In the latest episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, Greg and Nick provided reactions to the first two days of the NFL draft. They discussed the Patriots' decision not to trade out of the third pick, choosing quarterback Drake Maye instead, and explained why it was a strategic move. They also analyzed the Patriots' second-round decision to trade down for better positioning later in the draft, selecting Ja’Lynn Polk and offensive lineman Caedan Wallace. The episode wrapped up with a preview of Day 3, highlighting potential targets and strategies for the Patriots.
0:00 Patriots don’t trade out of 3 … take QB Drake Maye
25:30 Patriots trade down from 34
29:27 Patriots pick WR Ja’Lynn Polk
46:40 At 64 Patriots take OL Caedan Wallace
1:06:06 Day 3 Preview: What would you like to see them do?
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
0:00 Patriots don’t trade out of 3 … take QB Drake Maye
25:30 Patriots trade down from 34
29:27 Patriots pick WR Ja’Lynn Polk
46:40 At 64 Patriots take OL Caedan Wallace
1:06:06 Day 3 Preview: What would you like to see them do?
Check Greg's Coverage out over at www.bostonsportsjournal.com, for $50 on BSJ's annual plan. Not only do you get top-notch analysis of all the Boston pro sports, but if you're a Patriots junkie — and if you're listening to this podcast, you are — then a membership at BSJ gives you access to a ton of video analysis Bedard does on the coaches film, and direct access to him in weekly chats.
This episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast w/ Nick Cattles is brought to you by:
PrizePicks! Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
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SportsTranscript
00:00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:00:08All right, here we go.
00:00:09The draft has started.
00:00:11We're getting ready for day three tomorrow.
00:00:13It's late on Friday night.
00:00:15Gregg just got back from Gillette covering all the festivities there at the facility.
00:00:20But before we get started, got to remind you, this episode is brought to you by PrizePix,
00:00:23the largest daily fantasy sports platform in North America.
00:00:27Download the app today.
00:00:28Use that code CLNS for a first deposit match up to 100 bucks.
00:00:33And do us a favor.
00:00:34If you like the program, you like the podcast, head on over to PrizePix.
00:00:38Sign up.
00:00:39Use that code CLNS.
00:00:40All right, Gregg, let's first start with obviously the biggest pick of this draft, and that is
00:00:47at number three, Drake May.
00:00:49I'm going to ask you some specific questions about what happened and some of the offers
00:00:55that reportedly the Patriots turned down.
00:00:56But just your general thoughts on the player and the fact that the Patriots pulled the
00:01:00trigger on May at three.
00:01:01Yeah, I mean, look, it feels like we've been talking about him for a very long time.
00:01:07I think we I think we dialed in on him quite some time ago.
00:01:12And there was, you know, basically some sort of argument between, you know, what?
00:01:17Well, a debate on whether Jaden Daniels was going to go number two or what was going to
00:01:21happen.
00:01:22Also, JJ McCarthy snuck into it.
00:01:26Kind of funny that Michael Pennix went before JJ McCarthy when all things were said and
00:01:31done and then Bo Nix like right behind him.
00:01:34Just a crazy quarterback draft.
00:01:36But as far as the Patriots picking Drake May, look, just to tell people up front, like I'm
00:01:42not a draft guy.
00:01:43I don't grade these things.
00:01:46I can tell you, you know, you know what I like, what I don't like.
00:01:51Maybe some of the better options that that I thought might have been out there.
00:01:57But for the most part, I mean, I think this was a pick the Patriots had to make.
00:02:02And I think it was the correct pick.
00:02:05And, you know, we'll see how that goes.
00:02:10Quarterbacks in the NFL, especially high in the first round, are fickle beasts.
00:02:14And you have to, you know, really groom them the right way and put them in the right situation.
00:02:19And that ultimately decides whether they're a success or a failure.
00:02:22But as far as the prospect himself, I just thought, you know, as we talked about previously,
00:02:30through the evaluation process, by the end, I had gone obviously Caleb Williams, number
00:02:36one, and then I had gone Drake May 2A, Jaden Daniels 2B for the Patriots.
00:02:41Now I think Jaden Daniels is phenomenal and I would have been just fine if it had worked
00:02:48out that the that the commanders took Drake May and Jaden Daniels was there.
00:02:52I just thought that Drake May, the way he's built physically in the end, to me was better
00:02:58suited for New England, winter weather, you know, six foot four, long arms, not the biggest
00:03:05hands in the world, but certainly big enough.
00:03:08Big arm to drive through the wind and the snow and the rain and whatever you might get
00:03:13at Gillette Stadium in the later stages of the season.
00:03:17But I just think overall, the entire package that Drake May presents, and it's it's extremely
00:03:26young.
00:03:27You know, he's going to be 22, I think, in August.
00:03:32We heard Bill Belichick on Pat McAfee's show talking about Drake May.
00:03:37I think his criticisms of Drake May were totally spot on, especially the part about that he's
00:03:44inexperienced.
00:03:45He hasn't played a lot of football and he hasn't.
00:03:47His senior year in high school was wiped out because of covid.
00:03:51Others like J.J. McCarthy, instead of staying put, he transferred down to IMG Academy in
00:03:57Florida where there were no covid rules and J.J. McCarthy played.
00:04:02Drake May did not.
00:04:03And so he didn't play his his senior year in high school.
00:04:07He played very little his redshirt freshman year at UNC, and then he played two years.
00:04:13So really, he's played two out of the last four years.
00:04:16So he is very inexperienced.
00:04:19And that shows up on film.
00:04:21But I just think that the the athletic ability, his makeup, his his exuberance, his ability
00:04:32to lead.
00:04:33I think that we've talked a little bit about his family and his, you know, being the youngest
00:04:37of four brothers, all great athletes.
00:04:40Dad.
00:04:41Dad was a great athlete.
00:04:42Mom was a great athlete.
00:04:44I think all of that stuff, you know, really will end up being positives for Drake May.
00:04:51And, you know, from from what I heard from NFL scouts and executives that I texted today
00:04:56about the pick, they just think the kid is phenomenal.
00:05:00They think the makeup is phenomenal and they think he's going to work his ass off and everyone
00:05:04realizes he's not a finished product yet.
00:05:07And that's OK.
00:05:08But now it's up to the Patriots to do the right things.
00:05:12I love the pick.
00:05:13You know, we've talked about this forever, it feels like.
00:05:16But it was the big swing.
00:05:17You and I, Greg, we both agree on this.
00:05:20When you're picking at three, you take the big swing, which is why I did not want J.J.
00:05:24McCarthy with that pick.
00:05:25And I'm not saying that J.J. McCarthy is not going to be a good NFL quarterback.
00:05:29I just believe that you go for the ceiling, man.
00:05:31You shoot your shot when you're picking third.
00:05:34And Elliott Wolfe, he took that shot.
00:05:37And I love that.
00:05:38I love that they took the high ceiling elite trait guy.
00:05:43And now they got to develop them, that they got to work him, you know, into the system.
00:05:47They got to tweak some of the things that need to be tweaked.
00:05:50The footwork we've talked about, the mechanics, all that stuff.
00:05:53But I just love the big swing in that spot.
00:05:55I think he's a great fit for the system.
00:05:58He is the best quarterback in this draft, throwing to the middle of the football field,
00:06:02zipping it down the seam.
00:06:04Those are things that Alex Van Pelt's going to ask his quarterback to do, bootleg action,
00:06:08back to the line of scrimmage.
00:06:10He has some experience with that.
00:06:11So I just think he's a really good fit.
00:06:14When you look at Jaden Daniels, he only had, I heard Burt Breer the other night say he
00:06:18had like 16 throws off the scramble.
00:06:20You know, Daniels has not been a guy that consistently throws on the move.
00:06:24He's not super comfortable with that.
00:06:26Michael Penix hardly ever does it, right?
00:06:29So when you start to look at the pieces to the game of Drake May, he is just a really,
00:06:34he's the quintessential fit to this West Coast offense that Van Pelt's going to want
00:06:39to run.
00:06:40And the one thing that stood out to me, Greg, and I don't know how you feel about this,
00:06:45and I wanted to ask you because you've obviously been on the last couple of days, but there
00:06:50was a little bit of like the combine interview and everything, which was like pretty much
00:06:54nothing with the media.
00:06:55It is what it is.
00:06:57But what really stood out to me the last couple of days, because we've talked about this dude
00:07:00from pillar to post as a football player was the personality and he got swag.
00:07:06My man has big time swag.
00:07:10He's got confidence and it exudes from him.
00:07:15And what I like about it, and I'm not telling you he's going to be great.
00:07:18He could flop on his face.
00:07:19None of us know, but what I like about it is he's confident, but he's not coming across
00:07:26as cocky.
00:07:28It's not like I know everything.
