In this episode of the Patriots Postgame Show, CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles and John Zannis wrap up the Senior Bowl, providing insights into the Patriots coaching staff's involvement, standout performances from the week and latest hires. They also preview the highly anticipated Super Bowl matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.
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SportsTranscript
00:00What's going on guys, John Zanis, Taylor Kiles here in a special edition of the Patriots
00:26post game show, which there's no game, Taylor, we know this.
00:31We know there's no game, but we are, we're, we're, we're, we're here bringing it.
00:35It's every Sunday and we'll be doing this through the super bowl with a super bowl post
00:38game show as well.
00:39And Taylor Kiles is packing his bag or his bag is already packed and he's headed to the
00:43super bowl tomorrow to keep up the good work that they've been doing a fresh off the senior
00:50bowl soon to go off to the combine and just basically tracking any and everything the
00:55Patriots are doing this off season to make sure we don't miss a thing.
00:59And so far, Taylor, I don't think we've missed a thing.
01:02No, we have not.
01:04But yeah, we're basically just trying to say the hell out of Massachusetts.
01:06It feels like we're bouncing around, but it's fun to see.
01:08And we were in mobile last week.
01:10We actually stopped in new Orleans.
01:12So now we actually get to be there for a few days, hopefully get to talk to some people,
01:15get some different perspectives on the Patriots, the rebuild and everything that's going on
01:19right now.
01:20So that'll be pretty interesting.
01:21But yeah, it's been a, been a fun week.
01:24It's going to be another fun week.
01:25I'm looking forward to it.
01:26Yeah.
01:27And as always, the show is brought to you by our friends over at prize picks.
01:34Sign up for prize picks today.
01:37New users.
01:38You can see the thing on the screen here.
01:40You play five, you get 50 instantly.
01:42If you want to get in on the action ahead of the big game, I'll tell you all about promotions
01:46and a free square, which is just a gimme involving Patrick Mahomes.
01:50I think he's going to throw more than 0.5 yards.
01:52So I think if you want to get it on the action, that one's an automatic, but let's start kind
01:58of looking instead of ahead, we'll look a little bit at the Superbowl, but let's talk
02:01about the week that was here regarding the Patriots.
02:06You were down at the senior bowl and that's kind of where I want to start here.
02:10And this is a chance to get to look for you.
02:13It's a chance to fall in love all over again, over and over and over and over again.
02:17Oh my God.
02:18Oh my God.
02:19I love this guy.
02:23And this is a chance for you to get pumped up no matter who, which player they take on
02:28draft day.
02:29But also it's interesting just to Patriots send a massive contingent out there led by
02:34none other than Mike Frabel of Gerard Mayo.
02:37We will remember, did not go to the senior bowl last year.
02:39I don't know.
02:40You know, he was reading the how to coach an NFL team, NFL coaching for dummies.
02:48I'm just kidding.
02:49I don't mean to pick on him.
02:55He was not.
02:56But what was clear was Gerard Mayo, at least as far as last off season was concerned, chances
03:02are he would have been involved this year and I'm not picking on him at all.
03:06It's just interesting that he was not involved because he was not involved.
03:10He was not involved in, uh, in, in, in player procurement or really coach hiring or really
03:15much of anything.
03:17And this is just another kind of, uh, before we get into the players indication that it's
03:23the Mike Vrabel show, uh, here, uh, in Foxboro and he's the one leading the charge.
03:28He's first guy who speaks in the Patriots home produced videos of the guys at the senior
03:33bowl.
03:34He's there kind of taking it in and he's going to be taking cues from people.
03:38And just like I said, just lends a little bit more credence to the belief that it starts
03:43with Vrabel and, and, and trickles down from there.
03:45Yeah.
03:46Cause they had the video in LA Wolf's talking about how helpful it was to kind of have them
03:50all get, have Vrabel's perspective and Vrabel wanting those three, him, Elliot Wolfe and
03:54Ryan Cowden, uh, the vice president of personnel to be on the same page.
03:58And that's kind of nice to see, right?
03:59We know that Gerard and Elliot Wolfe wanted to be on the same page, but now that we kind
04:03of know everything that happened, it seemed like Wolfe really was spearheading that while,
04:07like you said, Gerard was still trying to catch up on what the job was.
04:10That's not his fault.
04:11He was doing his best.
04:12Um, but now there does seem to be a direction and Mike Vrabel gets to see these guys.
04:16I know Matt grow was focusing on like the tight ends.
04:18Um, I feel like I saw him with, he was with the receivers.
04:21I think I saw him with some defensive linemen at some points.
04:23So grow kind of doing his thing, getting close to the field.
04:26We saw last year, Ladd McConkey almost ran him over.
04:29Still wasn't enough to convince Matt grow on the Patriots contingency to actually take
04:33him.
04:34What do I need to do to get you to notice me early?
04:37I almost ran you over.
04:38Damn it.
04:38Uh, but yeah, so, and I'm glad that they were sticking to those certain positions
04:42because I will say one takeaway that I had was if you're a Patriots fan, this, the
04:48senior bowl, specifically, I think the shrine bowl had a few players that kind of
04:51caught my, just for going through Twitter, it wasn't there, but the senior bowl, when
04:55you talk about offensive tackle pass catcher, whether that's tight end wide
04:58receiver, even running back, there's a lot of guys in the defensive line, but like
05:02pass rushers, there's depth in this draft.
05:05It just kind of depends on where you pick your spots and how for agency goes as well,
05:08because you don't want this to be another year where you're drafting guys, expecting
05:12them to have to play a massive role.
05:14Maybe your first round pick, you know, maybe even your second round pick, but you
05:17don't want to have to rely on like the Jayvon Bakers and the Caden Wallace is
05:20necessarily because you hope that the better and absent for agency are good
05:22enough, but right now we're focused on senior bowl guys.
