Patriots Season Superlative Predictions w/ Mina Kimes | Patriots Daily - video Dailymotion

CLNS Media Sports Network

CLNS Media’s Taylor Kyles is joined by ESPN’s Mina Kimes for her takes on this season’s superlative predictions ahead of the Patriots’ 2024 season.  0:00 - Intro 2:24 - Long-term outlook 4:37 - Rookie of the Year 6:48 - Year Two Jump 8:24 - Underrated Player 9:54 - Expectations for Ja'Lynn Polk 11:30 - Polk's Route Running 14:17 - Maye as Talent Elevator 15:59 - Optimism for White 17:11 - Underrated Bentley 18:51 - Defensive MVP Discussion 20:20 - Barmore's Impact 23:05 - Patriots' Season Outlook 24:28 - Worst Case Scenario   ************************************************ Patriots Content Brought to you by....  Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS at PrizePicks.com/CLNS & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!   Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.  Merch Store - https://shop.clnsmedia.com  Social Media!!!!  Patriots Twitter- https://twitter.com/patriotsclns  Patriots Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/patriotsclns/  Facebook- https://facebook.com/clnsmedia  LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/clnsmedia/about/  Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clnsmedia *********************************************************  ABOUT PATRIOTS COVERAGE ON CLNS:   Welcome to the CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for New England Patriots  football.  CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the 6X Super Bowl Champions.  Get complete inside access to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and everywhere on the road. CLNS Patriots credentialed insiders Greg Bedard, Andrew Callahan, Tayler Kyles, John Zannis, Alex Barth and Mike Kadlick provide instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else inside Patriots Place.  If you enjoy CLNS’ Celtics  All Access and are craving more Boston sports content, you head over to CLNS’ Patriots  Press Pass at   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqX7G3pEDTseNxtoDU27PEg?sub_confirmations=1   __________________________________________________________________________  For Celtics Content:    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1    Celtics Twitter - https://twitter.com/CelticsCLNS   Celtics Instagram - https://instagram.com/celticsCLNS  Twitter Main- - https://twitter.com/clnsmediaCLNS  Main Instagram - https://instagram.com/clnsmedia ******************************************************* Check out over dozens of sports podcasts from CLNS Media here: https://clnsmedia.com/ OR for all 200 shows, go to https://northstationmedia.com

Transcript

00:00I am joined by Robert Griffin, the third James Whitefield. Yes, Mina Kimes. All right, so

00:10first play, we're going to look at second into one of the Patriots first offensive plays.

00:16What's going on, everyone? Taylor Kyle's here for CLNS Media coming at you with another

00:20episode of Pat's Daily brought to you by our good friends at PrizePix and GameTime. Today,

00:25I am joined by friend of the pod, Mina Kimes of ESPN, to talk about some season superlative

00:31predictions because obviously, this may not be the best season the Patriots have had,

00:36maybe in recent history, potentially, because the bar is very low. But new seasons are all

00:40about hope. So today, we're going to touch on some players who deserve some recognition

00:45and can give Patriots something to get excited about for 2024. And without further ado, Mina,

00:51how the heck are you? Welcome back. And how are we feeling one week out from the season?

00:56Excited. Excited to stop talking about Cowboys contract standoffs and who's under the most

01:02pressure and trying to predict what the Jets offense is going to look like and all the

01:08great mysteries of the 2024 season. Excited to actually just watch some football and talk

01:11about it.

01:12Oh, yeah. This is the worst part. I'm not good at predicting. I feel like that's when

01:15I put my foot in the mouth the most. Now we're actually going to have results to analyze.

01:19It's going to be a lot of fun. So before we get into the superlatives, I want to touch

01:23on some quick hitters, kind of housekeeping notes for the Patriots because we haven't

01:27spoken in a while. So when it comes to the Patriots, obviously, new regime, very, very

01:32different roster, obviously losing Bill Belichick and all the pieces they did lose.

01:37Things are going to get tough. Christian Barmore, we don't know when he's going to play. Matthew

01:40Judon's been traded. But when you look at this team, especially with an eye towards

01:43the future, do you think they got better or do you think they got worse this offseason?