00:07:29He just has this air about him that he knows.
00:07:33He knows who he is.
00:07:35He knows the people around him.
00:07:37He's comfortable in his skin and he's ready to embrace it.
00:07:41And that really stood out to me that the fun personality that he's got, I think fans are
00:07:45going to love this dude.
00:07:46You're going to love him.
00:07:47Yeah.
00:07:48And I also think a part of his personality and makeup is his resilience and that like
00:07:54he just, um, and Elliot Wolf sort of talked about this, about how, you know, he was one
00:07:59of the only of the top quarterbacks who talked to the media after every single game.
00:08:05And Gerard Mayo talked about like, you know, sort of his aha moment was, you know, Drake
00:08:10may basically, you know, taking a shot, but bouncing back up.
00:08:13He just, he just seems to have that sort of, you know, it's a, some of it's a little grunkish.
00:08:20Um, I would say it's a little bit smarter, grunkish.
00:08:24He's kind of like a puppy, um, like, and I know, you know, like Gronk was like, you know,
00:08:31you kind of want to pet him on the head.
00:08:32Like he's all, he he's in, and this is good and bad.
00:08:36He goes in like eight different directions and NFL scouts will tell you that that shows
00:08:41up on film that, you know, sometimes he's a little bit all over the place and, but given
00:08:46his inexperience and his age, I'm okay with that.
00:08:49Obviously the Patriots were, um, but it's something that he's, he's got a lot of room
00:08:55to grow physically, um, maturity wise, um, playing ability, but yeah, I mean, and even
00:09:04like, you know, I asked him a tough question in, in the, in the press conference, um, when
00:09:10we got them, when, you know, I brought up that just about every NFL analyst will say
00:09:15that the Patriots situation for rookie quarterback, if it isn't the worst, it's one of the worst.
00:09:20Yeah.
00:09:21And what he thought about that.
00:09:23And he didn't even, he didn't even bat an eye and just said, you know, we're going to
00:09:27prove them wrong.
00:09:28And, you know, I, I disagree with that.
00:09:30And you know, and just, you know, it's just that it's sort of like, it's hard to explain.
00:09:36It's like this, this optimistic enthusiasm.
00:09:40And he just seems like a guy who's not going to be beaten down value struggles now.
00:09:48That's what it looks like right now.
00:09:49And, you know, coming out of college and things like that, like, we don't know what he's going
00:09:53to be like in the pros, like at the Patriots are like, Oh, and eight and he's thrown like
00:09:5612 interceptions, you know, he, who knows, he might get a little bit depressed and in
00:10:00a funk and you know, those were some of the issues with Mack Jones, but I just feel like,
00:10:06and I think sort of the point you're, you're going towards is that, um, you know, Mack
00:10:12qualities, but I don't think, you know, confidence exuding that, um, the leadership type of thing,
00:10:21the alpha quality, um, that, you know, no matter what happens, no matter what situation
00:10:28we're in as a football team, or I'm in as a quarterback, like the next rep is a chance
00:10:34for us to be better and get it back.
00:10:36And I think that's been missing around here, um, for at least a little while.
00:10:41And I think that Drake may, he comes across as the guy that is at some point in time is
00:10:48going to have the ability to lead this room and the type of guy that others on the team
00:10:53are going to look for and follow when he's just like, all right, we're down 21, nothing.
00:10:57I just threw two pick sixes.
00:10:59I mean, I don't give a crap new game.
00:11:01Here we go.
00:11:02And I think guys are going to follow that.
00:11:04Yeah.
00:11:05And what else stood out to me when Elliot Wolf and Gerard were talking to the media
00:11:09last night was the accountability.
00:11:12You know, Elliot Wolf, very telling said he's, he's one of the only quarterbacks in this
00:11:18class that spoke to the media after losses.
00:11:22And we spent time on Caleb Williams and how he handled some of the post game stuff.
00:11:28And look, Caleb's, the talent was the talent and you know, he's also a younger guy, but
00:11:34I do think that obviously that meant a lot to the Patriots that when, when the chips
00:11:40were down, UNC wasn't a very good football team.
00:11:45Drake was stuck in the middle of it.
00:11:46He didn't leave.
00:11:47He could have transferred.
00:11:48He could have went to Alabama.
00:11:50He could have went to other places.
00:11:51I heard Bill O'Brien today, you know, and, and I've heard, you know, other people talk
00:11:55about how he could have went to Alabama.
00:11:57He could have got the bag through NIL to go to a couple of other teams.
00:12:02He decided to stick at UNC and he knew the situation.
00:12:06He knew I'm getting a different OC.
00:12:09I don't have as much talent around me.
00:12:11The offensive line's not great, but he stood at, he, he stayed at North Carolina.
00:12:16And not only that, when, when they lost games and he didn't play well, he was right there
00:12:20in front of the media and he took the questions.
00:12:22He answered the questions.
00:12:23And I think, you know, especially to Mayo and Wolf, that means an awful lot.
00:12:28I also really liked Greg.
00:12:31I said this on my podcast, I think it was last night.
00:12:34I don't know.
00:12:35I've done a hundred podcasts the last three days, but you know, when, when Mayo was talking,
00:12:44everybody kills Mayo and look, he has made mistakes.
00:12:47He has said too much at times, but I thought his answer for the most part, when he was
00:12:52asked about, you know, was Drake going to be the starting quarterback, I'm paraphrasing
00:12:58it.
00:12:59He pushed patients.
00:13:01And I think that's huge.
00:13:03You know, ownership has to be patient and hopefully they are fans have to be patient.
00:13:08You and I have talked about it.
00:13:10Drake May is far from a polished quarterback.
00:13:13And I was, I was glad to hear the head coach say, Hey, look, you know, there's all sorts
00:13:20of different timelines or quarterbacks.
00:13:22You never know what this position we're happy with who we have in the room.
00:13:27I don't want to overlook the guys that we have on the roster right now.
00:13:31And that's the way they got to do it.
00:13:32Right.
00:13:33I mean, they, they've got to handle this young man much differently than they handled Mack
00:13:38Jones and they've got to give him time to work on the footwork.
00:13:43Let Ben McAdoo, Van Pelt, McCartney, you know, get in the lab with the young man, as they
00:13:48say.
00:13:49And then when he's ready, then you put them out there on the field.
00:13:53Yeah, no question.
00:13:55You know, I went back to, you know, my evaluation of May and, you know, I said, I said, he is
00:14:01a very unrefined passer at this point.
00:14:03His throwing motion is a bit long and not natural.
00:14:06His footwork borders on awful at times and he drifts in the pocket, which invites more
00:14:09pressure and sacks.
00:14:11He does not throw with good anticipation at this point.
00:14:13He's not great at reading the play and the defense from the pocket.
00:14:16And I said to me, he very clearly needs to sit for at least a year.
00:14:21He's a very talented project.
00:14:23But then I said, this is where the evaluation comes in.
00:14:27All it takes is for one hard-o coach could be Alex Van Pelt or Ben McAdoo to say, I can
00:14:32fix that kid by the end of the first season.
00:14:35He'll start in year two at the latest.
00:14:37And they absolutely could be right.
00:14:38In that case, I might entertain May at three this year.
00:14:42The potential total package could be too tempting to pass up.
00:14:46And I think that's where the Patriots ended up.
00:14:48And look, I'm not a quarterback coach.
00:14:50I don't know.
00:14:51You know, you hear these guys, whether it's, you know, Brian Hoyer on NBC Sports Boston
00:14:55or, you know, some of these other QB sort of gurus.
00:15:00And they say, like, the lower body stuff is easy to fix.
00:15:04You can you can fix that with good coaching.
00:15:07Now, I will to to reach his absolute ceiling, Nick.
00:15:12I think they do need to tighten up his motion.
00:15:14And that can happen.
00:15:16You know, Aaron Rodgers, when he entered, when the Packers drafted him, he came out
00:15:21of Cal, Jeff Tedford was his coach, everything.
00:15:25He was a high carriage, like up by the ear, throw from here.
00:15:29That's not the Aaron Rodgers that we know.
00:15:32They turned him into an athletic passer.
00:15:35For Drake May to be an elite quarterback in this league, not only does his footwork need
00:15:41to be cleaned up and also just learning the game and how to read the game and things like
00:15:46that, which can be learned.
00:15:47But his throwing motion to me, it gets it gets it gets too long.
00:15:52He needs to be a little quicker around the ear.
00:15:55And if he can do all of those things over time and, you know, just look at Josh Allen's
00:16:00one of the best examples.
00:16:02Now, he he had a lot more arm raw arm ability than Drake May has.
00:16:08But this can happen before Josh Allen.
00:16:11I thought I before Josh Allen, I probably would have been like, no, I'm not taking Drake
00:16:15May.
00:16:16And number three overall.
