CLNS Media’s Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick take a look at New England’s offensive line group and determine sleepers, surprise cuts, trade candidates, and more.
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SportsTranscript
00:00What's going on everyone? Taylor Kyles and Mike Hadley here for CLNS Media coming at you with
00:04another episode of Pat's Daily brought to you by our good friends at Price Picks and Game Time.
00:09We are continuing the depth projection series that Mike has been doing on the CLNS website,
00:15done a great job. We already have defensive line in the books. We did a video,
00:19Mike wrote it down. And the most recent part of the series, Mike, you dove into the offensive
00:24line. So we're going to discuss it now. You're going to give your takes. I'll throw in my two
00:28cents because I cannot keep my damn mouth shut. We're going to have a good time going from the
00:33deepest position group on the team to probably, you know, that. And I think actually maybe wide
00:38receiver probably neck to neck a little bit, but offensive line, I think if you had to differentiate
00:43is probably at the bottom. So before we get into all the good stuff, trade candidates, sleepers,
00:48surprise cuts, let me know what you think about this group overall. Yeah. Like you said, and
00:54you sugarcoated it better than I can. This is, this is their worst position group. Like it's,
00:58it stinks and it's, it's tough to say. There's a better way to say it. Like you said, they're at
01:02the bottom. I guess that's the nice way to say it, but yeah, I mean, tough position again for like
01:07the third year in a row last year, you know, obviously wasn't great. They started 11 offensive
01:11line combinations through 17 games. And so that was clearly, you know, should have been on the
01:16top of the bill as sort of their rebuild. Right. They had the opportunities in the off season to
01:20go after big names, you know, your Jonah Williams, your Tyron Smith's guys like that. But they sort
01:25of went a different route and, you know, they picked up three guys in free agency, Nicola,
01:29Rhett, a guard, who was the other, Michael Jordan, a guard, and then Chuck Sikora for obviously
01:36that tackle a career-ish right tackle who they're going to try and move to the left side.
01:41And then in the draft process, they take Hayden Wallace, they take Leighton Robinson.
01:45And it seems like, just like they have the last couple of years, they're just going to kind of
01:49try and pieces together together, excuse me, throw a couple of things. That was funny together,
01:54throw a couple of things at the wall and see what sticks. So I guess we're going to have to wait and
01:59see again. That's kind of where I am right now. We saw a couple of different combinations in the
02:02spring, obviously Cole strangers injured using Caden Wallace at tackle at guard at left and right
02:10Mike on when you, who you signed this off season to an extension. He he starts at right tackle,
02:16then he moves into guard again. So again, it's, it's a room where there's a lot of mysteries.
02:21There's a lot of what ifs there's not really a you know, true, well, I guess the true leader in the
02:26room is David Andrews, the center who's 31 and is going into his 10th NFL season. So it's again,
02:32it's a big, maybe it's a big, what if, but I'm not sold on it. And I'm going to have to see it
02:36play out on the field before I can really say that this room has frankly improved at all from last
02:40season. So I'll give my take on the sunny side of the street, but first acknowledging that everything
02:45you said is valid. There's so many question marks in this group. And that's why I think there's been
02:49a lot of pessimism, which is also fair. This room has had a different position coach every season
02:55since 2022, which is pretty wild. When you think about it, 2021, you had Carmen Bracillo for a
03:00couple of years as co-offensive line coach, he leaves in the whole mass exodus to Las Vegas
03:06with Josh McDaniels. Then you go to Matt Patricia, who was under qualified in way over stretch.
03:12Cause he was also the opposite coordinator. Then last year you have Adrian Clem who didn't
03:16really fit with the coaching staff. We found out after the season and obviously had to leave due
03:20to health reasons and then everything really unraveled. I do think the positive that you
03:25look at more than anything is Scott Peters. Now interviewed Brandon Thorne a few months ago.
03:30I'm actually going to interview him again tomorrow. That episode is going to drop.
