February 25, 2025 • 24 mins
Mike Dussault and Evan Lazar set the scene and discuss the main storylines to be answered from a Patriots perspective at the NFL Scouting Combine. We discuss our prospects we are most looking forward to talking with and seeing workouts from. Plus, we are joined by Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel for a sit-down interview for his memories as a player at the Combine, what he's looking to accomplish this week, his overall draft strategy and more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
We're coming to you from the twenty twenty five NFL
Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. This is Patriots Draft count Town,
presented by bud Light but like Easy to Drink, Easy
to Enjoy, the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots.
And Evan, we're back in India. It feels like we
never left, right back in the mix of it. It's Tuesday.
We're hearing from some of the coaches and gms today.
We did have a chance to sit down and talk
to Mike Rabel, but ev let's start things off with
(00:22):
just a general scene center here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You love the combine.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I love the combine.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
A lot of big questions, different position groups standing out
a little bit. We heard Coach Rabel talk about the
defensive line, the edge, the linebackers, our favorite, the front
seven deep class this year.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
But what are you most excited for this week here
in Indy.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Well, this is the start of it all, and I
feel like, just listening to a lot of the head
coaches and general managers this morning, including Mike Rabel, the
board is pretty you know, it's pretty early like in
the entire process, and I feel like at this point
we all just want to jump out scenarios and talk
about Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter and Will Campbell and
this that the other thing. And right now it's we're
(00:58):
kind of like still on the front nine of the
draft process for a lot of these teams. So I'm
really looking forward to obviously the drills at the end
of the week, but I think a lot of the
personnel people will talk about the interviews and the medicals
and that sort of stuff. We aren't privy to that necessarily,
but that's where a lot of this can can really
(01:20):
make or break a draft prospect. Stock is you know,
what you think about these guys, and just talking to
Rabel just about you know, getting in the room with
these guys, seeing how they're wired, seeing how they react
to certain things that he might say to them or
ask them certain questions, and even go out on the
pro day circuit and put the pad on like he does,
(01:40):
and you know, work these guys out, you know, up close.
And I think that that's where we're at right now,
and this process is trying to really narrow down the
guys that are going to be patriots, you know, not
just necessarily the entire group.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, hard to suss it all out, but certainly, like
I said, the front seven position grew really intriguing to me,
seems like the Patriots need to do some work on
that side of the ball. We did talk to Mike
Rabel about that a little bit, which will play that
interview here in a minute. But I'm excited to get
things started with that group because I feel like there
are a lot of different types of guys. You know,
whether you're whatever your fancy is on the defensive line.
(02:13):
Do you want to hand down defensive end. Do you
want a big, fat nose tackle in the middle. Do
you want an athletic off the ball kind of will linebacker.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Those kind of players exist.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It seems like, you know, look not up and down
the draft, but certainly top one hundred picks.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Really good players in that in that in those position groups,
and I think the hard thing is figuring out which
ones fit what the Patriots and Mike Rabel are going
to do on.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Defense one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And we used to have such a long history of
this is a Belichick type of player, and you could
just look back, you know, twenty years of data of
like these are the types of guys that they want,
and they gravitate towards And we talked to Vrabel a
little bit about the scheme and on defense, and he
mentioned Terrell Williams, you know, aggressive defensive coordinators the way
that he put it and said that they want to
(02:59):
play on the other side to the line of scrimmage.
And it didn't sound like we're gonna have so much
let's build the wall to gap. But you wouldn't commit
one way or another right now, but it does sound
like they want to be a little bit more aggressive,
a little bit more four man down, you know, rush
the quarterback and with four guys and get home with
four guys. And I think that he just knows schematically
(03:20):
how helpful that is for the back seven. When you
don't have to blitz guys and you don't have to
take guys out of coverage to get pressure on the quarterback.
This is certainly the draft for that if you want
that type of player. I think one of the things
that we're seeing a lot in the draft nowadays is
that those what we used to call undersized pass rushers
off the edge, particularly the guys that are forty five
(03:42):
that's not undersized anymore. That is the norm these athletic
you know, freakish athletes that can rush off the edge,
that might play a little bit lighter than Mike Rabel,
right Like, you know, Mike Rabel was probably a little
bit bigger back in the day than what these guys
are now. But you have plenty of that in this draft.
From really i'd say pick one to pick one fifty,
(04:02):
you could find guys that have starter level grades that
can get after the quarterback. It's about rounding out their
games maybe a little bit. That I think is an
interesting conversation for the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
All right, well, let's roll that Mike Frabel interview right now.
Is a good time, a lot of information and he's
open at the podium. He sat down with us. He
also sat down with the Beat reporters from Abound Boston.
So this was our interview with Mike Rabel. All right,
we're excited to be doing join now with coach Mike
Rabel here and coach I gotta start with one take
us back.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
What was it like when you were a player here
at the combine?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Well, Orlando Pace was my roommate, and I tell this
story every year I come to the combine when they say, oh,
you know, players there are at the MRI or they
have to go to the hospital for some.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
More tests or be tugged on.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
And Orlando Pace they must have said that he had
to go get an MRI and he was like, nah,
I'm going back to Columbus and he just got either
he flew back or he drove back or whatever, and
so teams would be calling or people would be calling
like hey, is it or later there, I said, no,
I don't think he here and I don't know what
he's going to be back, and they said, well, he
needs to come get an MRI, and I said, I
don't think he's headed for that MRI. And he still
(05:07):
got picked with the number one overall draft picks. So
that that was a funny story that, uh he just said,
I'm out of here. I'm not getting an MRI.
Speaker 6 (05:15):
But uh no, it was good.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
I mean I remember meeting with teams. I remember meeting
with with Belichick when I was here and he was
still coaching and whoever he was with at the time.
Speaker 6 (05:23):
In ninety seven, so you know it was good.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
I mean, Jason Taylor was was near me in a group.