05:25And there were a lot that stood out to me as potential, like second round and maybe
05:28fourth, fifth round kind of guys.
05:30I think the Patriots could pounce on.
05:32Okay.
05:33Um, in terms of, before we get into the players and again, you, you did a lot
05:38and those who haven't watched it go back.
05:40It's all on our YouTube channel, uh, Taylor top takeaways.
05:44Um, he got to talk to a lot of people out there, get a lot of different
05:48perspectives, a lot of player interviews as well, and people you might be
05:51interested in talking to or hearing from, but, um, you can go through all
05:55of Taylor's observations day one, two, three, for a more in-depth look, and
05:59then check out the CLNS media website as well, but just your snapshot.
06:02Anything positionally like that you were surprised by in terms of groupings, like,
06:07okay, I didn't think I'd be so blown away by blank, or I didn't think
06:11there'd be as much depth here.
06:14I will say there were definitely some small school guys I'll say that stood
06:17out and that was the biggest thing because these bowl games are for all
06:20these players, some of them, it's like the competition level, some of them,
06:23you just have some lingering questions, even if they went to good schools, but
06:26really the small school guys benefit the most because you don't see them against
06:30the kind of competition they may face in the league.
06:32So now they finally get to go mano a mano against some stiffer guys.
06:36Now, Darius Alexander, actually, I wound up on Toledo's post
06:39about him from the senior bowl.
06:41It was me and a couple other guys that I'm buddies with down
06:43there because his stock shot up.
06:45This is a guy who was beating.
06:47He's a defensive tackle, right?
06:48Here you are with the defensive tackles already.
06:50Everyone wants to hear you talk about which receivers, but right away
06:53you go right to defensive tackles.
06:55It's like, it's like a disease, but it's because we don't want to talk about it,
07:00but it is for the Patriots.
07:02Of course it is bottom line.
07:03You need pass rushers.
07:04I don't care if it's inside, outside, if you can get a guy to get after the
07:07passer and even be even as a run stopper as well, that gets me excited.
07:11And Alexander is the guy who came in.
07:12People knew he was a run stopper.
07:14Like you couldn't move him when he was taking on double teams.
07:16He was good shooting up the field.
07:17Pass rush was a bit inconsistent in one on ones.
07:21He was fantastic.
07:22Not only beating guards, but beating tackles like Ariante ursery.
07:25I think he got the best of Josh Connerly jr.
07:27Like two of the better tackles at the bowl game.
07:30And that's the kind of thing you don't see from people other than like Chris Jones.
07:33You don't see defensive tackles, go out and beat defense tackles,
07:37caught and beat offensive tackles.
07:38Often he did that.
07:39So that was exciting.
07:40David Walker out of central Arkansas, undersized pass rusher.
07:43He had a really good weekend.
07:45Gave it to Anthony Belton, who was one of the most unstoppable offensive tackles.
07:48And then talk about wide receivers.
07:50Uh, Jack Besh winner of the entire weekend.
07:54I got to say, came in with one of the more tragic, but compelling stories.
07:58His brother, unfortunately passed away, um, in the shooting on New Year's day on
08:02new year's day, um, in new Orleans.
08:04And he came in with a heavy heart.
08:06He talked about his brother wanting to make him proud.
08:07I kind of asked him about how he was able to just have the perspective to turn such
08:12a tragic thing into, you know, motivation or whatever you want to call it for this
08:15weekend.
08:16And he did that, man.
08:17He caught almost everything thrown his way.
08:19The only ball I didn't see him catch was one where he got lit up by a safety with
08:23a full head of steam and almost came down with that.
08:25And as you can see the ball skills, the separation, the physicality, and you noticed
08:29him even when he wasn't making plays on the field, he's celebrating with teammates.
08:33He's helping injured defensive players off the field.
08:35Like things that I noticed with Joe Milton last year where they don't seem important,
08:39but when it's, when a guy's performing and you see those little things for a team like
08:43the Patriots, where they need an injection of character.
08:45And I think some high character guys that stood out as well on top of them having a
08:48dominant performance.
08:49So Jack may have been one of the winners of the entire weekend.
08:53Exactly.
08:53You know, and he's helping blind people across the street and old ladies reach the
08:57top shelf at the grocery store when he was at the combine and he like gave us food or
09:02like helped out all this guy.
09:03Yeah, no, but I mean, look, I, I, I tease, but you know Daniel Jeremiah over at NFL
09:08network among his standouts of the week listed first and foremost, Darius Alexander,
09:13and you know, Toledo, this is the second year in a row where you've got a standout
09:16senior bowl performance out of Toledo with Quinion Mitchell being another person who
09:20popped, uh, last year.
09:22And, and, and that led to, you know, a lot of IO eyes being open.
09:26Um, so again, that's what it is.
09:27And what I always find interesting about these, these, you know, gatherings in these
09:32weeks is this is the beginning of how little we know season, you know, because all
09:38you've been living on in terms of draft stuff is a little, some drips and drabs and
09:42some mocks with some preconceived notions and mainly people pirating other people's
09:48and not really doing much of their own with the exception of a handful, you know, a few
09:51people out there that are doing the work all season long, but then you see people
09:55really, really start to dig in on things.
09:57And then you start to hear names and then you start to see people fly quote unquote
10:01flying up the board.
10:02And the reality is we just didn't know about them beforehand.
10:04And now, you know, a little bit more about them now.
10:06So I do think that's going to change the overall perception of this draft class,
10:11which people are a little down on Taylor.
10:13Cause it's like, well, crap, there's no top end talent.
