On this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast, greg and Nick Cattles discuss the Celtics' victory as they bring home their 18th NBA Championship, and take a look back at the Patriots' offseason practices and name their best and worst surprises so far with the new Pats roster. That, and much more!
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SportsTranscript
00:00This is the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins.
00:08This episode is brought to you by PrizePix, largest daily fantasy sports platform in North
00:12America.
00:13Download the app today.
00:14Use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100.
00:18And finally, take the guesswork out of buying NBA or NFL tickets with GameTime.
00:22Of course, NFL season just a couple of months away.
00:25Download the GameTime app, create an account.
00:27Use that code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase.
00:31Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed.
00:34Well, Gregg, the city of champions is back, my friend.
00:38Banner 18 will be hung in the rafters sometime in October.
00:43Celtics beat the Mavericks.
00:45Of course, we'll get to the Patriots and a lot of thoughts, including your offseason
00:49practice awards.
00:50But let's start with the Celtics.
00:51Your thoughts on them winning the championship last night?
00:55I mean, I guess I forgot to wear my green.
00:57That's right.
00:58I get I get the Celtics, the Celtics shirt for those watching.
01:01Oh, look at that's right.
01:07My thoughts.
01:08Well, I'm I'm happy for the guys.
01:11I'm happy for Joe Mazzola.
01:15You know, I think this group has been through a lot.
01:17I'm actually you know, I'm very happy for Brad Stevens.
01:20I think Danny Ainge does obviously deserves credit for sort of constructing the bones
01:25of this roster.
01:26I thought Brad Stevens did a masterful job sort of getting the the right finishing pieces
01:33for this team.
01:35I was a little bit disappointed that the that game five wasn't a little bit more competitive.
01:40I mean, I'm just I'm just one of these guys.
01:42I mean, even if it's one of my teams like I don't know, I just I want to see tension.
01:48I want to see pressure.
01:49I want to see dramatics.
01:52And I thought this season this this series, by and large, didn't have much of it.
01:58I think a lot of it had to do with the the Celtics defense.
02:01I just think that that is where they differentiate themselves from a lot of teams, especially
02:07teams coming from the West.
02:09I just don't think they're they're ready for that.
02:11I think that, you know, with with Holiday and Brown and Tatum and, you know, Derek White
02:18and, you know, when they when Porzingis is able to be in there, which which he wasn't
02:23and they still won the title with relative ease, I just think they're their defense is
02:29just a cut above in terms of NBA defense.
02:31And I think I don't I think they they wore Luca and Kyrie out.
02:37I think they made him really uncomfortable.
02:39And I think that was really the difference in this series.
02:43But yeah, happy for everybody out there.
02:46It's been a long title drought here in New England, so to speak.
02:52People were getting thirsty.
02:54But you know, the Celtics fans are among the most passionate in the city, I think.
02:59I mean, man, it's amazing.
03:01But 82 games like day in, day out there, they're watching strong reactions up and down.
03:09You know, they're really amazing.
03:10And so I think, you know, for, you know, it's been, what, 16 years since the last title
03:16for the Celtics.
03:17And I think this this generation of Celtics fans like I'm happy for them because they
03:24get a champion to call their own.
03:26Brad Stevens built a monster.
03:27He really did a team that's so adaptable, a team that plays the right way on both ends,
03:33a team, as you mentioned, Greg, that can defend and they defended their butt off last night.
03:38I was not surprised by that.
03:40They tend to play hard defensively, especially in the postseason after losing the way they
03:45did on Friday night in game four down in Dallas.
03:48So it was not surprised that they were locked in.
03:51And there's so many great things about this team.
03:54I think it's a very, very likable team.
03:57You know, Jason Tatum seems to be a good guy by all accounts.
04:00Good father has deuce around all the time.
04:02Jalen Brown does a ton of community work.
04:05Drew Holiday is beloved throughout the NBA.
04:08Al Horford is Al Horford.
04:10Porzingis seems to kind of find a figure out himself over the last year or so after some
04:15rough times early on in his career with big time expectations.
