're not there yet, but I want to be a
04:37part of what they're building. That to me is what this season is about. And I think
04:41today's news reinforced it because the money was there. I just didn't believe in the program
04:47and coming off a foreign 13 season, I, you can say what you will about the off season,
04:52but again, that's all hypothetical.
04:55There is no program to believe in. It is a tough sell, make it less of a tough sell
05:00this year. That that's kind of my take. And now we can finally put this stupid thing to
05:05bed and turn our attention to the receivers who will be available next year.
05:09Yeah. We're done with Brandon. I, you, it was a good dream for a little bit there, but
05:14that that's over with and done with. So, I mean, I was going to start by saying like,
05:18before we get into the Bengals game, I was going to ask you, you know, it's so doom and
05:23gloom around here before the season starts. I've never seen like on Twitter, this many
05:28Patriots fans have a take on who they should draft in the first round and a week one of
05:32college football, right? Will, Will Campbell, Calvert drinks like that. That's not, that's
05:38not how things are usually done around here. We talked about the draft like in April, you
05:42know, most casual fans, not us obviously. But so I was going to ask you like, what does
05:47a successful season look like for the Patriots? Because it, it's not necessarily just wins
05:52and losses. It's those guys, you know, having promise from your rookies, specifically Drake
05:57may like if Drake may, I think that's the biggest thing. Like if Drake may shows progress
06:02and if you can go into next year being like a hundred percent convinced or maybe not a
06:06hundred percent, but like more or less convinced that he's the guy you can build around.
06:10And especially if players want to come play with him, even if you win four games, like
06:16that's probably the mark of a successful season is seeing the progress in some of those younger
06:21guys, specifically Drake may. Right, exactly. Yeah. That's what, uh, you know, I go back
06:27to the, the Jayvon Baker drop in the preseason, right? That's, I don't want to say that's
06:32kind of play you want to see. Obviously you want to see him catch it, but like that's
06:35something where it's a really incredible throw and you go to a receiver and say, this is
06:40the position we're going to put you in, but you're going to catch this and probably walk
06:44in scoring. Like that's the kind of results you're looking for at least, at least anything
06:49above that's great. Again, if Baker's just catching those passes and kind of breaks
06:53out on his own, even better, but bare minimum, you're looking for flashes to sell people.
06:59So what would, I got to ask this in my mailbag, would you rather go like have the Patriots
07:06go like three and 14 and lock up the number one pick. And then you have all these avenues
07:11in the draft, or would you rather Drake may ends the year winning five or six games. Maybe
07:19he goes five and three down the stretch, really building momentum. But that draft pick now,
07:23maybe you're picking 10th or 11th and you don't have, you know, the options. Maybe you
07:29can still get one of those tackles, but you don't have the options to move back for a
07:32draft hall. Like if you had to pick one of those paths, which is your ideal path there
07:36for the Patriots building momentum, absolutely building momentum.
07:40Because if you're doing that, Drake Mays winning games, he's elevating the guys around him.
07:44And now suddenly some of those problems aren't as pressing and you, you can still trade up
07:50and get players and you can still make moves in free agency, but you know, you have a quarterback
07:55who can elevate the talent around him. And that is really what it's all about. You don't
07:59want to tank. You never want losing to become habitual. You fall into that process. You
08:04may never get out of it. So all, all the positive signs from the young guys, the better to me.
08:11And then we'll deal with the draft when we get to the draft. I know I've hyped up guys
08:15in the top five, but we'll deal with the draft when he, when we get to the draft at that
08:19point and the trades are still a thing. Yeah. And you never know how that draft, that top
08:2410 specifically is going to shake out. Maybe you couldn't have the ninth pick and Kelvin
08:28banks will be there. Or maybe one of those guys like Ariante, Ursary, who we've talked
08:33about really just like takes a monster leap and then he's there in the top 10. So yeah,
08:37I think the more progress you see from the young guys, especially Drake May is just the
08:42outcome for this season. So let's talk about this season. Week one in Cincinnati. I'm starting
08:50with Alex Van Pelt and this offense. Are you entering week one? Are you more or less confident
08:56in Van Pelt calling this offense, running this offense, running the show? Mayo's kind
09:01of called him the head coach of the offense. Are you more or less confident in Van Pelt
09:05entering the season than say maybe, I don't know, five or six months ago when they first
09:10announced that he would be the offensive coordinator? I don't know. I mean, I, I guess
09:14more just because I see what he's done with the quarterback development and how far mechanically
09:19Drake may and uh, even Joe Milton have come, but that's different than calling plays and
09:25you still gotta be able to call plays and you gotta be able to put together an offensive
09:28game plan. So that remains a question. That was honestly my bigger question with him coming
09:33in. So I, I guess slightly more confident cause he checked one box, but I'm, I don't
09:39look at it and say, all right, well he got Drake made improve his footwork. So he's going
09:42to be able to call the right play on third and eight. Like that's not how it works.
09:45Yeah. This is like when the real test starts, right? Like how can you, um, not scheme, what's
09:51the word I'm looking for? Set things up almost in a way there's a better word that I can't,
09:58can't pull right now. But yeah, like this is what you want to see, uh, with, with the
10:01calling plays and how he attacks some of these defenses. So he has kind of a built in advantage
10:07cause he, from the AFC North in Cleveland, tons of experience going against Lou and Aramo
10:12and this bangles defense. Um, even with Jacoby percent back in 2022, they had some nice game
10:19plans that percent said they, he went back and watched, um, which included running the
10:23ball a lot, which might be on the radar this week. But, uh, how do you think that van Peltz
10:28is going to kind of scheme this thing up to, to attack this, this since he defense,
10:32you're going to start off running the ball and they're going to run the ball some more
10:36and they're going to run the ball again. And just when you think you're done running
10:38the ball, they're going to run it a few more times, like the ball a little bit more. Yeah.
10:42And look, they'll, they'll create play action off of that. But everything, uh, Gerard may
10:45have talked about, you know, controlling the line of scrimmage and mentioned the run games
10:50and things like that. And just when you look at where they're at, their offensive line
10:53is banged up.
10:54And the one thing I will say for the offensive line is they have pretty much whoever they've
10:59had out there. They've been able to open holes in the run game. Like as much as we've bemoaned
11:03them in past protection, I don't know that there's been any one combination even that
11:08I look at and I say, wow, they're bad against the run. Like I feel like they've been consistent.
