Tune-in as we discuss the top prospects in the secondary. Evan Lazar offers a film review of CB/WR Travis Hunter. Plus, we review the latest Patriots mock drafts.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to an NFL draft hosted.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
By the writers of Patriots dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
From now until you here the New England Patriots.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Watch the countdown is on.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Welcome everybody to Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light,
Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy, bud Light, the official
beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. And we're back
for another episode. Guys here with the latest news. Not
a lot going on this week, but we're going to
drill down a little bit on some mock drafts. And
let's start off, Evan with the Pro Days.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
You were out BC.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Earlier this week, checking it out, Update, Pro Day Update,
love it.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, there's a lot going on right now with Pro Days. Really,
this is when the big schools start to get in
their Pro Days. Actually, as we're taping this, Mike Rabel
is at Texas to check out Calvin Banks and Matthew
Golden and Isaiah Bond and all the Longhorn talent. So
he's at Boston College on Monday with yours truly, and
then he got on a plane and went down to
Texas and now he's in Texas today. So this is
(01:03):
a big time of year to really get some FaceTime
with some of these prospects.
Speaker 6 (01:06):
Mike, just to be clear, I don't think Mike Rabel
was at BC's pro day to check out Evan.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They both along with yours, they happened to both be there.
Then I was also there.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
I want to make sure the viewers thank you for
the clarification.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Pologists were what were your takeaways though some obviously some
players of interest maybe to the Patriots there PC.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, Doug Maron, the Patriots offensive line coach, was pretty
hands on with some of the stuff with Ozzie Trapilo's
a third round, second third round tackle from Boston College.
Offensive tackle, so he played on the right side mostly
at BC, played a lot of right tackle, but he's
been training with Dante Scarneckia. I might have heard of him,
and they've been training on both sides, you know, left
(01:46):
and right, And his path through a roster spot and
just sticking in the league is probably swing tackle with
maybe a ceiling of a starting right tackle. So he's
trying to make it right now in that swing tackle
role initially, so I can tell that he's working on everything.
And Donovan Azaruko, their pass rusher, is kind of the
big name. He didn't participate in the drills going he
(02:10):
was at the Combine Senior Bowl. Has already done his
thing for this circuit. But he's projected to go in
the first round. Some people say it's early as top
twenty potentially at sixteen and a half sacks last year
at PC, so he's a very good player. A couple
of linemen center Drew Kendall, there's a lot of lignemen
at BC this time around. I would say that are
(02:31):
interested across the league.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
That's the key takeaway there for BC. Not exactly a
football hot bat up here. You know, in New England,
we don't do college football the way you know certainly
they do down South. But offensive line has been a
very fruitful position for that program. They have a lot
of good ones in the league and it sounds like
they have at least one solid Day two prospect in
Tapello and a lot of people like Drew Kendall as well.
(02:54):
Like Kevin said, so do not sleep on the BC lineman.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, there was just a little bit more behind the scenes.
Chris Linstrom was actually in attendance for the Pro Day
and he had a long conversation with Mike Rabel. I
believe Tyler Vrabel might have overlapped with Lindstrom at Boston College,
so maybe he knew of Lindstrom already from that. But
he's obviously one of those linemen that Paul's talking about
in Atlanta's Fantastic Guard for the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
So guys, let's move on here to You know, it
seems like not a lot happens in the spring. We
know the major events, the Combines, the Pro Days, but
yet still there's like an up and down and Evan
flowed to the mock draft season and who the Patriots
might get. I came back from the Combine a couple
of weeks ago and felt like, man, there's no way
they're getting.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Carter or Hunter. You know, tis now what kind of
feels like?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
I mean, And I don't know what's changed nothing, but
according to the mock drafts, maybe they have a chance
to some of those guys. Is that positive development for
the Patriots doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
I think the things that's changed in the past week
is that the Titans are showing more interest than cam
Ward and then Shader is wanting to go to New York,
which means Travis Hunter or Carter is going to be there.
Before you didn't know what the Browns were going to
do or the Titans, So it just kind of is
up in the ya. All the experts are saying something else,
but it really feels like you can get Hunter or Carter.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
So Paul, like the question is, though.
Speaker 6 (04:06):
I'm starting to get excited about man, you don't even
have to ask me the question, because I do think
if there's an opportunity there that you can get one
of those two guys, I think that's the dream scenario
for the Patriots. Otherwise you're really putting a half dozen
or so guys in a box and just saying which
one do I prefer? Because I think the clear two
top prospects are Carter and Hunter. If one of those
(04:28):
two guys slips, and we're seeing a lot of mocks
now that have the Patriots taking one of those two
guys at.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Four, let's talk to A good topic came up this
week on Patriots on Filter that I thought we haven't
really considered, and that is, if Carter Hunter were there,
did the Patriots consider trading down it was you know,
someone called in had a question.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Evan.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I thought you had a great response because initially I said, well,
if you have two potentially transcendent players, you gotta take one.
But as you laid out, maybe there's a package that
could make sense for the Patriots to trade down even
if they are there.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, I wouldn't fault them if they took either player,
hold it against them one bit. I would not trade
out of the Travis Hunter pick. If Travis Hunter is there,
I think their need at wide receiver coupled with his
talent is just so overwhelmingly positive to make him the pick.
With Abdul Carter, I love the player, Abdul card has
nothing to do with his talent, but it feels a
(05:17):
little bit like the cherry on top of a good
offseason for the defense and the offense is really gonna
be shorthanded. I just don't see how you come out
of this draft where they starting caliber left tackle and
a receiver that can make an impact if you're not
using your top pick on one of those two positions.
So I look at the trade down scenario that the
Texans got, for example, for Will Anderson, or the Texans
(05:40):
used to get Will Anderson with the Arizona pick they
traded to the Cardinals move up nine spots in that draft.
They gave up a second round pick and a future
first round pick to move up those nine spots. If
you're the Patriots in Chicago, calls who has two second
round picks in this draft, and they offer you their
second round pick and their twenty twenty six first round
(06:03):
pick to go from four to ten, do you consider that?
If you say no, then that's totally fair. But if
it's Carter alone on the board and that's a package
that comes across your desk, I think you have to
consider it.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
What do you think, Paul about trading down?
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Yeah, And here's the thing. Do you feel like Carter
and Hunter are just head and shoulders the best players
in this draft? Or do you think that they're special
players in any draft? And I think that's a distinction
that needs to be made. My gut reaction would be
to take Carter if I had my choice of anybody
in this draft. I think he's going to be a
special player. I think that those athletic edge guys are
(06:41):
very important and they're worthy of taking in the top five.
But when Evan started talking about it during the week
when we talked on Patriots Unfiltered. He makes a compelling
argument that if you can add a second round pick,
and all of a sudden you have those extra picks
in Day two, and then you add a future first
round pick. I've never really considered the idea of a
trade down that involved the team trading up being able
(07:03):
to draft either Carter or a Hunter, and so I
have automatically diminished the value of that trade. Well, it
was one of those two guys is available, you might
be able to get what Evan's talking about.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Yeah, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I know you and Chris have kicked around some trade scenarios.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
I think I think you take Hunter Carter's option one
A one B there. On the mock draft simulator we're
using a lot of the trades aren't really including future
first round pick. So if you can get a next
year pick and swap this year and get a second maybe,
but I think it's just a little risky and you
can get the blue chip prospect there.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, I'm not doing it unless that first round pick
is involved. The future first round pick I should say too,
if it's if there's no twenty twenty six first round pick.
Then I'm taking the player and happily taking the player.
I just this team has a lot of holes, specifically
on the offensive side of the ball, and if you
keep hammering high assets on defense, you're gonna have all
your free agency money spent on defense. You're gonna have
(07:55):
the fourth overall pick spent on defense. At some point,
you got to give Drake Mason hell on the offense
side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (08:02):
What's up, everybody, We're back again for the mock draft
segment of the Patriots Draft.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Count On podcast presented by Bud Light Chris.
Speaker 7 (08:08):
We were just talking about latest news and Paul and
Duce brought up a good point that the Patriots, now
there's some potential trade scenarios because as we've heard cam Ward,
the Titans are showing more interest. Shoulder might go to
the Giants. So if those two go, that means Hunter
and orc Harder are going to be available.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
So that being said, like if you're a team and
you could trade you know, one and next year's one
and a two, like the Patriots.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Could maybe do that, I think so.