04:18So it's really difficult to find a guy on this team that's unlikable like this.
04:23Grant Williams would annoy me.
04:24Tristan Thompson was a pain in the ass like that.
04:26There were guys on teams and past Marcus Marcus sometimes would would get under people's skin.
04:32This team wasn't that.
04:34And from the beginning, I'll say this.
04:35The beat writers, a lot of the guys around this team and women around this team said
04:39this a team that loves, you know, each other.
04:42And it sounded cliche and kind of corny, but they could see it.
04:45They could see the chemistry right away and that these guys respected each other and cared
04:49for each other and hung out, you know, away from the floor with each other.
04:53So I like that aspect of it.
04:55But Brad Stevens, he just built a monster.
04:58And, you know, you brought up Danny Ainge and I made this comparison during my podcast
05:04today.
05:05The Nick Cattle Show.
05:06I did a full hour.
05:07So I don't I don't have a ton here on the Celtics.
05:09I'll mostly put it to you.
05:11But, you know, when when you look at the front office, I kind of feel like Danny Ainge was
05:17the Dan Duquette of this specific team.
05:21And Brad was Theo and, you know, Dan Duquette brought in a lot of those core members of
05:26that 2004 World Series team CEO came in and fused some more talent, especially David Ortiz
05:33and Curt Schilling and kind of sprinkled it in Keith Folk.
05:36And that's that's what Stevens did.
05:38He came in.
05:39He had the foundation of Brown and Tatum, and then he went out and got Horford again.
05:43He brought in, obviously, Porzingis.
05:45He brought in Holiday and he brought in Derek White, which was one of one of those trades
05:50that people were scratching their heads.
05:51But I kind of compare that to the Dan Duquette, Theo Epstein thing.
05:55By the way, Jalen Brown, did you agree with the finals MVP choice?
05:59I did.
06:02I can't tell you how happy I was when they announced Jalen Brown as MVP.
06:06That was sort of like the last drama, like after Pritchett's three pointer again to close
06:14the first half.
06:15That was the only drama left was who was going to be the NBA finals MVP.
06:21And Jalen Brown is just a guy that I remember.
06:25I think I have a tweet at some point after they drafted him.
06:29Like I went and like watched a little bit of film and like I actually had a positive
06:32tweet.
06:33I was like, oh, I think they got something there.
06:34And Jalen Brown, he looked a little unrefined, but the athletic template that he had was
06:40very impressive.
06:41And like I just and this is going to intertwine with my other sort of thought that people
06:46will probably hate me for.
06:48But like, you know, just the way Jalen Brown like came up through the system, he wasn't
06:52one of these, you know, AAU sort of diaper dandy guys, bonus baby types like, you know,
07:01he he grinded his way the whole way.
07:03And even when he got in the NBA, he had to he had to continually work.
07:07I mean, he was certainly talented, but I think he wasn't, you know, compared to, like, say,
07:12Jason Tatum.
07:14Like he just he didn't have the the polished skills that a Tatum did coming up, and he
07:19sort of had to build himself up.
07:21And I really respect those type of athletes now on the other side of the coin.
07:27I have a confession that like I even into the fourth quarter and probably more so in
07:32the fourth quarter, like I'm sorry, I can't stand to watch Jason Tatum play like I respect
07:38the talent and I and I respect him off the court, like you said.
07:41And I do I do think it's he's just he's young and it's very similar to the way I viewed
07:47Kobe for a while.
07:49And they'll Kobe like maturity.
07:52The years brought him, you know, much more respect, almost so similar to Bryson DeChambeau,
08:01where I hated Bryson.
08:03And now like he's, you know, what he did, the fallout from his U.S. Open championship,
08:08a man of the people, like some of the things that he did, like he wouldn't have done that
08:12five years ago, but he does it now.
08:13And maybe Tatum's there.
08:14But like, I couldn't help like watching the fourth quarter of the game like I was like,
08:21I think he's he's pushing for finals MVP.