10:16And the best tackles are really guards and the quarterbacks are crap anyway.
10:20And the best wide receiver can't move his hips.
10:22And he's just a big dude who's not going to be able to run.
10:26And there's a lot of people who are down.
10:28Is that still accurate in your mind?
10:31Again, this is just the first glimpse at a few players you got to see down there.
10:35I know you'll be heading to the combine later and you're just starting to dig into
10:39the tape, your general snapshot of this draft classes.
10:42It's similar in terms of strengths, weaknesses, sweet spots in terms of where
10:46you're getting the most value, all of that.
10:48And again, I not going to hold you to it because I know it's
10:50super early in the process.
10:52I just really think it's because it's not so top heavy.
10:55And that's what a lot of the conversation is, especially at this time, you want to
10:58really hype up those guys at the top of the draft, but you're looking at it and
11:01you're saying all of those top guys have like some kind of deficiency, depending
11:05on what your taste is, right?
11:07Like I love Mason Graham.
11:08He is undersized though.
11:09And you can definitely see that on tape, even though he's got a ton of
11:11other superpowers that I think make him worthy of a top five pick.
11:15You look at Ted McMillan, people think he can't separate.
11:17I don't think that's true, but he doesn't have the blazing speed
11:19of like a Brian Thomas, a Barb Peterson Jr.
11:22Like he doesn't have that complete profile where you really
11:24say top five, like lock it in.
11:27And if you're a Patriots fan, the last thing you want to hear is struggles
11:30with separation, but good at contested catches with any wide receiver
11:36prospects coming off of the Jalen Polk experience in year one, I think people
11:41were like, no, I need someone who can run the F away from people.
11:44So again, maybe day one is, is blown, but there seems to be some day two targets.
11:50Maybe day one is not your dream receiver.
11:53You're not going to go out there.
11:54There just isn't that guy who's automatic, uh, there, as you said, you
11:59know, some deficiencies with everybody day two guys, though, you
12:02seem to like quite a few names.
12:04A hundred percent, because the biggest thing for me is like
12:07with Jalen Polk and Jayvon Baker.
12:08These were guys that had talent.
12:10Right.
12:10But I don't think Polk, we knew he was supposed to be the high character guy.
12:14He was physically tough.
12:15And then we came to learn maybe the mental toughness wasn't quite there.
12:18Same thing with Jayvon Baker, although that was more understandable.
12:21It's a fourth round pick has history with Drake may really good athlete.
12:24You're hoping you can get the best out of him.
12:25If you don't, it's a fourth round pick.
12:26It happens this year.
12:28When you look at like a Jack Besh and also a Pat Brian, who I think may be
12:31like end of third round, maybe fourth round kind of guy, because he doesn't
12:35have great speed as an X receiver.
12:37These are guys who have overcome some real stuff in their lives and
12:40have shown true mental toughness on top of on tape being very physical players.
12:45Like they want to block, they want to be tone setters.
12:47Pat Bryant was a captain on his team.
12:49Jack Besh has everything that you would really want in a wide receiver.
12:52Like he wants to be nasty, wants to be physical, but then you also just
12:55have the guys who can separate.
12:56Like Xavier Estrepo had a fantastic weekend.
12:59He was getting open, constantly making catches, getting involved
13:02in the run game, especially, which is something I really like to see there.
13:05So I think if you are looking for more that day two or like day
13:09three receiver, I think the Patriots can find one of those outside guys.
13:13Or even if you want more of a slot kind of guy, you can get the separators.
13:16You can get the guys who get just enough separation, but
13:19may win more of the catch point.
13:20Um, so there's going to be some variety.
13:22And I know that Mike Vrabel said he wants separation.
13:25He wants yak.
13:26So I don't think he's really going to go for those guys
13:28that do struggle with separation.
13:29So I'm going to have a closer eye on that, but really a lot of the guys
13:33that I see that I think fit the Patriots mold are guys with size
13:36who have the ability to separate.
13:37Also throw Jaden Higgins into that mix out of Iowa state, Jalen Noel.
13:41He's undersized, but a really good separator.
13:43Like you can find a good value.
13:44And for a Patriots receiver core where you're hoping they add one
13:47more veteran, right.
13:48To kind of just shore things up and add consistency pop.
13:51If he's a three or a four, whatever, he's still going to have a role.
13:54And then Kendrick Bourne played really well under Josh McDaniels, who seems
13:57to just understand his learning style better to get the most out of him.
14:00You don't need a ton of guys.
14:01So if they can get one of these, like day two, day three receivers, I think
14:05he could go a long way just in having that young guy that Drake may start
14:08to develop some rapport with.
14:10Yep.
14:10No doubt about it.
14:11Um, as far as, and again, tons more coverage, uh, coming up here and this
14:15is, uh, it, this Taylor's the guy you want to follow when it comes to this
14:19stuff, uh, throughout draft season, because, uh, not only does he know
14:23what he's talking about, he's excited to talk about it, he's putting in the
14:26work cause he likes, he likes looking at these, he likes looking at these
14:29dudes and seeing what they can do and seeing what they bring.
14:31Um, so this is after another miserable season.
14:35This is where Taylor finally gets to kind of run free.
14:39Exactly.
14:40Uh, while we're on the topic of it, I am curious again, and we're going to
14:43talk about the Patriots coaching staff a little bit, but since we hit on
14:46Polk and Baker, uh, you know, you've got Josh McDaniels in place and an
14:49interesting report about McDaniels earlier in the year, uh, earlier in the
14:53week, I'll get to that in a minute.
14:55But, uh, first off here, uh, do you get a feeling, uh, that McDaniels can
15:00unlock Polk and Baker because entering the draft, it changes your philosophy.
15:05Right.