11:12So it all sets up for you to run the ball, control the clock, shorten the game, create
11:17off play action, but it's easier said than done. The game has to be close. You have to
11:23actually be picking yards up on the ground. And that's the thing. These West coast coaches
11:27love to bang their head against the wall. If it's not working, they'll doing it because
11:30either one, the math tells them it will even out or two.
11:35They're just, it's set up please. So they don't really care about the result. They're
11:38trying to set up something off of it. The reality is, did you hear Hoyer? Did you watch
11:42the Andrews podcast with Hoyer? Yes. Yeah. I, so Evan brought that up to me cause I made
11:47this take today on, on catch 22, but yeah, he was saying like he said, cause Hoyer played
11:53in Shanahan, which is kind of a similar, you know, this West coast. And he said, right,
11:58he wants to run it 30 times a game. And even if they're averaging, you know, if their first
12:0210 runs are averaging three yards of carry, they're going to keep hammering away.
12:07They're going to keep going at the run game, which could be frustrating looking at it,
12:10but it's all just to set up those one or two, you know, explosive 30 yard play action passes
12:16because you're marrying everything together like that. Yeah. And so I think you're going
12:21to see a lot of run with mixed success, but, and that upsets the timing of the pass rush
12:26too. I think that's a massive, massive, massive part of the game plan. Yeah. Trey Hendrickson.
12:32We'll talk about him, but that's scary coming up. Yeah. So you bring him up. The one thing
12:36I do wonder is the Bengals. So they lost DJ reader. They brought in Sheldon Rankin's to
12:40replace him, but they struggled against the run, especially between the tackles last year.
12:46This is an outside zone team. They want to get the ball off tackle, but do they make
12:50the adjustment even just to run the ball between the tackles inside zone, duo trap,
12:56whatever it is. Do they make the adjustment to run the ball in between the tackles this
13:00week just to get that more favorable matchup? Yeah. And I still think, like, I feel like
13:08their personnel is still built more for this downhill style, right? Man to man, like running
13:14downhill. So, um, but they do want to be outside zone team. And as you know, Hoyer said like
13:19they'll kind of keep hammering this in, even if it takes time, like the, they think there'll
13:25be better for it in the long run. So, but, but we will see how much they'll pivot to
13:29some of these different schemes, uh, you know, against the matchups. Cause yeah, since he,
13:33they weren't good last year against the rush, it was 126 yards per game, which I think was
13:38six or seventh worst in the league, 4.7 yards per carry. And then going back to that, you
13:43know, game against van Pelt in Breset in 2022, the Browns ran at 44 times for 173 yards and
13:50three touchdowns. And then they hit some of those. I think they only threw four play action passes
13:55Jacoby, but he completed three of them for 77 yards. So that feels like it kind of might be
14:00the approach you, you run the ball, you run the ball, you run the ball, and then you have to hit
14:05those explosives. And then in the play action game, because you know, you have to keep up with
14:09a high powered offense. So I feel like that might be kind of the game plan that, that, that we're
14:14looking at from Ben Peltier. Yeah. Yeah. I'd agree with that. I think using that game as a,
14:20as a good example. Yep. So, but what do you think the offensive line can hold up if that's how they
14:26want to play? I mean, right now it looks like chooks, the core four is the left tackle.
14:32Maybe Michael Jordan elevated off the practice squad as starting left guard, either him or Nick
14:38Lovrett. And then David Andrews at center Leighton Robinson at right guard and Michael
14:43window at right tackle. So we're, we're yeah. We're just the offensive line. I know how we all
14:49feel probably about the offensive line, but if that's the game plan, if Gerard Mayo wants to
14:53win and establish the trenches, do you think they can do that with this kind of offensive
14:57line set up right now? Maybe just because again, like I actually think they've been fine run
15:03blocking, but I don't put it past 10 dropbacks and eight of them are a disaster, right? And even
15:12with the run stuff again, if you can't line up on sides, nothing else matters. If you can't get
15:19lined up correctly. And it still blows my mind. One that chooks the core four is back at left
15:26tackle after that display last Sunday in two, assuming Vidarian low can't play.
15:33That's probably the best option, which is crazy to think about. It's just insane how shorthanded
15:39they are there. But I think they can be competitive in the run game. I just worry about
15:47literally like the first time, like, like however many throws they have, even if it's just a few of
15:52them, what that protection is going to look like, it's going to be need to be a lot of play action,
15:57a lot of rollouts, things like that. Yeah. Cause since he's just going to line
16:01Trey Hendrickson up over chooks and yeah. All game. And you know, chooks played in Pittsburgh,
16:09but he played on the right side. So he didn't get to see much of Trey Hendrickson throughout his
16:13time there, but you know, he's probably one of the most underrated pass rushers in the league.
16:18Like he could take over this game. Uh, if chooks is just kind of on an Island there,
16:22we can't say Vidarian low has been limited, uh, all week with that kind of core of dominant
16:28issue city. So hasn't practiced with that ankle issue. It'd be a surprise at this point.
16:32Yeah. If he suits up. So yeah, that left tackle spot is still the big one. I'd probably,
16:38if Vidarian low is good and healthy, I feel like I might prefer him at this point over chooks, but.
16:44I'm with you. Neither you feel that confident in. So here's what I wonder,
16:49cause we've seen in the past, they've rotated linemen early in the season. Obviously this
16:54was under bill, but other teams do this. I wonder if it's something where part of the game,
16:58it's Vidarian low at left tackle chooks at right Michael and went to a right guard.
17:03And then maybe the other part of the game, they moved Michael and went out to right tackle,
17:07but chooks at left and sit low. Like they, they may be adjusting this offensive line
17:13in real time during the game. That wouldn't surprise me.
17:17Fun stuff, fun stuff, fun stuff, poor Jacoby back there, poor Jacoby. But, um, yeah, lots of runs
17:25play action passes. Hopefully the, uh, offense can offensive line can hold up anything just
17:32in particular. You want to see from any of those, you know, skill guys, you know,
17:36you assume it's going to be busy day for remander Stevenson, uh, Antonio Gibson,
17:41but any of those skill guys, even beyond the running back said that you're really looking
17:45at, uh, maybe get off on the, on the right foot here to start the season.
17:49So the Titans were the Titans. I don't know where that came from.
17:53The Titans are always in your mind. You're worried.