01:48Well, I think you hit on it. It depends on the time frame that you're looking at, because

01:53in the short term, they got worse. Not a very good football team. They know they're not

01:58a very good football team. I don't think there's any expectations. You're going to win a lot

02:01of games this year. Obviously, you know, you got major losses on defense. Often stop and

02:08sub line is a massive issue. We'll talk about that. But in the long term, if you drafted

02:12the quarterback of the future, if you got some core pieces, guys like Jalen Polk, for

02:18example, who you and I talked about before the draft, I think, and Christian Gonzalez

02:21coming back from injury, then I think you could argue, yes, in the long term, they're

02:25going to be a better football team.

02:26I think you made Patriots fans very happy with your Jalen Polk analysis. We brought

02:30it back up from the show. You bugged it a little bit. And I think people felt a little

02:33better because people have been sleeping on Jalen Polk, but not after this summer. I think

02:37now and he might start week one, by the way. So I train is very much Roa. Maybe we'll get

02:42into him later. But you touched on Drake May. So let's talk about it. Drake May will not

02:46be the starter in week one. That's going to be the veteran Jacoby Bursette drafted

02:50by the Patriots, spent a season in the Alex Van Pelt Browns s system. But obviously, at

02:56some point, Drake May's got to take the reins. So when do you think that's going to happen?

03:01And what do you think it's going to take for Drake May to get on the field? Yeah, well,

03:05aside from reset, potentially getting hurt, which feels kind of bleak to even bring up.

03:13But I know after seeing him get walloped, it's hard not to think that that's a possibility.

03:20And it's hard to, by the way, to not say that and then feel worried about Drake May going

03:24out there. But setting that aside, you know, mid season, I would probably have to look

03:28at a stretch where maybe if the coming off of games against better defenses, if percent

03:34plays poorly.

03:35I mean, the thing about preset Taylor is I actually think he's probably one of the best

03:38backup quarterbacks in the entire NFL. And I think honestly better than some of the starters.

03:43Not many, but a few of the starters out there. But he is a quarterback who plays a lot better

03:48with protection. And seeing him by that offensive line made me think, oh, we might we might

03:53see this change happen a little bit earlier than people expect. Yeah. One thing about

03:57the Patriots offensive line, I will say, when you look at like the entire body of work,

04:02which, you know, it's my job, so it makes it a lot easier when I actually get to watch

04:06every snap.

04:07These guys play, which isn't easy for most. It hasn't been terrible, but it's been the

04:10times that Jacoby's gotten hit. It's been very ugly, like he's taking some real shots.

04:15Obviously, you want to mitigate those. And obviously, when Drake May comes in, you want

04:19to maybe have that offensive line situation at least figured out because the left side

04:22is two backups right now in terms of the rotation they want.

04:26But we're trying to stay positive for this show because we know there's some bad that

04:29we're going to have to endure. But we do want to give some recognition to the guys we should

04:34get excited for. So starting with the offensive side of the ball, who is your rookie of the

04:38year candidate? Lots of options to pick from because seven of their eight players drafted

04:43were, in fact, on the offensive side of the ball.

04:45That's crazy. I mean, I'm going to go with May. Obviously, he's not might not play even

04:50half of the season. We discussed that. We'll see how things shake out. But I think what

04:54you saw in the preseason is a lot of what I saw in college, what made me like him so

04:58much as a prospect, which is dude is just an absolute playmaker.

05:02I mean, you could just tell a second he was in there. It just looks different when you

05:06have those sorts of physical tools. And I think, by the way, also mentally, he's a little

05:12bit farther advanced than maybe he's characterized. Now, again, it's a preseason. You're going

05:16against twos and threes and simplified defenses. And no doubt he's he's going to have some

05:20early career Josh Allen goofball moments for sure. A lot of it, actually, I think for similar

05:25reasons to Josh Allen, which is you saw sometimes in college, he trusted his own arm talent

05:31a bit too much. It wasn't like, oh, my God, what is this guy seeing? It's more like you

05:35need to learn that that's not a throw you should attempt just because you think you

05:39can do it. So that's it. But I just think that he's going to have the sorts of splash

05:43plays that make it clear to Patriots fans why he was drafted, where he was. And, you

05:49know, you and I talked about him for the draft. I liked him a lot as a prospect. I like him