15:05If you think you're at a reset, start over.
15:09Like if these guys come in here and like, Oh God, I hated these players.
15:13I would have never drafted them.
15:14I don't think they're redeemable.
15:16And I think it's a clean slate.
15:17We've got to just cut our losses.
15:19I mean, I know they're, you're not going to do that with Wolf's
15:21still in the building necessarily.
15:23You'll give them a fair shake, but they may have preconceived notions
15:25of what they think these guys are.
15:27They may also think, Oh, these guys really particularly Polk.
15:32Um, there's something there.
15:34We just got to figure it out.
15:36You think, you know, you mentioned born and Josh McDaniels very much turned
15:41Kendrick born into a relevant person and probably born owns half of his
15:44current paycheck to McDaniels and the deal that he signed there, because
15:48that's where he showed his value in the year with Josh, uh, and was doing
15:52really well the next year as well.
15:54I tore his ACL and that was that.
15:56Um, but, uh, what do you think here in terms of McDaniel's ability to, uh,
16:03get in with these guys and kind of get a little bit more or turn them into
16:07at least what you expect based on their draft position, the type of production
16:11that you would get, which is a two or a three, you know, out of Polk.
16:15So the history does worry you because the Patriots offense historically
16:19hasn't been super friendly to young receivers.
16:21A lot of that is attributed to Tom Brady, right?
16:24The offense became so robust because it starts with Charlie Weiss and then
16:28gradually builds over years and years based on what Tom Brady likes.
16:31And you had like five minutes to get into Brady's good graces.
16:34And if you failed, you were gone.
16:36Exactly.
16:37And that's, that's a tough position to be in as a young guy.
16:39On top of the fact that this, it was a very option heavy offense, right?
16:42Where you really had to be on the same page as Brady.
16:45And if you weren't, it was just kind of a non-starter.
16:47Then the only young receiver that had success after Brady was Jacobi
16:51or under Josh McDaniels was Jacobi Myers.
16:54And even he admitted he had some confidence issues.
16:56It wasn't until Cam Newton kind of pulled him aside and was like, Hey, bro,
16:59like you belong in this league.
17:01Like you're a really good player.
17:02That was when he said he actually got the confidence.
17:04And I think it was that Ravens game in Foxboro where there was like the monsoon.
17:08I, he had like the double pass or something.
17:10I think that was the first game that he said he really started to feel like he
17:13got confident and really start rolling.
17:15So after Jalen poke and Jayvon Baker just had a season where it felt like they
17:19weren't connecting to the playbook or they were just really in their heads.
17:22It's hard to think that they're going to go to a guy like Josh McDaniels, who I'm
17:25not saying that, uh, Alex Van Pelt wasn't detail oriented, but Josh is on a different
17:30level.
17:30He's done it at the highest level.
17:32He's won super bowls.
17:33He's worked with the greatest quarterback of all time.
17:35He's going to have a standard.
17:36And if you don't meet it, you're going to fall behind.
17:39So if Jayvon Baker and Jalen poke can come into this, like Keyshawn
17:42booty did last season, where he's like, I'm not doing this again, where I'm just
17:45on the fringes.
17:46And Alex and Pelt even said, he didn't know that Keyshawn booty was going to make
17:49the team, but booty decided, I'm going to put my head down.
17:52I'm going to do the work and I'm going to figure this out and be a contributor on
17:54this team.
17:55If poking Baker can do that, I think there's a chance they can succeed in this
17:59offense because post role is so easily translatable to what J to what Jacoby
18:03Myers did.
18:04Yeah, I got that right.
18:05I almost, I got Jacoby percent a year.
18:07Jacoby percent has gotten me kind of in my head, but then Jayvon Baker also pretty
18:10similar, put him at X, like the Nelson Aguilar, run a go, run a stop, run a slant.
18:15It's a very easy route tree, relatively just kind of make it easy for him.
18:19And McDaniels did spend some time in college this off season.
18:22So maybe he kind of learned how the new type of young athlete, the NIL athlete
18:27wants to be taught and maybe some of the concessions you have to make when it
18:30comes to leveling with those guys.
18:32But at the same time, if there's a bunch of veterans ahead of them, is Josh McDaniels
18:35going to take that time?
18:36Or is he going to say, Hey, if you can't figure it out, we're going to trade you.
18:39And that's really where the question mark is for me is, is Josh going to go out of his
18:43way to make sure these guys can catch up or is he going to lean on other guys and
18:47really just focus on Drake May and getting stability around him?
18:51And then, especially with this type of offense that Josh runs, there may be some
18:54college influences, but it's, it's truly like a positionless offense where just
18:59based on the play call, you need to know what your specific role is for some guys.
19:03That could be easier for some guys that can be more confusing because you have to
19:06know what exactly your position is and how that relates to the concept of the play.
19:10So it's all projection.
19:12I'm leaning toward the pessimistic side, honestly, of these guys really catching
19:16up because it's all on them.
19:18And from what we've seen, they, we don't know if they have the mental dexterity to
19:23survive in the NFL and thrive in the NFL, even if they have all the talent in the
19:26world, and that would be a shame.
19:28Uh, if that were truly the case, um, because as you said, character and the
19:34mental aspect, certainly for Polk were two driving forces behind, uh, drafting
19:39him, even though, you know, some of the measurables maybe didn't stack up with
19:44some of the other people who were going in and around that spot, uh, in the draft.
19:48So, uh, you know, the two things he was supposed to be best at the cerebral
19:51aspect of the game and the contested catch were two of the things he was the
19:54worst at, which is very, um, even the uncontested catch, the catch, the catch
20:01was hard.