Speaker 7 (08:35):
Yeah, But that being said, we both I don't want
to trade I want to take one of the players.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, so definitely, we both have talked about that ahead
of this show, and I think you know, the Patriots
are in a really good spot. Yes, they have picks
to leverage trade scenarios. For example, I mean talking about
Brandon I you somehow still available this year, second year
in a Rowers name's flowing around if you want to
maybe use one of those thirds, maybe second if he's
(09:00):
worth it, try to work that into a package for
Brandon Ayuk. But you know, there's all there's a whole
lot of scenarios you can break down. But I know
for me and you, we'd like to just let them,
let them have a natural.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Draft, Okay.
Speaker 7 (09:11):
And guys, so that being said, we're gonna do a
three round mock, and that means we have four picks. Yea,
four picks. So Chris, I'll let you do your your four,
then I'll do my.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
We'll discuss.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah. So Chris Cassid mock Draft one.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Point oh one four Travis Hunter, Gay Travis Hunter, second
round pick, Ariante ERSI the tackle at of Minnesota, first
pick of round three.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh j T.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm gonna try my best on this one. Two Moloau
and the third round seventy seventh overall pick Isaiah Bond
from Texas. The receiver also played at Alabama in twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But those are my Those are.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
My four guys off the board for the Patriots in
rounds one through three.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Cool.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
And so that being said, Chris, like a lot happens,
we use out mock draft database, and so when I
did mine, I just want to announce the first three picks,
which was cam Ward Shader Sanders and righty for this
Jalen Milroe. So that love Hunter and Carter on the board.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Sneaky. There might be better quarterbacks, but.
Speaker 7 (10:14):
It was just interesting. Look at Thatbby said. I took
Carter at the number four pick, Penn State edge rusher.
Patriots need that. That's a potentially generational edge rusher. In
the second round, this is where it gets interesting. I
took Trey Amos from Ole, miss who I mentioned in
last week's episode. Just hitting the corner there, because you
know you miss it with Hunter. With the third round
(10:36):
pick Wyatt Millum, offensive tackle from West Virginia, YEP. And
then the third the third third round pick is Jane
Higgins from Iowa State. So, as Evan Lazari has said,
this needs to be a fairway draft for the Patriots.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
You get your edge rusher, cornerback.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
I know we just signed Carlton Davis, but you know
you can always find space for those guys there.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
It needs to be a heavy need draft.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
YEP.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
That's what it has to.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Be for the Patriots this year and again starting with
my first overall pick at Travis Hunter. I know you
have Abdual Carter, so it's good that we got to
have both of those, the both of those topics. But
Travis Hunter, I mean the wide receiver numbers that he
put up this past year at Colorado, we're just absolutely insane.
(11:19):
Like for him to go out there, he had fifteen
touchdowns over twelve hundred, twelve hundred yards and ninety six receptions.
Ninety six receptions like that, that is an insane number.
He's your primary target, shooter is primary target obviously, but
like someone putting up those numbers and then going to
play defensive back and I having four interceptions and I
(11:41):
think it was eleven pass deflections this year, like like
that's it's so impressive to me that someone could do
that on both sides of the ball, Like, I don't
know how you can't go with best available. So if
a duel Carter and Travis Hunter somehow are both on
the board in that situation, like I don't know how
you choose, you know what I mean, But for me,
it would be trying.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Like I said, it's option one, A, one B.
Speaker 7 (12:03):
The cornerback situation for Trey Amos, like that is just
he jumped to the sec he was with the raging
Cajuns in Louisiana then he went to Bama. I just
with the way the mock was working and the board was,
that was what I thought was the best player on
the board. They also had Josh Simmons from Ohio State,
who he just blew out his knee last year, and
so I think it's just a bit risky to use
that high second round pick on a player that might
(12:24):
not be ready yet. So that's why I went for
the tackle In the third round. Wyatt Milan played a
bit of right tackle, bit of left and like, let's
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
If he's gonna be a Day one guy, but he
was the best tackle.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
But what's good with Milan for your first third round pick?
I mean he really did play primarily at left tackle,
and that's what the Patriots need to fill. And for me,
that's why I have it going a little bit earlier.
I think that's a much more important position. The need
to get a little bit higher up, especially in the
second round, if you're not going to go in the
first round with a tackle. I think arianta Ursie. I
(12:55):
mean he's a stud. He played his last thirty eight
games of his career at Minnesota at left tackle. He
knows the position. He's six six, he's like three hundred
and fifty pounds, he's earth three hundred and fifteen pounds.
Are a big boy, yeah, And I mean he's got
good quickness, good Agility's kind of get off the edge.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
You need.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You need someone to protect your quarterback. You need someone
to protect Drake May. You got Morgan Moses on the
other side, Ursery on the other on the left.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
So let's get to the receivers. You had Isaiah Bond,
I had Higgins. Now, Chris, I'm gonna say, I'm I'm
not giving up hope on the current Patriots receivers yet.
No Polk, it was only his first year. Last year
could have been an anomaly Stefan Diggs, He's visited. Like, listen,
if if I don't think we need the receiver that
high unless it's Travis Hunter. Other than that, Like, I'm
(13:43):
fine with giving these guys another chance because at the
end of the day, it's not gonna be a one
year fix. Yes, you want to you want to see progression.
If you if you hit on somebody in the fourth
round like a Higgins are a Bond, awesome, But I
don't think if it's not Carter, it doesn't need to
be that high.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I mean, for me, the appeal for Isaiah Bond.
He was kind of in the shadows of Matthew Golden
this past year Texas Matthew going almost a thousand yard receiver,
had nine touchdowns over there for the Longhorns. You know,
at Alabama, he was behind Jermaine Burton now currently at
the Cincinnati Bengals. But he's a guy, he's versatile. He
(14:18):
had almost I think seven undred yards from scrimmagers, but
I think it six d and forty one yards of scrimmages.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Past year.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
He ran the ball multiple times, multiple touchdowns rushing. He
had six touchdowns receiving this year.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
You know, the Patriots sort of have that type of versatility.
Five eleven.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
He's a little bit short, but he's got burner speed,
pop Douglas esque body build. But you could throw him
on the outside and he could be effective. You know,
he has that four three nine forty yard dash speed,
that burner mentality, you know, just down the sideline, hit
and pair deep all soo, you.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Know he has all the factors to be a wide
receiver that it can show plenty of production in the NFL.
Speaker 7 (14:58):
Ye, No, it's it's listening you just fourth round is
the meat of the draft. You want ahead of these guys.
They need to be productive and that's all that matters.
But Chris, I'd be good with either of these mocks.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Oh, absolutely absolutely, And I didn't. I want to touch
on j T Again'm gonna try it again tooy Moloau.
You know, all first seem big tens past year for
Ohio State obviously national champion, just absolutely sod twelve and
a half sacks this past year. B Sofie, she's a
big fella, but he ran a four to six two
(15:29):
at the combine this past season. All right, this draft
combine like with speed like that at two hundred and
sixty nine pounds.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
You're ere quick, yeah, and you.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Got to get to the quarterback and the Patriots need that.
They have Harold Landry, they have Kelon White, they have
Afony Jennings, but I think you need a true edge
rusher and I think Tooy Molao moloau got it is
one of those types of players.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
And Chrissy can't teach speed.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
But guys, thank you for tuning into this segment of
the Draft Countdown podcast. With the mock draft segment. We
got Evan lazar next doing a position, so guys, we'll
get to that.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
What's up, everybody, It's Evan Lazarre. Welcome back into the
Patriots Draft Countdown film room.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Today.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We're going to talk about the cornerbacks, not necessarily a
major position to need for the Patriots after free agency,
but you all know why we're talking about the cornerbacks.
It's this guy right here right, Travis Hunter, the Heisman
Trophy winner. We're going to get to him in a second,
but I do want to talk about some of the
other guys in this class that I really like. Will
Johnson's the other blue chip prospect, if you will, out
(16:28):
of Michigan really good National Championship season, some injuries last year.