You know what, I'm saying like T and V and
he obviously had an amazing career and we kind of
went in the same part of the end of the
third round and we'll always remember that.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
And but you know, that's just was just one step
of a process.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So you're back now, back up there at the podium
a minute ago. How does it feel just to be
representing the Patriots here and back in the head coach?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
So I think that that's a that's a great way
to look at it. It's it's a great honor. It's
something that I'm very grateful to be able to do,
and it's it's a it's a privilege I believe to
be a part of this league and trying to build
something and bring together a group of people and have
some energy with it and you know, just just provide
(06:09):
a great vision and help people wherever I can.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
You mentioned the Super Bowl when you're talking up there
and building through the trenches and just for the Orlando
pace coming up to just how important is it for
you guys this offseason to build up the offensive and
defensive lines.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, it is.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I mean, I think that it is something that we
need to be able to do. We need to identify
the men that we feel like exhibit those qualities and
characteristics up front, and then the ones that we feel
like we need to add and to bring on that
will help us continue to do that. So that's where
this game is one you know consistently. I mean there's
(06:49):
times where the skill can can win, but I think
down in and down out, and weekend and week out,
through the rigors of a season, you certainly want to.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
Have a great lines of scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
You mentioned you talked with some of the defensive linemen,
the edges, the linebackers, the first position group we'll hear
from tomorrow. You had a chance to meet with some
of those guys this year. It seems like a really deep class,
a lot of different types. Yeah, do you still gravitate
gravitate towards those positions well you play?
Speaker 5 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean I think that I do, But I
also have to be careful, you know, early on, I
think just making sure that when I was, you know,
being a head coach for the first time, that you
didn't spend all your time with the outside linebacker, or
you just didn't spend all your time with the defense
ends or whatever it may be, but that you're where
you are where the head coach is is what's important,
(07:35):
and so I need to be in special teams. I
need to be and I do think that that's the
strength of mine. I think that I can provide some
sort of coaching point tip fundamental to every position on
our on our team, and I don't think that that's
some positions there may be greater detailed than others, but
I do think that that is a connection that I
have and the ability to do that.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
You mentioned aggressiveness with with coach Williams on the defensive
side of the ball, and one of the things we've
been kicking around is in Tennessee, seem like you guys
maybe play a little bit more four man front than
what we've seen around here.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
With Coach Belichick in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Just what do you look at with that defensive scheme
and could you see you guys being a little bit
more for down.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Well, I mean, I think that we probably have that ability.
I'm not going to commit to anything right now. You know,
we want to play on their side of a lot
of scrimmage. You know, we don't want to sit and
you know, there's different techniques, there's different things that we'll
be able to do whether we play a three down front,
five down front, four down front pressure. You know, we
(08:35):
want to be able to you know, have a lot
of different things at our disposal, uh to again to
teach the players, and it may be some new teaching
and that's okay, but I think that the fundamentals that
they've played with here in the past is something that
we'll want to continue. Style may be a little different
or the call or the front, but confident that those
(08:56):
techniques will get taught and be able to come out term.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
We here a lot just to piggyback on that is
game plan defense for a lot a lot over the
years here. Would you consider yourself a game plan defense
kind of quo?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I'm going to think that there's a certain elements that
that you always want to be able to take away
what they do best, but at what.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Cost to your football team.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And we've done it different ways over the course of
you know, six years. Sometimes it's hey, we're just gonna
do what we do and we're going to stay somewhat basic,
but we're going to play hard. We know what the
issues are because that's what was best for our players.
We're always going to do what's bet we think is
best for our players and their performance. Their understanding will
(09:38):
will help us get to that point. And if you
know we're there's confusion, if indecisive, we don't want to
do any of those types of things that cause somewhat
of the players to be unsure about anything that we're
asking them to do.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
When you look at Drake and the offense with Josh
and everything, you know what we talk a lot about
those like innovations and things that has done over the
last year or so, you know, can you shed any
light on what some of those things might No.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I think you'll see a lot of that come out,
but I think that there's certain things that will keep.
There will be some things that we add that I
like or other coaches have had some experience with. And yeah,
we're going to do what we think is best for
our players, and we're going to make sure that they
understand it. There's a lot of different scheme. There's things
that we think are great, but in the end, it's
(10:26):
what our players can believe and what we can get taught.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
One of the talking points last year with Drake was
you know, his mobility and his athleticism, but also keeping
him healthy, like where do you kind of stand on
running quarterbacks and him using his legs at a high volume.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Well, I think his ability to extend plays that begin
in the pocket is the first place that you look
and looking for ways to exit the pocket, not going
out the back of the pocket. I don't think anything
good comes of that. Being able to step up and
slide and protect the football, be shown with the football,
to extend plays, to remain a passer throughout the down
(11:04):
or when he untill he crosses the line of scrimmage
is something that we're going to talk a lot about
because I know how much stress that puts on the defense.
They'll be designed runs, they'll be designed move the pocket passes,
but I think we want to be careful on how
many times that we're you know, asking him to you know,
potentially be the prime ball carrier or the main ball carrier.
(11:27):
But he we have to be able to do those
things because of what he does and what he can do.
But being smart where he's at on the football field,
and being able to protect himself with something that he's
going to have to prove us that he can do too.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Just as a head coach, what do you want to accomplish
this week at the combine. What's of most value to
you here in India?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Well, the meetings, you know, I mean the meetings that
we have, the interactions that we have with the players
and getting to know them, you know, being int intentional
with with what we're asking them and how we're trying
to you know, this is just one small.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Part of the process.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
And then we'll go from this to see who the
other players that we need to bring in, and who
do we need to have on campus and had a
greater length or where we may want to send coaches,
and what exposure that we want to have at pro
days and interviews and zoom schedules. So this is just
the first process, uh, to set the set up a
plan for the rest of the spring until we get
(12:17):
to April.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
And April I was gonna ask you about the proda's
we're gonna see you with the pad on maybe.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Maybe we'll see Yeah, no guarantees, but that that may happen.