17:56I know the Bengals were always the Bengals last year were the worst team defending tight ends in
18:02the NFL. And so Hunter Henry took a step back the last couple of years with the fourth quarterback
18:08play. He did a really good job. Him and Jacoby building chemistry and camp it when they do
18:13throw it to me, Hunter Henry's the guy in this game, Hunter Henry's the guy you're looking at
18:17to making it back. All right. Are we doing Taekwon? Are we doing week one Taekwon?
18:23I I'm, I'm still, I'll believe it when I see it. I'm I'm saying he'll be out there. He'll play a
18:27lot. I'll believe the impact when I see it. I'm with you. I'm with you. I, I, I hope we also get
18:32a good dose of Jalen Polk, right? It feels like he will. Doesn't feel like he is the rookie receiver.
18:39That's going to make an early impact here. Like I wouldn't be surprised if Jayvon Baker and maybe
18:44even Keishon booty are inactives for this game at the bottom of that depth chart. But, uh,
18:48Polk is the guy like he's could be starting either him or KJ Osborne. They're going to be
18:52rotating at that Z spot, but I hope we get just a ton of Jalen Polk and really all year. I hope he
18:58gets peppered with targets. So, um, good start from him would be encouraging and his rookie
19:03debut there, but, uh, we will wrap it up on the offense, quickly go over to the defense.
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20:36bonus. It's guaranteed. Prize picks run your game. I had to throw that Josh Allen in there
20:42because I went on the Patriots YouTube to write something on the Demarcus Covington interview,
20:49and I saw you and Evan arguing about his Josh Allen MVP take on there. So I mean, of course,
20:57and then he picks a San Fran to win the Superbowl. That might be if that happens this year,
21:03Josh Allen wins MVP and San Fran wins the Superbowl. That might just be the end of Alex
21:09Barth on the football landscape, but I would have to reconsider some things, but I'm not
21:14super worried about that. Yeah. Both of those, both of those would be rare, but
21:19let's go to the Patriots defense. Looks like, I don't know. Are you expecting to see Jamar chase
21:26out there for the Bengals offense? He's been limited this week. Even T Higgins popped up as
21:30limited, uh, this week. It doesn't seem great. Just looking at the videos on their like
21:35participation levels in practice, but they've been technically out there. But, uh, are you
21:40expecting to see him? And if you are, I'm guessing it's not much of Jamar chase this Sunday.
21:46Yeah, I'm, I'm expecting to see chase, but maybe like five to 10 snaps. Now he can do a lot of
21:50damage in five to 10 snaps, but I'm not expecting him to have a full workload. I just think from,
21:55from not practicing all summer to come in and play 60 snaps in a game is a massive ask. And,
22:01and it's not even about just like physical conditioning. I'm sure he's been keeping
22:04himself in shape off to the side, but simply, you know, football shape, can he go out and can
22:11he take the hits and, and, and all that and, and, you know, go back and forth and running routes
22:16and things like that. It's a, it's a big ask after not practicing all summer. So I think he plays
22:20if nothing else, just avoid the fine. But again, five to 10 snaps.
22:25Yep. Yeah. You imagine it's going to be kind of limited there. So how are you lining up your
22:32secondary? Are you trusting Christian Gonzalez? Right. It didn't feel like the best summer for
22:37the sophomore corner, even though he's got a lot of praise from the, you know, the coaching staff.
22:42So are you trusting him with just, if Jamar chase is out there, like, Hey, just go take Jamar chase
22:48out of the game or how you kind of moving around these parts of the Patriots secondary to match up
22:54with, with this, you know, kind of high powered since the offense. So I go with the old Bella
22:59check number one corner on the number two receiver. So I I'd put Gonzalez on Higgins
23:05and I'd let him try to win that on an Island. And I know it wasn't the best summer, but
23:09you drafted this guy in the first round. We saw what we saw last year in games. Like you,
23:14you got to give him a chance, especially when you're not going to have much of a pass rush,
23:17just with the personnel they have. I would put Gonzalez on Higgins on an Island,
23:24Jonathan Jones on Jamar chase with help over the top cloud coverage, whatever you want to call it.
23:29Um, what is it? Yoshivas is the somebody tweeted at me. Cause I got it wrong earlier.
23:35I don't know. I don't know how to stay Andre. Right. Isn't that his first name?
23:40Yossi boss, Yossi boss, Andre Yossi boss. I think they call him Yoshi. Call him Yoshi.
23:45Okay. Yoshi. So, I mean, he's a bigger guy. This is a game where you'd like to have like a
23:50Sean Wade or a, or an Isaiah Bolden. But I mean, you figure out what you're doing with him in the
23:54slot. Maybe you use Alex Austin, the slot a little bit, um, or just Marcus Jones and he's proved
24:00he's going to cover bigger receivers. And I would just go like that. But to me, it's Gonzalez on
24:04Higgins chase Jonathan Jones with help. Yeah. I mean, Marcus Jones had the T Higgins assignment
24:10in 2022, which is an ideal situation. You want to avoid that, uh, to be fair, what was there a
24:17secondary in that game? It was like John Jones, Marcus Jones, and John Jones, Marcus Jones,
24:22and miles Bryant. They're all over five, not under five, all under five, nine. Jeez. So
24:27they played, I think they were over like three quarters, uh, percentage and zone defense that
24:33game. So maybe they can play a little bit more man, the man when now we have Christian Gonzalez.
24:36Yeah. That, that, that game plan was very much dictated by the personnel.
24:40Yeah. I think the Marcus Covington, even, I think Taylor asked him and Covington said today,
24:44like we're comfortable with these guys playing man to man, as you know, we saw last year with,
24:49with Gonzalez out there and the Joneses. So expect some more man to man. You mentioned Isaiah
24:54Bolden. Do you think that's someone who maybe could get an elevation here to have a bigger
24:58body in the slot and then even help on help on the kickoffs? I don't think so. Just because
25:03I think they're going to have to elevate to offensive lineman. I mean, Michael Jordan
25:07looks like an elevation. Michael Jordan looks like an elevation. And then, but if,
25:12if Nick Leverett's going to start, do you need to elevate another center? Also what's their plan
25:17at left tackle? If something happens with chooks, if an area and low can't go, like,
25:21that's true. Is it Kane Wallace who really hasn't been over there this week? Does,
25:24does, does Caleb Jones, DeMontre, um, uh, Harris, I think, right. DeMontre Jacobs,
25:31they might need to elevate to offensive lineman. Uh, you know, if not, yeah, I could totally see,
25:35I could definitely see Bolden, but, um, we know it, it, it seems pretty clear at this point
25:42that Michael Jordan's going to get at least one of those spots. Yep. Um, and you mentioned also,
25:47sorry, I, I should say with, with, um, Antonio Gibson going on the injury report today might
25:53have to be Kevin Harris too. I don't know that you can go, if you're going to run the ball as
25:56much as they make it sound like they're going to run the ball. I don't know that you can go into
25:59this game with only two healthy running backs. That was a hip, right? He popped up with. Yeah.