Jiehati Bearn two from Texas, one of my favorite players
in this class.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But let's talk about.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
That number one guy right there, Travis Hunter. We know
he plays both ways. You can see him down here
at the bottom of the screen against the Torah McMillan
from Arizona, and he's just going to run the route
for Teed McMillan here in press coverage, and you see
how smooth he is off the line of scrimmage, his
change of direction, his ability and those ball skills to
get his.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Hand in there.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
That is how he can play manta man at a
high level. Up here at the top of the screen, though,
we're going to play a bail technique, So he's just
going to drop off the line here into a Cover
three or a quarters zone and watch the ball skills,
watch the explosiveness in the jump to knock that pass
away on the vertical route. And then the last one
here is the highlight of his season. I would say,
(17:18):
probably one of the best interceptions you'll ever see in
college football. So he's going to play the flat in
cover two. Now, the safety is deep safety deep right here,
and as we roll this play, he's just going to
midpoint the deep receiver and the underneath receiver. If we
can pause it right here, you can see him just
kind of eyeing the quarterback right now in the backfield
right where is he going to throw this football and
(17:40):
watch this break on the ball. I mean, that's just silly.
That's just ridiculous. Explosiveness. Clicking clothes interception there by Travis Hunter.
That's why everybody is just going crazy about him as
a cornerback prospect. Ball skills, ballhwking traits, explosiveness, man to
man coverage ability, great feel for zone coverage. He's just
got at that position. A couple of other guys here
(18:02):
to just talk about. Maybe closer to Day two, I
think mid first round for Jahati Baron, who's just an
absolute dog. I mean, this guy plays the nickel. Reminds
me a lot of Brian Branch in Detroit. Just scrappy,
willing to put his face in there and get his
nose dirty in the run game. Really good covered corner
as well if you want to play him in the side.
And Azure Thomas from Florida State. Right here at the
(18:24):
bottom of the screen. The Patriots are going to target
a middle round cornerback. I think Thomas is going to
be on their board. Long, strappy man, coverage corner that
can do everything the Patriots are going to ask their
cornerbacks to do. So those are the cornerbacks. Obviously, Travis
Hunter is the big one there at the top, but
a couple of other names to watch for in the
top ten as well, and Will Johnson and Jahati Barry.
(18:45):
That's your cornerback breakdown on this episode of Patriots Draft Countdown.
I'm Evan Lazar.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
All right, we're talking safeties and cornerbacks here, not positions
of huge need for the Patriots that could run down.
They're both those position groups guys, but much everybody's coming back.
I would say there are maybe some questions in the slot.
We've talked a little bit about that. Marcus Jones has
been there, had some injury issues. Isaiah Bolden's got some
size they have, We've talked about him.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
But overall we started you have just what do you.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
See the needs at cornerback? Safety?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Safety, I would just say that true center fielder, like
can they get it, doesn't necessarily need to be a
guy that's gonna play every snap, but even just that
Deron Harmon roll of on third downs obvious passing situations
free up Kyle Duggar and potentially Jabriel Peppers to play
closer to the line of scrimmage or in the box
at their natural position. So I remember talking to Devin
(19:36):
mccordy over the years and him just saying that they
all kind of had their homes when it was him
and Chung and Deron Harmon up top on third and
eight with the game on the line, everybody knew where
they were going to be at and what their roles were.
So to make this safety group fit together a little
bit better, I think they could maybe target a centerfielder.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
What do you think about our cornerbacks, Chris, I know
Carlton Davis big piece there.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That they Yeah, yeah, they brought it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Just brought in Carlton Davis. So obviously have that one
two punch Gonzo Carlton on each side.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Obviously you have the big guys, Travis Hunter. Obviously we
can get in him if you wanted to.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Yeah, well let's jump right into it, Chris, I mean
you mentioned Travis Hunter. I mean, look, he's also you
might make an appearance on the wide receiver list that
would go to well special but yeah, that's and that's
the whole appeal. And I think a lot of the
recent mock drafts, which I know you guys are heavy into,
it seems like maybe they have a chance at Travis Hunter.
And really the question comes down to Chris is is
he a cornerback?
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Is he a wide receiver?
Speaker 4 (20:32):
And if he is a cornerback, where does he play right?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I think that's something you have to really gauge.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I mean, you have fifteen touchdowns as wide receiver this
past year, like over twelve hundred receiving yards in twelve games.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Like that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So the fact that you have that much versatility you
could play both sides of the ball. I was talking
to Tease about this on the on the previous podcast.
You know, Travis Hunter, he's a guy like I really
personally would rather focus more on the wide receiver spot
and keep improving there and try to use him in
some some sort of nickel package or maybe a dime
(21:03):
like try to work him into the into more heavier
defensive back roles. I mean, he has so much potential
and I think he can play both the ball. You
just have to use him correctly.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
What do you think.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
No, I agree with Chris, I'd rather him play wide receiver.
But with Carlton Davis joining the team, I think like
cornerback's a bit more set right now, so you could
use him in some packages there. That being said, a
lot of the experts are saying the opposite. We're using
them on defense and throw them in some packages and offense.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
So yeah, we've we've talked about that. I mean, I
threw on my crazy just months my crazy, you know,
like just play him third down. So I know it's crazy, But.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
What have you see from from Hunter?
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, it's not crazy to try to find ways. It's
obviously probably a little bit easier to have him play
full time corner and then moonlight on offense than it
is to do the other direction, just from a preparation standpoint,
Like we've seen Marcus Jones and Spurts do that, right,
So there's guys that have done it at probably a
little bit of a higher level than doing it the
other direction. But I think with Hunter and terms of
(22:00):
his talent, it's really one of the best cornerback prospects
I've seen in my time covering the draft, just all around,
can pretty much do everything. I think his ball skills
or really his instincts and his ball hawking ability or
probably his best traits. You put him in zone coverages,
put him in the flat corner spot, and he has
(22:20):
that ability to click and close and just close on
the football and intercept passes and really make game changing plays.
So after they've signed Carlon Davis, it doesn't feel like
that's the direction they would go in. But I have thought,
you know, in my dreams about Christian Gonzales on one
side on the boundary, I'm going to take this guy
man to man, and then you have Travis Hunter on
(22:40):
the other side, ball hawking and just reading the quarterback
and having eyes in the backfield. It's a really intriguing thing.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
But I think what I.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Come back to with Hunter is you can feed him
the rock on offense and he can impact the game
by touching the ball eight, nine, ten times a game
on offense, and he might have one chance on defense
to really get his hands on the football. And when
you watch him play his game breaking speed in the
open field, it's like, how do you not get that
(23:08):
guy the ball as much as possible? So that's where
I come back to with corner is just is it
really gonna move the needle as much as him playing
wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yeah, let's move down the list a little bit and
we'll kind of group these guys together.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
I don't need to delineate them.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
We'll be kind of like the Patriots coaching staff, We're
gonna just prefer we're all defensive backs here. But John
Ay Barron from Texas, Will Johnson from Michigan probably the
next two guys up on the list, certainly probably first
half of the first round.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Good players.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
I mean, this is just not a huge need for
the Patriots. So at this point we're just we're watching
for fun, right.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Chris, Yeah, I would say so.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I mean those I mean Will Johnson obviously knows how
to win one in Michigan won national championship. I mean
his again, his ability to close on the football really impressive.
I mean, like you said, kind of that one, two
three is Barrett Johnson Hunter.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I would say next year for me, I would probably
put at least if the Patriots.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Were gonna look outside the box at the cornerback, maybe
late round draft. Denzel Burke I really like a lot
out of Ohio State. Obviously, you know, third team All
Big Tens. Past year kind of regressed a little bit.
It was a little bit better in twenty twenty three,
second team All American. But you know he has a
lot of promise. He had forty eight total tackles this season.
(24:22):
We really close out on the football. Same like Jacob
Parrish is another guy fifty total tackles this year.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I mean he's quick.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
He had three pass deflections against the Scinnati, just absolutely
dominated that game. So I mean they need a guy
that can get downhill and also gonna make.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The plays outside. So I think that's really important.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, it give you some guys teas.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
I really like Trey Amos from Mississippi made the jump
to the SEC. Thirteen pass breakups, fifty tackles. And it
gets interesting because say, if the Patriots take Carter, Like,
you know, our receiver room's pretty jammed right now, so
do you maybe make a high pick at another corner
and try to lock up the secondary. I also like
some later round Oh you mentioned Denzel Burke too, but
(25:00):
some later round guys are really like Jalen Hylott Hyatt.