I don't know, what what do you get we ordered
a bunch of those those are in stock.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What do you get out of that? Like, let's just
say hypothetically, there's a pass rusher you go in.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I think you can always just feel like the play
strength of the player, and you know what his hands
feel like, and his shock and and just the power
that they play with and the size and you know,
I think haven't been around a lot of players over
my career, I can kind of you know, feel and
see what one looks like and just by shaking their
hands or grabbing them or whatever.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
That may be.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Like, some of these guys have a certain feel to
them that you just know that they're going to find a.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
Way to make it.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
You think they're not going to be moved around easily,
or they could probably move people easily.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I mean, is that with the offensive line where you're
used to taking those guys on, you get a feel
for them instantly going up again?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean I think that there's just a you know,
a strength a body, you know, a core strength that
you can feel in some of these guys and you
know if they can you know, again, the tape ultimately
means a lot and our ability to evaluate the tape,
But I certainly like to get involved, Like, you know,
you go a long way. Why would you just stand
there and watch? You might as well get involved in
(13:32):
in drills or something.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, there's a couple of small moves you guys have
made here, you know, Jeremiah Farm's contract extension, things like that.
Just how has that process been evaluating the roster that
was left over from last season with Elliott?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
And it's been very good, you know what I mean,
It's been great for us to be able to sit
there and you know, look at somebody, these players that
we feel like, you know, if we know what you know,
what they may provide for us going into next year,
then you know, let's take care of some of the
bookkeeping and some of these whether they're restricted free agent,
having conversations with some of our unrestricted free agents that
(14:08):
could potentially be back, and then you know, deciding if
you know, we should give a player another opportunity to
pursue you know, another team.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Does that? Do you do?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
You watch the film back and like, how do you
because you know, obviously you weren't in the building last year,
So how do you sort of go about evaluating those
players for yourself?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
You know, well, I watch I talked to Elliott, I
talked to to Matt, talk to Alonzo. You know, these
are conversations that we have daily on what we feel
like each position wants to look like and you know
who we you know, feel like uh is going to
be one of those ninety that go into camp and
try to create competition at each position.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Great coach, thanks so much, Thank you guys. On the
next thing, yes, thank you, appreciate it all right.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So great stuff, really great to you know, sit down
with coach Rabel and talk with him a little bit.
I feel like we're getting a little bit of insight
Evan and combining all three of his different appearances that
we've heard him talk today, it does sound in maybe
is ultimately common sense, but it's not so much about
what his scheme is and what he wants to do.
He just he wants to find players that he can
rely on, that he can trust, and that seems like what's.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Put in the forefront.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
It's not so much how do we fill out I
need this player for this scheme that you know, and
it makes sense to approach it that way.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Absolutely, I think every great coach and I think you'd
be the first one to tell you this adapts to
the skill set of the players that they have. He
did mention and the scrum that he did after he
spoke with us that if they're going to pay a
premium for a player, they probably want everything to align
where it's a scheme fit and it's a culture fit
and all those different types of things. But eventually, at
(15:41):
some point in our interviews talking about Drake May, you know,
moving the pocket, design, quarterback runs, you know, he said
that those things are all going to be in the
offense because they have to be, like, that's what his
skill set is, that's what he's great at. And if
you really make them play without all those things, and
he's almost playing left handed or with one hand tie
behind his back. So I do think that they're open
(16:01):
to all avenues for Drake May to impact the game.
I liked how he said, don't go out the back
of the pocket though, you know, we want to go
through the middle of the pocket and scramble that way.
But I think the biggest thing when you hear him
speak about it is that he has that ability or
wants to have that ability to morph, you know, and
to kind of change every single direction they can go in.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, we've heard a couple of times too from coach
rabel Is that he really wants to get to know
these guys.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
It seems that's you know.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I mean, he said in the interview, this is what's
most valuable to him is getting a chance to sit
down with these guys and really get to know him.
It's part of why I like coming here, because you know,
you you grind the film, you're putting out all kinds
of different video.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Sometimes I've found in my process it's like, I really
like this guy.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
But what's he like?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
What's an interview like with him? You know, to hear
what the what person is like. And I mean it's
changed over the years. Like you said, back when Bill
Belichick was here, you kind of had a feel for
like Alabama guys. He's really serious football dude. This guy
seems like he'd be that kind of fit. I think
Rabel is a little bit more willing for some push
and pull a little bit. We see Taylor Lawan has
a good relationship with him. But that's one part for
(17:03):
me that I'm looking forward to over these next few
days is you know, some of the guys that I
haven't really watched yet, getting a sense of their personality
and then is kind of what Rabel said, Then you
get sparked onto that guy. Hey, I like this guy.
This guy seems like he's he's got something going. Let's
go look at his tape and see how he might fit.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
As he can attest you know from the teams that
he played in in the early two thousands. You have
to have some of those rally the troops kind of guys.
And we've been joking about them being brave heart guys,
right like he's going to be the guy at the
front of the line making the speech to get their
troops all fired up. And that as much as we
want to talk about talent and skill and all that stuff,
is really important where the Patriots are right now, they
(17:40):
also need some leaders, like they need some guys that
are going to build a culture here and and be
about that, be about building a culture. And I do
think there are quite a few of those types of
guys at the top of the draft this year, and
maybe even on Day two, like a guy like Jack Sawyer,
who you see at Ohio States, you know, Bowl games,
just right in the middle of a huddle, just trying
to brave hearted up.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
So you have a lot of that going on.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
I know that sometimes fans hear that, and people that
listen to do ues hear that, and They're like, all right,
can we not like get can we get some talent?
Like let's like forget about yeah, forget about the ra
ra stuff like can we get some football players that
have a lot of talent? And that's part of it,
But when you're a back to back four win football team,
there's a culture aspect of it too, and I think
it's important to them.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
One more interesting piece for me that they actually said
over on the podium is that Terrell Williams, the new
defensive coordinator, will call plays. There have been some speculation
will Mike rab will be the guy to do that.