05:53maybe even more after seeing what we have this summer. So whenever he gets in there,

05:57I'm not saying it'll translate to W's per se, but I think there's going to be some some

06:02moments that get past fans really excited. And the breakdown you gave us exactly how

06:06Drake May was this preseason. You saw the splash plays. You saw the things where it's

06:09like, yeah, this is why we get excited about this guy. And there was a bit of confusion,

06:13I think, with some in the pre draft process where, you know, sometimes the mistakes he

06:17makes, some people thought it was really just because maybe he wasn't quite smart enough

06:21because he is young. I get the idea on the surface when you watch his play in the way

06:25he reads defenses like coverage shells. The Patriots are going to throw everything at you,

06:29even with their backup defense when it comes to disguises on the back end.

06:33He solved those pretty well. But then you also saw the things like the jump pass to

06:36Pop Douglas where it misses him wide or the force throw to Jalen Polk in the traffic,

06:40like those things he's got to get under control. But that's obviously going to come with experience

06:44when he gets on the field. Now, year two jump candidate for this Patriots offense. Not this

06:50one is a little bit tougher, not quite as many candidates like even Maffei is no longer on the

06:55roster after getting drafted last year. But who do you think might be someone to take that jump

07:00as a sophomore? Yeah, this is a lot easier. I'm just playing it up again, looking at the defense

07:05because there's not really that many options. The one that pops out the most is just Pop Douglas,

07:11though, just because I think, you know, one, he's going to have opportunities in his offense,

07:17given the lack of skill, talent. I think also with him, I don't quite know where his ceiling

07:24is and what the best outcome is for him as a player. But I do know this. It's feels like when

07:31he's in the ball, when the ball is in his hands, pardon me, something, an explosive play is at

07:36least a possibility. You know, he has juice as a player. And I think you saw glimpses of that

07:42last year for sure. And I think especially if May's in there as quarterback, you're going to

07:47see that a bit more. And Demario Douglas, to his credit, looked like not a high bar, but he did

07:53look like the Patriots best receiver, but he looked different than everybody else. There was

07:57one practice where Christian Gonzalez, it was actually following him in the slot. He made

08:01Gonzo look bad. And I'm not one of those people who's scared because Gonzo wasn't great this

08:05preseason, but it just shows you the dynamic ability pop has. And I liked that you picked

08:09him because I have him as coming. One of the better slot receivers in the league this season,

08:13just based on what we saw this summer and even last season, you can hold me to it if you want,

08:18but we will see because I really do. He looked pretty great this summer. All right. Now your

08:22most underrated player on offense, who's someone that's not getting quite enough credit, whether

08:26it's with the national media or whether it's even kind of locally with Patriots fans.

08:30So I'm looking at just making sure my answers aren't too obvious, I guess. I mean, I'm a

08:37Kendrick Bourne apologist, so I know he's hurt, but I feel like he is kind of perpetually slept

08:45on and spending way for like five years or whatever. So, yeah, I mean, look, he's not a

08:52number one, obviously. And I don't know if there is a number one on this roster as much as I like

08:56Jalen Polk, but I do think he is probably of all, like all of the players in this roster,

09:05the one where I feel like the most comfortable with him on the field year, especially with the

09:11youth. So, you know, he's got great hands. I think he is a little bit, people kind of sleep

09:18on his size and speed a little bit as well. So, yeah, I would go with Kendrick Bourne.

09:24One, I'm not going to lie. I've forgotten to mention Kendrick Bourne in the equation of this

09:28season just because he didn't practice this summer. And he's still the kind of player,

09:31he's on a three-year deal. At some point, he's going to factor into this offense.

09:34And with so many unproven pieces, of course, Jalen Polk's one of the guys you're hoping

09:38establishes himself. KJ Osborne looked pretty good this summer. He got popped,

09:41but Kendrick Bourne, because I think he has so much more ability than he's gotten to show the

09:45past couple of seasons. That's a great pick. Now, I don't think you're going to choose Jalen Polk

09:49for this next category, but I do want to give you the floor to talk about him a little bit.

09:53What are you expecting from Jalen Polk in year one? And for anybody who didn't get to see

09:57your take on him in the pre-draft process and when he was selected, why are you excited about him?