He's US seed, very versatile, plays nickel safety corner. It
might be a good late round fine for the pageots there.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You guys have been watching some film. I think you
know you mentioned Will Johnson and just really quickly on him.
When I made my list of potential guys at four
overall way back in January and started watching the top
of the draft, Will Johnson was on the list. I mean,
he is a blue chip prospect in a lot of ways.
(25:28):
Had a down year last year, coming with an injury
coming off the National Championship game, but with guys like that,
I tend to think he had nothing left to prove
at the college football level and just kind of had
to go back to school because he was an underclassman
and didn't have a choice. So last year was almost
like a last year for him in a lot of ways,
and so I understand that it wasn't quite as good.
(25:49):
But you go back to the year prior and you
watch him, you know, go toe to toe with Romadoonze
in the National Championship Game, and you watch him, you know,
cover some of the best receivers in college football, extremely
high level. I don't know if I would put this
guy in this air as you know easily as some others,
but he does get some Patrick Surtan comparisons. You know,
just extremely natural, fluid, smooth athlete that just looks like
(26:13):
a corner like you just you look at him, kind
of like Gonzo and you're just like, that's that's an
elite cornerback, right, That's how I would describe Will Johnson.
You mentioned Jahati Baron, who I think is a really
interesting player. I love me some Jahati Baron. Brian Branch
two point zero, scrappy plays Nickel, plays the safety position,
(26:34):
can play man to man, but has a nose for
the football, great instincts, not afraid to make tackles in
the run game. He is a very very good player.
He's probably going to go top twenty, top twenty five.
So I don't know if the Patriots are necessarily going
to be in that category. But those are kind of
the Day one guys. I wouldn't say there's a ton
of Day one corners in this class. It's kind of
(26:55):
those three dudes. But then you get to the top
of the second round is when you get to you know,
the size, speed guys like Maxwell Harriston and Darien Porter,
maybe Bullio a little later. Yeah, Zion Thomas, Yeah, he
was at he was at the Senior Bowl and very
you know, strappy, kind of feisty man coverage corner, so
(27:16):
he would fit the bill for the Patriots as well.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
High character guy too. I just wanted to throw in
Sebastian Castro from Iowa, who's you know, lower round guy,
you know, kind of safety de beat but slot guy,
but just a guy plays with his hair on fire.
He's just one of those aggressive guys in the slot.
Really liked the one thing that stood out to me.
He was ten and a half inch hands for like
a cornerback, which is just to me, he's just you know,
a bunch of it's a bunch of bananas, you know.
But when you talk about you know what guys could
(27:40):
kind of fit, you know, like that's a role where
you need some steadiness in the slot, you need some aggressiveness.
He seems like his play temperament kind of kind of
fits Mike Rabel's style.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 7 (27:49):
Also is Jalen Smith by the way from USCA. I
believe it's at high But also another guy like is
Kobe Bryant. Oh, I got Kobe Bryan on nickel corner
and very feisty as well. Jack Jones, Yeah, exactly scary,
good comp loose cannon maybe, but you need that, you
need that, you know, i'd.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Say honor to mention too. Is Schevon Revel from East
Carolina a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
He's went down with the injury in September this past year,
of course toward the UCL But you know, he's quick,
He's six three. I mean, he's got the height you
can cover really anyone on the outside. You know, like
that's really appealing for a long to me.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
I watched him and he got a lot of credit
for staying at East Carolina, right, you know, sticking with
that program. Probably could have left and gone somewhere else.
Injuries set him back, but you know, certainly could have
been probably much much higher draft pick. He's one of
those guys where maybe an unknown commodity as you as
you make a selection.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Yeah, I him and like Ben Morrison from Notre Dame
or kind of in the same tier. I would say,
right in like the twenty to forty range, depending on
the injury. Obviously with Rebel, but I he would have
been a first round pick if he didn't get hurt.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Absolutly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Well let's let's wrap things up with a you know,
a couple of safeties here. Nick Monta Worry from from
South Carolina and probably the best safety on the board
all around kind of guy. And Malachi Starks is another
one three year starter at Georgia. We know defense, you
can't get enough of them or guys, but you know,
I think those two guys probably can census top of
the board for safety.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, I have Malchi starts with the number one safety
in the class. I just I'm gonna trust the tape
with him. I know he didn't have a great combine,
but he is a football player, you know, instinctive, natural
football player, can play pretty much every safety spot that
you would want him to play, very very good against
the run, but also can play deep, can play probably
wouldn't put him in the post, but like can play
(29:26):
split suit field coverages and things like that. But I
just love his ball instincts and just his overall feel
for the game. I think he's always around the football.
Fun player to watch on tape. And you know, I
see a little bit of Jamal Adams with Nick. Can
you pronounce the last name for him and Worry? Yeah,
I think close enough. Yeah, you know, like like I
(29:47):
don't know if he plays the way he tested, Like
he tested like an absolute superhero at the Combine. But
I don't know if I see the play speed like
that on the tape, Like there's a little bit of
Kyle Duggart to him. There's a little bit of Jamal
Adams to him, you know, like probably a box safety
that's gonna play like, you know, pseudo linebacker slashing the slot.
(30:08):
So I like him, but I didn't necessarily I was, like,
you know, really surprised by how well he tested at
the Combine. I didn't necessarily think he was that athletic.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah, anybody else you guys got that we might have
missed that you particularly liked.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
I like Kevin Winston from Penn State. That's a great one.
I didn't even bring him for this thing, but.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I thought that was gonna be your guy.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
I know, I just I forgot to put him on
my little shortlist. Thanks for presence there kind of ball
last year leadership. You know, just think he's another guy
that way behind.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
I think a big thing is I think the current
safety is of Patriots have me to bounce back a little,
which kind of lowers the safety prospects for me.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
But that's the guy that stands out to me.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
For me, I would say the same position Malachai Moore Alabama.
I mean, really prototypical coverage guy. I mean he's all
around the ball. You can kind of sit back there,
cover two, cover three, however you want him. I think
he's a really solid safety in this class and curious
what the pad up doing.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Maybe yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Spot well weird needs, you know. They just like I
could see them taking some of these guys that could
also see them just bypassing both these positions and kind
of rolling what they have.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
I think the pick, if it's between Travis Ard and
Abdol Carter affects this whole group.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Are Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Let me just name a few more safeties just so
we get them in there. Because you mentioned mal Chai
Moore is kind of like the Day three guy of
this version. Andrew mccuba from Texas is kind of the
Day two free safety. Uh. He's got great ball skills,
great instincts, can play up top. He's a true free safety,
really good playmaker on the football. Then you go to
Billy Bowman from Oklahoma, who's kind of like the third
(31:39):
fourth round guy that fits that role. And then you
get to Malachai Moore probably fifth, sixth round or somewhere
around there on Day three. So those are if you're
looking for that Deron Harmon, like mccooba is probably a
little bit better than that, Like he's probably going to
be a starting safety in the NFL, getting a lot
of buzz lately, But if you're looking for that type
of player, I would say those are sort of your
(31:59):
three tiers of that from days you know, two to four,
three there at the end of the draft.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
All right, well that's going to do it for the
defensive backs as well. As this episode of Patriots Draft Countdown,
we'll be back next week with another episode, pre dowing
the entire draft.
This is Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome to an NFL draft hosted.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
By the writers of Patriots dot Com.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
From now until you here the New England Patriots.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Watch the countdown is on.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Welcome everybody to Patriots Draft Countdown presented by bud Light,
Easy to Drink, Easy to Enjoy, bud Light, the official
beer sponsor of the New England Patriots. And we're back
for another episode. Guys here with the latest news. Not
a lot going on this week, but we're going to
drill down a little bit on some mock drafts. And
let's start off, Evan with the Pro Days.