03:33And he did say that Patriots fans should be excited about Scott Peters. Cause one,
03:38he worked with one of the brightest offensive mind coaches in the history of the game
03:42and Bill Callahan. Now he's working under his son in Tennessee and no, he's never had his own room
03:47before, but he played the position. He's got a jujitsu background, which he mixes into a lot of
03:53his teachings. He also teaches offensive lineman is kind of like a side hustle and he's really big
03:58on hand usage and getting your heads out of the blocks and things like that. So fundamentally,
04:02we've even heard from players, the way he teaches is very different and more hands-on than what
04:07they've gotten in the past. I asked Scott Peters about that. He said, he never wants to be in a
04:12position where he's asking guys to do something that he hasn't explained. And he's never going
04:15to get on them for something that he hasn't told them to do before. And that kind of vision,
04:19the fact that he's worked with Alex Van Pelt, that Browns offensive line, that was fantastic
04:24in terms of their chemistry with all those rotating pieces, gives you some promise and,
04:29you know, some, some hope that he can maximize the guys he has at his disposal. But you know,
04:34that's a true so-called for played left tackle in college. Now he's moving from the right where
04:39he was his entire NFL career. So you have to worry how that's going to work a left guard.
04:44I actually like city. So there, that was his position in college. You hope he takes a step
04:47forward. David Andrews, like you said, Mike, and when you will see throughout the season,
04:52if he does stick it right guard, like we saw at the end of mini camp, I actually think that's
04:56great. I think he's a pro bowl, all pro caliber guard. I think he's just a solid offensive tackle
05:01and Peyton Wallace, you know, this is a guy who took him the third round.
05:04If you can get him reps and he can get used to NFL competition at a position where he's
05:08a little more comfortable. I really think that this is a line that at the very least could be
05:13a strong run blocking unit, especially in the middle. And then in terms of past protection,
05:17because everything in that Browns offense really stacked on top of the run game, I think it could
05:22maybe take some of the weight off this line in terms of, you know, having to be in situations
05:26where pastors have their ears pinned back and they're just firing downhill. So again, a lot of,
05:32lot of negativity around this line. And I understand, but I just wanted to say,
05:35I do think there are reasons for optimism, but I think that's a good way to look at it.
05:39Like everything we said right there is pretty much correct. And there's a, there's,
05:43there is one way to look at it, but there is an optimistic side where, you know,
05:47if things all fall into place again, Scott Peters if he sort of can elevate the room,
05:52then there are reasons to be optimistic. So again, it's, it's, it's definitely a wait and
05:56see. There's no, there's no definites in the room, but I think that's sort of, you know,
06:00the two lenses you can look at it a hundred percent, but just, yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.
06:03All right. So first let's get into sleepers. Who do you got? Who is not getting enough attention
06:09from the public? All right. I'm going to go with Antonio Moppy, the second year guard out of UCLA.
06:15And it's kind of a, this one's kind of an interesting one. You, you kind of in doing
06:20this last year and, you know, starting it up the, the article series again, this year, sometimes
06:24you have to, you know, pull stuff out that might not really make a ton of sense, but just hear me
06:29out on this because Moppy was, you know, played five, he started five games last year. I think
06:34he was active in all 17 and he wasn't great. He allowed five sacks, seven penalties. He had a
06:4032.3 overall grade. According to PFF, he wasn't good. There's wasn't he like, I think so. Yeah.
06:48So like it, it wasn't great. So new system, new coach, new head coach all that kind of stuff
06:55brought in. He could easily be a cut candidate. Somebody who look, this wasn't our pick last year.
07:00He comes in this year. He doesn't play well and see you later. Sorry. But I think they want to
07:05work with them. I think they want him to be on this team. And that showed out all screen because
07:09he played a ton of center. He was essentially the backup for the most part behind David Andrews.
07:14Nick LaVrette worked in there a little bit as well, kind of towards the end of the weeks and
07:19what we saw, but there was a ton of Antonio Moppy at center. And from what I saw now granted caveat,
07:25no pads, but he looked comfortable. He looked okay. I don't know if he played a ton of center
07:29in college, but he looks like he kind of understands. He looks like he understood
07:34what he's doing out there. So I think they're going to try and have him sort of be that backup
07:39center to David Andrews. Andrews, like I mentioned before, 31, heading into his 10th season. On the
07:45older side, if Moppy can be a serviceable backup, play well when he's called on, maybe they kind of
07:52want to turn Moppy into that center of the future. Obviously that's a tall task because he wasn't
07:57good last year. But I just think that so many people can so easily say, Moppy stunk last year,
08:02new regime, see you later. I think from what we've seen, they're really going to try and
08:07cement the role of it with him as a center heading into the season. And to your point,
08:12we didn't notice any high snaps. Like he was getting a lot of reps when you were talking
08:16about it. I was thinking, I was like, actually, I don't think there's been a single time where
08:19we were like, whoa, these snaps are out of control. Right. Was that really noticeable?