10:02Even though I think Patriots fans now understand where the hype is coming from.

10:05Yeah. Yeah, I guess because you have rookie of the year and it would be May since I gave him

10:10also MVP, which is, you know, but yeah, I feel like, I mean, there's obviously,

10:19I think Polk in the draft, probably the reason he dropped was perception that he's kind of like

10:23a high floor, low ceiling type player, the high floor, largely because of his unbelievable hands.

10:29And you certainly saw that on display in the preseason. I'm sure you've seen that on display

10:33in practice as well. He's just like such a soft, reliable target for a young quarterback. And I

10:37love the pairing of him and May in particular, because Drake May is aggressive. He will constantly

10:42attack. And you saw that in North Carolina, even when he was playing with, you know, not very good

10:48wide receivers, frankly. And I think having a guy like Polk who catches just literally everything

10:54thrown in his direction is terrific. If you have a guy who's going to, he's going to attempt every

10:58back shoulder ball available. He's going to, you know, hit comebacks and some of the more

11:02difficult throws. And I think Jalen Polk is going to really, really deliver in that regard.

11:07But I also think that characterizing him as a below has a low ceiling is a misapprehension of

11:12his abilities. I think sometimes in Washington, because he played in such a loaded group,

11:16particularly with Roma Dunze, you know, maybe his upside was, I think maybe like a little bit

11:23underrated, particularly as a route runner. I think he can actually work all three levels pretty

11:28good. So I'm excited to see him because, you know, he has, I mean, like I said, there's no

11:32obvious number one here. The opportunities are there for the taking. And I think he is the kind

11:39of player who probably early on will get a great deal more targets and other rookies purely because

11:43of situation. Absolutely. And that three level abilities may be the biggest reason that in my

11:48opinion, I do agree that he really is slept on because people think of him as Jacobi Meyers,

11:52who it's like, you know, he's catching cross and routes, maybe a slant every once in a while.

11:56You put him inside the numbers and have him go on a fade, but you're not really thinking

12:00of Jacobi Meyers as a deep threat. Jalen Polk's not like that. He's one of those. If he's even,

12:05he's leaving kind of guys where we started in the preseason where a guy tried to hang with

12:08him vertically. The second he looked back for the ball, Jalen Polk's like, yeah, well, I'm still

12:12running and I'm faster than you in this kind of foot race. Not only that, but I also think he's

12:16a smart player. We did see those hands consistently. And with the lack of proven guys on this roster,

12:21Jalen Polk is primed for a great season. All right, we are going to get to our offensive

12:25MVP candidate, but first, a quick word from our friends at PrizePix. Be right back.

12:30PrizePix this time, and they're America's number one daily fantasy sports app with over 5 million

12:36active members. It's the easiest and most exciting way to get in on the action this football season.

12:42Unlike other apps on PrizePix, it's just you against the numbers. PrizePix is actually

12:46running a promo for the month of September where one Caleb Williams passing yard gets you a win on

12:52PrizePix. It's the entire week of September, so you can use that one passing yard as one of your

12:57blocks and watch the winnings roll in. You can see it on the screen in front of me, Caleb Williams

13:01right now, the over-under is 255 and a half or the more or less rather, but it is one yard for

13:07Caleb Williams. So make sure to use that and put your PrizePix together on the app. Download it

13:12today and use code CLNS and get $50 instantly. When you play five bucks, that's code CLNS on

13:18PrizePix to get $50 instantly. When you play $5, you don't even need to win to get those 50 bucks.

13:24It's guaranteed. That's PrizePix. Run your game. All right, Mina, we're back. Offensive MVP

13:31candidate, who you got really carrying what's going to be a mid Patriots offense, most likely

13:37if we're being very honest. Yeah. You know, I feel like MVP. I mean, it's like when May plays,

13:48I think he is going to be the guy who has is a clear elevator of talent around him. Sometimes

13:56that elevator will be going down. It's going to be up and down a little bit year one. But I do

14:01really believe because of the circumstances and particularly the lack of protection, it will be

14:09very obvious that he has an ability to rise above them. That may be Jacoby Brissett for all of his

14:14excellent qualities that backup doesn't. So I'll go with May here. I mean, you know, I guess I could

14:19say, like, I don't know, Michael Oduonu or something like there's I mean, I think Stevenson

14:24is going to be kind of up against it, frankly, in the run game as much as I like him. So it's

14:27hard for me to project a really good season for him. So I'll go with the young quarterback.