20:02Um, so we'll continue on, uh, other interesting storyline of the week is the
20:05rounding out of the Patriots coaching staff and maybe a position or two left to
20:09go.
20:09We'll get Taylor's thoughts on that.
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21:24picks, run your game.
21:26And let's talk about that free, free, that free square.
21:30Yeah.
21:30It's this guy.
21:32I mean, does it matter who it is?
21:34Someone's getting 0.5 yards passing.
21:37Okay.
21:37Someone's getting more than that.
21:39That's all you got to do here.
21:40More hit more on Patrick Mahomes.
21:43It's a free square and it's just going to get you a little bit
21:46closer, uh, to cashing in here.
21:48And as we said, you see it here on the, on the screen, sign up today.
21:52New users, uh, play five, get 50 instantly.
21:55You do not have to win as our friend, Mike Kadlec, uh, just
21:59said in that, uh, announcement there.
22:01So, uh, let's get into a couple of things here.
22:04The Patriots have rounded out their coaching staff for the most part.
22:07There's still some spots left to go.
22:09And we'll talk about a couple of things recently, a couple, uh, reports
22:13about what's going on here today.
22:15Well, we'll start with today.
22:17What we have, Patrick Slater won't be returning to the coaching staff.
22:21Um, that's interesting to me because no offense.
22:25I don't think he did much outside of meaning outside of being a
22:29spiritual kind of advisor and leader.
22:31And I don't know why you wouldn't want or need that.
22:34Um, so again, it's a kind of the continued purge of anything that,
22:38that is remnants of not as much the Mayo, but even the bill, uh, regime here.
22:45And very much Mike Vrabel wants to put his own stamp on things.
22:48I know a couple of coaches did return.
22:50Uh, and a couple did not Mike Pellegrino is one who did not.
22:54That was some, the people were disappointed in, uh, Ben McAdoo is
22:59returning, but we're doing, we're doing the reverse Patricia judge thing.
23:03We're taking an offensive guy and putting them on the
23:06defensive side of things.
23:08Again, he's not being given any real power.
23:11I think he's here in an advisory capacity.
23:13Um, and it's, I guess, why not have another grownup in the room?
23:17I don't think that there's much to this year, even though I've seen
23:19some people on social media, like what defense that's crazy.
23:23I don't think it matters much.
23:24I could be mistaken.
23:25And the other interesting one is Wes Welker.
23:29That would be a fun guy to bring back.
23:31Can he coach receivers?
23:33I don't know, but he's one of the best to ever do it here in new England.
23:36Uh, and he's a familiar face and he and bill, uh, he'd been doing this job
23:41and trying to get in here and bill wanted nothing to do with him.
23:44Uh, and there's some animosity there.
23:46And I would, I, I, I'd welcome Wes Welker, the guy back here.
23:50I don't know whether or not he, you know, what he, what, you
23:52know, how good he is as a coach.
23:54But, uh, your thoughts on kind of everything that's gone on
23:57in the last few days here.
23:58Yeah.
23:58Bill really wanted Wes as many feet away from the organization as possible.
24:02Yeah.
24:02Yeah, exactly.
24:03I was at that press conference.
24:05It took us all a while and it took us a while.
24:08And by the end of it, we're like, he did what we, he definitely
24:11did what we think he did.
24:13Right.
24:13And it was like, yeah, it took the whole time.
24:16I'm like, these answers are so weird.
24:19And we're just like, what is going on?
24:20Then we all, we all started, we all started looking at each other.
24:22We're like, Oh, I get it.
24:24I get it.
24:25That's pretty funny.
24:26No, but yeah.
24:27So for what I'll say, the Ben McAdoo one really kind of set off alarm
24:30bells for me in a good way.
24:31Cause I thought it was pretty interesting where you get a different perspective.
24:34I know that he was working a lot with the third down packages and trying
24:37to prepare Drake may in the offense, what they were going to see in terms
24:40of blitz packages and things like that.
24:42I know Mike Reese mentioned that his role is basically going to be kind
24:45of self-scouting the offense and telling them how defenses might attack them.
24:48I think that's really cool because you have Josh McDaniels don't really
24:52need Ben McAdoo in that role necessarily because Josh is so good at that.
24:56And he's got like three guys helping him with quarterback.
24:58So I'm sure you can find different guys that kind of split those duties up.
25:02Um, but I like kind of having that eye in the sky, Ben McAdoo
25:05is a really bright football mind.
25:07And I don't think we have any complaints from what he did last season.
25:09If anything, stories came out and people really liked him.
25:11They liked the way he ran the room when he was up there.
25:13So I liked that retention.
25:15It did sound like Matthew Slater, not just the role wasn't going to
25:18carry over, but he wouldn't be here.
25:19I'm going to read it straight off this from Mike Reese.
25:22Read his piece to a lot of great nuggets is always on Sundays.
25:25Um, he said that may noted how Matthew Slater was a top mentor to him during
25:28his rookie season, which included all aspects of life that leaves a
25:31significant void for may in 2025.
25:34Slater was serving as a special assistant to former head coach, Gerard
25:37Mayo, a position that didn't carry over to the new regime.
25:40So it sounds like more likely than not Slater's not going to be here.
25:44I agree.
25:44I don't understand why you wouldn't want him to have some kind of role.
25:49Like what was the guy who was the team chaplain who went to Houston and
25:52completely ruined the franchise?
25:54Who was that?
25:54What was that again?
25:57Yeah, I care about if we remember, it's fine, but you, we, they had that
26:00guy who was very good when he was here and then went to Houston and
26:03showed his ass apparently, but as a team chaplain or something, Matthew
26:06Slater, he's a legend in the franchise.
26:08Someone who always gives great perspective.
26:10Easter, Easter, Easter beat.
26:12Yeah.