08:24He's pushing for stats in the fourth quarter and like, you know, he took seven shots.
08:29Nobody took more than three shots on the Celtics besides him.
08:33And like it was just it's that kind of stuff that just like it it irritates me a little
08:39bit.
08:41But no doubt that I respect the talent.
08:43And also, I think the man he's growing into and I think he's going to be like Kobe.
08:48I think he's going to be much better in the years to come.
08:51But like right in the complaining with the officiating, like, you know, if anybody knows
08:57me, they know that that all of that stuff is just stuff that annoys me, whether it's
09:02professional athletes or sort of youth players or whatever.
09:06And so, yeah, I'm sure people will will give me hate for it.
09:11But I'm sorry, I just got to keep it real.
09:13I was so happy to see Jalen Brown win the finals MVP.
09:16I thought he deserved it.
09:18And I thought he was the best player for the Celtics throughout the playoffs.
09:21And I'm very happy for him.
09:25There could be a lot to unpack there.
09:26But this is a Patriots pod, so I'll keep it short.
09:29I'll allow the people to send the hate your way for the Jason Tatum comments.
09:33I thought Tatum was terrific last night.
09:36I thought first quarter he had seven assists.
09:38First half he had nine assists.
09:40I think he would have finished with 15, 16 assists if some guys could hit some layups.
09:44Drew Holiday missed about six bunnies last night, as great as he was.
09:49And yes, that's a little hyperbole because he only missed like seven shots in the night.
09:52But literally like five of them were within two feet.
09:55But I thought he played great last night.
09:58I thought his fourth quarter, what I loved was he attacked downhill and he kept attacking
10:04and he got to the bucket.
10:05He finished, he had a big three-point play in the fourth quarter to make sure that lead
10:09stayed extended.
10:10So I thought Tatum was great.
10:11I thought Brown, defensively, I mean, what can you say?
10:16He accepted the challenge of Luka Doncic.
10:18He embraced the challenge.
10:20He demanded it.
10:21They had that sound from ABC where he literally went up to the coach, I think it was Charles
10:25Lee, and said, if Luka stays in, I stay in.
10:28I do not want to be out of this game when Luka Doncic is out of this game.
10:32He took it personal.
10:34And the numbers show it.
10:35He defended Luka for more than 32 minutes in this series, which is a lot.
10:39More than 140 possessions, I think it was.
10:42Luka shot 40% from the field against Jalen.
10:45He shot, I think, around 25% from three against Jalen.
10:49So Jalen really had Luka locked down the entire series.
10:52And Drew had...
10:53I was just going to say, and he was in his pocket, like the whole time, from half court.
11:01There wasn't even enough room for him to be picked.
11:03He was fighting over picks, like he was just...
11:08Good point by you.
11:09His defense was probably the most impressive thing in the series, and he was still a completely
11:14well-rounded player.
11:15Yeah, so I think there's an argument for both.
11:18I probably would have given it to Tatum after last night's game.
11:22But we're talking about, I mean, such a slim margin between the two guys.
11:26And I could easily see Brown get it because of his defense.
11:30He shot a little bit better than Tatum did in this series.
11:33But yeah, I mean, Brown, just terrific.
11:35And the bigger takeaway is those two guys, they fought through all the noise, they figured
11:40it out together, and now they're champions.
11:43And so we'll see if they can continue down this road.
11:45They're both young enough.
11:47Very interesting times for this team and for those two guys to see how they can build off
11:51of this.
11:53With that said, do you think the questions will ever stop, Greg?
11:55Are we done with the narratives?
11:57Are we done with the talking points?
11:59Well, in a sense, yes.
12:05But this being Boston and people needing ratings for their sports talk radio shows, no.
12:12I think maybe you're more in tune than I am on this.
12:19But are there sites out there that have or have people written similar to Aaron Schatz
12:25from Football Outsiders?
12:27It's now FTN Fantasy or whatever.
12:31He can easily whip up a DVOA stat, comparing people over eras, that he could say, well,
12:39this team had the third easiest road to a Super Bowl title or something like that.