He said explicitly, it will be Terrell Williams. So there
might be some growing paints there. I know you wrote
a good deep dive on Terrell Williams' defense what they
were kind of running in Tennessee. Mike mentioned also aggressiveness,
(18:43):
and I think some of us might have interpreted that
as less two gap maybe more one one.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I would have to interpreted that.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Maybe maybe we're wishful thinking, but yeah, but what what's
kind of your expectation with Terrell Williams? And you know,
do you think that there will be some growing paints
with this defense where adjusting the scheme of the personnel
a new play caller. We've seen that last couple of
years where there's been new play callers, they can probably
expect there to be some growing pains.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But what are your kind of expectations and feel for that.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, there's a couple of things that stand out.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
I think the number one thing when you look at
Trell Williams's background, this is a defensive line coach. Is
the guy that's worked a lot in the front seven.
So how does he marry pass rush with coverage? Like,
how does he understand the back end? What is his
knowledge of the back end? I think a guy like
Scott Booker is here in a lot of ways to
help him with that. Marriage two guys that were in
the same scheme in Tennessee for a long time, so
(19:32):
they have that familiarity. Is Scott Booker going to help
him kind of quarterback the back end so that he
can focus on getting pressure and stopping to run and
things like that. Whenever you elevated defensive line coach, that's
my initial instinct is, Okay, well, what does he know
about coverage and rotation and you know cover three, cover four,
man to man like whatever the case may be. You know,
(19:53):
how do you go about coaching that and marrying that
and game planning for that with the opponent. And I
did think it was interesting that Rabel mentioned Ben McAdoo
and having Ben mcado basically reverse engineer, you know, if
we're going to go up against our defense and I
was the offensive coach and I was the OC on
the other side. That's basically what Rabel did in Cleveland
for the past year own. He was there with the
(20:15):
Browns as an advisor, so you have that voice as
well that can be helpful in those types of things.
I think the last thing though, is again, are they
going to be more four down? Are they going to
be more aggressive? Are they going to try to shoot
gaps and get up the field, because I believe that
early down pass rush suffers when you're predominantly two gaping defense.
(20:38):
I think we both see that. Twenty ninth in pressure,
eight last year last in sacks in the league. I'm
not saying it was all because of that. Talent's a
big part of that, but when you're asking guys to
like two gap and then they have to transition to
a pass rush move when it's a play action or
it's a throw on early downs that that can be
a little bit of a hesitation there and that pause.
So I think we all want to see some more aggressiveness.
(21:00):
But in general, I'm interested to see though, how Terrell
Williams handles the responsibilities a calling plays because he is
a front seven defensive line background.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, one more area just to touch on that stood
out to me. Just free agencies coming up here in
a couple weeks. I mean, we're right, we'll get back
from the combine. It's boom free agency time, and you
spend so much time figuring out who the draft picks
are before free agency. There's a lot of things in
motion right now, and I just I liked hearing from
Vrabel they're going to be aggressive. I think they understand
where they're at, what kind of team they are, what
(21:30):
kind of draw they are right now. But it's encouraging
because it feels like the word aggressive again, and that's
what I think all fans really want to see this
spring is you got some money to spend, You've got
the draft capital, You've got enough of those elements to
make some noise this year. And it sounds like they're
going to do their best to try to, you know,
really improve this roster. I mean, he said it explicitly,
and I'm not sure what this roster is going to
look like. You know, by the time we get to September,
(21:52):
a lot of moves to be made. But I'm excited
by the hint that they're going to be aggressive.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, they have to be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
They have all the cap space in the world and
you got to spend it that money somewhere. And I
think the biggest thing though, is when you look at
where they can spend it, how do they attract those
top of the market free agents. Last year, Let's face it,
you know, Calvin Ridley said no, Brandon and I you
said no like that, that's just the bottom line. They
offered the Brinks truck to both those guys and neither
(22:17):
one of them wanted to take the money. So I
asked Rabel about that when we had him in the scrum,
just you know, how do you go about being an
attractive destination? And I thought he had an interesting word
he use. He said, testimonials, which like you think about
that like as like a review for somebody's business or
something like that, right, like, oh, you know this dog
breeder what the test like it does everybody have a
great dog out of this person, right, But he was saying,
(22:40):
you know, let's talk about our program, and let's talk
about how we're going to use you and how you
fit in here, and all those different types of things,
and that sort of can make or break it to
an extent, right, Like everybody's offering top of the money,
you know, market value, Like if t Higgins is an
unrestricted free agent, everybody's gonna offer him thirty five million
dollars a year that wants him. So what's gonna separate
(23:02):
you is all that other stuff. And I'm interested to
see how Mike Rabel is as a recruiter, like can
he go out there and recruit players to want to
come to New England. But he mentioned in the draft
when it comes to wide receivers specifically, you got to
draft those guys like you most of the time, in
order to get one of those you got to draft them.
He knows all about that with Aj Brown. So you
(23:24):
have to go out there and actually make that happen
in the draft most of the time. But that's a
fascinating part about this to me, is can they get
Mike Rabel in a room with a you know, a
Trey Smith or a Ronnie Stanley or t Higgins, and
all of a sudden, that guy has just swayed like
I'm gonna play for this guy.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, maybe Ronnie Stanley wants to put that We get
that breastplate on Brabell, you know, yeah, go ahead, go
ahead to have one a little bit. All right, Well,
we're just getting started here obviously on Patriots Draft Countdown.
This is our first episode and we're gonna be here
all week. We're expecting to talk to Elliott Wolf tomorrow,
WHI should be exciting to pick his brain a little
bit about this draft class. And we're gonna kick things
off tomorrow. I have with the prospects the front seven.
You know, we love it working our way.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Up right and early with the Abdul Carter at eight am. Right, Yeah,
he brings the energy. We're gonna bring the energy too.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
So we hope you'll stick with us here all week,
and then we'll be right back after we get back
from the Combine with more episodes of Patriots Draft Contown.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So stick with us.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
We'll be here all week
Welcome everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
We're coming to you from the twenty twenty five NFL
Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. This is Patriots Draft count Town,
presented by bud Light but like Easy to Drink, Easy
to Enjoy, the official beer sponsor of the New England Patriots.