00:16:17Yeah.
00:16:18But, yeah, we have learned from from watching the transformation with a good quarterback
00:16:22coach and Brian Dayball.
00:16:24What can happen?
00:16:25And I think they just they need to get to work.
00:16:27They need to be patient and, you know, don't rush the kid until he's ready.
00:16:33You know, it's telling you brought up Aaron Rodgers, and I believe it was Drake May who
00:16:37said it when when he met with a VP during the 30 visit.
00:16:42You know, they looked at Aaron Rodgers film.
00:16:45And I wonder if that was part of it.
00:16:46And the other thing that Elliott Wolf said that was telling and this is something else
00:16:50you and I have talked about an awful lot.
00:16:52And you wrote that great piece about a week and a half ago when when the source was talking
00:16:56about, you know, consensus and and making sure you have the offensive staff that believes
00:17:01in the kid and want.
00:17:03And when when Wolf spoke to the media last night, he said, I got assurances.
00:17:08I was assured by T.C. McCartney and Ben McAdoo and Alex Van Pelt that, you know, the things
00:17:15the questions that we had that I had about, you know, some of the mechanic stuff that
00:17:20needs to be, you know, tweaked.
00:17:22Can it be tweaked?
00:17:23Can it be fixed?
00:17:24And he said, yes.
00:17:25You know, they told me, yes, those things can be fixed.
00:17:28And he put trust in the offensive staff and said, you guys are the quarterback gurus.
00:17:32If you feel like you can fix it, then we can rock with this kid.
00:17:36And I thought that was that was another crucial part of that press conference to let us know
00:17:39that, yeah, we did get the assurances.
00:17:42And yes, our staff is confident that they can fix these things.
00:17:45Yeah.
00:17:46You know, 100 percent.
00:17:47I, you know, where I came at the end of the day and if I was the Patriots and, you know,
00:17:52we know through reporting like from Albert Breer that both the Giants and the Vikings
00:17:57made offers on the number three pick.
00:18:01And my view on that was.
00:18:04If if the Patriots have any sort of not dissension, but just a disagreement over Drake May on,
00:18:14you know, whether these things can be fixed, if what's the path forward for this guy?
00:18:18If there's any disagreement on that, then trade out of the pick.
00:18:21Then, you know, just just, you know, punt on it and go get more players and build up
00:18:26the situation and build for next year, where maybe you trade up in the draft for somebody
00:18:31else.
00:18:32But quite obviously, Nick, and, you know, Elliot Wolfe is a guy who's who's not going
00:18:37to do he's not going to be a lone ranger.
00:18:40And he knew he's not an idiot.
00:18:43He's been he's been with the Packers.
00:18:45He's been in different situations.
00:18:47And he knew it's quite obvious that the Patriots at the end of the day, they they love the
00:18:52overall package of the kid.
00:18:54They love the makeup.
00:18:56And they all agreed and got together and said, this is the plan for this kid and he
00:19:01can be successful here.
00:19:02And that's why they pulled the trigger and really didn't consider trading out of that
00:19:07spot and knew for a few weeks from what we heard last night that Drake May was their
00:19:11guy.
00:19:12And so to me, that's that's a great sign for the Patriots moving forward.
00:19:17You know, whether it's going to work or not, who the hell knows?
00:19:20But at least at least they're starting from from a good point.
00:19:23Yeah.
00:19:24None of us know.
00:19:26And, you know, just to circle back on a couple of things you just mentioned.
00:19:32They apparently, according to Bert Breer, turned down from Minnesota 11, 23 in the twenty
00:19:37twenty five first round pick.
00:19:38That's what Bert said.
00:19:39And then Bert said that there was also a pick swap or pick swaps that were involved that
00:19:45Minnesota actually would have had advantage with the pick swaps.
00:19:49And then Minnesota kind of stepped up a little bit when the Patriots were on the clock.
00:19:54But it still wasn't good enough.
00:19:56So that's what the offer was turned down from Minnesota.
00:19:59And then so there are no players involved, no Christian Dara saws, no Justin Jeffersons.
00:20:03And then New York did, according to Bert, throw their twenty twenty five first round
00:20:09pick into the mix.
00:20:11So it would have been six in the twenty twenty five first.
00:20:14Don't know if there was anything else.
00:20:15So that's just to put a bow on that.
00:20:18I did want to you know, I found it interesting and I give you credit because you said this
00:20:23when we had the podcast earlier this week, you said, I don't know if you said you would
00:20:27guarantee it, but Elliott was going to go out there and he's going to say, we knew what
00:20:33we wanted to do a couple of weeks ago.
00:20:36And that is precisely what he said.
00:20:38He said, we Jaden Daniels, we knew he was going to Washington at least a couple of weeks
00:20:44ago. And, you know, we had the focus on the three guys.
00:20:49And it seemed to me, I don't know if you if you agree with this, but.
00:20:56He was talked, he was asked about some of the things that frustrated him or whatever
00:21:00about the last couple of weeks or caught him by surprise, and he mentioned like all the
00:21:05BS and I kind of read that as the McCarthy stuff, because he made it a point that our
00:21:13focus was on the top three guys.
00:21:15It was it was he was sending a message, at least that the way I took it, Caleb Williams,
00:21:21Jaden Daniels, Drake May, that's that's who we were taking at three.
00:21:25We were not taking anybody else.
00:21:27And all this other BS, i.e.
00:21:29J.J. McCarthy at three was just that.
00:21:32Is that how you read that from from what Elliott said?
00:21:35100 percent. And also, you know, Mayo said not to talk about other players, but those
00:21:39top three guys, we were comfortable with all three of those guys.
00:21:42And it just happened to be Drake.
00:21:44And he's definitely he has a lot of potential.
00:21:46We have a lot of coaches and we have to develop him.
00:21:48I think I think, yeah, a couple of weeks ago, they probably after the the 30 visits were
00:21:54over and they got one sort of last chance with these guys.
00:21:58And, you know, I think it was I think it was very clear that the Patriots and you and I
00:22:04have been talking this way, you know, for a long time.
00:22:06I mean, other people with agendas have been pushing, you know, J.J.
00:22:10McCarthy and things.
00:22:11And probably, you know, some of it came from the Patriots just to, you know, sort of
00:22:16generate interest maybe in the pick and just see what happens, because, you know, just
00:22:20just real quickly on those trades, those trades to me, they were the bare minimum that
00:22:26somebody needed to offer.
00:22:28But I never would have considered that I needed Minnesota's package and also the Giants
00:22:33package with something else, either another first round pick in twenty twenty six or
00:22:40a player to even consider moving.
00:22:43And they obviously didn't get that.
00:22:45But I think at the end of the day, and we know this from what they said, it was very
00:22:49clearly for them, these three.
00:22:51And this is for some of the people out there just like, well, the Patriots just, you
00:22:55know, just stood there and just took the third guy after, you know, other teams made
00:23:00picks. I mean, they it's OK to evaluate it and say we think these three quarterbacks
00:23:08are all franchise quarterbacks.
00:23:09The other guys we're not sure about.
00:23:11We might take them later if we trade down, if somebody makes us a ridiculous offer.
00:23:16But very clearly, these three guys at the top of the draft are franchise type
00:23:20quarterbacks. Everybody else is a little bit different and we're OK no matter which
00:23:25one comes to us. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
00:23:29Every draft is different.
00:23:31I said this on this podcast and I said it on my own podcast going back a month, month
00:23:36and a half ago. They're like snowflakes.
00:23:39Every single one of them is different.
00:23:41And you don't know.
00:23:42You can have a draft where you have three franchise guys.
00:23:46You can have a draft where you have one franchise guy.
00:23:48You can have a draft where you have zero point zero franchise guys.
00:23:51Yep. We all love the math and the hit rates and the history.
00:23:55But it really comes down to each individual year and each individual evaluation.
00:24:01That's what it comes down to.
00:24:03And people get wrapped up in the numbers.
00:24:06It's not really about the number.
00:24:07It's about the grades.
00:24:09If if Elliott Wolfe and the scouting department have the top three quarterbacks
00:24:13in this class with a certain grade and that grade hits the mark of, hey, they can be a
00:24:18future franchise quarterback.
00:24:20That's what the grade tells them.
00:24:22That's what they go by.
00:24:23And then they look at the other grades and they say, OK, J.J.
00:24:26McCarthy's below that.
00:24:27So the idea of.
00:24:30You can't love all three guys.
00:24:33I'm sure that they had a pecking order.
00:24:36But I'm also sure that the grades were so close and the grades justified that whoever
00:24:43was at three was worth the pick because the grade was good enough.
00:24:48And they said, if it's a grade of, you know, six point five or whatever, whatever
00:24:54number you want to throw out there.
00:24:55All right. Six point five is a franchise quarterback.