26:12Easter beat.
26:13Um, so yeah, I thought that would have been pulling some voodoo shit
26:16behind the scenes with the owner too.
26:18You know, that was some weird stuff in Houston, but yeah.
26:20Yeah.
26:21That was really, really weird, especially because there was
26:23glowing reviews out of new England.
26:24And then it's like, no, this guy's a fricking tear.
26:26That was so odd.
26:27But yeah, with Matthew Slater, I think he and Braybel even
26:29overlapped for a year, right?
26:30Cause Braybel didn't leave till he was two.
26:31He got traded 2009.
26:33Right.
26:35I think he was like here, 2007, 2008.
26:36Yeah.
26:37So they overlap, but maybe they didn't have a great relationship like Slater.
26:39Ooh, my bad.
26:40Slater was a rookie.
26:41The reason that Gerard trusted him so much is they were
26:43drafted in the same class.
26:44So I kind of understand, but if there's no Matthew Slater on the roster, and I
26:48remember on games with names, he kind of talked about how he didn't know what
26:50he wanted to do after football.
26:52That's kind of disappointing.
26:53Hopefully he finds some way back on the roster and then Wes Welker
26:56as the wide receivers coach.
26:57I mean, that makes all the sense in the world, right?
26:59I know thinking football, great YouTube channel.
27:01If you want to learn more about the X's nose of the game,
27:03I watch him religiously.
27:04He just broke down the 2007 offense.
27:07And it's just so cool to see how far ahead they were in the way they used
27:10Wes and Josh's innovations, all that.
27:12Um, and he's worked with Vrabel.
27:14He's worked with Josh, obviously.
27:15I just think that Wes is a perfect fit for them.
27:18Um, so hopefully they can cross the goal line on that because I don't know how
27:20many really good receivers coaches are on the market.
27:23I believe the receivers coach that, um, forget his name.
27:26It escapes me right now, but Vrabel's coach in Tennessee is currently employed.
27:29So I'm not sure where exactly they'd go.
27:31So I'm all for Wes Welker.
27:33Um, from what I've heard, he was more of the scapegoat, um,
27:36in Washington, in Miami.
27:38So yeah, bring them on board.
27:39I'm all for it.
27:40But, uh, excited about Ben McAdoo to see what that is.
27:43Unfortunate.
27:43Matthew Slater may not be on the team though.
27:45Yeah.
27:46Again, it doesn't, doesn't make a ton of sense, but it is what it is.
27:50Um, the other little nugget and a couple of ones out here, um, as the
27:55coaching staff is, uh, nearly complete, uh, you know, for our, our, our friend
27:59over Greg Bedard and other people had hinted at this, it might've been a
28:02little bit of a nudge McDaniels, not, not, not hire him or else, but a little
28:07nudge here, I'm not asking you to comment on another reporter's reporting.
28:11Just in general, this story seems odd to me that the crafts would get
28:15involved in this sort of way.
28:16Um, because a lot of the stuff that we'd heard was, I mean, and that you've
28:22seen his variable coming in and getting a fair amount of control about what he
28:27wants to do and the idea that he's going to bring in his personnel guy.
28:29And then Robin Glazer goes and that kind of sends off some alarm bells as well
28:33as like what happened last year is not happening again.
28:36So I would find this odd to think that the crafts would be, I, I could see them
28:41saying, like, take a look at our guy.
28:43We, we like him a lot and Vrabel like a look.
28:47It's like when I call one of my colleagues, I'm like, Hey, I got a buddy,
28:51you know, who's got a kid and he wants to intern, can you just, just look at
28:55him and then it's up to them to decide, you know, whether they do it or not.
28:59I can't imagine they shoved McDaniels down variables.
29:03Yeah.
29:04And I just think that would get things off to a weird start.
29:07I feel like we're very clear that he wasn't such an important position.
29:12Right.
29:12Right.
29:13And also, I mean, so we know they talked to Eric B NME, which
29:16is kind of a similar situation.
29:17Like he's probably never going to be hired as a head coach anywhere,
29:20except for maybe college.
29:21Even then I think that, I mean, I'm not the college universities are exactly
29:25strangers to hiring coaches with, you know, certain track records, but he's
29:29a similar to Josh McDaniels or because of his history, he may not get a job
29:33where he leaves at any point, but it's not like BNME has a track record.
29:36That's better than Josh McDaniels.
29:38He definitely follows the trend of like every single coach that
29:41McDaniel has hired is from the West coast tree, whereas he's more Aaron art Perkins.
29:45So there's maybe that element that variable did want that West coast
29:48system, like you had with Matt Lafleur, things like that.
29:51But frankly, given Mike variables, track record of hiring, like for
29:55one, um, Matt Lafleur was already in the building in Tennessee.
29:58Arthur Smith was already in the building in Tennessee.
30:01And then the one hire that he made ended up being kind of a dumpster fire.
30:04So I wasn't, I was definitely skeptical of who he even had in mind, period
30:09Brable, if it wasn't Josh McDaniels.
30:10So I definitely, again, think it's odd if the crafts already started
30:15kind of stepping in variables territory when he just got here.
30:18But at the same time, it's Josh McDaniels.
30:20I find it hard.
30:22I, and I, again, I don't want to comment on the reporting, but I just feel like
30:25with the information I have or lack of information I have, it just feels hard
30:29to believe that variable would have preferred anybody else on the marketing.
30:31Let yeah, no, cause Ben Johnson's the only offensive mind.
30:34I really liked more than Josh.
30:36So yeah, I don't really get that.
30:38If, if Rabel wasn't already on board with Josh, and then again, for the
30:42crafts to even go that far with someone, they just hired to basically
30:45take over their franchise.