08:22So you got to give him credit there. And I will also say that the biggest problem I saw last
08:27season was his hands. For some reason, he didn't use his fingers. Like there were so many times
08:31where he's engaging and he's like this, I'm like, dude, you're strong as hell. If you can really
08:36lock on to guys, that's where I think his career is going to be kind of like a Mike and Winnie
08:40where, no, you're not the best lateral mover, but if you can really lock guys down, they're not
08:45going anywhere once they're within your grasp. And again, that's where Scott Peters puts a lot
08:49of emphasis in his teaching. So hopefully he can get the best out of Antonio Moppy.
08:54For this category, I'm going with Nick Leverett. I actually think he is going to be the top backup
08:59interior lineman. And in emergency situations, he can also kick outside. So with the Buccaneers,
09:04he actually played a lot of steps for them back in 2022 when Tom Brady was still there.
09:08And there was a game, I think in their last game against the Rams in the playoffs,
09:11they had some injury at tackle and he spent an entire series at right tackle and actually didn't
09:16write your left tackle one or the other, but actually didn't look that bad more than that.
09:20We were at minicamp practices. I think the last day they kind of let guys have fun. They had
09:25offensive linemen out there running routes, catching passes, and it's all fun and games.
09:29You're not expecting anything from these guys. You know, they're just having some fun,
09:32but like Nick Leverett was actually looking pretty smooth out there, made a one handed
09:36catch where I was like, Whoa, wait a minute. That's like, I've never seen an athlete, right?
09:41He can kind of do something moves. And I think Chukcho Corp is probably the best athlete of that
09:45group. Like he's slim. He looks like a big tight end more than the other guys who look like
09:50offensive linemen. Not that's not my point, but Nick Leverett, the way he moves is interesting.
09:55And in this Alex van Pelt scheme, they love using six O-line sometimes seven O-line packages,
10:02where Nick Harris for the Browns is used as a fullback. He was used at times as an extra tight
10:06end. They got a lot of use out of him. I think that's going to be Nick Leverett's role. If he
10:11doesn't start like early on in OTAs, we did see him really at that right guard spot when and when
10:16it was a right tackle, which I was like, that's fine. If you start out that way, you hope that
10:20one of the young guys can come and push him back to the backups where he belongs because that's
10:24where he spent his career. But I really do like the athleticism. He brings the experience. He was
10:29solid in that Buccaneers offense. Really wasn't a clear liability. A mauler a bit in the run game
10:34too. Look on my Twitter and look up Nick Leverett. He loves him some pancakes. He's a violent dude
10:40out there. So the energy he brings, the athleticism, the versatility, I think at least he's
10:45going to be again in those six O-line packages. And then if somebody does go down, I think he's
10:49the top backup center and the top backup guard. So yeah, I got him as someone that maybe we're
10:54not talking about quite enough. Yeah. I think I'm kind of missing in the, the mafia thought into
11:00that, like there's, and we're going to get to it in the surprise cuts. Like they need a ton of help
11:05at tackle. Like they're, they're not very deep there. So you don't know what's going to really
11:09happen there. As far as if you keep 10, if you keep nine, whatever, who has to say if Nick Leverett
11:14can cement himself as the top interior line backup at center as well, that makes mafia
11:20expendable, like we just mentioned. So like, if you can just use that guy, rely on him at all three
11:24spots and you're fine. And he showed that he was sort of him and mafia were taking those backup
11:28center reps. And he was obviously first in line at guard when it started. And then when the rotation
11:32happened, he was working in there as the backup. So I I'm with you. I think Leverett can sort of
11:36turn into that, that swing, that rotational interior offensive lineman. And if I remember
11:40it correctly, wasn't, I think mafia was a guard and Leverett was a center for the backups in the
11:45last day of mini camp, right? Yeah, that sounds right. Sure. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. We're going to
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12:58prize picks, pick more, pick less. It's that easy. All right. Now let's talk about some surprise
13:06cuts. I feel like this is a position group where surprise cuts are kind of hard to find because
13:12they barely have their starting unit. As we talked about, they have like a couple of good
13:15depth pieces, but who do you think is someone who might be off the roster that maybe fans wouldn't
13:20quite expect? Yeah. So like I mentioned in the last segment here, like they need depth at tackle.