And Evan, we're back in India. It feels like we
never left, right back in the mix of it. It's Tuesday.
We're hearing from some of the coaches and gms today.
We did have a chance to sit down and talk
to Mike Rabel, but ev let's start things off with
(00:22):
just a general scene center here.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
You love the combine.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I love the combine.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
A lot of big questions, different position groups standing out
a little bit. We heard Coach Rabel talk about the
defensive line, the edge, the linebackers, our favorite, the front
seven deep class this year.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
But what are you most excited for this week here
in Indy.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Well, this is the start of it all, and I
feel like, just listening to a lot of the head
coaches and general managers this morning, including Mike Rabel, the
board is pretty you know, it's pretty early like in
the entire process, and I feel like at this point
we all just want to jump out scenarios and talk
about Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter and Will Campbell and
this that the other thing. And right now it's we're
(00:58):
kind of like still on the front nine of the
draft process for a lot of these teams. So I'm
really looking forward to obviously the drills at the end
of the week, but I think a lot of the
personnel people will talk about the interviews and the medicals
and that sort of stuff. We aren't privy to that necessarily,
but that's where a lot of this can can really
(01:20):
make or break a draft prospect. Stock is you know,
what you think about these guys, and just talking to
Rabel just about you know, getting in the room with
these guys, seeing how they're wired, seeing how they react
to certain things that he might say to them or
ask them certain questions, and even go out on the
pro day circuit and put the pad on like he does,
(01:40):
and you know, work these guys out, you know, up close.
And I think that that's where we're at right now,
and this process is trying to really narrow down the
guys that are going to be patriots, you know, not
just necessarily the entire group.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, hard to suss it all out, but certainly, like
I said, the front seven position grew really intriguing to me,
seems like the Patriots need to do some work on
that side of the ball. We did talk to Mike
Rabel about that a little bit, which will play that
interview here in a minute. But I'm excited to get
things started with that group because I feel like there
are a lot of different types of guys. You know,
whether you're whatever your fancy is on the defensive line.
(02:13):
Do you want to hand down defensive end. Do you
want a big, fat nose tackle in the middle. Do
you want an athletic off the ball kind of will linebacker.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Those kind of players exist.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
It seems like, you know, look not up and down
the draft, but certainly top one hundred picks.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
There's a lot of.
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Really good players in that in that in those position groups,
and I think the hard thing is figuring out which
ones fit what the Patriots and Mike Rabel are going
to do on.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Defense one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (02:37):
And we used to have such a long history of
this is a Belichick type of player, and you could
just look back, you know, twenty years of data of
like these are the types of guys that they want,
and they gravitate towards And we talked to Vrabel a
little bit about the scheme and on defense, and he
mentioned Terrell Williams, you know, aggressive defensive coordinators the way
that he put it and said that they want to
(02:59):
play on the other side to the line of scrimmage.
And it didn't sound like we're gonna have so much
let's build the wall to gap. But you wouldn't commit
one way or another right now, but it does sound
like they want to be a little bit more aggressive,
a little bit more four man down, you know, rush
the quarterback and with four guys and get home with
four guys. And I think that he just knows schematically
(03:20):
how helpful that is for the back seven. When you
don't have to blitz guys and you don't have to
take guys out of coverage to get pressure on the quarterback.
This is certainly the draft for that if you want
that type of player. I think one of the things
that we're seeing a lot in the draft nowadays is
that those what we used to call undersized pass rushers
off the edge, particularly the guys that are forty five
(03:42):
that's not undersized anymore. That is the norm these athletic
you know, freakish athletes that can rush off the edge,
that might play a little bit lighter than Mike Rabel,
right Like, you know, Mike Rabel was probably a little
bit bigger back in the day than what these guys
are now. But you have plenty of that in this draft.
From really i'd say pick one to pick one fifty,
(04:02):
you could find guys that have starter level grades that
can get after the quarterback. It's about rounding out their
games maybe a little bit. That I think is an
interesting conversation for the Patriots.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
All right, well, let's roll that Mike Frabel interview right now.
Is a good time, a lot of information and he's
open at the podium. He sat down with us. He
also sat down with the Beat reporters from Abound Boston.
So this was our interview with Mike Rabel. All right,
we're excited to be doing join now with coach Mike
Rabel here and coach I gotta start with one take
us back.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
What was it like when you were a player here
at the combine?
Speaker 5 (04:34):
Well, Orlando Pace was my roommate, and I tell this
story every year I come to the combine when they say, oh,
you know, players there are at the MRI or they
have to go to the hospital for some.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
More tests or be tugged on.
Speaker 5 (04:45):
And Orlando Pace they must have said that he had
to go get an MRI and he was like, nah,
I'm going back to Columbus and he just got either
he flew back or he drove back or whatever, and
so teams would be calling or people would be calling
like hey, is it or later there, I said, no,
I don't think he here and I don't know what
he's going to be back, and they said, well, he
needs to come get an MRI, and I said, I
don't think he's headed for that MRI. And he still
(05:07):
got picked with the number one overall draft picks. So
that that was a funny story that, uh he just said,
I'm out of here. I'm not getting an MRI.
Speaker 6 (05:15):
But uh no, it was good.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
I mean I remember meeting with teams. I remember meeting
with with Belichick when I was here and he was
still coaching and whoever he was with at the time.
Speaker 6 (05:23):
In ninety seven, so you know it was good.
Speaker 5 (05:27):
I mean, Jason Taylor was was near me in a group.
You know what, I'm saying like T and V and
he obviously had an amazing career and we kind of
went in the same part of the end of the
third round and we'll always remember that.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
And but you know, that's just was just one step
of a process.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
So you're back now, back up there at the podium
a minute ago. How does it feel just to be
representing the Patriots here and back in the head coach?
Speaker 5 (05:49):
So I think that that's a that's a great way
to look at it. It's it's a great honor. It's
something that I'm very grateful to be able to do,
and it's it's a it's a privilege I believe to
be a part of this league and trying to build
something and bring together a group of people and have
some energy with it and you know, just just provide
(06:09):
a great vision and help people wherever I can.