00:24:58OK, great. So maybe Caleb Williams was a six point five and maybe Jaden Daniels was a
00:25:03six four seven and maybe Drake May was a six four five.
00:25:07And they're all looking at it.
00:25:08They're saying, well, hey, we think, you know, with with May's development, he could
00:25:12creep up and be that franchise guy for the next 15 years.
00:25:16That's how it works.
00:25:17Like so I just some of the things, as we know, you and I, we talk about this.
00:25:24It's the silly season and people get wrapped up in some of these, you know.
00:25:28I hate using the word narratives because it's used so much, but that's really what
00:25:32happens. And it comes down to the grades.
00:25:34It comes out of the scouts and they say, no, we that guy has a good enough grade that
00:25:38we think he has the future.
00:25:40All right, let's jump to the second day.
00:25:43What happened earlier tonight?
00:25:45So we got a trade before I get to the picks.
00:25:49Let's get to the trade and your thoughts on that.
00:25:51So the Patriots traded the thirty fourth pick and their fifth round pick one thirty
00:25:57seven to the Chargers for thirty seven and pick one ten, which is a fourth round pick.
00:26:03Did you like the trade, Greg?
00:26:05So, you know, I'm fine with the trade, you know, I'm no expert, but, you know, according
00:26:11to the according to the draft, any of the trade charts, it was pretty even swap.
00:26:16So, you know, I'm fine with it as long as the Patriots didn't pass up somebody that
00:26:22they that they, you know, really wanted or, you know, had a little bit higher rated.
00:26:27But, you know, if if they're comfortable with it, the trade's even so I'm good with it.
00:26:34I actually loved it and I'll tell you why.
00:26:37And it was even value, but I just love the idea in this draft, because you and I have
00:26:42talked about this with the covid situation, the NIL situation, a lot of people will tell
00:26:48you that once you get to the fifth round of this draft, it's pretty much a dead zone.
00:26:53So to get that fourth round pick and to have two fourth round picks in this draft, I
00:26:59think is extra value and they really kind of control the top of the of of the day now
00:27:06tomorrow again. And so, I mean, you could argue.
00:27:11And whether or not you liked how it unfolded and we'll talk about that, but day one, they
00:27:16really controlled the draft because Caleb Williams was one.
00:27:20Daniels was two.
00:27:21Everybody knew it.
00:27:23The draft began with the Patriots at three.
00:27:26Really the same thing today.
00:27:29Bills moved down a couple of times.
00:27:31They knew they were going to draft Keon Coleman.
00:27:33They were set on their wide receiver.
00:27:35The draft on day two really started with the Patriots at thirty four.
00:27:40And now it doesn't necessarily start with you tomorrow.
00:27:44However, now you have one oh three and one ten.
00:27:47You've got two picks very early in the fourth round and now you have a ton of options.
00:27:53So I like it because you get rid of that fifth round pick and you add that pick in the
00:28:00fourth and it gives you a little bit of extra leverage and you can maneuver a certain way
00:28:05if you would like to do that.
00:28:06So I actually did love the love the trade.
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00:29:29All right, so let's get to the picks.
00:29:31Jalen Polk, wide receiver, Washington, 37th overall.
00:29:37Elliott Wolf said that if they stayed at 34, Greg, they still would have drafted Jalen
00:29:43Polk. Just again, 30,000 feet.
00:29:46Your thoughts on the player before we have some more follow up questions.
00:29:51So I wasn't overly, I'll just admit, I wasn't overly familiar with Polk.
00:29:58You know, I stayed more to sort of like, you know, first round wide receivers thinking
00:30:04that the Patriots might, you know, trade back into the first round.
00:30:08But I did watch some film on him and I got to say he's he's pretty impressive, you know,
00:30:15not I'm sure a lot of people like, you know, he doesn't I wouldn't say he has any great
00:30:22traits. You know, there are certainly guys like Keon Coleman's more of a, you know,
00:30:27leaper, bigger guy.
00:30:29I mean, he's 6'1.5", 204, 445 speed, not the not the fastest guy.
00:30:35I would say his best skill is his competitiveness.
00:30:40You know, he's known for being sort of like a dog, somebody who's who's physical.
00:30:46He's not going to, you know, wow you in any any sort of facet physically.
00:30:52But the whole package is he's a he's a damn good football player and he's a damn good
00:30:58receiver that can play in a variety of roles.
00:31:01I thought it was interesting.
00:31:03And and we've talked about it before.
00:31:05But Elliot Wolfe was asked whether Polk can be an ex.
00:31:09And Wolfe said, well, you know, in the system I come from, we don't really, you know, look
00:31:14at that. We don't, you know, sort of put guys in different categories.
00:31:18And I've told people that like the Packers just go out and they get at least when he
00:31:23was there. I'm not talking about under Gooden, because because it's a little bit
00:31:26different. They just go and get a bunch of good, good competitive receivers.
00:31:33And I think that, you know, and ideally, you know, when I think back to when I covered
00:31:37the Packers, I mean, you had, you know, Donald Driver, you had Greg Jennings, you had
00:31:41James Jones, Jordy Nelson.
00:31:44Jordy Nelson and James Jones were both guys who were drafted somewhat in the same area,
00:31:50second to fourth round.
00:31:51I forget. Jordy Nelson was definitely second round.
00:31:53The Patriots, the Packers, had traded out of the first round.
00:31:56And I want to say toward 2008, that was the first draft that I covered with the Packers.
00:32:02James Jones came a year or two later.
00:32:05Both of them were somewhat similar to Polk in that nothing that blew you away.
00:32:13Yep. And, you know, and I made this comment on Twitter, of course, people, you know, overreact
00:32:18where I said this reminds me a lot of the Jordy Nelson pick, because I remember at the
00:32:22time Packers fans were like, we traded down in the first round.
00:32:25We're taking Jordy Nelson like he doesn't he's not a burner.
00:32:28He doesn't do this. He doesn't do that.
00:32:31But guess what? Jordy Nelson was just a damn good football player and a damn good
00:32:36receiver and did everything well and had a long career.
00:32:41James Jones, very similar, not the fastest guy in the world.
00:32:44I remember watching him, you know, when they first picked him and in practices.
00:32:48And I'm like, this guy's not going to blow by anybody.
00:32:51He's not going to make, you know, defensive coordinators stay awake at night.
00:32:56But, you know, you get enough of those guys and they're a problem with a good quarterback
00:33:01that can distribute the ball.
00:33:03They're a problem.
00:33:04And so I see Polk very similar.
00:33:06It doesn't surprise me now after watching some film that this is a guy that Wolf and
00:33:11Highsmith and those guys really liked because he does remind me of sort of a
00:33:15prototypical Packer type receiver.
00:33:18That's just a damn good football player.
00:33:22A number of things here, he's got great hands, he's got some mitts on him and you
00:33:30go back and you look at the Michigan State catch that he made, it is just obnoxiously
00:33:35great. And I retweeted it tonight.
00:33:39He is diving backwards, high points, the football field, the Yates said that in the
00:33:46Michigan State game, Jalen Polk made some circa du Soleil kind of catches and he's
00:33:53got just great body control, not a big yak guy.
00:33:57I saw him play a number of times because I saw Washington play a number of times.
00:34:00I loved watching that offense, not a yak guy by any means, but he's not afraid to go
00:34:06across the middle. He's not afraid to take a shot.
00:34:10Yeah, he I mean, he's he's tough.
00:34:13He's a willing blocker.
00:34:15He's got great hands, not always the greatest route runner, but he can he make he
00:34:23makes plays downfield.
00:34:24I mean, that was that was a huge part of that Washington offense was make plays
00:34:28downfield. And Jalen McMillan got hurt this year a little bit.
00:34:33He got banged up and, you know, you saw what Jalen Polk could do when McMillan wasn't
00:34:41in the game or when he was not right.
00:34:44Polk just took over over a thousand yards and nine touchdowns this year.
00:34:48So he's just he's a tough guy.
00:34:51I think I think fans will like him.
00:34:53I think he's I think he's good.
00:34:55I loved the May pick.
00:34:57I wouldn't say I loved the Polk pick.
00:34:59I would say I really liked it.
00:35:01Another couple of notes quickly, his RAS, the relative athletic score was an eight
00:35:06point eight five, which, you know, is is pretty impressive.
00:35:11You know, Jacoby Myers, I think, was somewhere in the sixes.
00:35:15So his his relative athletic score is better than you would think, because as you said,
00:35:18Greg, he's not a burner.
00:35:20But the four or five speed James Jones, four, five, nine, Devante Adams, four, five,
00:35:25six. And and I just wanted to bring this up to you and get your thoughts.
00:35:31The first two picks, at least of this draft.
00:35:35Really, to me, kind of in the Ron Wolf.