30:47Uh, I, I would tend to agree there.
30:49Uh, another, uh, nugget kind of coming out from, from Bedard.
30:53And this is something we talked about.
30:55Um, I, I brought up immediately, you know, during that last game of the
31:00year was the, um, the Joe Milton situation and, you know, what they
31:04would want to do there and report that.
31:06Yeah, they could consider trading Milton.
31:08Um, I think that that.
31:11I don't know if his value is ever going to be higher than it's
31:13going to be this off season.
31:14Cause I, unless Drake may goes down and Milton is the, is the dedicated
31:18backup and I doubt whether he will be, I still think they're going to be
31:21going out and getting a veteran this off season to fill the Jacoby
31:24reset role, you get Flacco.
31:26His name was mentioned.
31:27There's a couple out there.
31:29So I don't think Milton gets in a game ever again, again,
31:33as long as Drake may is alive.
31:34So I don't know what you're holding out for here.
31:37I, if, if you can sell high on hope and get a day to pick out of this, I think
31:41you run to the, you know, and offer it up there, the way I would handle this
31:46is if someone's offering you a day to pick you as you run, you say yes, please.
31:51You take it.
31:52Now, if it's more of like a fifth rounder or something like that, even a fourth
31:55rounder, I think I would pretty seriously entertain, but if we're only tall, if
31:59we're talking like a fifth, then I would understand holding on to him.
32:02Maybe just so you can get them in a preseason game.
32:05You can get them under Josh McDaniels, who obviously is a quarterback
32:07grew in his own right, even more established than someone like Alex van
32:10Pelt, maybe you say, all right, Josh, get his hands on him, put him in the
32:14preseason games and let them ball out.
32:16And then his value really skyrockets.
32:18But sure.
32:19If you're getting a fourth or better, I'm not thinking twice.
32:21Absolutely.
32:22You trade Joe Milton.
32:23Cause worst case scenario, you can get another quarterback in that kind
32:26of range with the physical tools, and then you can turn them into whatever you want.
32:29Um, but again, if it's a fifth rounder or like a late day three, for sure.
32:33You hold onto him because I think he showed enough talent that you think
32:36that you can get more out, you can get more juice out of that squeeze.
32:38Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
32:40I would agree there.
32:40The last thing I want to talk about, cause we'll do more of this during the week.
32:43And as we said, Taylor, Kyle's going to be headed to new Orleans.
32:46Um, where his number one job is to make sure that Ahmed gets back alive.
32:51His number two job is to go out and talk to a bunch of people, um,
32:54about Patriots related content.
32:56But number three is, Hey, there's a game going on too.
32:59And we'll, we'll talk a little bit about that as well.
33:01I know we're, you know, very provincial here and we like our local stuff and
33:06been there, done that with chiefs Eagles, but it still has the
33:10makings of an excellent game here.
33:12And you're just, I don't know whether you've had a chance to kind of
33:14formulate any early opinions on this matchup as we, uh, are about to embark
33:19on the week that is a Superbowl week and all of the madness that ensues.
33:24Not a whole lot, honestly, but my biggest thing is just.
33:28The Eagles need to get off to a fast start, I think, because
33:31they are absolutely built.
33:32If they have a lead, they were built to keep it.
33:34I think the chiefs are built to, if you keep it closed until the fourth, it's
33:37just like all those Patriots, Superbowl teams where the first three
33:41quarters really don't matter.
33:42If it is a one score game or within reach of Patrick Holmes towards the end.
33:47That's where I think, I'm sorry, you're screwed Eagles.
33:49You don't have the homes on your side.
33:50Oh, well, history is against you, but everything else feels like this
33:55should be the Eagles game, right?
33:56They're dominant upfront on both sides of the ball.
33:59They're also loaded at the skill positions.
34:00You got Cooper Dejean, Quinion Mitchell, Darius slay, then you
34:04got A.J.
34:05Brown and Devante Smith.
34:06Like, I just don't really, not that the chiefs are loaded in their own.
34:09Right.
34:10But I feel like still like the Eagles are a head above where the chiefs are talent
34:14wise, then at the same time, it comes down to coaching where the Eagles have
34:18some really bright coaches, but they're also young, they haven't been on the
34:21stage before and the chiefs have spags.
34:23They got Andy Reed.
34:24Like they have dudes who know what it means to play in these games.
34:27And when it comes down to those really close moments where again, if the
34:31Eagles don't make this a game where they're in control late, that's where
34:34you're completely giving the chiefs all the advantages because your cards are
34:37on the table at that point, comes down to execution, who has the last call in
34:41their back pocket and spags has showed it last or two weeks ago and he's shown
34:44it time and again, he always has that one play he hasn't called yet and he
34:49times it perfectly and when you think it's one thing, he's been teasing it
34:52the entire game and then he pulls it out.
34:55You think you have it blocked up like last or two weeks ago with Josh Allen
34:58and unblocked rusher turns into a controversy for Benjamin Solak becomes
35:02the scapegoat for Josh Allen in that play.
35:05Um, I don't, did you see how bad it got on Twitter when, uh, Ben posted what
35:09he thought about the play and then all the former players just went after him.
35:12So mad.
35:14That is my living nightmare.
35:15Literally.
35:16Like I was getting secondhand anxiety.
35:19The worst part about it is like, not only do people go after him, they
35:22went after like his manhood, like sit at home and like, you never like this
35:26and that and like comfort of Ryan Leafs.
35:28Try to box him.
35:30Ryan Leaf.
35:31Exactly.
35:31And like, you know, and then even Fitzpatrick who was nice about it.
35:35Like, I know he does good stuff, but it's really easy to do this from the
35:38cozy comforts of your couch, you know, it was like, it's like, you don't
35:42have to, you don't have to do all that.