Speaker 4 (06:13):
You mentioned the Super Bowl when you're talking up there
and building through the trenches and just for the Orlando
pace coming up to just how important is it for
you guys this offseason to build up the offensive and
defensive lines.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Well, it is.
Speaker 5 (06:25):
I mean, I think that it is something that we
need to be able to do. We need to identify
the men that we feel like exhibit those qualities and
characteristics up front, and then the ones that we feel
like we need to add and to bring on that
will help us continue to do that. So that's where
this game is one you know consistently. I mean there's
(06:49):
times where the skill can can win, but I think
down in and down out, and weekend and week out,
through the rigors of a season, you certainly want to.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
Have a great lines of scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
You mentioned you talked with some of the defensive linemen,
the edges, the linebackers, the first position group we'll hear
from tomorrow. You had a chance to meet with some
of those guys this year. It seems like a really deep class,
a lot of different types. Yeah, do you still gravitate
gravitate towards those positions well you play?
Speaker 5 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean I think that I do, But I
also have to be careful, you know, early on, I
think just making sure that when I was, you know,
being a head coach for the first time, that you
didn't spend all your time with the outside linebacker, or
you just didn't spend all your time with the defense
ends or whatever it may be, but that you're where
you are where the head coach is is what's important,
(07:35):
and so I need to be in special teams. I
need to be and I do think that that's the
strength of mine. I think that I can provide some
sort of coaching point tip fundamental to every position on
our on our team, and I don't think that that's
some positions there may be greater detailed than others, but
I do think that that is a connection that I
have and the ability to do that.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
You mentioned aggressiveness with with coach Williams on the defensive
side of the ball, and one of the things we've
been kicking around is in Tennessee, seem like you guys
maybe play a little bit more four man front than
what we've seen around here.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
With Coach Belichick in the past.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Just what do you look at with that defensive scheme
and could you see you guys being a little bit
more for down.
Speaker 5 (08:14):
Well, I mean, I think that we probably have that ability.
I'm not going to commit to anything right now. You know,
we want to play on their side of a lot
of scrimmage. You know, we don't want to sit and
you know, there's different techniques, there's different things that we'll
be able to do whether we play a three down front,
five down front, four down front pressure. You know, we
(08:35):
want to be able to you know, have a lot
of different things at our disposal, uh to again to
teach the players, and it may be some new teaching
and that's okay, but I think that the fundamentals that
they've played with here in the past is something that
we'll want to continue. Style may be a little different
or the call or the front, but confident that those
(08:56):
techniques will get taught and be able to come out term.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
We here a lot just to piggyback on that is
game plan defense for a lot a lot over the
years here. Would you consider yourself a game plan defense
kind of quo?
Speaker 5 (09:07):
I'm going to think that there's a certain elements that
that you always want to be able to take away
what they do best, but at what.
Speaker 6 (09:15):
Cost to your football team.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
And we've done it different ways over the course of
you know, six years. Sometimes it's hey, we're just gonna
do what we do and we're going to stay somewhat basic,
but we're going to play hard. We know what the
issues are because that's what was best for our players.
We're always going to do what's bet we think is
best for our players and their performance. Their understanding will
(09:38):
will help us get to that point. And if you
know we're there's confusion, if indecisive, we don't want to
do any of those types of things that cause somewhat
of the players to be unsure about anything that we're
asking them to do.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
When you look at Drake and the offense with Josh
and everything, you know what we talk a lot about
those like innovations and things that has done over the
last year or so, you know, can you shed any
light on what some of those things might No.
Speaker 5 (10:05):
I think you'll see a lot of that come out,
but I think that there's certain things that will keep.
There will be some things that we add that I
like or other coaches have had some experience with. And yeah,
we're going to do what we think is best for
our players, and we're going to make sure that they
understand it. There's a lot of different scheme. There's things
that we think are great, but in the end, it's
(10:26):
what our players can believe and what we can get taught.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
One of the talking points last year with Drake was
you know, his mobility and his athleticism, but also keeping
him healthy, like where do you kind of stand on
running quarterbacks and him using his legs at a high volume.
Speaker 5 (10:42):
Well, I think his ability to extend plays that begin
in the pocket is the first place that you look
and looking for ways to exit the pocket, not going
out the back of the pocket. I don't think anything
good comes of that. Being able to step up and
slide and protect the football, be shown with the football,
to extend plays, to remain a passer throughout the down
(11:04):
or when he untill he crosses the line of scrimmage
is something that we're going to talk a lot about
because I know how much stress that puts on the defense.
They'll be designed runs, they'll be designed move the pocket passes,
but I think we want to be careful on how
many times that we're you know, asking him to you know,
potentially be the prime ball carrier or the main ball carrier.
(11:27):
But he we have to be able to do those
things because of what he does and what he can do.
But being smart where he's at on the football field,
and being able to protect himself with something that he's
going to have to prove us that he can do too.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Just as a head coach, what do you want to accomplish
this week at the combine. What's of most value to
you here in India?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
Well, the meetings, you know, I mean the meetings that
we have, the interactions that we have with the players
and getting to know them, you know, being int intentional
with with what we're asking them and how we're trying
to you know, this is just one small.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Part of the process.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
And then we'll go from this to see who the
other players that we need to bring in, and who
do we need to have on campus and had a
greater length or where we may want to send coaches,
and what exposure that we want to have at pro
days and interviews and zoom schedules. So this is just
the first process, uh, to set the set up a
plan for the rest of the spring until we get
(12:17):
to April.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
And April I was gonna ask you about the proda's
we're gonna see you with the pad on maybe.
Speaker 5 (12:22):
Maybe we'll see Yeah, no guarantees, but that that may happen.