00:35:40Green Bay wheelhouse and Greg, you've been all over this, and I know certain friends
00:35:46of ours got worked up about you talking about the old Packers from time to time, our
00:35:51friends from two to six, but you nailed it like Ron Wolf was all about elite traits,
00:35:58big swings at quarterback, go with the athletic guy with the arm.
00:36:03You know, I'm going to take the shot at Brett Favre when everybody is thinking, what
00:36:06the hell is he doing?
00:36:07And then you look at receivers.
00:36:08We're not going to go in the first round for a receiver.
00:36:11We love the second round.
00:36:12It's the perfect spot.
00:36:13You don't need a speedster.
00:36:16You know, you need that solid guy who can do certain things at a certain size.
00:36:21And I just look at Drake May and I look at Polk and I say.
00:36:26That's that's the start of a Green Bay draft that that's the philosophy that that's
00:36:31what we're seeing, you know, play out, am I right or am I wrong now?
00:36:35Yeah, you're totally right.
00:36:36I mean, I just think these these two picks were, you know, totally out of the the Ron
00:36:42Wolf Packer way, you know, with the big swing at quarterback.
00:36:47And as far as Polk, what I would describe him as a as a safe pick.
00:36:52And like, that's that's fine.
00:36:54You know, like and I just he keeps coming to my mind.
00:36:57It's Jordy Nelson.
00:36:59And like, you know, it's just it's just a guy that, you know, that has a extremely
00:37:06high floor.
00:37:07He might not have the highest ceiling in the world, but you put him, you know, in
00:37:12when I think about the Packers and their receivers, you know, from overtime, from,
00:37:16you know, even, you know, I mean, like even like going back to Ron Wolf.
00:37:21I mean, Sterling Sharp wasn't a burner or anything like that.
00:37:25He just caught the ball and was freaking tough.
00:37:28He was probably better, you know, run after the catch.
00:37:30But I just think of the Packers is like you just saw four or five, six guys just
00:37:35roll out and they almost all look similar.
00:37:38You just didn't know where anybody was going to line up.
00:37:40But you knew they were damn tough.
00:37:42They were going to catch the ball.
00:37:44They were going to convert first downs.
00:37:46And, you know, I would describe the, the, the, the Polk pick as safe.
00:37:51And I don't, you know, some people, they want the big swing.
00:37:55They want the big trait, but you know, we've seen that, that, um, that often
00:38:02doesn't work out, especially around here.
00:38:04And I heard, you know, some people on Twitter, since Twitter's so awesome, you
00:38:09know, they're, they're comparing Jalen Polk to, uh, to, um, what's his name?
00:38:15Who'd they just, uh, the, the first, the first round wide receiver that the
00:38:19Patriots had, um, Nikhil Harry, Nikhil Harry, they're calling them like Nikhil
00:38:25Polk or something like that.
00:38:27Like, come on, that's, that's not even, that's not even close.
00:38:31This is a, this is a damn good football player.
00:38:34Yeah.
00:38:35I mean, if you wanted to, to compare anybody, it would have been Keon Coleman.
00:38:39He he's more than a kill Harry guy.
00:38:41Um, you know, it's, it's really fascinating.
00:38:45Cause as you were talking, I was looking up the, I was looking
00:38:48up the, uh, 40 yard dash times.
00:38:51And so, you know, Polk is four, four, five, two James Jones is four, five,
00:38:56nine Devante was four, five, six.
00:38:59And you keep saying Jordy Nelson.
00:39:01So Polk again was four, five, two.
00:39:02And Jordy was four, five, one.
00:39:05It is like, it is a little taller.
00:39:08He was like six, three.
00:39:09So he was a little taller, but, um, yeah, but nothing special.
00:39:13He, he didn't burn, he didn't exactly like, you know, he didn't have a
00:39:17whole lot of swivel in his hips, but the dude was just a damn good football player.
00:39:23The, the other thing too, before I hit you with a little bit of like, you know,
00:39:28quick lightning round about Polk and then we'll get to Kate and Wallace.
00:39:32As you were talking about Polk, the one thing that kind of stood out to me, I
00:39:35was thinking was you took the big swing with Drake may, right?
00:39:40He's the high ceiling could be low floor guy.
00:39:45So it's not the worst thing in the world that you come back in the second round
00:39:49and you draft the receiver that I would say they probably think, yeah, he might
00:39:53not have a huge ceiling, you know, as a number one guy, but we see the traits.
00:40:00And, and, and like, if you're Elliot Wolf and even Alonzo Highsmith, that
00:40:05was in the front office with green Bay for a long time, I have to imagine
00:40:09they're doing what you're doing, Greg.
00:40:10Like they're sitting there going, Oh no, Jordy Nelson, James Jones.
00:40:15We've seen this guy before.
00:40:16We've seen this movie before we, and we feel good about his floor.
00:40:20So we took the big boom.
00:40:22We took the big swing at three.
00:40:24Let's let's draft a guy that we've seen the movie before.
00:40:28And we feel pretty good that, you know, even if he's not great at his worst,
00:40:34he's still going to be pretty good for us.
00:40:37And so again, I love the May pick.
00:40:39I really liked the poke pick.
00:40:41So the, the, the one thing that I would say about poke is we came into this draft,
00:40:47Greg, and you and I talked about this.
00:40:50You needed a true number one.
00:40:51He's not a true number one.
00:40:53At least right now you look at a more as a two.
00:40:56So first he's not, you know, he's not a number one, which is an issue.
00:41:02He's not really a natural X.
00:41:04And I know that Elliot said, you know, we don't really go by X, you know, and Z.
00:41:08And so I would also remind Elliot that just last week he talked about three by
00:41:12one and consistently beating, you know, the backside coverage.
00:41:16So you can't really have it both ways.
00:41:17You, you might not want to label that guy, but you told us that you need that
00:41:22guy and you still don't have that guy.
00:41:25How much of an issue is that right now, as we sit here before day three?
00:41:29Um, not huge.
00:41:31I mean, I just, I just, um, you know, and it's, it has nothing to do with Elliot
00:41:35wool for any of these guys.
00:41:36Like, you know, it's, it's a new day with the Patriots.
00:41:39I'm trying to, you know, and this is the same way with the, I, that I would react
00:41:43to a bill Belichick draft where I'm like, all right, you know, these are the good
00:41:47things.
00:41:48These are the bad thing we'll, we'll see.
00:41:49He gets, he gets to make his picks and then we'll see.
00:41:53I, I just think that, you know, when I look at this, I try to think a little bit
00:41:57more glass half full.
00:41:59I know some people will be shocked by this, but wait, wait, hold on.
00:42:03Well, hold on.
00:42:04Wet blanket, but Dard.
00:42:06Yeah.
00:42:07All right.
00:42:07I, I just think that, um, you know, this Tim team building thing is a process, but
00:42:13you just, you look at the pieces they're putting in place and you know, now they
00:42:17got the franchise quarterback and we'll talk about the tackle, which I have a lot
00:42:20of questions about, um, coming up in a minute.
00:42:24Coming up in a minute.
00:42:25Um, but you know, if you know, in, you have, you have pop Douglas already, you
00:42:31have, um, KJ Osborne, that's his name, right?
00:42:35Yeah.
00:42:36Yes.
00:42:37Uh, I'm trying to find it's late.
00:42:39It's been, it's been a long couple of days.
00:42:41Um, you know, I think that, you know, and then if you could put a, if you could
00:42:47make a trade for a wide receiver one and you already have Hunter Henry and maybe
00:42:53they go tight end a little bit later.
00:42:54There's some interesting guys left on the board.
00:42:57You have Ramond Ray Stevenson.
00:42:59Um, you know, you get a picture like that and the next like month or so, like now
00:43:05all of a sudden you're like, all right, you know, this team is starting to go in
00:43:11a, in a D a good direction and I can see what they're trying to do.
00:43:15I just think, yeah.
00:43:17You know, is it, is it a complete picture right now?
00:43:19Is it a beautiful thing?
00:43:21And you know, you're comfortable with, you know, Drake may, if he has to play.
00:43:24No, but I mean, it's getting there and we'll see what happens.
00:43:30Hey, you've talked about Cortland Sutton, fourth round pick.
00:43:33They picked up the extra fourth.
00:43:35Do we wake up tomorrow morning and maybe one of those fourths
00:43:37are being shipped to Denver.
00:43:39Uh, I'm, I'm fine with the wide receiver room two through five right now.
00:43:43You've upgraded, you know, you've got poke, you've got Osborne, you've got
00:43:48Kendrick coming back from the knee.
00:43:49Hopefully that works.
00:43:50Out you've got pop, who knows what to expect from Juju.
00:43:54I'm good with the two through five.
00:43:56They obviously need a true bonafide alpha.
00:43:58Number one, we all know that we all see it.