35:43Like he would have been fine if he just taken that out, but whatever, you
35:46know, former players, they're protective of the game, but Ryan Leaf point blank.
35:50That was so weird.
35:51I saw him on the field during the senior bowl and I was like, I know what you did.
35:56I know what you did.
35:57Um, but yeah, this super bowl, I am not picking against the chiefs.
36:00I'm not doing it.
36:01I did it for the championship game.
36:03I'm done because I just don't know exactly how.
36:08They just, because of the chief's voodoo magic.
36:10I think everything about this should be a comfortable Eagles victory,
36:13but it's not going to be.
36:14And I think the chiefs when X factor, I do think is going to be, um, Xavier worthy.
36:20I really do think they're finally starting to figure out how to use him
36:23because it's not downfield, use them horizontally.
36:25That's where the chiefs are at their best.
36:27And I feel like if they can really get him going, the Eagles defense is very
36:31different from the last time these teams played, where I don't know if that like
36:34zip motion they use last time they gave the Eagles fits, I hope they'll be
36:38prepared this time, but Reed's always got something pulled out, especially
36:41in those red zone packages.
36:42You never know, but at least we're in for a good game, right?
36:45That's guaranteed.
36:46It's going to be entertaining.
36:47Yeah.
36:47I'm with you.
36:48Like, like Thanos, they are, they, they, they are inevitable, you know?
36:51So that's, that's what it feels like.
36:54Nothing's going to matter.
36:55Ultimately the chiefs will, again, anyone who watched the Patriots has to have full
36:59appreciation for what it is the chiefs that do.
37:01If you watch the pages for 20 years, that's how everyone felt every time
37:05when they walked away losing, like we could have beaten them.
37:09No, you couldn't actually, they were always going to do.
37:12They were always going to make one play more than you always.
37:14And that's what the chiefs do.
37:16It's, Oh, they're getting the bricks.
37:17Nope.
37:18They're just more disciplined and they're better at situational football
37:21and they're smarter than you.
37:22They're just better than you.
37:23And they are, and that's who they are.
37:25So you, I, I think again, we, anyone who grew up here watching what the Patriots
37:31did, you, it has a unique understanding of who the chiefs are and why they are.
37:37That being said, I could see this potentially taking on a, uh, a Tampa Bay
37:42Bucs sort of feel into that Superbowl where the chiefs physically muck things
37:49up enough upfront or get enough pressure or do different things where it won't
37:55matter, um, what they might be able to push them around a little bit there.
37:58They're, they're just going to, by running it down their throats and
38:00dominating them in the trenches and getting enough pressure on the homes
38:03where all of a sudden the chiefs are scrambling and not their selves.
38:06I, I think if the Eagles win a close game, the chiefs are going to win, but
38:09I think the Eagles could bully them, you know, and, and, and push them around a
38:12little bit, that's my earlier.
38:15Cause Tony's probably a left tackle.
38:16That left guard spot is just begging to get exploited by Jalen Carter.
38:20Blown up, blown up.
38:21So I can see that, but again, I, you know, we'll, we'll see how that goes.
38:25I think you get a good indication early of which way this is going.
38:28Um, which is what's going there.
38:31So, uh, that's, that's it.
38:33That's all we've got for you.
38:34Real quick.
38:34Shout out my boy, Tom.
38:35I did see him at stop and shop.
38:37I was checking out.
38:38He said he watches every single day.
38:39Appreciate the support, Tom.
38:41That was really cool.
38:41It was a pleasure to meet you.
38:43Got a shout out, Tom and Taylor.
38:44As it turns out, you guys had some fans down at the senior bowl.
38:47I'm, it was telling me as well.
38:48Oh yeah.
38:49Yeah.
38:49It was, uh, it's just, it's a really good community.
38:51I met him at the draft last year.
38:52It's all my like online Twitter friends, but honestly, all these like events, you
38:56just meet a lot of really great people, really kind people who also nerds, fellow
39:00nerds, a lot of nerds, all in all the nerd shits going on at these events.
39:04I'm absolutely in heaven.
39:05I love it.
39:07That's the best.
39:08I can't wait.
39:08I'm like, can the nerds, can the people who understand this, tell me stuff, you
39:12know, like, give me the info, give me the dirt.
39:14I I'm a junkie.
39:16Cause I don't know anything.
39:16I need you guys out there freaking geeking out over this stuff.
39:20So I can learn a thing or two, uh, which is great, but
39:23thank you guys for jumping on.
39:24I know it's a Sunday and there's no show.
39:27So the Patriots post game show is a bit of a misnomer, but it is our Sunday show.
39:31And we're out here, uh, doing a little football stuff.
39:34We will have, as I said, a ton more, ton, ton, ton more, um, throughout the
39:39week as Taylor is headed to, um, new Orleans to hang out and do
39:44super bowl related content.
39:46So we'll be having, uh, reports from new Orleans all week long.
39:50Patriots daily podcast live from there as well.
39:53As in addition to all of our other stuff with.
39:56But dart Patriot podcast, Pat's interference, all 32, which you already,
40:00of course, Patriots beat with Barth and Heinz, uh, terrific football coverage
40:04continues in what is the last official week of the football season, but also
40:10the last week before it's on and it's all go, go, go off season stuff, free
40:16agency and draft and all that, which is a super fun and exciting time to be
40:19following along, uh, you know, with us in particular, if I can do say so
40:24myself, cause we're going to have a lot of good coverage there, which
40:27I look forward to, uh, as well.
40:29So again, thank you to Taylor for jumping on.
40:30Thank you to all of you guys for watching.
40:32We will say goodbye.
40:34Enjoy your Sunday.