I don't know, what what do you get we ordered
a bunch of those those are in stock.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
What do you get out of that? Like, let's just
say hypothetically, there's a pass rusher you go in.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I think you can always just feel like the play
strength of the player, and you know what his hands
feel like, and his shock and and just the power
that they play with and the size and you know,
I think haven't been around a lot of players over
my career, I can kind of you know, feel and
see what one looks like and just by shaking their
hands or grabbing them or whatever.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
That may be.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
Like, some of these guys have a certain feel to
them that you just know that they're going to find a.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
Way to make it.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
You think they're not going to be moved around easily,
or they could probably move people easily.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I mean, is that with the offensive line where you're
used to taking those guys on, you get a feel
for them instantly going up again?
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Yeah, I mean I think that there's just a you know,
a strength a body, you know, a core strength that
you can feel in some of these guys and you
know if they can you know, again, the tape ultimately
means a lot and our ability to evaluate the tape,
But I certainly like to get involved, Like, you know,
you go a long way. Why would you just stand
there and watch? You might as well get involved in
(13:32):
in drills or something.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Yeah, there's a couple of small moves you guys have
made here, you know, Jeremiah Farm's contract extension, things like that.
Just how has that process been evaluating the roster that
was left over from last season with Elliott?
Speaker 5 (13:45):
And it's been very good, you know what I mean,
It's been great for us to be able to sit
there and you know, look at somebody, these players that
we feel like, you know, if we know what you know,
what they may provide for us going into next year,
then you know, let's take care of some of the
bookkeeping and some of these whether they're restricted free agent,
having conversations with some of our unrestricted free agents that
(14:08):
could potentially be back, and then you know, deciding if
you know, we should give a player another opportunity to
pursue you know, another team.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Does that? Do you do?
Speaker 4 (14:18):
You watch the film back and like, how do you
because you know, obviously you weren't in the building last year,
So how do you sort of go about evaluating those
players for yourself?
Speaker 5 (14:25):
You know, well, I watch I talked to Elliott, I
talked to to Matt, talk to Alonzo. You know, these
are conversations that we have daily on what we feel
like each position wants to look like and you know
who we you know, feel like uh is going to
be one of those ninety that go into camp and
try to create competition at each position.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Great coach, thanks so much, Thank you guys. On the
next thing, yes, thank you, appreciate it all right.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
So great stuff, really great to you know, sit down
with coach Rabel and talk with him a little bit.
I feel like we're getting a little bit of insight
Evan and combining all three of his different appearances that
we've heard him talk today, it does sound in maybe
is ultimately common sense, but it's not so much about
what his scheme is and what he wants to do.
He just he wants to find players that he can
rely on, that he can trust, and that seems like what's.
Speaker 3 (15:10):
Put in the forefront.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
It's not so much how do we fill out I
need this player for this scheme that you know, and
it makes sense to approach it that way.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
Right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
Absolutely, I think every great coach and I think you'd
be the first one to tell you this adapts to
the skill set of the players that they have. He
did mention and the scrum that he did after he
spoke with us that if they're going to pay a
premium for a player, they probably want everything to align
where it's a scheme fit and it's a culture fit
and all those different types of things. But eventually, at
(15:41):
some point in our interviews talking about Drake May, you know,
moving the pocket, design, quarterback runs, you know, he said
that those things are all going to be in the
offense because they have to be, like, that's what his
skill set is, that's what he's great at. And if
you really make them play without all those things, and
he's almost playing left handed or with one hand tie
behind his back. So I do think that they're open
(16:01):
to all avenues for Drake May to impact the game.
I liked how he said, don't go out the back
of the pocket though, you know, we want to go
through the middle of the pocket and scramble that way.
But I think the biggest thing when you hear him
speak about it is that he has that ability or
wants to have that ability to morph, you know, and
to kind of change every single direction they can go in.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, we've heard a couple of times too from coach
rabel Is that he really wants to get to know
these guys.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
It seems that's you know.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
I mean, he said in the interview, this is what's
most valuable to him is getting a chance to sit
down with these guys and really get to know him.
It's part of why I like coming here, because you know,
you you grind the film, you're putting out all kinds
of different video.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
Sometimes I've found in my process it's like, I really
like this guy.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
But what's he like?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
What's an interview like with him? You know, to hear
what the what person is like. And I mean it's
changed over the years. Like you said, back when Bill
Belichick was here, you kind of had a feel for
like Alabama guys. He's really serious football dude. This guy
seems like he'd be that kind of fit. I think
Rabel is a little bit more willing for some push
and pull a little bit. We see Taylor Lawan has
a good relationship with him. But that's one part for
(17:03):
me that I'm looking forward to over these next few
days is you know, some of the guys that I
haven't really watched yet, getting a sense of their personality
and then is kind of what Rabel said, Then you
get sparked onto that guy. Hey, I like this guy.
This guy seems like he's he's got something going. Let's
go look at his tape and see how he might fit.
Speaker 4 (17:18):
As he can attest you know from the teams that
he played in in the early two thousands. You have
to have some of those rally the troops kind of guys.
And we've been joking about them being brave heart guys,
right like he's going to be the guy at the
front of the line making the speech to get their
troops all fired up. And that as much as we
want to talk about talent and skill and all that stuff,
is really important where the Patriots are right now, they
(17:40):
also need some leaders, like they need some guys that
are going to build a culture here and and be
about that, be about building a culture. And I do
think there are quite a few of those types of
guys at the top of the draft this year, and
maybe even on Day two, like a guy like Jack Sawyer,
who you see at Ohio States, you know, Bowl games,
just right in the middle of a huddle, just trying
to brave hearted up.
Speaker 1 (18:01):
So you have a lot of that going on.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
I know that sometimes fans hear that, and people that
listen to do ues hear that, and They're like, all right,
can we not like get can we get some talent?
Like let's like forget about yeah, forget about the ra
ra stuff like can we get some football players that
have a lot of talent? And that's part of it,
But when you're a back to back four win football team,
there's a culture aspect of it too, and I think
it's important to them.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
One more interesting piece for me that they actually said
over on the podium is that Terrell Williams, the new
defensive coordinator, will call plays. There have been some speculation
will Mike rab will be the guy to do that.