26:05Uh, yeah. Hip. So that's also a good point, but yeah, it looks like Michael Jordan definitely
26:11will be one. And then we'll, we'll see that other elevation might have to be on the offensive side
26:16of the ball. So, um, you also mentioned the pass rush there. How are they generating a pass rush?
26:23Obviously no Christian bar more, uh, obviously no Matthew Jude on Joshua Uche is still limited
26:29with that foot injury. Uh, O'Shane's the Menez got elevated to a full participant with an ankle
26:34injury. That sounds encouraging. Uh, drew Wilkins is talking about him today to, um, saying, you
26:40know, he kind of transformed his body this off season. It'd be a little bit more explosive.
26:44DeMarcus Covington was saying he's played like a star. So we should get a good dose of ocean.
26:49So minutes who's been impressive in the summer, but where else are they generating this pass rush?
26:54Are they going to have to scheme this up? Or do you think someone can kind of elevate their game
26:59as kind of a unit to kind of get the Joe burrow here on Sunday?
27:04Yeah, I, I think they're gonna have to scheme it up. And the big thing they need to do
27:08is keep the Bengals behind the sticks because scheming up pass rush usually means you're
27:14running these games and things up front that limit your ability to defend the run,
27:18at least run fit traditionally. So if you can keep them in second long, third and long,
27:24and you know, they're throwing, it does allow you to get a little more creative with what you're
27:27running up front. If they're in like second and four, you know, third and two, it's going to be a
27:32lot harder to generate a pass rush. Cause they don't really have that guy. You hope it's Josh
27:36Wu. Jay, if he's on, he's the closest, but they don't really have that guy that you can say,
27:41just go get the quarterback. Right. Without help on any given down in any given situation,
27:46they're going to have to scheme it up and that's tough to do.
27:49Yep. Yeah. Someone said stunts every play.
27:53Oh, right. Like, yeah, basically we saw last year, their big thing was like those simulated
27:59and a creeper pressures. You'll probably see a lot of those where you're only bringing four guys,
28:04but it's coming at, you know, different spots that like you might blitz a linebacker and drop
28:09an edge player off. So it's pressure really, but it's only four players still. So you'll
28:14probably see some of those more scheme up things to try to generate pressure, but, um, right.
28:19How are they attacking? Trent Brown, Trent Brown, revenge game. Are you going after Trent Brown?
28:24I mean, I might, he's probably the weak link on the line. I just say that cause their lines
28:29actually gotten pretty good the last few years. You look at, they got a Orlando Brown and left
28:34tackle, right? Uh, Ted Karras in the middle of those guys, both captains. Um, I think you're
28:40going to see good Trent Brown though. I Trent Brown's locking in for this game. I mean,
28:45let's not kid ourselves. Yeah. Former team didn't end great against guys. He knows. I think you're
28:51in a really good version of Trent Brown. You probably are going to need to attack him cause
28:56he still might be the weak link, but I'm expecting him to have a really good game.
29:01And I think you got to figure out whether it's him or somebody else. You got to figure out who
29:04the wink week link is early. Get that guy matched up with Keon white, but I don't know. I think
29:10Trent Brown, Trent Brown's going to show up. Yep. And then one other revenge game. I saw
29:15someone mentioned in the chat, uh, is Mike a sick. He's scoring a touchdown in this one.
29:21He's like their tight end one, I think in this. So just talking to people in Cincinnati, like
29:28he's a slot receiver. Now he's really not a tight end and they use him situationally.
29:33He's not a full-time. Um, he's not a full-time player. So I think he's going to be like,
29:39they use him essentially like, as a, as when I say James white role, I don't mean
29:45as a running back, but like he's on the field in specific passing situations.
29:48He's not on the field all the time. That's what people think. I guess they haven't really shown
29:51their hand too much with that one, but yeah, he'll, he'll definitely be a factor, especially
29:56if they get into some of those third and long season, tough matchup in those situations.
30:00I think they have five tight ends on their 53 man roster. So that would make sense if he's more of
30:05like that big slot receiver. Um, I mean, they've drew a sample who they like and then they draft
30:12Eric all and, uh, Tana McLaughlin. Yeah. Yeah. The, the Arizona kid. So they got,
30:19they got a lot of tight ends out there, but yeah, if he's out there early downs,
30:23lined up from Anthony Jennings, that's a bad idea for the bank. Yeah. I wouldn't expect much of that.
30:29Anthony, Anthony Jennings was blown up. Uh, darn it. Washington last year.
30:36Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, he he's Mike is sick. He's probably due for like one of those
30:42annoying third and eight conversions late in the game when it's, when it's close or something like
30:46that. So, um, anything else defense? Um, I'm interested to see Jalen Hawkins role.
30:55We taught, we talked a lot about this going into camp. We didn't talk as much about it
30:58in camp, but when it comes to that, that deep safety role and how they play that,
31:04I am interested to see how much Jalen Hawkins plays and when he plays,
31:07cause the other thing, the important thing in that role is if you're going to put Gonzalez
31:11on Higgins or really whoever you put them on, they're both very good after the catch.
31:14Um, Gonzalez's big weakness last year was tackling and he hurt himself tackling.
31:20And so that's something, you know, does he rework the way he does that? Is he going to
31:24be hesitant early on? Like that first tackle he makes, I think you're going to see him get
31:28like all kinds of pumped up, but you need, you need guys swarming to the ball. Uh, especially
31:34when it's these two receivers and not letting them create after the catch Higgins in particular,
31:38those scares me. Cause he's like a big physical guy who can break away from tackles. So
31:42you need to be swarming to the ball gang, tackling team defense. And usually for that deep safety,
31:46as soon as you see that throw, you got to trigger and go and get that help, get that guy on the
31:51ground or get that guy on the ground if he's alone. So a sneaky big game for whoever's in
31:55that role, it'll be peppers and Duggar I'm sure at times, but I'm interested to see how they use
32:00Jalen Hawkins. Yeah, just his usage. And then that third boundary corner that we talked so much
32:05about, it's probably going to be Alex Austin or Marco Wilson. Just kind of see who gets first
32:09draw out of that group. That'll be interesting as well. And mentioned real peppers. Maybe he's
32:14wearing a guardian cap. Well, he's been experimenting with that this week at practice.