Speaker 5 (00:36):
You were out BC.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Earlier this week, checking it out, Update, Pro Day Update,
love it.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, there's a lot going on right now with Pro Days. Really,
this is when the big schools start to get in
their Pro Days. Actually, as we're taping this, Mike Rabel
is at Texas to check out Calvin Banks and Matthew
Golden and Isaiah Bond and all the Longhorn talent. So
he's at Boston College on Monday with yours truly, and
then he got on a plane and went down to
Texas and now he's in Texas today. So this is
(01:03):
a big time of year to really get some FaceTime
with some of these prospects.
Speaker 6 (01:06):
Mike, just to be clear, I don't think Mike Rabel
was at BC's pro day to check out Evan.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
They both along with yours, they happened to both be there.
Then I was also there.
Speaker 5 (01:17):
I want to make sure the viewers thank you for
the clarification.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Pologists were what were your takeaways though some obviously some
players of interest maybe to the Patriots there PC.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, Doug Maron, the Patriots offensive line coach, was pretty
hands on with some of the stuff with Ozzie Trapilo's
a third round, second third round tackle from Boston College.
Offensive tackle, so he played on the right side mostly
at BC, played a lot of right tackle, but he's
been training with Dante Scarneckia. I might have heard of him,
and they've been training on both sides, you know, left
(01:46):
and right, And his path through a roster spot and
just sticking in the league is probably swing tackle with
maybe a ceiling of a starting right tackle. So he's
trying to make it right now in that swing tackle
role initially, so I can tell that he's working on everything.
And Donovan Azaruko, their pass rusher, is kind of the
big name. He didn't participate in the drills going he
(02:10):
was at the Combine Senior Bowl. Has already done his
thing for this circuit. But he's projected to go in
the first round. Some people say it's early as top
twenty potentially at sixteen and a half sacks last year
at PC, so he's a very good player. A couple
of linemen center Drew Kendall, there's a lot of lignemen
at BC this time around. I would say that are
(02:31):
interested across the league.
Speaker 6 (02:33):
That's the key takeaway there for BC. Not exactly a
football hot bat up here. You know, in New England,
we don't do college football the way you know certainly
they do down South. But offensive line has been a
very fruitful position for that program. They have a lot
of good ones in the league and it sounds like
they have at least one solid Day two prospect in
Tapello and a lot of people like Drew Kendall as well.
(02:54):
Like Kevin said, so do not sleep on the BC lineman.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Yeah, there was just a little bit more behind the scenes.
Chris Linstrom was actually in attendance for the Pro Day
and he had a long conversation with Mike Rabel. I
believe Tyler Vrabel might have overlapped with Lindstrom at Boston College,
so maybe he knew of Lindstrom already from that. But
he's obviously one of those linemen that Paul's talking about
in Atlanta's Fantastic Guard for the Falcons.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
So guys, let's move on here to You know, it
seems like not a lot happens in the spring. We
know the major events, the Combines, the Pro Days, but
yet still there's like an up and down and Evan
flowed to the mock draft season and who the Patriots
might get. I came back from the Combine a couple
of weeks ago and felt like, man, there's no way
they're getting.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Carter or Hunter. You know, tis now what kind of
feels like?
Speaker 4 (03:37):
I mean, And I don't know what's changed nothing, but
according to the mock drafts, maybe they have a chance
to some of those guys. Is that positive development for
the Patriots doesn't mean anything.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
I think the things that's changed in the past week
is that the Titans are showing more interest than cam
Ward and then Shader is wanting to go to New York,
which means Travis Hunter or Carter is going to be there.
Before you didn't know what the Browns were going to
do or the Titans, So it just kind of is
up in the ya. All the experts are saying something else,
but it really feels like you can get Hunter or Carter.
Speaker 5 (04:03):
So Paul, like the question is, though.
Speaker 6 (04:06):
I'm starting to get excited about man, you don't even
have to ask me the question, because I do think
if there's an opportunity there that you can get one
of those two guys, I think that's the dream scenario
for the Patriots. Otherwise you're really putting a half dozen
or so guys in a box and just saying which
one do I prefer? Because I think the clear two
top prospects are Carter and Hunter. If one of those
(04:28):
two guys slips, and we're seeing a lot of mocks
now that have the Patriots taking one of those two
guys at.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Four, let's talk to A good topic came up this
week on Patriots on Filter that I thought we haven't
really considered, and that is, if Carter Hunter were there,
did the Patriots consider trading down it was you know,
someone called in had a question.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Evan.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
I thought you had a great response because initially I said, well,
if you have two potentially transcendent players, you gotta take one.
But as you laid out, maybe there's a package that
could make sense for the Patriots to trade down even
if they are there.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Yeah, I wouldn't fault them if they took either player,
hold it against them one bit. I would not trade
out of the Travis Hunter pick. If Travis Hunter is there,
I think their need at wide receiver coupled with his
talent is just so overwhelmingly positive to make him the pick.
With Abdul Carter, I love the player, Abdul card has
nothing to do with his talent, but it feels a
(05:17):
little bit like the cherry on top of a good
offseason for the defense and the offense is really gonna
be shorthanded. I just don't see how you come out
of this draft where they starting caliber left tackle and
a receiver that can make an impact if you're not
using your top pick on one of those two positions.
So I look at the trade down scenario that the
Texans got, for example, for Will Anderson, or the Texans
(05:40):
used to get Will Anderson with the Arizona pick they
traded to the Cardinals move up nine spots in that draft.
They gave up a second round pick and a future
first round pick to move up those nine spots. If
you're the Patriots in Chicago, calls who has two second
round picks in this draft, and they offer you their
second round pick and their twenty twenty six first round
(06:03):
pick to go from four to ten, do you consider that?
If you say no, then that's totally fair. But if
it's Carter alone on the board and that's a package
that comes across your desk, I think you have to
consider it.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
What do you think, Paul about trading down?
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Yeah, And here's the thing. Do you feel like Carter
and Hunter are just head and shoulders the best players
in this draft? Or do you think that they're special
players in any draft? And I think that's a distinction
that needs to be made. My gut reaction would be
to take Carter if I had my choice of anybody
in this draft. I think he's going to be a
special player. I think that those athletic edge guys are
(06:41):
very important and they're worthy of taking in the top five.
But when Evan started talking about it during the week
when we talked on Patriots Unfiltered. He makes a compelling
argument that if you can add a second round pick,
and all of a sudden you have those extra picks
in Day two, and then you add a future first
round pick. I've never really considered the idea of a
trade down that involved the team trading up being able
(07:03):
to draft either Carter or a Hunter, and so I
have automatically diminished the value of that trade. Well, it
was one of those two guys is available, you might
be able to get what Evan's talking about.
Speaker 5 (07:13):
Yeah, what do you think?
Speaker 4 (07:14):
I know you and Chris have kicked around some trade scenarios.
Speaker 7 (07:16):
I think I think you take Hunter Carter's option one
A one B there. On the mock draft simulator we're
using a lot of the trades aren't really including future
first round pick. So if you can get a next
year pick and swap this year and get a second maybe,
but I think it's just a little risky and you
can get the blue chip prospect there.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
Yeah, I'm not doing it unless that first round pick
is involved. The future first round pick I should say too,
if it's if there's no twenty twenty six first round pick.
Then I'm taking the player and happily taking the player.
I just this team has a lot of holes, specifically
on the offensive side of the ball, and if you
keep hammering high assets on defense, you're gonna have all
your free agency money spent on defense. You're gonna have
(07:55):
the fourth overall pick spent on defense. At some point,
you got to give Drake Mason hell on the offense
side of the ball.
Speaker 7 (08:02):
What's up, everybody, We're back again for the mock draft
segment of the Patriots Draft.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
Count On podcast presented by Bud Light Chris.
Speaker 7 (08:08):
We were just talking about latest news and Paul and
Duce brought up a good point that the Patriots, now
there's some potential trade scenarios because as we've heard cam Ward,
the Titans are showing more interest. Shoulder might go to
the Giants. So if those two go, that means Hunter
and orc Harder are going to be available.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:26):
So that being said, like if you're a team and
you could trade you know, one and next year's one
and a two, like the Patriots.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Could maybe do that, I think so.