12:46Is there similar to NBA?
12:48I'd be interested in that.
12:51Look, I think the Celtics would have won anyways.
12:55You look at the regular season, you look at their postseason, it was basically the
12:57same, their win rate and things like that.
13:00And I think their defense went to another level.
13:03But I'm sure there will be more than a few that'll be like, you know, they got lucky
13:07with their road this year.
13:08They were fortunate and like, look, that's going to be said.
13:14I don't think it's going to matter.
13:16And plus, you know, I always look at championships and seasons and I say, in 10 years, nobody's
13:20going to remember the road.
13:21All they're going to see is 2024 world champions, Boston Celtics.
13:26I mean, I don't remember anything about 2008 and their road to a title, but I'm sure you
13:32do.
13:33But no, no, if challengers present themselves and if, you know, the teams on the come, if,
13:40you know, the Nuggets climb back up the mountain, you know, the Timberwolves mature.
13:47I don't know.
13:48Maybe the Hawks will be formidable next year.
13:50I don't know.
13:52But no, I think, I think it'll, I think next year you can look forward to at some point,
13:57maybe early certain people saying, well, they weren't really tested last year, so we don't
14:02really know what they're made out of.
14:06I will laugh at those people.
14:08I will make fun of those people and I will vehemently disagree with those people.
14:12What we saw from the Celtics this year, they are one of the top 10, maybe best teams in
14:18NBA history.
14:19When you look at so many different analytics and statistics and what they accomplished,
14:24you know, the sixth best scoring differential in NBA history, including the playoffs, and
14:28it would have been, you know, third or fourth if it wasn't for the anomaly of game four
14:32in Dallas, which really, you know, swayed some of those numbers.
14:36But, you know, most wins in Celtics history, they have the second most at 80.
14:40They went 80 and 21 this year, 16 and three in the playoffs, obviously the second best
14:45NBA championship run at 16 and three in the 16-win era.
14:49Only Golden State going 16 and one in 2017 was better.
14:53When you look at the rest of the NBA, final NBA standings, combined playoffs and regular
14:57season, Celtics had the best record by 12 and a half games over Oklahoma City in the
15:01West.
15:02Sean Grandy tweeted out just a bunch of unbelievable stats.
15:07Regular season-wise, their scoring margin, fifth best in NBA history, scoring margin
15:11at home was third best.
15:13They had the best offense in NBA history.
15:17It's just, I mean, it's a crazy, crazy list of accomplishments for this team.
15:23They had more 30-point leads than 10-point deficits.
15:26Their longest losing streak all year long was two.
15:30NBA record, 10 30-point wins.
15:33They had 17 25-point wins, which is a record.
15:36They had three 50-point wins, which is a record.
15:40It's 19 20-point wins, one 20-point loss.
15:42I mean, they're one of the best teams that has ever played the game.
15:47And if we want to sit there and talk about Pathway, I just think that's a cop-out.
15:53And they dominated all season long.
15:56They dominated the postseason.
15:58We can't overlook the fact that they did not have poor Zingas if we want to play injury
16:02games.
16:03And the Nuggets, you know, if you look at the Nuggets, the Nuggets beat the eighth-placed
16:08Los Angeles Lakers last year to get to the NBA championship, the NBA finals, and then
16:14they beat Miami, who stopped having the out-of-body experience from three.
16:19So it wasn't necessarily a very, very difficult pathway for Denver last year.
16:23Those things happen.
16:24It is what it is.
16:26This team is talented.
16:27They're the best team all year.
16:29Best team won the championship.
16:31I say that's enough.
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18:01All right, let's get to some football now.
18:02Cole Strange, Greg, we got an update from Mike Reese.
18:05We were all wondering what this injury was.
18:09We knew that strange would be out for a while.
18:12Mike Reese reported at ESPN over the weekend that strains has a torn patellar tendon.
18:18And if you Google it, it'll say full recovery timeline, six months to a year.