32:18So, uh, maybe we'll have a player wearing the guardian cap in game, but, um, that's defensive
32:24breakdown. Could be catching them in a good spot here. Maybe Joe Burrow missed a lot of time last
32:30year with that, you know, wrist injury, first game back Jamar chase T Higgins. If they play,
32:35what's their level of buy-in or what's their usage. They have a first time, I think first
32:40time offensive coordinator, definitely a new offensive quarter. I think he's the first time
32:43offensive coordinator as well. And since he always kind of starts slow, so maybe it's a good
32:48time to catch the bangles here. Uh, like it was good time to catch the Eagles last year and week
32:53one, even though the Patriots still lost, but, um, wrap it up special teams. Are you expecting
33:00fireworks all of a sudden with this new kickoff now that it's the regular season and teams,
33:08you know, they might not be as afraid to put stuff on tape because these games matter.
33:12Are you expecting more creative stuff, uh, with this new kickoff return?
33:17Oh, look, I just think whoever, you know, you're going to see a lot of different things,
33:21try to run the league. And I think whoever figures it out early is going to have a significant
33:26advantage. So the Patriots need every edge they can get is Jeremy Springer and cook something up
33:31that the bangles aren't ready for. That's huge. Uh, I honestly don't know what to expect. I don't,
33:35I I'm kind of just expecting the unexpected. It's one of those things, but we know they can
33:40change the rules to week four. So I wouldn't, you know, lock in any one specific thing as being
33:46like the answer. But if the Patriots have an early advantage that that could flip some things.
33:52Yeah, definitely. And any thoughts early wants us to talk about Joey sly,
33:57any thoughts on sly? Just make your kicks. Hopefully. Yeah. Just make your kicks. Like
34:01they didn't keep a kicker on the practice squad. I Chad Ryland hasn't signed anywhere. Has he?
34:06No, not yet. So I guess we see what happens there, but like, just keep making your kicks.
34:11I don't think the competition is truly over. Like if he starts missing first couple of weeks,
34:14they're going to bring somebody else in a hundred percent, a hundred percent. And neither of us
34:18have Bryce or the bangles punter in our fantasy league. So not much to talk about there. Um,
34:24but I mean, Bryce was awesome this summer. So just like to see him continue that success.
34:27And I think, um, what's the guy's name? Quinn Quinn. Yeah. I think he has both
34:35punters in this game. Cause Berenger was the first pick and then wasn't the, um,
34:41he actually didn't get Bryce. I don't think.
34:45Or whoever it was who had the first overall pick. Oh, he has both. I think has both. Cause,
34:51but yeah, Berenger was the first pick. And then the, since he punter went last,
34:54cause that whole stupid situation at Ryan Recco and he got Brad Robbins on IR,
34:58I'm looking at it now. So he does have both when the time comes and he is starting both
35:02by the way, or at least as of right now, he is starting big week, big week for punt force trauma
35:08right there. Yeah. He's written for like a three, three, nothing. Lots of puns games.
35:15Yeah. Pretty much. All right. Any last thoughts week one?
35:21Uh, I'm just excited. Like football's back. I'm looking forward to not talking about it in the
35:26hypothetical and actually having a game to break down on, on Monday or Tuesday, whenever we do the
35:31next show. So yeah, I'm excited. I'm ready for it. Definitely. And if you guys want to go,
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36:57Um, all right. So we'll wrap up just with some general thoughts around the NFL. We can dish out
37:03any predictions, hot takes you have. We're starting the night chiefs raising their banner against the
37:09Ravens. You think that could be maybe an AFC championship preview or just one of the biggest
37:15teams that could challenge the chiefs this year is Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
37:21Yeah. So I think the big thing for Lamar is there's a chance that he's going to be healthy
37:25in the playoffs this year, which we really haven't seen because he just carries such a load in the,
37:30the run game of that offense. But they add Derek Henry now who should take the brunt of that
37:35beating and then hopefully open it up for him in the playoffs. And I think that makes them the
37:41biggest challenger to the chiefs. Look, gut check. I do think the chiefs are going to three
37:45Pete. I just don't think any team got better enough in the off season in order to pass them.
37:50It should be the Niners who have the best roster in football, but until Kyle Shanahan proves me
37:54wrong, I'm just not picking him to win a big game. I can't do it. He's had so many chances
37:59and keeps making the same mistake, but if anybody's going to do it, man, I like the Ravens.
38:03I think they're set up really well now. Uh, I, I think they have a chance to get Lamar Jackson
38:08to the end of the season. Healthy. I also think Zay flowers year two could be in for a big jump.
38:12The defense is still good. Um, yeah. So like my super bowl pick again, like the chiefs are
38:19going to three Pete, but it feels no fun to say that. So my super bowl pick is Ravens over Niners.
38:23I think Shanahan gets there again. He'll be up 14 points at halftime and then lose. But yeah,
38:29I, I think tonight is the two, the Bengals we'll see. We'll we'll see where they have a lot of
38:34questions. Where's burrow at health-wise after the wrist injury, where's Higgins and chase at
38:40with their contract situations? Is the defense really improved upfront? Like in theory, the
38:46Bengals are in that same tier to me with the chiefs and the Ravens, but they have too many
38:49what ifs for me to put them there just, just completely. So I think tonight we're seeing the
38:53two best teams in the AFC. Yeah. Cause it feels like the chiefs got better in a way. I know.
39:00They got Xavier worthy and Hollywood Brown and you know, year two Rashi rice could be really good.
39:06So like they saw one year of just mediocre receivers, which they won the super bowl.
39:10And they're like, let's go get all these really fast receivers. So like, I think my homes could
39:14be back to really like launching the ball down the field a lot. So I think it could be a good year
39:19for him. And I know left tackle is a bit of an answer issue. I think they're starting Kingsley,
39:24yep. BYU. So a rookie left tackle for them, but he's sounds like he's had an impressive summer.
39:30So I feel like they've just gotten better now. Maybe Kelsey kind of takes a step back. He's
39:36getting up there in age, but yeah, I feel like they're still still, still should be the odds
39:42on favorite there, but yeah, Baltimore with Derek Henry should be really intriguing.