14:32If they keep making money when Rookie Lane Robinson on that right side,

14:35I got to say, I'm a little more excited about Ramon Dre's output just because I've been hoping

14:39to see as much as I don't love him when he would tackle. I really like the potential of those two

14:44just absolute bullies on the outside. Hopefully this outside zone scheme kind of helps from under

14:48Stevenson a little bit as well. But yeah, Drake may has got to be the guy, because if this is

14:52going to be the kind of team we're in 2025 teams are saying, oh, or free agents are saying,

14:56I wouldn't mind joining the Patriots. They look like they got a little juice going

15:00trade candidates, you know, people who actually want to join the team, because as we saw with

15:04Brandon, I, the Patriots literally could not buy Brandon services as hard as they tried.

15:09So I think that's a great choice. Now, moving on to the defensive side of the ball,

15:13we're going to skip defensive rookie of the year on this one, because the only option really is

15:17or Marcella style, Dell Pettis and Curtis Jacobs. And as much as I really enjoy those guys,

15:23I think Dial and Jacobs are really going to be more special teamers, if anything.

15:26And Pettis has the fourth safety. You can't really expect much from him.

15:29So we're going to skip right to year two jump candidates,

15:32which much easier than the offensive side of the ball.

15:34Yeah, this is a lot more fun to talk about. Yeah.

15:36We were three defensive players last year. Now, Marte Mapu didn't participate in the entire

15:40summer. I'm excited about what he could do when he is healthy. That does kind of skew things.

15:44But who do you have as the year two sophomore candidate to break out for New England's defense?

15:49Yeah, it's hard not to pick Gonzalez because I loved him as a prospect.

15:52And in the event he did play last year, you saw, I think, a lot of those special traits,

15:57which is why, you know, everybody's so optimistic about him, despite,

16:01I guess, what sounds like an up and down summer. And but I'm going to go here, white man.

16:05I like I think. Boy. I think he year two is going to be so much is going to bring such a

16:17more well-rounded game in terms of like his pass rush repertoire, his disruptiveness in run defense.

16:24There's obviously great pressure on him to deliver on that front, given the loss of Matthew

16:28Judon and Christian Barmore. But you saw certainly in the preseason when he played like he really has

16:35all of the tools, obviously, the size, the athleticism and whatnot. I think it's kind

16:40of thing where like, OK, you're two, if he really starts to put his game together,

16:43he's going to be very, very scary to deal with. Even Keon has said that that's a big focus of

16:47his game is being more well-rounded because he knows he's been better on the inside as a pro,

16:52especially late last season, really, when he came on. But he told us, yeah,

16:55I want to be better on the outside. I want to be a more effective pass rusher because

16:59like he even didn't use power on the outside in training camp because he wanted to

17:03be able to become more diverse in his game. Rod Mayo said that he was one of the standouts in the

17:08spring. So I think you're on to something there. All right. Now, most underrated player on this

17:12Patriots defense. Another category where I feel like there's a lot of candidates.

17:16So many games don't think this unit gets enough love for how much talent they have at all three

17:20levels. I mean, you could literally pick any of the linebackers looking at the depth chart right

17:24now. I like them all so much. I think they're all really, frankly, slept on. I mean, Juwan Bentley

17:29is one just like I, you know, you never hear him talked about nationally. And I mean, but other

17:35guys like to buy Jennings, like there's just so many good players on this. I think Kyle Duggar

17:40now is a little bit more known, so I'm not going to mention him. I'll go with Bentley just because

17:45I never hear people talk about him. And it's so, you know, there are so few off-ball linebacker

17:53groups in the NFL that you can count on both against the run in the past, particularly against

17:59everything that modern offenses do. And the Patriots year after year seem to be exceptional

18:04at that. I hopefully it's what would be prioritized. Rod Mayo is the head coach of the football team,

18:09you know, because of the work that they've done there. So yeah, I mean, I think you could pick

18:13any of them, but I'll go with Bentley. Especially now that all those guys are getting coached by

18:18Dante Hightower. I'll actually say all those linebackers look like they've been coached by

18:23Dante Hightower in the preseason. They were all balling out there. My friend Greg Rosenthal always

18:28teases me, but I'm like Dante Hightower is one of my favorite football players of all time.