13:26Like right now it's, uh, Okorafor, Calvin Anderson, Michael Nwanu, and Vidarian Lowe
13:31are the only four players on this roster that have played meaningful snaps at tackle in the NFL.
13:37So what do you do there? Right? Like, do you keep all four? Lowe hasn't been great. Anderson hasn't
13:43really been great. He didn't play a ton last year. Um, obviously with the medical issue he had. So
13:47they're going to put Okorafor on the left side and they're probably going to go with
13:51either on Nwanu or rookie Kaden Wallace on the right side. Outside of that, you don't really
13:55know what you have. So you might need to keep Anderson and Lowe in the room. However, if they
14:01need to make a certain cut between those two, mine is Calvin Anderson. I just think with,
14:06you know, Lowe's familiarity last year and now granted it's a different system. It's not in
14:11the system, but with the team he played, they saw what he was. He wasn't great by any means,
14:15but he was serviceable at times. And people are going to hate saying that because you know,
14:18everyone has a vendetta out for Vidarian Lowe. Um, and again, when he played left tackle,
14:24it wasn't great. When he played right tackle, it was okay. I think he can develop into that
14:28swing tackle more so than Calvin Anderson right now. Um, and neither have played in Van Pelt
14:35system. So it's, it's different. You're going to have to, you know, get used to what Scott
14:39Peters wants to do, what Van Pelt wants to do, et cetera. Um, but I think as far as
14:43comfortability and in the, uh, with the team, Lowe makes more sense and they might have to
14:49send Calvin Anderson packing again, if that's their decision, they're just going to keep one
14:53load up the, cause again, you load up the interior with, you know, guys like we mentioned
14:57Moffy and Leverett Mike on when, who, whether he's a tackle or there is a guard, he can do both
15:02city. So started a tackle last year has been primarily a guard, but he can play some tackle
15:08if you have to as well. So like there's adjustments you can make. So I think at the
15:12end of the day, if they, if they have to save room, have to save room in the room,
15:15I think it's Calvin Anderson. So he's my surprise cut.
15:19So I get that. And so I'm going based off really my roster projection, just so I can have some
15:24consistency. I had Calvin Anderson and veterinarian low making it, which I, I think I had
15:30nine total offensive linemen. I understand that might be a little bit much to have two
15:34backup tackles. Um, but Calvin Anderson is an experienced guy. I really don't think he had a
15:38fair shake last year because he couldn't participate in the summer because of his
15:42health situation really was thrown into the fire while he was still sick, did the best.
15:46He started week one, didn't he? Yeah. He started like, yeah, that was insane. That was an incredible.
15:52Yeah. Right. Yeah. So I think they're going to want to give him a fair shake. I think he's
15:57a fine backup. Like, I don't think he's someone you want started significantly, but I think
16:01the investment they made in him last season, I was thinking if he's your starting right tackle
16:04and that's the week, like it's not the worst thing in the world, but obviously everything
16:08unraveled because of the injuries. And then the Darian low, I thought he actually played better
16:11on the left side than he did on the right because that was natural position. So I think maybe again,
16:17with a better offensive line coach, you can work with him. He could take a step forward,
16:20but the guy that I have is a surprise cut is a Tonio Mafi. I had him off my roster projection.