39:46Anyone in the AFC you think might really surprise people as a team or someone you think is really
39:53going to kind of be a disappointment this year or the whole NFL you can go.
39:59I mean, I think the Colts, you know, if Richardson pans out, if Anthony, and that's a big F he's
40:05incredibly raw coming out and he lost a year development, but if Anthony Richardson pans out,
40:11they have a lot of talent on that offense. You know, you look at the receivers, they have Josh
40:16downs, Michael Pittman, Jr. Alec Pierce. They add a D Mitchell, who I think was, you know,
40:21one of the more underdrafted players this year, Mo Alley Cox, a tight end.
40:25Oh, we still haven't gotten to Jonathan Taylor in that offensive line. Like
40:28that's going to be a team, especially playing in a, in a dome that can really, you know, run it up
40:35now that all hinges. Like if Richardson sucks, if Richardson can't like the accuracy is not there
40:40and he's spraying it, or if he gets hurt, they're, they're going to probably be what they were last
40:45year, which is right around. I think they won seven, eight games last year. They'll probably
40:48be that again, right around a 500 team. But if Richardson can like justify his fifth overall
40:54pick, right. If he can justify that kind of draft slot, which is franchise quarterback,
40:59you know, perennial playoff quarterback ad team has a chance to be really good.
41:06Yeah. I thought Shane Steichen was really impressive last year and you saw Philly kind
41:10of fall off without him. So he, he got off to a good start as a head coach, but yeah,
41:14probably a lot of that depends on Anthony Richardson's health as well. I think I saw
41:18a tweet the other day, he's, he's played like 17 games since high school, which is just,
41:25he's like on that. He's I think Evan called it like the Trey Lance path. So like he he's got
41:30to stay healthy and he could be a question mark if he's out there, but like you saw last year,
41:34when he is out there, he's a pretty dynamic player so that they could be a pretty intriguing out
41:39there. Um, what do you think AFC East, are you buying Aaron Rodgers and the jets? I think the
41:46dolphins could be, uh, is the general public high on them? Cause I think they could be kind of a
41:52disappointment this year based off how the general public use them. But here's where I'm at with the
41:56dolphins. I don't know how people really feel about the dolphins. I think there's people like
42:01a lot about the dolphins, but people caught on that. They like tail off at the end of every year
42:06now. Well, so here's the thing about the dolphins last year or the last two years under McDaniel,
42:11do you know what their record is against teams that finished 500 or better? Probably. Well,
42:16it's not good. It's definitely not good. It's five and 10. They essentially win one of every
42:21three such games. That's not, that's a team that can maybe back into the playoffs. That's not a
42:26team. That's like a real threat to, to, to make any sort of run. Cause you're not beating good
42:30teams. By the way, Mike McDaniel should be on the hot seat this year. I'll just say that
42:34extension just got an extension. Oh, that's right. Idiot. Anyway, I guess two is not working out
42:40then. Well, have you, have you seen the end of their schedule this year? What is it? So they
42:45play the Patriots week 12. Okay. And then they have at green Bay who should be pretty good home
42:51against the jets loss. Uh, maybe a win Miami late in the year, maybe a win at Houston loss
42:59home against San Francisco loss at Cleveland in like late December. So Cleveland is cold.
43:10I'll give him a win on that. And then, and then at the, yeah, that's true. And then at the jets
43:18week 18. So what did, what did I just have them going there down the stretch? How many games is
43:22that? I think I had two wins, two and four down the stretch. Yeah, it sounds about right. Um,
43:29bidding for how they tend to finish years. So, so to go back to the top of the UFC. So I think
43:34the jets win the division. I think the bills lost too many pieces. I think you are going to get
43:38revenge Tori Aaron Rogers. I think he's going to be great. They've got a ton of talent on defense.
43:43Um, you know, they, they reworked the line, obviously really good receivers.
43:47They're going to look like a wagon all year. They're gonna win 12, 13 games.
43:51And then they're going to get the third team in the AFC South as a wild card team,
43:56or maybe they get the dolphins in the first round of the wild card, or even in that division around,
44:01and they're going to lose. They're going to go one and done. That's my prediction for the jets.
44:06Okay. I could see it. That's just, it all just depends on Rogers. I feel if he's healthier or
44:12not. What do you think? Uh, someone said their sleeper here is the Browns. I love their defense.
44:19I just can't do Deshaun Watson. Just what he's shown since he's come back. It's bad. So I don't
44:25know. I don't, again, I love the Browns defense, but the offense isn't giving me any hope there.
44:32Most of the evidence points to players that miss entire seasons for non-medical reasons.
44:37Don't return to form. That's just Levi on bell to Sean Watson. A lot of the guys that opted out
44:44during COVID and I'm not knocking that decision. I'm just pointing to the data. Like they, they
44:49weren't hurt and they missed the season for whatever reason, even the guys that miss a
44:53season due to injury. I think because they're rehabbing, they're still like locked in and
44:57there's a goal at the end there. I, they just don't bounce back. They don't bounce back.
45:03And I think you're seeing that with Watson. I think he, the offensive system doesn't,
45:08isn't a fit for him. And he talks about, you know, uh, part of the reason that Alex Van Pelt's not
45:14there anymore is, well, we invested so much into Sean Watson and this offense doesn't really work
45:19for him. So we need to change it up, but it's still Stefanski. Yeah. So it's still like,
45:24it's not going to change that much. So the same Dorsey now who's the play caller Dorsey. I think
45:33that's not that much of a change. It's, it's, it's literally, they went from one bills,
45:36backup quarterback to another, like, it's not going to change that much.
45:40I just don't see it for him. I don't see it. I know they won 11 games last year with five
45:44different quarterbacks and they made it work even without Nick Chubb. I think that was a,
45:49I don't want to say a fluke. You can't replicate that. I don't know that they can do that again.
45:55Yep. Uh, and someone said, are you a Harbaugh guy? Someone said, no, no. So this is my hot
46:02take in like June was Jim Harbaugh will be a one and done coach with the chargers.
46:07Now that's before the NCAA kind of announced their pending suspension form. And that changes
46:12the math on it a little bit, but I'm still not ruling it out entirely. I just don't think that
46:17thing's going to work the offense. He ran with Kaepernick first off. I think they have lightning
46:21in a bottle of Kaepernick. Kaepernick had a very unique skillset that worked in that offense,
46:27but that guy worked in that offense. I don't know how much your wiggle room there was there.
46:32It's also 10 years later, the NFL is very different. Harbaugh won at Michigan. Two reasons.