18:31And I talk about him constantly and how, you know, Patriots don't win all those Super Bowls

18:34without Dante Hightower. You can point to everybody every game. There's like a moment

18:37where he makes like a crazy play, but yeah, that's it's both amazing to see him out there

18:41and also makes me feel incredibly old. Now, that's why you're a friend of the show. Dante

18:45Hightower, if he's one of your favorite football players watching, that's good stuff. All right.

18:51Now we are going to get to the defensive MVP for the Patriots, but first pay the bills with a quick

18:55word from our friends at game time. Be right back. The Patriots are playing the Cincinnati Bengals

19:00on Sunday. You can get in over at Paycore Stadium for the lowest price guaranteed with game time.

19:07They have a new feature. It's called Game Time Picks, and it makes getting tickets to your

19:10favorite team's play to see your favorite team's play live even easier. Game Time Picks filters

19:15out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats, so you don't have to waste time

19:20searching through thousands of tickets. We're going to do a library right now, Taylor, with

19:24the b-roll, and I'm going to go on the Game Time app on my cell phone and check out just how much

19:29time or how much money you can get into Paycore Stadium for. Right now, it's looking like Patriots

19:35at Bengals. You can get in for as low as $136. That's down like 25 bucks from the last time I

19:42did this read. Not that bad. They have super deals, amazing deals, great deals all on the site,

19:47and they make it super simple to check out, pay, and get to the game. We're going to do a lot more

19:52of these with the Seattle Seahawks coming up because that's going to be a home game, but if

19:57you're going out to Cincinnati, make sure you check out Game Time. Take the guesswork out of

20:01buying tickets with Game Time. Download the app today, create an account, and use code CLNS for

20:07$20 off your first purchase. Again, that is code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download

20:14today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, Mina. Now, the most

20:19valuable player on the defensive side of the ball. I feel like this does get tougher without Christian

20:23Barmore because you could make an argument that he is the best player on this entire football team,

20:29but with him out indefinitely, we don't even know if he's going to be back this season.

20:32Who do you have as being the most valuable player on New England's defense?

20:36I actually think this is really hard, especially without Barmore because the way I see the Patriots

20:42defense is, and I've had them in my top 10, that was granted before they traded, before the judo

20:48and Barmore news. I don't know where that would have them now, but they're still going to be fine,

20:52which is not a popular opinion, it seems. They don't have that many true superstars,

21:01but they have a lot of A-B players at every level, and they have depth, which is really

21:06unusual. There aren't that many defenses across the NFL where I would look at, and I'd be like,

21:10they've got good players at every position. There's no guy who's making a zillion dollars

21:14who gets 18 sacks or whatever. I don't even know who's going to get 13 sacks in this defense,

21:21but my point is there's just good players at every level who are well coached and they tackle

21:25well, and that is a formula for success, but it makes this question very difficult.

21:30I think Christian Gonzalez has the upside to be the MVP. I think he has the ability to be a true

21:35shutdown corner, but I feel a little bit nervous picking him coming off of the injury. White,

21:41again- Moving well, I will say this summer,

21:43if that helps at all. He doesn't look like he's a guy who had a season-ending injury last year.

21:47So he's the one, I think, with the highest ceiling. Keean White, maybe I would put in

21:53there as well. I think I'll go with Duggar, honestly, just because for me, he really

21:58embodies the identity of this defense, the way they play, all of the things, obviously,

22:02the versatility, but also just the way he hits and tackles and moves, but it's an odd pick because

22:10he's not even making that much money. It's-

22:13I don't know. He's winning defensive MVP for anything.

22:17I mean, but that's, I feel like, pretty representative of how I view this defense,

22:21which is a lot of really, really good players. Yeah, and with the sacks, I will say some guys

22:28that I think we need to keep an eye on- Yeah, tell me.