16:26That's because I thought, I honestly thought the way he looked last season, he's more of a practice
16:30squad guy. And they also have depth on the interior already, frankly, especially with
16:34Cole strange. We have no idea what's going to happen of course, but I think the depth on the
16:38inside is pretty solid. Like he got Leighton Robinson waiting in the wings. Nick Levrette,
16:42again, it's really solid. I just don't know how a Tonio Mafi sees the field unless they just get
16:46ravaged by injury. I feel like if anything, Leighton Robinson should be the guy who steps up
16:52for you, if anything were to happen or the guy that you really want in that position and Mafi
16:56doesn't really fit their scheme. Now to be fair, I'm not sure how well the entire offensive line
17:00fits in a wide zone scheme. I really don't. We're going to have to see, I think chemistry is going
17:05to be huge. Like Ramond Stevenson even told us when he was explaining what the scheme was like,
17:09this isn't something you just roll out there. You got to work at it consistently. That may,
17:13help them overcome some hurdles, but Mafi is not going to be in that mix at best.
17:17He's going to be with the twos. So if he's in there, then there's going to be a lack of
17:21continuity. And again, if anything, you want that continuity to be with Leighton Robinson. So
17:26I just don't understand how he makes the team. Hopefully he can take a step forward
17:29under Scott Peters, but I see him as more of a practice squad guy right now, because I don't
17:33know who's going to poach him. Like he didn't put a whole lot of good tape out there. And then what,
17:38I think the patch took him in the fifth round last year. So I, you know, I don't think team's
17:41necessarily chomping at the bit to get them under their wing either. So yeah, we all love Antonio
17:47Mafi. He's a really cool guy. He has talent, but I just think the way the roster shakes out,
17:52I think he's someone that can take on the practice squad and continue to develop.
17:55That's a good point. It makes a ton of sense. It's, it's a guy who you can, and again, everyone
17:58who you cut, you shouldn't expect to be back. Like we talked about that a lot last year when
18:02they did the whole quarterback thing with, with Zappi and Cunningham. Like if you cut this guy,
18:06you should expect them to get picked up. Just that's how you got to do roster, you know,
18:09roster business, but in both senses, one, if you lose them, maybe not that big of a deal, but two,
18:15if you can expect, you might expect him to come back around and you can, like you said, put them
18:19on the practice squad and be just fine in that regard. So I, as much as I think he's a sleeper,
18:24your reasoning makes a ton of sense and I could easily see him being cut just as much as I can
18:27see him being their backup center. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. All right. Finally,
18:31trade candidates. Who do you think is someone, and again, there's not a lot of depth in terms
18:36of like proven talent that would have value on the market. So this is a tough one, but who do
18:41you have as someone that Patriots could potentially move before the season? Yeah. So we'll do the
18:45roster projection after this. And you mentioned kind of keeping consistency and, um, for full
18:51disclosure, like I listed Anderson as a surprise cut and the Darian Lowe as a trade candidate.
18:57I do have them both on my roster projection because I think ultimately they'll make the team,
19:00but it wouldn't shock me if Anderson was cut and it wouldn't shock me if they traded Darian Lowe.
19:05Now we already mentioned it. He wasn't great last year. Uh, he was called upon in,
19:09in a tough situation. Like the Patriots situation was one of the worst in the NFL
19:13offensive line, but in general on offense. And so he was kind of thrown into the fire
19:17and didn't play well. But the two years ago he was with Minnesota and he didn't play that well,
19:23was drafted the year before comes in. And then the Patriots traded a six round pick for him.
19:28And he comes in here. It doesn't play well. Again, if team, it was sort of a desperation
19:31move for the Patriots at that point, they, they went through training camp and within two days,
19:35they traded for, or within two days of roster cuts, they traded for Tyrone Wheatley Jr.
19:40And they traded for Darian Lowe. So it was a, again, another desperation move. And I think if
19:45another team call it, you know, at the end of, at the end of August, early September is kind of
19:50trying to do the same. They could dangle with Darian Lowe and say, look, we'll, we'll take them
19:54or, you know, we'll give them to you for a seventh round pick. Right. And you cut your losses that
19:58way and move forward, even if it's a future seventh round pick. So if they're again, going to
20:02do that numbers game at the backup, at the backup tackle position, they think we'll keep Calvin
20:07Anderson. Maybe we try and trade for Darian Lowe for, you know, some sort of low round pick or what
20:12have you. So again, nobody on the roster really screams trade candidate. So I think this is the
20:17one that might make the most sense when it comes towards the end of training camp.