He said explicitly, it will be Terrell Williams. So there
might be some growing paints there. I know you wrote
a good deep dive on Terrell Williams' defense what they
were kind of running in Tennessee. Mike mentioned also aggressiveness,
(18:43):
and I think some of us might have interpreted that
as less two gap maybe more one one.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
I would have to interpreted that.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Maybe maybe we're wishful thinking, but yeah, but what what's
kind of your expectation with Terrell Williams? And you know,
do you think that there will be some growing paints
with this defense where adjusting the scheme of the personnel
a new play caller. We've seen that last couple of
years where there's been new play callers, they can probably
expect there to be some growing pains.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
But what are your kind of expectations and feel for that.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, there's a couple of things that stand out.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
I think the number one thing when you look at
Trell Williams's background, this is a defensive line coach. Is
the guy that's worked a lot in the front seven.
So how does he marry pass rush with coverage? Like,
how does he understand the back end? What is his
knowledge of the back end? I think a guy like
Scott Booker is here in a lot of ways to
help him with that. Marriage two guys that were in
the same scheme in Tennessee for a long time, so
(19:32):
they have that familiarity. Is Scott Booker going to help
him kind of quarterback the back end so that he
can focus on getting pressure and stopping to run and
things like that. Whenever you elevated defensive line coach, that's
my initial instinct is, Okay, well, what does he know
about coverage and rotation and you know cover three, cover four,
man to man like whatever the case may be. You know,
(19:53):
how do you go about coaching that and marrying that
and game planning for that with the opponent. And I
did think it was interesting that Rabel mentioned Ben McAdoo
and having Ben mcado basically reverse engineer, you know, if
we're going to go up against our defense and I
was the offensive coach and I was the OC on
the other side. That's basically what Rabel did in Cleveland
for the past year own. He was there with the
(20:15):
Browns as an advisor, so you have that voice as
well that can be helpful in those types of things.
I think the last thing though, is again, are they
going to be more four down? Are they going to
be more aggressive? Are they going to try to shoot
gaps and get up the field, because I believe that
early down pass rush suffers when you're predominantly two gaping defense.
(20:38):
I think we both see that. Twenty ninth in pressure,
eight last year last in sacks in the league. I'm
not saying it was all because of that. Talent's a
big part of that, but when you're asking guys to
like two gap and then they have to transition to
a pass rush move when it's a play action or
it's a throw on early downs that that can be
a little bit of a hesitation there and that pause.
So I think we all want to see some more aggressiveness.
(21:00):
But in general, I'm interested to see though, how Terrell
Williams handles the responsibilities a calling plays because he is
a front seven defensive line background.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Yeah, one more area just to touch on that stood
out to me. Just free agencies coming up here in
a couple weeks. I mean, we're right, we'll get back
from the combine. It's boom free agency time, and you
spend so much time figuring out who the draft picks
are before free agency. There's a lot of things in
motion right now, and I just I liked hearing from
Vrabel they're going to be aggressive. I think they understand
where they're at, what kind of team they are, what
(21:30):
kind of draw they are right now. But it's encouraging
because it feels like the word aggressive again, and that's
what I think all fans really want to see this
spring is you got some money to spend, You've got
the draft capital, You've got enough of those elements to
make some noise this year. And it sounds like they're
going to do their best to try to, you know,
really improve this roster. I mean, he said it explicitly,
and I'm not sure what this roster is going to
look like. You know, by the time we get to September,
(21:52):
a lot of moves to be made. But I'm excited
by the hint that they're going to be aggressive.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, they have to be aggressive.
Speaker 4 (21:57):
They have all the cap space in the world and
you got to spend it that money somewhere. And I
think the biggest thing though, is when you look at
where they can spend it, how do they attract those
top of the market free agents. Last year, Let's face it,
you know, Calvin Ridley said no, Brandon and I you
said no like that, that's just the bottom line. They
offered the Brinks truck to both those guys and neither
(22:17):
one of them wanted to take the money. So I
asked Rabel about that when we had him in the scrum,
just you know, how do you go about being an
attractive destination? And I thought he had an interesting word
he use. He said, testimonials, which like you think about
that like as like a review for somebody's business or
something like that, right, like, oh, you know this dog
breeder what the test like it does everybody have a
great dog out of this person, right, But he was saying,
(22:40):
you know, let's talk about our program, and let's talk
about how we're going to use you and how you
fit in here, and all those different types of things,
and that sort of can make or break it to
an extent, right, Like everybody's offering top of the money,
you know, market value, Like if t Higgins is an
unrestricted free agent, everybody's gonna offer him thirty five million
dollars a year that wants him. So what's gonna separate
(23:02):
you is all that other stuff. And I'm interested to
see how Mike Rabel is as a recruiter, like can
he go out there and recruit players to want to
come to New England. But he mentioned in the draft
when it comes to wide receivers specifically, you got to
draft those guys like you most of the time, in
order to get one of those you got to draft them.
He knows all about that with Aj Brown. So you
(23:24):
have to go out there and actually make that happen
in the draft most of the time. But that's a
fascinating part about this to me, is can they get
Mike Rabel in a room with a you know, a
Trey Smith or a Ronnie Stanley or t Higgins, and
all of a sudden, that guy has just swayed like
I'm gonna play for this guy.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Yeah, maybe Ronnie Stanley wants to put that We get
that breastplate on Brabell, you know, yeah, go ahead, go
ahead to have one a little bit. All right, Well,
we're just getting started here obviously on Patriots Draft Countdown.
This is our first episode and we're gonna be here
all week. We're expecting to talk to Elliott Wolf tomorrow,
WHI should be exciting to pick his brain a little
bit about this draft class. And we're gonna kick things
off tomorrow. I have with the prospects the front seven.
You know, we love it working our way.
Speaker 1 (24:02):
Up right and early with the Abdul Carter at eight am. Right, Yeah,
he brings the energy. We're gonna bring the energy too.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
So we hope you'll stick with us here all week,
and then we'll be right back after we get back
from the Combine with more episodes of Patriots Draft Contown.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
So stick with us.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
We'll be here all week
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