Speaker 7 (08:35):
Yeah, But that being said, we both I don't want
to trade I want to take one of the players.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, so definitely, we both have talked about that ahead
of this show, and I think you know, the Patriots
are in a really good spot. Yes, they have picks
to leverage trade scenarios. For example, I mean talking about
Brandon I you somehow still available this year, second year
in a Rowers name's flowing around if you want to
maybe use one of those thirds, maybe second if he's
(09:00):
worth it, try to work that into a package for
Brandon Ayuk. But you know, there's all there's a whole
lot of scenarios you can break down. But I know
for me and you, we'd like to just let them,
let them have a natural.
Speaker 5 (09:11):
Draft, Okay.
Speaker 7 (09:11):
And guys, so that being said, we're gonna do a
three round mock, and that means we have four picks. Yea,
four picks. So Chris, I'll let you do your your four,
then I'll do my.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
We'll discuss.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah. So Chris Cassid mock Draft one.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Point oh one four Travis Hunter, Gay Travis Hunter, second
round pick, Ariante ERSI the tackle at of Minnesota, first
pick of round three.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Uh j T.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
I'm gonna try my best on this one. Two Moloau
and the third round seventy seventh overall pick Isaiah Bond
from Texas. The receiver also played at Alabama in twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
But those are my Those are.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
My four guys off the board for the Patriots in
rounds one through three.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Cool.
Speaker 7 (09:56):
And so that being said, Chris, like a lot happens,
we use out mock draft database, and so when I
did mine, I just want to announce the first three picks,
which was cam Ward Shader Sanders and righty for this
Jalen Milroe. So that love Hunter and Carter on the board.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Sneaky. There might be better quarterbacks, but.
Speaker 7 (10:14):
It was just interesting. Look at Thatbby said. I took
Carter at the number four pick, Penn State edge rusher.
Patriots need that. That's a potentially generational edge rusher. In
the second round, this is where it gets interesting. I
took Trey Amos from Ole, miss who I mentioned in
last week's episode. Just hitting the corner there, because you
know you miss it with Hunter. With the third round
(10:36):
pick Wyatt Millum, offensive tackle from West Virginia, YEP. And
then the third the third third round pick is Jane
Higgins from Iowa State. So, as Evan Lazari has said,
this needs to be a fairway draft for the Patriots.
Speaker 5 (10:49):
You get your edge rusher, cornerback.
Speaker 7 (10:51):
I know we just signed Carlton Davis, but you know
you can always find space for those guys there.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
It needs to be a heavy need draft.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
YEP.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
That's what it has to.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Be for the Patriots this year and again starting with
my first overall pick at Travis Hunter. I know you
have Abdual Carter, so it's good that we got to
have both of those, the both of those topics. But
Travis Hunter, I mean the wide receiver numbers that he
put up this past year at Colorado, we're just absolutely insane.
(11:19):
Like for him to go out there, he had fifteen
touchdowns over twelve hundred, twelve hundred yards and ninety six receptions.
Ninety six receptions like that, that is an insane number.
He's your primary target, shooter is primary target obviously, but
like someone putting up those numbers and then going to
play defensive back and I having four interceptions and I
(11:41):
think it was eleven pass deflections this year, like like
that's it's so impressive to me that someone could do
that on both sides of the ball, Like, I don't
know how you can't go with best available. So if
a duel Carter and Travis Hunter somehow are both on
the board in that situation, like I don't know how
you choose, you know what I mean, But for me,
it would be trying.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Like I said, it's option one, A, one B.
Speaker 7 (12:03):
The cornerback situation for Trey Amos, like that is just
he jumped to the sec he was with the raging
Cajuns in Louisiana then he went to Bama. I just
with the way the mock was working and the board was,
that was what I thought was the best player on
the board. They also had Josh Simmons from Ohio State,
who he just blew out his knee last year, and
so I think it's just a bit risky to use
that high second round pick on a player that might
(12:24):
not be ready yet. So that's why I went for
the tackle In the third round. Wyatt Milan played a
bit of right tackle, bit of left and like, let's
I don't know.
Speaker 5 (12:31):
If he's gonna be a Day one guy, but he
was the best tackle.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
But what's good with Milan for your first third round pick?
I mean he really did play primarily at left tackle,
and that's what the Patriots need to fill. And for me,
that's why I have it going a little bit earlier.
I think that's a much more important position. The need
to get a little bit higher up, especially in the
second round, if you're not going to go in the
first round with a tackle. I think arianta Ursie. I
(12:55):
mean he's a stud. He played his last thirty eight
games of his career at Minnesota at left tackle. He
knows the position. He's six six, he's like three hundred
and fifty pounds, he's earth three hundred and fifteen pounds.
Are a big boy, yeah, And I mean he's got
good quickness, good Agility's kind of get off the edge.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
You need.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
You need someone to protect your quarterback. You need someone
to protect Drake May. You got Morgan Moses on the
other side, Ursery on the other on the left.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (13:22):
So let's get to the receivers. You had Isaiah Bond,
I had Higgins. Now, Chris, I'm gonna say, I'm I'm
not giving up hope on the current Patriots receivers yet.
No Polk, it was only his first year. Last year
could have been an anomaly Stefan Diggs, He's visited. Like, listen,
if if I don't think we need the receiver that
high unless it's Travis Hunter. Other than that, Like, I'm
(13:43):
fine with giving these guys another chance because at the
end of the day, it's not gonna be a one
year fix. Yes, you want to you want to see progression.
If you if you hit on somebody in the fourth
round like a Higgins are a Bond, awesome, But I
don't think if it's not Carter, it doesn't need to
be that high.
Speaker 1 (13:57):
Yeah, I mean, for me, the appeal for Isaiah Bond.
He was kind of in the shadows of Matthew Golden
this past year Texas Matthew going almost a thousand yard receiver,
had nine touchdowns over there for the Longhorns. You know,
at Alabama, he was behind Jermaine Burton now currently at
the Cincinnati Bengals. But he's a guy, he's versatile. He
(14:18):
had almost I think seven undred yards from scrimmagers, but
I think it six d and forty one yards of scrimmages.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Past year.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
He ran the ball multiple times, multiple touchdowns rushing. He
had six touchdowns receiving this year.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
You know, the Patriots sort of have that type of versatility.
Five eleven.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
He's a little bit short, but he's got burner speed,
pop Douglas esque body build. But you could throw him
on the outside and he could be effective. You know,
he has that four three nine forty yard dash speed,
that burner mentality, you know, just down the sideline, hit
and pair deep all soo, you.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Know he has all the factors to be a wide
receiver that it can show plenty of production in the NFL.
Speaker 7 (14:58):
Ye, No, it's it's listening you just fourth round is
the meat of the draft. You want ahead of these guys.
They need to be productive and that's all that matters.
But Chris, I'd be good with either of these mocks.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Oh, absolutely absolutely, And I didn't. I want to touch
on j T Again'm gonna try it again tooy Moloau.
You know, all first seem big tens past year for
Ohio State obviously national champion, just absolutely sod twelve and
a half sacks this past year. B Sofie, she's a
big fella, but he ran a four to six two
(15:29):
at the combine this past season. All right, this draft
combine like with speed like that at two hundred and
sixty nine pounds.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
You're ere quick, yeah, and you.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Got to get to the quarterback and the Patriots need that.
They have Harold Landry, they have Kelon White, they have
Afony Jennings, but I think you need a true edge
rusher and I think Tooy Molao moloau got it is
one of those types of players.
Speaker 5 (15:52):
And Chrissy can't teach speed.
Speaker 7 (15:53):
But guys, thank you for tuning into this segment of
the Draft Countdown podcast. With the mock draft segment. We
got Evan lazar next doing a position, so guys, we'll
get to that.
Speaker 3 (16:02):
What's up, everybody, It's Evan Lazarre. Welcome back into the
Patriots Draft Countdown film room.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Today.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
We're going to talk about the cornerbacks, not necessarily a
major position to need for the Patriots after free agency,
but you all know why we're talking about the cornerbacks.
It's this guy right here right, Travis Hunter, the Heisman
Trophy winner. We're going to get to him in a second,
but I do want to talk about some of the
other guys in this class that I really like. Will
Johnson's the other blue chip prospect, if you will, out
(16:28):
of Michigan really good National Championship season, some injuries last year.