20:20Yeah, I agree with this one. I don't really have much else to add. Like for Darian Lowe,
20:23he's a younger guy. He does have talent, you know, NFL teams always think they can fix a guy.
20:29So if there's a team like Patriots, where you just get ravaged by injury and you really need
20:33someone to step in there and at least someone where you're like, Hey, all right, maybe we can
20:37just mold him to be better than what he's been in the past. I definitely think Darian Lowe is that
20:41guy. And to his credit, I guess this feels like a backhanded compliment, but I remember when he got
20:46to the Patriots and I was watching his tape with the Vikings and he let in a lot of interior
20:50pressure. He got beat inside a lot. And I asked him why that was. And he told me that with the
20:54Vikings, he was often taught to block outside in, which makes no sense to me. I don't even
20:58understand why you would do that. But then with the Patriots, most of his losses were to the
21:03outside. They were quick losses. They were ugly. You know, again, it kind of comes off like a
21:08backhanded compliment, but at least that was one part of his game where he wasn't letting things
21:12inside. You saw, he could kind of be molded and improve some part of his game. Right, right,
21:17right. All right. Roster projection. Who do you have in, who's out and who do you have potentially
21:23being on some type of injury list going into the season? Yeah. All right. So projection in,
21:29like I mentioned, Calvin Anderson, though, I think he could be cut. I think he'll mix the
21:33team. I think they need to have that depth of tackle because you don't know what you have in
21:37Caden Wallace and you really don't know what you have in Chuck Sikora for it. Left tackle. So
21:41keeping multiple tackles just in case you need to rotate some guys in and out makes sense to me.
21:45So Calvin Anderson makes it David Andrews, obviously Nick Nick Leverett signed this
21:49off season, makes the team for Darian Lowe also makes it a Tonio Moffey,
21:54Chuck Sikora for Mike on one who laid in Robinson city. So, and Caden Wallace,
21:59I feel like that's, none of those guys are a shock. Maybe Moffey again with what you said
22:04about the interior depth and things like that. But for now I have Moffey on the team and then out is
22:09recently signed Liam for Nadell, Surrey, Henry, Michael Jordan, Charles Turner, the third
22:14and Tyrone Wheatley jr. And then I are PUP Jake Andrews last from last season,
22:19who was drafted in the fourth round, didn't participate at all. I don't think in the
22:23off season program. So he's nursing something. I think the first day in OTAs. Yeah, that might be.
22:28Yeah. But so he's clearly nursing something. I think that could be a, a move where you stash
22:33him for, for next season and beyond. And then Cole strange might start on PUP as well, because he,
22:38as we know, isn't going to be ready till, you know, later on in the season.
22:42So I think that it's safe to assume that he'll start on IR. So that's kind of what I have.
22:47Yeah. Um, mine's pretty similar. Again, I already mentioned a Tony Moffeys out,
22:51but the group that I have in David Andrews, Mike and when you city, so chooks or core for
22:55Nick Leverett, Calvin Anderson and Baderian low as well as Caden Wallace and laden Robinson,
23:00the rookies out, Antonio Moffey already touched on that Tyrone Wheatley jr. Who I do think he'd
23:05come back on the practice squad because he has experience in the Browns offense. They
23:08traded Pierre strong over to Cleveland in exchange for Tyrone Wheatley jr. Michael Jordan.
23:14He's someone who has a lot of talent and he was someone that I think people were excited about
23:18when he was coming out of Ohio state. Also a really young guy when he came out. So he has
23:22experience in the league, but also has kind of been more of a practice squad guy recently
23:27got kicked out of practice for getting into a fight. And then also was pulled out of the
23:32rotation during another practice for a false start that hasn't really happened for anybody
23:37else. Two infractions just is not a good look. Um, Liam for Nadelle, of course, I think he's
23:41more probably a practice squad guy. Charles Turner, the third who I would say, keep an eye
23:46out on, uh, just cause he has so much experience in the sec with that LSU offense. It didn't let
23:51up a lot of pressure. It feels like a David Andrews kind of situation where yeah, sure.