46:37One in college football, 90% of the time. So in the NFL, most of the time, if you have the better
46:42quarterback, you win, right? In college football, 90% of the time, the team that has the better
46:46offensive line wins, especially in the big 10 where they're running the ball the way they are.
46:51And he just went out, recruited lineman. That's what he did. And he just pounded the ball down
46:55everybody's throat as one reason he won. And then he had Conor stallions, but that's why
47:01why Harbaugh was able to be effective at the college level. That's not going to translate
47:05moving Joe all to right tackle and having Justin Herbert hand the ball off 40 times a game
47:11is not really a way you win in the modern NFL. I think that thing. And on top of that,
47:16he's just a weird guy and all the power to him. I'm not like knocking him for being weird, but
47:24those like really over the top players, coaches, like the old school football,
47:30like trying to be football guy. You don't talk about like, I don't know.
47:34There's some urban Meyer there. I don't think he's quite as much of just like a bad person,
47:40but there is enough of that that like, I just don't think it's going to work with him in the
47:45chargers. I don't. And they just lost a ton of talent in the off season and they didn't really
47:49replace it. Yeah. I mean, he does win everywhere he goes, but like the roster just isn't especially
47:55like not this year. Like maybe it happens, but like he doesn't really win. He doesn't really
48:00win everywhere he goes. He got to a Superbowl in San Francisco and then the thing completely
48:08imploded on him. It took him what happened at Michigan after like seven years of struggling,
48:13what changed? You can go watch the Netflix documentary on that. It was very good.
48:17Like he hasn't necessarily won every, he has individual winning seasons. He has very high
48:23point seasons, but I wouldn't say he's consistently run like this tight ship juggernaut program.
48:31He didn't do it in San Francisco and I don't think he did it in Michigan either.
48:34He just ended on a high point. Yep. I just need lad McConkie to catch like a hundred passes,
48:40which I don't know if they're going to throw the ball. That might happen. I don't know if they're
48:43going to throw the ball 100 times, but if they do catch a hundred of the 130 total targets,
48:48I mean, they don't even have good running backs. It's J K Dobbins and Gus Edwards,
48:51who they took from, he took from his brother and like, they're going to get hurt within the
48:55first three weeks as, as always. So I don't know that that team will be interesting.
49:01Before we end with some prize picks, picks just any NFC team very quickly that,
49:07that you're watching or excited for, or I think it's going to be maybe a little bit disappointing.
49:13I mean, again, the Niners should, should win that conference relatively easily. Um,
49:18I still like Jordan, loving the Packers. I love what they're building.
49:22I still think they're a year away from being like that contender.
49:26They should win that division. I still think they're like a year away though. Um,
49:31what Google changed the order list, the divisions, this is going to bother me all
49:34year. Why would they do this? It used to go east, east, north, southwest, right?
49:39East north. Yeah. It was alphabetical. It's now east, west, north, south. That's annoying.
49:46I hate that. No change it. It's been like that for 20 years. Why are you changing that?
49:52That is so annoying. Anyway. Um, other teams I like in the NFC, I, I, I, the bears interest me.
49:59I don't remember the last time a rookie stepped into quite that good of a situation. Now it's not
50:05me saying they're going to win the super bowl or even the division. I still think they're probably
50:09the third best team in the division, but I think they're going to be really fun to watch
50:13Falcons sneaky, nice, sneaky, nice. And they're in a bad division. They're going to be able to
50:17beat up on. They, they are like, kind of, I think going to be like the niche super bowl pick this
50:22year. Like, Oh, you know who, nobody's talking about the Atlanta Falcons and like, they're not
50:27quite there. I don't think they're on that level, but they can win 10, 11 games. I could totally
50:31see that. Especially in that division, right? Exactly. Yeah. And there's insane should be
50:36four wins. Uh, but I don't know. So maybe the Falcons lions, someone said in the chat, like
50:43they, they should be really good. Someone brought up the Rams. I think the Rams could be good. Like
50:48Kyron Williams and Blake Corum, like they could be this run the ball, run the ball, run the ball
50:53team. And then you hit these play actions and it's Matt Stafford throwing a Cooper cup and
50:56Puka Nukuwa. Like, I think, I think that could be a pretty good offense. Matt Stafford has to
51:00stay healthy, right? Like he's 36. He he's up there in age. You were saying, you know,
51:05they're a week or two from, uh, Jimmy Garoppolo and then a week or two from Stetson Bennett down
51:10at Gillette today. So Matt Stafford's got to stay healthy for that to happen. But, um, I think the
51:15Rams could be a pretty good offense there with, with their two headed monster in the backfield
51:18there. So, um, should be a good team. I feel like a good season. I feel like the NFC got a little
51:25stronger and then the AFC still has all these good quarterbacks that are chasing Patrick Mahomes and
51:31the chiefs. So should be a fun one. I, I forget who you said earlier. Who did you have? Who was
51:36your MVP pick for, for the season? Uh, Lamar Jackson Lamar. I think he repeats. Yeah. I love
51:44this setup with him and Henry and then flowers with another year of experience. Uh, yeah.
51:49Mark Andrews back Isaiah likely. I like that's a good, good setup. Is Jared Goff a crazy pick?
51:56I, I just don't think he has that ceiling. I, I, I, I don't, he kind of is what he is at this
52:01point. I think if he tries to do too much, it'll hurt him rather than help him. Maybe not. Like,
52:06I think it's a good value pick. If, if you're looking to maybe lay some money down on it, like
52:12the offense, like Ben Johnson's back, he still has a ton of good skill position players.
52:17They should win a lot of games, right? Like he, they're probably going to be a first or second
52:22or second, third seed, unless the Packers get really hot and when the division, like
52:26they're going to have a good record. And I think he plays like 14 out of 17 games in a dome this
52:31year. So that fits Jared Goff skillset. So I don't know. Maybe you want my sleeper pick for an award.
52:37He Jared Goff, like my sleeper pick for MVP, but let's hear what, what, what do you got?
52:42I know that I have a sleep pick for MVP rookie of the year. I think it's Caleb Williams, but
52:46you want to sprinkle a little something on something. This is eight Xavier worthy.
52:52You're worthy. Could have like 1200 receiving. And if you're going to do it a certain way,
52:56do it before the game tonight, before he rips off like 150 or a minor. Yeah. Two touchdowns
53:02and his odds get cut because I think I'm, I'm just looking on Vegas insider right here.