Jiehati Bearn two from Texas, one of my favorite players
in this class.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But let's talk about.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
That number one guy right there, Travis Hunter. We know
he plays both ways. You can see him down here
at the bottom of the screen against the Torah McMillan
from Arizona, and he's just going to run the route
for Teed McMillan here in press coverage, and you see
how smooth he is off the line of scrimmage, his
change of direction, his ability and those ball skills to
get his.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Hand in there.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
That is how he can play manta man at a
high level. Up here at the top of the screen, though,
we're going to play a bail technique, So he's just
going to drop off the line here into a Cover
three or a quarters zone and watch the ball skills,
watch the explosiveness in the jump to knock that pass
away on the vertical route. And then the last one
here is the highlight of his season. I would say,
(17:18):
probably one of the best interceptions you'll ever see in
college football. So he's going to play the flat in
cover two. Now, the safety is deep safety deep right here,
and as we roll this play, he's just going to
midpoint the deep receiver and the underneath receiver. If we
can pause it right here, you can see him just
kind of eyeing the quarterback right now in the backfield
right where is he going to throw this football and
(17:40):
watch this break on the ball. I mean, that's just silly.
That's just ridiculous. Explosiveness. Clicking clothes interception there by Travis Hunter.
That's why everybody is just going crazy about him as
a cornerback prospect. Ball skills, ballhwking traits, explosiveness, man to
man coverage ability, great feel for zone coverage. He's just
got at that position. A couple of other guys here
(18:02):
to just talk about. Maybe closer to Day two, I
think mid first round for Jahati Baron, who's just an
absolute dog. I mean, this guy plays the nickel. Reminds
me a lot of Brian Branch in Detroit. Just scrappy,
willing to put his face in there and get his
nose dirty in the run game. Really good covered corner
as well if you want to play him in the side.
And Azure Thomas from Florida State. Right here at the
(18:24):
bottom of the screen. The Patriots are going to target
a middle round cornerback. I think Thomas is going to
be on their board. Long, strappy man, coverage corner that
can do everything the Patriots are going to ask their
cornerbacks to do. So those are the cornerbacks. Obviously, Travis
Hunter is the big one there at the top, but
a couple of other names to watch for in the
top ten as well, and Will Johnson and Jahati Barry.
(18:45):
That's your cornerback breakdown on this episode of Patriots Draft Countdown.
I'm Evan Lazar.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
All right, we're talking safeties and cornerbacks here, not positions
of huge need for the Patriots that could run down.
They're both those position groups guys, but much everybody's coming back.
I would say there are maybe some questions in the slot.
We've talked a little bit about that. Marcus Jones has
been there, had some injury issues. Isaiah Bolden's got some
size they have, We've talked about him.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
But overall we started you have just what do you.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
See the needs at cornerback? Safety?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Safety, I would just say that true center fielder, like
can they get it, doesn't necessarily need to be a
guy that's gonna play every snap, but even just that
Deron Harmon roll of on third downs obvious passing situations
free up Kyle Duggar and potentially Jabriel Peppers to play
closer to the line of scrimmage or in the box
at their natural position. So I remember talking to Devin
(19:36):
mccordy over the years and him just saying that they
all kind of had their homes when it was him
and Chung and Deron Harmon up top on third and
eight with the game on the line, everybody knew where
they were going to be at and what their roles were.
So to make this safety group fit together a little
bit better, I think they could maybe target a centerfielder.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
What do you think about our cornerbacks, Chris, I know
Carlton Davis big piece there.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That they Yeah, yeah, they brought it.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
Just brought in Carlton Davis. So obviously have that one
two punch Gonzo Carlton on each side.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Obviously you have the big guys, Travis Hunter. Obviously we
can get in him if you wanted to.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Yeah, well let's jump right into it, Chris, I mean
you mentioned Travis Hunter. I mean, look, he's also you
might make an appearance on the wide receiver list that
would go to well special but yeah, that's and that's
the whole appeal. And I think a lot of the
recent mock drafts, which I know you guys are heavy into,
it seems like maybe they have a chance at Travis Hunter.
And really the question comes down to Chris is is
he a cornerback?
Speaker 5 (20:31):
Is he a wide receiver?
Speaker 4 (20:32):
And if he is a cornerback, where does he play right?
Speaker 2 (20:34):
I think that's something you have to really gauge.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
I mean, you have fifteen touchdowns as wide receiver this
past year, like over twelve hundred receiving yards in twelve games.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Like that's crazy.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
So the fact that you have that much versatility you
could play both sides of the ball. I was talking
to Tease about this on the on the previous podcast.
You know, Travis Hunter, he's a guy like I really
personally would rather focus more on the wide receiver spot
and keep improving there and try to use him in
some some sort of nickel package or maybe a dime
(21:03):
like try to work him into the into more heavier
defensive back roles. I mean, he has so much potential
and I think he can play both the ball. You
just have to use him correctly.
Speaker 4 (21:12):
What do you think.
Speaker 7 (21:13):
No, I agree with Chris, I'd rather him play wide receiver.
But with Carlton Davis joining the team, I think like
cornerback's a bit more set right now, so you could
use him in some packages there. That being said, a
lot of the experts are saying the opposite. We're using
them on defense and throw them in some packages and offense.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
So yeah, we've we've talked about that. I mean, I
threw on my crazy just months my crazy, you know,
like just play him third down. So I know it's crazy, But.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
What have you see from from Hunter?
Speaker 3 (21:38):
Yeah, it's not crazy to try to find ways. It's
obviously probably a little bit easier to have him play
full time corner and then moonlight on offense than it
is to do the other direction, just from a preparation standpoint,
Like we've seen Marcus Jones and Spurts do that, right,
So there's guys that have done it at probably a
little bit of a higher level than doing it the
other direction. But I think with Hunter and terms of
(22:00):
his talent, it's really one of the best cornerback prospects
I've seen in my time covering the draft, just all around,
can pretty much do everything. I think his ball skills
or really his instincts and his ball hawking ability or
probably his best traits. You put him in zone coverages,
put him in the flat corner spot, and he has
(22:20):
that ability to click and close and just close on
the football and intercept passes and really make game changing plays.
So after they've signed Carlon Davis, it doesn't feel like
that's the direction they would go in. But I have thought,
you know, in my dreams about Christian Gonzales on one
side on the boundary, I'm going to take this guy
man to man, and then you have Travis Hunter on
(22:40):
the other side, ball hawking and just reading the quarterback
and having eyes in the backfield. It's a really intriguing thing.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
But I think what I.
Speaker 3 (22:48):
Come back to with Hunter is you can feed him
the rock on offense and he can impact the game
by touching the ball eight, nine, ten times a game
on offense, and he might have one chance on defense
to really get his hands on the football. And when
you watch him play his game breaking speed in the
open field, it's like, how do you not get that
(23:08):
guy the ball as much as possible? So that's where
I come back to with corner is just is it
really gonna move the needle as much as him playing
wide receiver.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
Yeah, let's move down the list a little bit and
we'll kind of group these guys together.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
I don't need to delineate them.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
We'll be kind of like the Patriots coaching staff, We're
gonna just prefer we're all defensive backs here. But John
Ay Barron from Texas, Will Johnson from Michigan probably the
next two guys up on the list, certainly probably first
half of the first round.
Speaker 5 (23:34):
Good players.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
I mean, this is just not a huge need for
the Patriots. So at this point we're just we're watching
for fun, right.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Chris, Yeah, I would say so.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I mean those I mean Will Johnson obviously knows how
to win one in Michigan won national championship. I mean
his again, his ability to close on the football really impressive.
I mean, like you said, kind of that one, two
three is Barrett Johnson Hunter.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
I would say next year for me, I would probably
put at least if the Patriots.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
Were gonna look outside the box at the cornerback, maybe
late round draft. Denzel Burke I really like a lot
out of Ohio State. Obviously, you know, third team All
Big Tens. Past year kind of regressed a little bit.
It was a little bit better in twenty twenty three,
second team All American. But you know he has a
lot of promise. He had forty eight total tackles this season.