23:54He goes on drafted, but he's someone who was in a really tough conference and managed to be part
24:00of a prolific offense. And then Zuri Henry, who we barely even seen. That's not too crazy. And
24:05then I have a cold strange probably on injured reserve, to be honest, because we heard he might
24:09not even be available until mid season. Right. I just don't, you know, as depth sure. But I just
24:15feel like his road to getting in the lineup is really uphill. Um, like I mentioned, chemistry
24:20is so huge. And then Jake Andrews, because like we said, we haven't really seen him.
24:23And since they have so much depth inside, I feel like this might be kind of redshirt year
24:28because he already played last year, but maybe like a second kind of redshirt year, just because
24:32you don't really need a services quite yet. So yeah, that one's pretty straightforward. We're
24:36going to get to grades as well. But first quick words from our friends at game time.
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26:00lowest price guaranteed. All right, brace yourselves, everybody. We're doing grades
26:05for the offensive line group. Mike, what'd you give this unit? I think I was feeling generous
26:10when I was writing this because I gave him a C minus. I didn't want to give him a D. I didn't
26:14want to do I didn't want to do that. And I think it's because there are a lot of what ifs. So I
26:19don't want to grade them for what I, I, I don't think it's going to be great. We'll put it that
26:23way. But they have to prove to me first that it's not gonna be great. And they have an opportunity
26:28to do better. Like, you know, if, if Okorafor, if what they see in Okorafor, tell, you know,
26:33if what they see in Okorafor translates, they're going to be fine at the left side. If what they
26:37see in the combination of Caden Wallace and Michael Moynihan on the right side translates,
26:41they're going to be just fine. I just have a hard time thinking it's all going to work out.
26:45So for now, I'm going C minus, they can obviously improve on that. And they can obviously end up as,
26:51you know, a D or an F, which I'm going to be honest, I think that's probably more likely.
26:54But for now, I'm keeping it kind of in the middle towards the back, and I'm going to C minus.
26:59I hate when we agree, make some bad content.
27:02Yeah, right. Seriously.
27:03I'm in the same place.
27:04Not first take over here. We don't just yell at each other. We can't go back and forth too much.
27:08Second take.
27:10Yeah, it's just, I don't think a D plus is even fair because Mike and Wenu,
27:15look at his contract. He's a good player.
27:16Right. David Andrews is a good player. City So is a good player. There are some
27:21good guys on this roster. Right.
27:22Yeah. It's more unknowns and really bad players. Last year, I think even going into the season,
27:29it didn't look quite as bad if you were just hoping for health. I think if everybody was
27:33healthy, that group would have been a lot better than what it was. They got ravaged at the tackle
27:36spots. And then the fact that James Ferrence was really on the tail, he was done. He wasn't
27:41tailing his career. It was pretty obvious. He couldn't really play anymore. They didn't have
27:45any veteran depth inside and that really hurt them. I don't think that's a problem this year.
27:49I think you've got guys who have shown they can start in the league. Chusokorafor,
27:53he's fine. If he's your only liability, having a liability at left tackle stinks,
27:58but it's not the worst thing in the world. You can still give him help.
28:00And he'll also get help from the scheme and the play calling. City So, another unknown,
28:05but he was the highest graded run blocking offensive lineman among the rookies last year.
28:09That's nothing to sniff at. Like that was very impressive. Passport needs to be more consistent,
28:14but he did show flashes where you're hoping, you know, with good coaching and actually getting
28:18time at guard. Whereas last summer he spent the entire time at tackle, which should make sense
28:22to anybody. You know, you're hoping that combination helps him take a step forward.
28:26Like we said, David Andrews and Mike and one who very good players want to clear something up. Also,
28:31I keep hearing that Mike and one who is like overpaid now because he's kicked in a guard.
28:35It's not true. It's just not true. He's currently the third highest paid right guard
28:40after showing that he could be elite as a guard and look at his PFF rates from 2022.
28:44He's top three or five in offensive grade run, blocking grade and pass blocking grade,
28:49right? And he's the fourth highest paid right tackle. So we've got to stop.
28:53If he's a guy, if he's a guy that can do both pretty well, you mentioned it a bunch he's in
28:58all, he's virtually an all pro guarding is a really good tackle. So like that's worth,
29:02even if you think it's an overpay, that's worth the overpay. So I don't really understand that.