00:44:01What I was thinking about this before I read the Elliot Wolf quote about, you
00:44:06know, we don't really define receivers by letters and stuff.
00:44:10They do have a lot of interchangeable parts at wide receiver.
00:44:13I don't know if that's a good thing necessarily, but they do.
00:44:17I mean, you can move Kendrick Bourne a lot around a lot.
00:44:20You can move KJ Osborne around a lot.
00:44:23Jalen Polk is a guy that played inside and outside at Washington.
00:44:26So they do have a lot of different pieces that they can move in different
00:44:32spots, but they still are missing that.
00:44:36That one dude.
00:44:37All right.
00:44:37Um, let's get to Kate and Wallace.
00:44:39So I will wait one more thing.
00:44:42I just wanted to point out Nick, um, on, on that selection of Jalen Polk.
00:44:48One thing that I find interesting and while I find it, so, you know, who are
00:44:53the, who are the two quarterbacks that are, that, that Drake may is loosely
00:44:57compared to, oh, that's Josh Allen and Justin Herbert.
00:45:02Yeah.
00:45:02I just find it funny that at 33, the bills, uh, the bills took Keon Coleman,
00:45:08who I had mocked to the Patriots, the Patriots traded with the chargers and
00:45:15took lad McConkie and so like, and now you have, so you have, uh, Josh Allen
00:45:21has Keon Coleman, Justin Herbert has lad McConkie, uh, Drake may has Jalen
00:45:27Polk, all in sort of a bunch.
00:45:30So it should be a pretty fun comparison at the end of the day.
00:45:33I mean, look, the Patriots trading back, you know, Keon Coleman, the bills
00:45:38probably weren't coming off that, especially with what they did in the
00:45:41first round and, you know, get handing Xavier worthy to the chiefs, just like
00:45:45they handed them, handed them Patrick my homes, but you know, it's the, the, the
00:45:50chargers traded with the, with the Patriots and took lad McConkie.
00:45:55I mean, there's going to be a pretty, pretty big comparison between
00:45:57McConkie and Polk going forward.
00:46:00And it's just funny that the quarterbacks are, are somewhat similar as well.
00:46:04Yeah.
00:46:04You wonder if it was about the body, you know, McConkie is not a big guy.
00:46:08He's had an injury history.
00:46:10And maybe the Patriots just like the idea of the more kind of sturdy, bigger framed,
00:46:14you know, poke is what, six, one, two Oh three.
00:46:18So maybe it just came down to that.
00:46:20Um, I also found an interesting poke brought up Keenan Allen when he was
00:46:23talking about players that he kind of fits a little bit with the mold.
00:46:27So that kind of goes in with the Justin Herbert stuff too.
00:46:29So, Hey look, Jalen, if you can end up being the Keenan Allen for Drake may
00:46:36that, that, you know, Keenan was for Justin Herbert.
00:46:39I think we'd be in really good shape.
00:46:42All right.
00:46:42So then, then you've got Caden Wallace and I'm going to admit to the world.
00:46:48Get a little frustrated for about a good three to five minutes on my podcast
00:46:51tonight, when the chiefs moved up and drafted our guy Kingsley, I was annoyed.
00:46:58And I started to, to kind of get a little upset now, not angry, but I was a little,
00:47:05I was a little frustrated, Greg.
00:47:07And I was wondering, are the Patriots going to pick a damn tackle
00:47:10or are they going to pick a tackle?
00:47:12And I got to the point where I was like, you know what, just pick a tackle.
00:47:15If you pick one, I'll be happy.
00:47:16If you, if you, if you, if you draft one at 68, okay.
00:47:22We took a step in the right direction and they did draft a tackle at 68.
00:47:27I don't know how many people had Caden Wallace on the bingo card.
00:47:31I certainly did not.
00:47:32I had no idea who the hell he was.
00:47:35I love college football.
00:47:36I watch it.
00:47:37I'm not breaking down the all 22 for Penn state and their right tackle.
00:47:41My apologies, but, uh, you're, I guess I'll ask you first.
00:47:46You're kind of immediate reaction when Caden Wallace was the pick at 68.
00:47:51Uh, underwhelmed.
00:47:53Um, and I went and I watched a couple of games worth of film with him and, um,
00:48:00I'm still a bit underwhelmed and let's also put this into context that, you know,
00:48:04the Patriots were picking at 68, um, you know, pretty high in the third round in
00:48:10the second round towards the bottom, Patrick Paul from Houston goes 55 to Miami.
00:48:16Yep.
00:48:16Uh, Blake Fisher, who I had mocked to the Patriots in the third round, uh, goes
00:48:2159th to the Houston Texans out of Notre Dame.
00:48:25Uh, Roger Rosengarten, Washington offensive tackle goes 62nd to the Ravens.
00:48:33Uh, Suma Tia goes 63rd in a trade up to the chiefs.
00:48:38And so like, I'm watching those guys and these are all guys that I had on my sort
00:48:44of short list on this guy has a chance possibly to play left tackle at some point.
00:48:50That's basically where the, and also the Yale kid was on my, who ended up
00:48:55going, um, later in the third round.
00:48:58Yep.
00:48:58Um, that was about the extent of my list as far as guys in now, look, I didn't
00:49:03study everybody and I'll admit I didn't study Caden Wallace, but I watched a
00:49:08couple of games worth of film on him.
00:49:10Um, uh, I'll just give you my impressions.
00:49:15Um, first of all, you know, the good parts, um, he's big in the caboose, uh,
00:49:22which, you know, I love, um, I love a nice offensive line, get a big, but
00:49:27dunk a dunk and Greg, Greg likes, he definitely does.
00:49:30Um, I will say, and I watched him against Ohio state and I watched
00:49:33them against Michigan, uh, to, you know, two pretty talented teams.
00:49:38Uh, he doesn't get beat a lot.
00:49:40Um, he really doesn't, he's pretty fundamentally sound.
00:49:44Um, his kick slide pretty good.
00:49:48Um, you know, decent he's, he doesn't have exceptional foot movement,
00:49:56quickness, I wouldn't say he's a, he's not a dominating run blocker either.
00:50:01If he was, he would have been drafted higher.
00:50:03Um, I'll just say that I was extremely surprised when Elliot Wolf said that
00:50:09they think that he, he has the athletic ability to play left tackle to me.
00:50:15And again, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.
00:50:17These guys have been studying these guys a lot longer.
00:50:19They have two offensive line coaches on their staff who have a lot of experience.
00:50:25I would say it's a stretch to say that he can play.
00:50:30All right.
00:50:30Maybe, maybe he can play left tackle instead of Oklahoma or whoever else
00:50:35they have a left tackle at some point.
00:50:38That doesn't mean he's good.
00:50:39That doesn't mean it solves anything for you.
00:50:42Um, you know, but as far as being a good left tackle in this league,
00:50:47I would say that's a stretch, you know, but I do think he's a, I do
00:50:53think he's a good, solid player.
00:50:54Again, I think this is a, another solid safe pick.
00:50:58I don't think he has a lot of bus potential.
00:51:01I think whether it's at right tackle or at guard, he reminds me a lot of Michael
00:51:06when you, and you know, if everybody remembers when Michael went, it was good.
00:51:11Well, Michael, when it was doesn't blow you away in any way, I would say to
00:51:14when he was a lot more dominating of a run blocker, you know, when he gets ahead
00:51:19of steam, um, but you know, this is a look that the Patriots passed on a lot
00:51:25of guys that had more upside that also had sort of high floors as well.
00:51:31And they decided this was their guy.
00:51:34Um, according to Elliot Wolfe, like all along, this is who they wanted.
00:51:40To me, this is a, there's a lot more questions about this pick and, and
00:51:44whether, you know, really like what, what the hell are they going to do with them?
00:51:48I mean, between Chuck Sikor for Calvin Anderson, Tyrone Wheatley, uh,
00:51:54but Darian Lowe, Andrew Stuber, like they have a bunch of guys that are like,
00:52:02all right, maybe.
00:52:04Okay.
00:52:05Um, so I don't know.
00:52:07I it's, it's definitely the most questionable pick that they've made so far.
00:52:11Of course, it's in the third round.
00:52:12You would expect that, but, um, that they passed on a lot of those guys
00:52:16that had a lot more upside and a lot more potential to me, it surprised me.
00:52:20I would have, I would have targeted one of those other guys
00:52:23and traded up and gotten them.
00:52:27I don't know much about them.
00:52:29And I go off of people that, you know, watch the film and
00:52:32break down offensive line play.
00:52:35I will say that Lance airline mentioned, uh, and his write up on the player
00:52:41that he thought he was better.
00:52:44He thought, you know, Wallace was better fundamentally and
00:52:47technique wise and Olu fashion.
00:52:49New.
00:52:50I would agree with that.