(24:22):
We really close out on the football. Same like Jacob
Parrish is another guy fifty total tackles this year.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
I mean he's quick.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
He had three pass deflections against the Scinnati, just absolutely
dominated that game. So I mean they need a guy
that can get downhill and also gonna make.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The plays outside. So I think that's really important.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, it give you some guys teas.
Speaker 7 (24:40):
I really like Trey Amos from Mississippi made the jump
to the SEC. Thirteen pass breakups, fifty tackles. And it
gets interesting because say, if the Patriots take Carter, Like,
you know, our receiver room's pretty jammed right now, so
do you maybe make a high pick at another corner
and try to lock up the secondary. I also like
some later round Oh you mentioned Denzel Burke too, but
(25:00):
some later round guys are really like Jalen Hylott Hyatt.
He's US seed, very versatile, plays nickel safety corner. It
might be a good late round fine for the pageots there.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You guys have been watching some film. I think you
know you mentioned Will Johnson and just really quickly on him.
When I made my list of potential guys at four
overall way back in January and started watching the top
of the draft, Will Johnson was on the list. I mean,
he is a blue chip prospect in a lot of ways.
(25:28):
Had a down year last year, coming with an injury
coming off the National Championship game, but with guys like that,
I tend to think he had nothing left to prove
at the college football level and just kind of had
to go back to school because he was an underclassman
and didn't have a choice. So last year was almost
like a last year for him in a lot of ways,
and so I understand that it wasn't quite as good.
(25:49):
But you go back to the year prior and you
watch him, you know, go toe to toe with Romadoonze
in the National Championship Game, and you watch him, you know,
cover some of the best receivers in college football, extremely
high level. I don't know if I would put this
guy in this air as you know easily as some others,
but he does get some Patrick Surtan comparisons. You know,
just extremely natural, fluid, smooth athlete that just looks like
(26:13):
a corner like you just you look at him, kind
of like Gonzo and you're just like, that's that's an
elite cornerback, right, That's how I would describe Will Johnson.
You mentioned Jahati Baron, who I think is a really
interesting player. I love me some Jahati Baron. Brian Branch
two point zero, scrappy plays Nickel, plays the safety position,
(26:34):
can play man to man, but has a nose for
the football, great instincts, not afraid to make tackles in
the run game. He is a very very good player.
He's probably going to go top twenty, top twenty five.
So I don't know if the Patriots are necessarily going
to be in that category. But those are kind of
the Day one guys. I wouldn't say there's a ton
of Day one corners in this class. It's kind of
(26:55):
those three dudes. But then you get to the top
of the second round is when you get to you know,
the size, speed guys like Maxwell Harriston and Darien Porter,
maybe Bullio a little later. Yeah, Zion Thomas, Yeah, he
was at he was at the Senior Bowl and very
you know, strappy, kind of feisty man coverage corner, so
(27:16):
he would fit the bill for the Patriots as well.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
High character guy too. I just wanted to throw in
Sebastian Castro from Iowa, who's you know, lower round guy,
you know, kind of safety de beat but slot guy,
but just a guy plays with his hair on fire.
He's just one of those aggressive guys in the slot.
Really liked the one thing that stood out to me.
He was ten and a half inch hands for like
a cornerback, which is just to me, he's just you know,
a bunch of it's a bunch of bananas, you know.
But when you talk about you know what guys could
(27:40):
kind of fit, you know, like that's a role where
you need some steadiness in the slot, you need some aggressiveness.
He seems like his play temperament kind of kind of
fits Mike Rabel's style.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 7 (27:49):
Also is Jalen Smith by the way from USCA. I
believe it's at high But also another guy like is
Kobe Bryant. Oh, I got Kobe Bryan on nickel corner
and very feisty as well. Jack Jones, Yeah, exactly scary,
good comp loose cannon maybe, but you need that, you
need that, you know, i'd.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Say honor to mention too. Is Schevon Revel from East
Carolina a good one.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
He's went down with the injury in September this past year,
of course toward the UCL But you know, he's quick,
He's six three. I mean, he's got the height you
can cover really anyone on the outside. You know, like
that's really appealing for a long to me.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
I watched him and he got a lot of credit
for staying at East Carolina, right, you know, sticking with
that program. Probably could have left and gone somewhere else.
Injuries set him back, but you know, certainly could have
been probably much much higher draft pick. He's one of
those guys where maybe an unknown commodity as you as
you make a selection.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Yeah, I him and like Ben Morrison from Notre Dame
or kind of in the same tier. I would say,
right in like the twenty to forty range, depending on
the injury. Obviously with Rebel, but I he would have
been a first round pick if he didn't get hurt.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Absolutly. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Well let's let's wrap things up with a you know,
a couple of safeties here. Nick Monta Worry from from
South Carolina and probably the best safety on the board
all around kind of guy. And Malachi Starks is another
one three year starter at Georgia. We know defense, you
can't get enough of them or guys, but you know,
I think those two guys probably can census top of
the board for safety.
Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, I have Malchi starts with the number one safety
in the class. I just I'm gonna trust the tape
with him. I know he didn't have a great combine,
but he is a football player, you know, instinctive, natural
football player, can play pretty much every safety spot that
you would want him to play, very very good against
the run, but also can play deep, can play probably
wouldn't put him in the post, but like can play
(29:26):
split suit field coverages and things like that. But I
just love his ball instincts and just his overall feel
for the game. I think he's always around the football.
Fun player to watch on tape. And you know, I
see a little bit of Jamal Adams with Nick. Can
you pronounce the last name for him and Worry? Yeah,
I think close enough. Yeah, you know, like like I
(29:47):
don't know if he plays the way he tested, Like
he tested like an absolute superhero at the Combine. But
I don't know if I see the play speed like
that on the tape, Like there's a little bit of
Kyle Duggart to him. There's a little bit of Jamal
Adams to him, you know, like probably a box safety
that's gonna play like, you know, pseudo linebacker slashing the slot.
(30:08):
So I like him, but I didn't necessarily I was, like,
you know, really surprised by how well he tested at
the Combine. I didn't necessarily think he was that athletic.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
Yeah, anybody else you guys got that we might have
missed that you particularly liked.
Speaker 5 (30:20):
I like Kevin Winston from Penn State. That's a great one.
I didn't even bring him for this thing, but.
Speaker 2 (30:26):
I thought that was gonna be your guy.
Speaker 4 (30:27):
I know, I just I forgot to put him on
my little shortlist. Thanks for presence there kind of ball
last year leadership. You know, just think he's another guy
that way behind.
Speaker 7 (30:37):
I think a big thing is I think the current
safety is of Patriots have me to bounce back a little,
which kind of lowers the safety prospects for me.
Speaker 5 (30:43):
But that's the guy that stands out to me.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
For me, I would say the same position Malachai Moore Alabama.
I mean, really prototypical coverage guy. I mean he's all
around the ball. You can kind of sit back there,
cover two, cover three, however you want him. I think
he's a really solid safety in this class and curious
what the pad up doing.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Maybe yeah, that.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
Spot well weird needs, you know. They just like I
could see them taking some of these guys that could
also see them just bypassing both these positions and kind
of rolling what they have.
Speaker 7 (31:10):
I think the pick, if it's between Travis Ard and
Abdol Carter affects this whole group.
Speaker 5 (31:16):
Are Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (31:17):
Let me just name a few more safeties just so
we get them in there. Because you mentioned mal Chai
Moore is kind of like the Day three guy of
this version. Andrew mccuba from Texas is kind of the
Day two free safety. Uh. He's got great ball skills,
great instincts, can play up top. He's a true free safety,
really good playmaker on the football. Then you go to
Billy Bowman from Oklahoma, who's kind of like the third
(31:39):
fourth round guy that fits that role. And then you
get to Malachai Moore probably fifth, sixth round or somewhere
around there on Day three. So those are if you're
looking for that Deron Harmon, like mccooba is probably a
little bit better than that, Like he's probably going to
be a starting safety in the NFL, getting a lot
of buzz lately, But if you're looking for that type
of player, I would say those are sort of your
(31:59):
three tiers of that from days you know, two to four,
three there at the end of the draft.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
All right, well that's going to do it for the
defensive backs as well. As this episode of Patriots Draft Countdown,
we'll be back next week with another episode, pre dowing
the entire draft.
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