29:06Like, I think if you, he's a guy who you can swing at both positions and things are pretty
29:10flawless at both. You're fine. So I don't think I'm with you. I think it's kind of crazy when
29:15people are trying to say that. If anything, you get better value. If you get a pro bowl caliber
29:19player, who's the third highest made his position. Like, yeah, that's the point.
29:21The market also resets every year. Like as long as it's a good player, it doesn't really matter
29:26what you pay them because two years down the line, it's going to look like a steal because
29:30they're going to go from third to probably like around fifth, eighth or something like that. So
29:34had to get that off my chest. I think that's ridiculous. And then Peyton Wallace,
29:37he's someone who took a big jump his last year at Penn state, a ton of experience. You can see
29:42it in the patients that he plays with. And also technically he's a pretty advanced player. There's
29:47things he's got to work on. I asked him about independent hand usage because he kind of has
29:51a tendency like cold strange where they tend to shoot with both their hands, which if a defender
29:55swats that down, we saw this a lot last season with the tackles you're screwed because you're
30:00balanced and he doesn't get beat like cleanly very often. I think he allowed one sack in like
30:05two hits last year. So he was good in past protection, even if his grades weren't great.
30:09Um, and you're hoping again with quality coaching, especially right tackle, you get more health than
30:13you do over on the left side. Maybe he can be at least a solid starter for you when you have
30:17a strong interior. So I don't think it's fair to get this group of D again, because I think that's
30:23a very pessimistic view. And I think it's fair to have some optimism because the coaching is better
30:28than it's been again in several years. And you have guys with starting experience in the NFL who
30:34are also projected to be starters and Caden Wallace. You could say he was reaching the third,
30:38but nobody was saying that he wasn't a starting caliber player, right? It was that if he gets
30:42good coaching, he'd probably start right away or at least be a role player for you.
30:45And it also takes some of the edge off that he's going to be on the right side rather than
30:49having to be on the left where it is a very different skillset.
30:52Yeah. And they also too, speaking of reaching for Wallace and we we've,
30:55we've dove into this a million times, but that's how like, and I can't remember exactly the names
30:59off the top of my head right now, but that's just how the board fell. They needed a tackle.
31:03Guys went before him and you had to take them where you had to take them. They probably, you
31:07know, if they took them in the next round, it wouldn't have been a reach, but that's just
31:10how the board fell and they had to do it. So. And it was also the last thing I'll say,
31:14it was just not a good off season to need tackles. If like the Patriots in the draft,
31:19we didn't prioritize, we couldn't prioritize it in the top two rounds because in free agency,
31:24we knew there weren't a lot of realistic options. Tyron Smith was never going to come here. He said
31:27he wanted to go to a contender like it or not. That's what the jets are. And then I think the
31:32only guy that I really was pushing for was Jonah Williams. He's playing right tackle for the
31:36Cardinals. So I don't even know if that would have been a good fit. And then like you mentioned in
31:40the draft, the way it fell, the only players I think would have come in here. And I think really
31:44been good fits considering they clearly value experience because with so little practice time,
31:49it's been clear. The Patriots are saying, Hey, we want guys who we teach them how to do things
31:52differently. We don't have to really, we don't want to have to build you from the ground up
31:56necessarily. That's what it looks like to me at least. And I think with Kingsley,
32:01I loved him super inexperienced. There was almost no chance he was going to play at all this season.
32:06And then Patrick Paul was the only other guy, but he was the one who really started that run on
32:10tackles where I I'm sure the Patriots tried to move up at some point to maybe get him. I think
32:15they tried to get Tyler Guyton. That was the report was trying to trade up for him. And they
32:20couldn't and came off still good players. So I'll end on that. Anything else before we wrap this one
32:24up? Uh, no, I think that's it. We'll, uh, we'll be back next Monday on the website with safeties.
32:30Um, and then we'll obviously be back here on purchase Patriots press pass at some point,
32:33breaking down the article and, uh, getting your thoughts as well. So awesome. That's going to be
32:38an interesting group to find a surprise cut for, but we'll see. It's a fun exercise just to think
32:44about cause anything can happen in the NFL. So we're going to wrap it up for this week. Look
32:48forward to that safety episode next week, but until then take care of yourselves,
32:53take care of each other. We'll see you next time. Peace y'all.