00:52:51Um, Louis Riddick also was over the freaking moon with this pick.
00:52:56Uh, really?
00:52:57Oh yeah.
00:52:57You got to go back and I don't know if you DVR it or whatever, but
00:53:01Riddick was Riddick literally said, I can't say a bad thing about this player.
00:53:06And he went, he waxed poetic about how Kate and Wallace he's he, I think he
00:53:11said, I love this pick at least two or three times.
00:53:13So Riddick was big on the Kate and Wallace pick.
00:53:17And he also was another guy along with zero line.
00:53:20He brought up Olu fashion.
00:53:22And when he said, look, you know, I'm paraphrasing, of course, it's not
00:53:26like I transcribed Louis Riddick, but he, uh, he said something along the
00:53:31lines of when I watched the tape, I watched the film, this guy is at least
00:53:37as good, if not better than Olu fashion.
00:53:40And, you know, Wolfe's Wolfe's point tonight was, and who knows if it's
00:53:47true, but if Olu fashion, who isn't on this football team at Penn state,
00:53:52then Wallace is playing on the left side.
00:53:53That's what Wolfson.
00:53:54So did he get that from the coaches?
00:53:58Maybe, maybe the coaches told him that like, Hey, the only reason why
00:54:00he's on the right side is because fashion news here and fashion news,
00:54:03you know, is kind of the higher ceiling guy.
00:54:06I also think I believe Elliot Wolfe and maybe I'm just being gullible.
00:54:15I believe when he says that Caden Wallace was their guy, because again,
00:54:20they have pick one Oh three and one 10 in the fourth round, if they wanted
00:54:24to move up, they had more than enough ammo.
00:54:27If they were saying, Oh my God, you know, we got to move up and get this
00:54:33guy or that guy, they had, they had the means to do it.
00:54:38So the fact that they stayed at 68 and said, no, we're going to pick them.
00:54:44I tend to believe Wolfe if they didn't have those picks, then I would say, Oh,
00:54:47he's full of crap and he's trying to sell that, but they had more than enough
00:54:51to scoot up five or six picks to draft any of the guys, Greg, that you mentioned.
00:54:55And really look, they got to nail the eval.
00:54:59It's as simple as that.
00:55:00They, with a core of four with Wallace, am I confident?
00:55:07I am not, but I am also not an offensive line guru.
00:55:10I do not like the idea walking into the season with a core of four on the
00:55:16left in a window first time, full-time right tackle don't love that at all.
00:55:22But if they nailed the eval, I'll be the first guy with my hand up going.
00:55:26All right.
00:55:28I doubted them.
00:55:29They proved me wrong.
00:55:30A core of four was good enough on the left side.
00:55:33Wallace was good enough to play.
00:55:34So, you know, these guys watch more film than all of us do.
00:55:40And as you mentioned, Kugler and Peters are, are two guys that have
00:55:44really good reputations in the game.
00:55:46They're watching the film.
00:55:48So they got to nail the eval and they got to nail the development.
00:55:52And I think you've brought up a very good point the last couple of times
00:55:56about the offensive line coaching.
00:55:59You know, I mean, they just haven't had offensive line
00:56:01coaching for like three years.
00:56:03So if Peters and Kugler are as good as advertised, then maybe they take a dude
00:56:08in Wallace and they develop him one more thing about Wallace before we,
00:56:12we wrap this up in a few minutes.
00:56:16I don't know who it was on the NFL network, but I went back and I watched both
00:56:20reactions, ESPN and the NFL network.
00:56:23I don't think it was Jeremiah.
00:56:25It might've been Joel Klatt, but somebody brought up the idea of
00:56:28you know, Wallace, I don't know if it was work ethic or something, but they
00:56:34kind of hinted towards the Penn state coaching staff got into him a little bit.
00:56:40And in that last off season before this last college season for Penn state, he,
00:56:48he took it more serious and their point was, and I think Riddick said this too.
00:56:54Riddick said, like, if you watch the year, if you watch the final few games, you
00:57:00could see that kind of the light went off and he was good through the regular
00:57:05season and he was good through the majority.
00:57:08But as the, as the tail end kicked in, he got even better.
00:57:12And so the thought was maybe he just didn't put his all into it.
00:57:19And then going into the final year, he finally was told by the coaching staff
00:57:24or maybe he figured out, figured it out himself that, okay, I got to get moving
00:57:29with this thing.
00:57:30And he showed, you know, I think the phrase was marked improvement in his final
00:57:35season.
00:57:36So again, who knows, but there are some things that you can look at and say,
00:57:42all right, maybe they can, maybe they can make the best of this thing.
00:57:46All right.
00:57:47I'm not going to ask you for a grade before we move on to the couple of guys
00:57:50that you want to mention before we say goodbye to everybody, but just kind of
00:57:54your overall feel of day one and two, did you like what they did?
00:57:58Did you love what they did?
00:57:59Are you, eh, whatever to what they did?
00:58:05Um, I definitely have a lot of questions.
00:58:10I can't get the, you know, and everybody knows I love offensive line play.
00:58:13Um, you know, the, the Wallace pick, um, confuses me.
00:58:18Um, I'm not going to be, you know, down on it.
00:58:21I completely agree with, you know, the comments that you relayed about
00:58:24fashioning.
00:58:25Um, at the end of the day, I was not a fashioning guy.
00:58:28Um, I would not have taken him.
00:58:31I probably wouldn't have taken him at all.
00:58:33I, or like, I think he went 11.
00:58:35He went to the jets.
00:58:37Um, he's, he's, he's a guy that you're, you're betting on like that.
00:58:42He's got all the tools.
00:58:43He's got all the upside.
00:58:45I, those guys have not worked out in recent years at offensive tackle.
00:58:49So I completely agree that Wallace is, he's a much more fundamentally
00:58:56sound player than fashioning and the whole left tackle, right tackle thing.
00:59:01It's somewhat similar to, you know, Notre Dame where, you know, the Fisher kid, he
00:59:06was originally going to be the left tackle, but he got hurt like early on in
00:59:10his freshman year and then Joe Walt went in for him and they never moved Joe Walt.
00:59:15Right.
00:59:15And so, you know, that happens and, you know, you never know in college, sometimes,
00:59:19you know, colleges promise like, Hey, if you come here, you're going to be our
00:59:22left tackle and you know, they, but I think, you know, Wallace is, it's
00:59:27interesting that you bring up and I think NFL network, I was watching at a time at
00:59:32the time, and I think it was clat and Daniel Jeremiah, they both sort of said
00:59:36something along the lines of, you know, they brought up how Penn state
00:59:39underachieved on offense and that they wanted more out of Wallace at some point.
00:59:46And, you know, maybe he reacted well, but I will say it shows up on film that you're
00:59:50like, you know, he's not exactly like an act ask kicker, um, at tackle, like, but
00:59:57like I said, he's a, he's, he's a very fundamentally sound player.
01:00:02He's a good player.
01:00:04He doesn't get beat a lot when he does have issues.
01:00:07It's against speed, spin moves, things like that.
01:00:10He has some issue is punch.
01:00:11Isn't the greatest in the world.
01:00:13Um, but, um, I do think he has a low bus potential.
01:00:18I think he'll play in the league for a long time to just, to me, him playing left
01:00:23tackle, that's a stretch when I say he's better than Isaiah Wynn was possibly at
01:00:30any time when he was with the Patriots.
01:00:33Yeah, I could see that.
01:00:35Um, but the foot speed isn't great.
01:00:39I'm happy.
01:00:40You know, generally speaking, uh, I'm not a happy human sometimes, but with this
01:00:46draft so far through the first two nights, I'm happy.
01:00:49I loved the Drake may pick.
01:00:52I really like poke.
01:00:54I don't know anything about Wallace.
01:00:56Again, I go off of what I read and hear and see tonight.
01:00:59Uh, I, I just, I liked the idea that they, they got a tackle and hopefully
01:01:05the evaluation is correct.
01:01:08Peter's Kugler can get them going a little bit.
01:01:12And you know, you walked in Greg to the first couple of days thinking
01:01:15quarterback wide receiver tackle.
01:01:18You walk out of the first couple of days with quarterback wide receiver tackle.
01:01:22So in that instance, I feel pretty good about what they've done so far before we
01:01:28get to just a couple of names, I forgot to answer that question.
01:01:31Um, you know, cause I got caught up with Wallace, which I tend to do with
01:01:34offensive lineman, but, um, yeah, I think, I think my overall impression of what
01:01:40they've done so far, Nick, is that, um, and I've talked to a few people related
01:01:46to the Packers, um, and you know, during the whole course of this and, you know,
01:01:52one thing that stuck out to me is like, they're like, you just really need like
01:01:57two really good draft classes in your back end business.
01:02:00And, you know, they, they might've done some of that last year
01:02:04with the Patriots draft class.