53:07His odds are anywhere from where'd he go? Um, anywhere from 1500 to 2200, depending on
53:16where you, where you look. Okay. And his prize picks receiving yards more or less than 45 and a
53:22half. Oh, more, more. He could hit that on one catch and there you go. Yeah. You have a winner
53:29right there. Um, before we get to one last thing, before we get to our Patriots prize picks of the
53:35week, um, Patriots, do you have an offensive and defensive MVP of the season and a rookie,
53:43rookie of the year to a rookie of the year to Patriots, offensive, defensive,
53:47rookie of the year for the season, offensive Ramon, do offensive, yeah.
53:52Offense, defense, MVP, and then a, just a rookie of the year in general.
53:56Off it. Well, the most valuable player on the offense is David Andrews. They can't afford
53:59to lose him, but if we're talking best player, um, best player offensively for the Patriots
54:05this year, I think it's a reminder Stevenson. I just, he was going to get a ton of opportunities.
54:09They're going to run the ball. I just hope they don't overload them. I did that rant on
54:12catch 22 today. I know we're up against it. So I don't have to do the full thing. And you
54:15guys have heard it enough times by now. Um, or I'll just say like he gets banged up at the end
54:21of the year. So you take three, four catches off his plate per game or touches off his plate per
54:26game. Give those to Antonio Gibson. Who's a good player. I think you'll get more out of him by the
54:29end. Um, defense player of the year, Christian Gonzalez. I'm actually not too worried about
54:33what we saw this summer. I think, Hey, will he for 17 games be the guy he was last September?
54:40I don't know about that. I, that's just such an, he was a top three corner in the league
54:46really for the first month, the last season. That's a lot to keep up, but I think it'll be
54:48very good. I think he'll justify the draft pick, um, rookie of the year. I'm going to go Jalen
54:54Polk just cause I don't know how much we're going to see from Drake. May is going to have
54:57the opportunities. Polk is probably going to play the most snaps of any rookies here. And
55:03I really like what I've seen from him. I think he's up for the opportunity. I think his role of
55:08all the rookies most resembles the role he played in college, especially if they're going to play
55:13kid walls on the left side. So that helps him to like, I think he's going to be put in the
55:17most comfortable spot. Like rookie of the year. Yes. It's Drake may, if he shows us literally
55:22anything mission accomplished, but like what rookie will, will, will have the most impact,
55:27will be the most productive when we see the most, all of that. I do think it's Jalen Polk.
55:31Yeah. I I'd go Polk cause he's going to start the regular season and hopefully and have a big
55:37role from the, from the jump here. Um, so he should have the biggest hand throughout the year,
55:42but like if Drake may gets in there by week five, six, like we're hoping maybe he does then, um,
55:50that that's probably going to go to him. Offense or I'm probably with you on defense too, with
55:55Christian Gonzalez. I'll throw out maybe Keon white. If we got a big jump from Keon white,
56:00uh, that would really help this defense in this pass rush. So, uh, that, that would be nice to
56:05see an offense. I'll go pop Douglas. Just, he was their best receiver, uh, throughout the spring,
56:12uh, throughout the summer, the offense just moved better with pop Douglas out there. So
56:16if he stays healthy, I think he could be close to, or over a thousand yards and a good amount
56:22of catches there. So, uh, I think pop Douglas could be in for a really good year here in this
56:28offense. Again, if he can stay healthy. So, um, speaking of pop, he is one of my prize picks
56:35of the week, 38 and a half receiving yards against the bangles week one, I'm going to go
56:41more on that. And I'm also going to go down to, let's see, I think I'm going to remandre Stevenson
56:50more than 48 and a half rushing yards. If they're going to run the ball this much,
56:54he should be able to get more than 40 and a half rushing yards. So those are my,
56:59my lineup for the Patriots this weekend, remandre more than 48 and a half rushing yards
57:04and pop Douglas more than I think it was 38 and a half receiving yards.
57:11Barth, any players you're looking at, we have Antonio Gibson more than 20 and a half rushing
57:17yards. If you think, you know, he's going to get some touches. I know he's on the injury report now,
57:21but if they're going to limit mandre, he's at 20 and a half. You mentioned Hunter Henry,
57:26more or less than three receptions, more or less than 27 and a half receiving yards. You can go
57:31jail and Polk 30 and a half receiving yards. Jacoby Bursette. Is he going to throw a lot
57:36203 and a half passing yards? Anything kind of catching your eye, Joey sly more or less than
57:43one and a half field goals made. I'll go with Joey sly. Cause I do think the Patriots are going to
57:49be able to move the ball a little bit. I do. I don't know what to be able to get in the end zone,
57:52but I do think they'll be able to move the ball a little bit. Give me Joey sly
57:55more than one and a half field goals made. That's also, they call it a demon. You're getting a
58:00little wild. They call it over on prize pick. So it's a higher payout. I'm a wild guy. What can I
58:05say? I'm a wild guy. Joey slide more than their other demon is Mike Kosicki more than half a
58:13rush plus receiving touchdown. So where's the Trent Brown one? Give me the Trent Brown one.
58:20I'll bet that over more or less than three and a half pancakes more over, over that's,
58:27that's not on there, but Joey sly we'll add Joey slide to our, uh, uh, Pat's beat
58:34price picks lineup here. Uh, we'll put that out on Twitter so you guys can see it and play along
58:39with us if you want to. So that's pop Douglas more than 38 and a half receiving yards.
58:45Mondra more than I lost it. I think it was 48 and a half rushing yards and Joey sly more than
58:53one and a half field goals made. Go over to price picks, use code CLNS and get $50 instantly. Once
59:00you play $5 and you can do that, of course, week one here with the Patriots go into the bangle.
59:05So we'll wrap it up there. First season game preview of the season. It's exciting. We have
59:13all the football light out ahead of us. Uh, thank you everyone for tuning in with us tonight and
59:17throughout the off season. Uh, we officially made it. So the fun starts now and we have some games
59:22to break down and we'll be back as always, probably Monday to recap the first game.
59:28Hopefully we have a lot of good things to talk about, but in the meantime, you could follow Alex
59:32on Twitter at real Alex Barth, head over to 98 five, the sports hub.com to read and listen to
59:38all of his Patriots coverage over there. And you can follow me on Twitter at I am Brian Heinz
59:43and head over to Pat's pulpit.com to read our, all of our Patriots coverage on there as well.
59:48So thanks everyone again for tuning in with us tonight and we will see you guys next week.