22:30Even twice, the old veteran who I think he's looked really good, even in the preseason,

22:35he didn't play a ton, but it felt like every time he was brushing the passer, he was getting a sack,

22:39and O'Shane Ziminez, a guy who actually Jonathan Jones mentioned today,

22:42is someone who he thinks is going to surprise a lot of people. Didn't do a ton for the Giants

22:46last year, but the year before, he was really in the mix on the ball, off the ball, showed

22:51something as a pass rusher, really more well-rounded than a guy who's really elite at anything,

22:57but just for fans out there, if you're looking where the pass rush is going to come from,

23:00obviously, Keon White, but those two guys, I think, are going to be in the mix as well.

23:04All right, now round this out with your floor and ceiling for the Patriots. How do you think

23:10the best case scenario looks for them, and how do you think it's going to look if all goes wrong?

23:16You want record prediction, or just general- If you've got a record prediction, I'll take it.

23:20No, no, no. I'm really, really nervous about

23:21record predictions. I think it all starts with the quarterback, because the thing is, this defense,

23:26it's funny, even with all the losses, I still feel like they're going to win. I think four and a

23:32half is the line for their wins, and I still feel like they clear that, because I just think this

23:35defense is going to drag teams to hell a little bit. That's not really what the season is about.

23:41The season is about developing Drake May, and I think it's a really, really difficult

23:48task because of the issues in terms of the offensive line. I have had a lot of difficulty

23:53answering the question of when should Drake May start, and I consider myself to be probably higher

23:57on Drake May than consensus, certainly at ESPN, conversations I've had there.

24:03Success looks like Drake May playing and not getting hurt and being protected sufficiently

24:08so that he can actually develop. I would say what we saw in the preseason, we have ups and downs

24:13and talent, and ideally, one of the young skill players really developing alongside him. You see,

24:19okay, Jalen Polk, maybe he's not a 1A, but he feels like a 1B, and then if next offseason,

24:24you can continue building, that feels great. Worst case scenario is that Drake May plays,

24:32and the offensive line situation is so non-functional that not only does he not develop,

24:37but you actually feel like it sets him back as a quarterback. He develops bad habits,

24:41the classic David Carver and me scenario. Both of those things, I think, are within the realm

24:46of possibility, which is what is kind of exciting, but also kind of scary for Patriots fans.

24:53Also, why it's not that bad that Jacoby Bursette isn't starting right now. We all want to see

24:57Drake May, but he's under contract for quite some time, and ideally, if all goes well, he'll be here

25:02for a very, very long time, so just be patient. Let the kid get out there when the situation

25:08looks a little better for him. Maybe not perfect. Patriots keep saying he's the kind of boat that

25:13rises all ships or what have you, or he is going to be the elevator of that talent, like you

25:16mentioned, but you also don't want to put him out there in a really crappy position either, but

25:21Mina, thank you so much for your time. As always, please, before I let you go, let the people know

25:26where they can find you and what great stuff you got coming down the pipeline that we should be

25:29looking out for. Just note, this is being recorded on Tuesday, just in case I end up dating us in

25:34any way. Yeah, the Mean Time Show featuring Lenny is my podcast. You can listen wherever

25:39you pause. Check it on youtube.com slash at Mina Kimes. A lot of Drake May talk over the last

25:45month and a half. So if you want to go check out that channel, you know, and also I know I'm like,

25:50I'm hiring consensus, but actually everybody I've had on my show has been pretty excited about what

25:54they've seen in the preseason, which has been a lot of fun. And we're starting the season with

26:00my very first NFL preview episode of the year. We are doing every game this Thursday. I don't know

26:06how long that'll last, but Patriots fans tune in now while we're talking about you. I will definitely

26:12make plays. We'll also talk about you at that point too, but check it out wherever you get your

26:16pods. And I'm also going to plug the Sean Evans pod that you did recently because I have such

26:21huge crush on that man. That was an awesome, awesome podcast. Yeah. Best of both worlds

26:26kind of situation. Fantastic. So check out all of Mina's great work. Once again, Mina,

26:31thank you so much for your time. And thank you all as always for watching. Now take care of

26:35yourselves. Take care of each other. We will see you next time. Peace y'all.

Patriots Season Superlative Predictions w/ Mina Kimes | Patriots Daily

Category

Transcript

Recommended