01:02:06To me, this feels like outside of May, because May they had to do with the
01:02:10quarterback, but as far as Polk and Wallace, and we'll see what they do on
01:02:14day three, but to me, once you got back by May, I think they're just trying to
01:02:20hit solid doubles with some upside.
01:02:24Um, and I, you know, just to sort of restock the cupboard at certain places
01:02:30in the, like, yeah, this guy might have more upside, but like if we whiff, like
01:02:36we're right back in the same position, like we need to get a TA a tackle that
01:02:40we know can play in the NFL, you know, are there other guys like Patrick
01:02:43Paul that has more upside?
01:02:45Hell yeah.
01:02:46But he could bust in like one season.
01:02:49This guy is probably going to play for a long time in the league, exactly where
01:02:54we're not really sure, but we're getting Polk's going to play for a long time in
01:02:57the league, Wallace is going to play for a long time in the league, and this is
01:03:01what we need to do, at least for this year to sort of get things back on track.
01:03:06It's a great point.
01:03:07It's a great point.
01:03:08And I think you're, you know, just so accurate in the assessment of what
01:03:16they're trying to accomplish here.
01:03:18We have to remember this was an utter shit show offensively.
01:03:24It was a disaster zone folks.
01:03:26And we said going in, how difficult of a needle is it to thread to nail wide
01:03:35receiver quarterback, offensive tackle in one draft, it's very difficult.
01:03:41And so you took the big swing at quarterback and now you're just trying
01:03:45to kind of steady the ship, so to speak.
01:03:47Because if you blow these picks, like Greg just said, you're, you're going
01:03:54back to like stage one and it's like, we can't get out of the muck.
01:04:00So at a certain point, yeah, you could have taken a swing on AD
01:04:03Mitchell, who I love as a talent.
01:04:05I do.
01:04:06Greg's not as big of a fan, but Greg's guy, Bob McGinn about a week or two
01:04:12ago came out with certain things.
01:04:13And I know Chris Ballard went cursing and, you know, cut a, cut a WWE promo
01:04:18at his press conference tonight about AD Mitchell and in his character and all of
01:04:23that.
01:04:23Oh, did he?
01:04:24Oh yeah.
01:04:25Yeah.
01:04:26Call it, check that out.
01:04:27Called it bleeping BS and was ranting and raving about how people were
01:04:30killing his character and you know, the anonymous source thing.
01:04:33Yeah.
01:04:34And what I would say to Chris Ballard is then, then why did a first round
01:04:37talent go all the way down to 52?
01:04:39Right.
01:04:39Exactly.
01:04:40What are we doing here?
01:04:41Um, there's obviously reasons.
01:04:44So they could have taken an AD Mitchell and said, Hey, there are a lot of
01:04:49questions about this guy, but he's got the talent to be a wide receiver one if
01:04:53he hits, but if you swing and miss on that, now you took two boom or bust guys
01:04:58in round one and round two.
01:04:59And if they both bust, you are so screwed.
01:05:03So I think you, you make a very good point on, on that idea.
01:05:10And Wallace, look, he's a guy, I think he started like 40 games at
01:05:13Penn state, got a lot of experience.
01:05:15Might've been 60.
01:05:16He's 24 years old.
01:05:18Oh, so maybe it was 60, but he's a guy who's, you know, at least
01:05:22like Greg said, he's solid.
01:05:23Is he a left tackle TBD, but he's solid.
01:05:27And they feel like he's a dude we can plug and play and at least a couple
01:05:31of spots here and not, and not sink the ship.
01:05:36All right.
01:05:36Before we go, just want to remind you, this episode is brought to you by prize
01:05:40picks, and we do have a couple of names that Greg wants to talk about.
01:05:43And I want to talk about, but a prize picks largest daily fantasy sports
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01:05:56I like that Greg and Giardi and the rest of the party, 50 bucks for the
01:05:59year at Boston sports journal.
01:06:01I can rhyme all the time.
01:06:03All right.
01:06:03So I know by the time you guys listen to this and gals, it's likely that day
01:06:11three is over, or maybe it's in the middle of day three, but we want to go
01:06:16on it's I think on it's on it tonight.
01:06:18So hopefully it'll be out for really, Oh God bless on it.
01:06:21Does he live on the West coast?
01:06:23Nope.
01:06:23I saw him at a Gillette last night.
01:06:25Look at this guy, man.
01:06:28Hold on.
01:06:28I'll take a sip of my beer, Greg.
01:06:30Okay.
01:06:31All right.
01:06:32Mission accomplished.
01:06:33All right.
01:06:33So we're going to still give you some names, some guys that we're looking at.
01:06:37So we can go back on the record and say, Oh, they did land some of those
01:06:40dudes because there's actually some talent left, Greg, there really is.
01:06:44And I'll just say this.
01:06:46I get a kick out of this.
01:06:47It happens every year and you see it and you hear it.
01:06:50And I'm sure people, even the, the very astute BSJ subscribers, I'm sure a few
01:06:58of them will be like, how did they not get this guy?
01:07:02They, they drafted this guy at this spot and he, they could have, I had somebody
01:07:06on my podcast and I'd be like, they could have got this offensive.
01:07:09They couldn't get Kate and Wallace at like one 10.
01:07:10I'm like, well, how do you know that?
01:07:12Like we thought Tez Walker was going in the top 55 or 60.
01:07:17We thought AD Mitchell was a first round pick.
01:07:19We thought, uh, Sula Mataia was going to be in the top 40 and he fell all
01:07:23the way down into the, like, we don't know that mock drafts mean nothing.
01:07:28They, they mean nothing.
01:07:30NFL front offices have their own grading system and their own boards.
01:07:35So we don't know.
01:07:36So there's actually a number of guys that we've talked about that you thought would
01:07:40go in the first three rounds, but are still on the board.
01:07:43So I'll lead off quickly.
01:07:45I'll just give you some names.
01:07:47Tez Walker just brought them up.
01:07:50X receiver, obviously teammate of Drake may, if you want to make your rookie
01:07:55quarterback happy, then you might think about drafting, uh, his college teammate
01:08:01who happens to play a position that you need.
01:08:02So Tez Walker's a name.
01:08:04Javon Baker is a guy from UCF.
01:08:06Greg, they looked at another X receiver, another bigger guy.
01:08:10Um, he's interesting to me.
01:08:12Uh, Cade Stover tight end from Ohio state is an interesting player.
01:08:18And I got to throw an Notre Dame guy in there.
01:08:21So I'm going to go with cam heart, bigger cornerback.
01:08:24If you go defense, I think he has the potential to be a cornerback too, on the
01:08:29outside, opposite of Christian Gonzalez.
01:08:31So those are four guys that, that peak my interest.
01:08:34What about you?
01:08:36So, uh, I was definitely going to mention Tez Walker just because, you know, do they
01:08:41pair Drake may and Tez Walker up again?
01:08:43That would certainly be interesting.
01:08:45I'm sure they can get plenty of intel from Drake may on him.
01:08:50Um, you know, I wouldn't mind, there's a couple of tight ends that are
01:08:53intriguing to me that are out there.
01:08:55And you know, if they pick this guy, they've gone full Packers and, you
01:09:01know, people can go, go crap in a hat for me, bringing it up, but if they
01:09:06go to Tavion Sanders out of Texas, he's your Michael Finley, you know, who, who
01:09:14was about rising star with the Packers out of Texas, um, until a neck injury
01:09:19ended his career, um, you know, and, and Jared Wiley, the TCU, um, tight end,
01:09:26you know, those two guys, yeah, those two guys are on the board and intriguing
01:09:30and represent, you know, upside.
01:09:33Um, definitely I would like to see them just positional wise.
01:09:36I would like to see them at a corner, um, possibly a quarterback at some point.
01:09:41They'll, you know, let Alonzo Highsmith do his thing at running back.
01:09:44That guy finds running backs, undrafted seventh round, whatever.
01:09:48He's a wizard at it.
01:09:49I'll leave that up to him.
01:09:51Um, defensive tackle.
01:09:53I wouldn't mind, but, um, yeah, another wide receiver and a tight end that would
01:09:58be, and a quarterback, um, to displace Bailey's happy, uh, that those would
01:10:04be at the top of my list.
01:10:07All right.
01:10:08It's about quarter one on Friday night.
01:10:10Here we are doing a podcast because we love it.
01:10:13He's Greg.
01:10:14I'm Nick.
01:10:15We'll be back early next week and we will have the, the full
01:10:19picture of what this team looks like.
01:10:22Do they make a trade for a veteran wide receiver?
01:10:25What do they do with the rest of this draft?
01:10:26We'll have those answers for you.
01:10:28Uh, but enjoy your weekend, be safe, be healthy, be well until next time.
01:10:33We'll see.