18:24If you go back to Ian Rappaport a few weeks ago, Greg, he said that strange might miss
18:31up to like the midway point of the season, which would be October, late October, early
18:35November, which would put you at about 11 months from the injury in December.
18:40What do you make about all of this?
18:41Could this be a wasted season for strange?
18:45Well, look, there's no doubt in my mind that somebody told Mike Reese that that that was
18:55the injury.
18:56And first of all, no one's really known until now.
18:58It's been very hush hush.
18:59It's been like a state secret on what's been going on with strange.
19:03What his you remember he was he was injured, I think coming out of camp or very early in
19:08the season and he was dealing with something when I was told at the time is that he was
19:13he could have done surgery at the time on what I don't know, but he elected to play
19:18through it.
19:19And and he did to his credit.
19:22But I do think it ended up what I ended up rupturing or having something to do with this.
19:26I don't know.
19:27It smells it smells funny to me that it's just a torn patellar tendon like he should
19:32be back by now.
19:34He should be doing things by now.
19:37Normally, if that's all it is, I think there's more involved.
19:41I always thought it was a meniscus injury, you know, especially the the way it was talked
19:49about early on when the initial injury and then finally, I think it just like tore all
19:55together.
19:56I don't know.
19:57I'm just I'm just giving you my opinion.
20:00But for a full year, it's basically going to be a full year for coal strains.
20:05That's what they're saying.
20:06And again, we he didn't do anything.
20:08He was in shorts and t shirt at practices this offseason.
20:14I think it's more than just a patellar tendon tear reconstruction.
20:19What have you?
20:20I think there's there's more involved, which would push the timetable.
20:28But yeah, I think I think if in any event, if we're talking like midseason whatnot, yeah,
20:34we're basically looking at like a wasted season.
20:36This is bad for coal.
20:37You know, obviously, he was a Bill Belichick pick a Bill Belichick guy.
20:42So the front office, the coaching staff doesn't necessarily have to feel like they got to
20:47make the most of him.
20:50And they could just look at him and go, oh, we don't believe it on me.
20:51I didn't love the pick, so he's got to go.
20:54And if he is going to miss half the season, three quarters of the season, whatever it
20:57is, this opens the door for city.
20:59So city so played left guard in college.
21:02If they are thinking about rolling with the window at right guard again and playing Caden
21:06Walsh at right tackle, strange might not have a job to even fight for me by the time he
21:12gets back.
21:13This offensive line might be signed, sealed and delivered by Scott Peters.
21:18And Cole Strange could be be on the outside looking in.
21:20And it just continues to be one of the most head scratching picks by Belichick over the
21:26last few years of his tenure.
21:28I know you and I both did not like the pick at the time, didn't make much sense picking
21:32an offensive guard in the first round, let alone Cole Strange.
21:37You talked about him not being a big dude, you know, from from the from the ways down
21:42as far as hips and legs and all that stuff and quads and he doesn't have a big anchor
21:46doesn't have a big tuk tuk.
21:48And you start to see all these injuries and they're all lower body injuries.
21:51So not great for Cole Strange.
21:53Let's jump to offseason practice awards, Greg.
21:56Let's begin with your best player and why.
22:00So this was a this was a tough race in my mind.
22:04I think some of the guys that I considered Keon White, Pop Douglas.
22:13Maybe Antonio Gibson.
22:17But I ultimately went with Christian Barmore.
22:19Now, you know, there's no pads.
22:22Tough to really gauge line play, but it just seemed like and he wasn't there all the time.
22:27But it just seemed like when he was there, he was always in the backfield.
22:32He was causing disruptions.
22:34He was opening up a lot of space and for him to pick up where he left off last season after
22:40the getting the big contract extension, that's a great sign.
22:44Worst player other end of the spectrum and why?
22:51So it was going to be some offensive lineman because they were freaking horrendous, especially
22:57like once you got down to like the third unit and a couple of guys were on my list.
23:06Ryan Johnson, who just got released from the Patriots, was certainly on my list.
23:13There's another guy that I'm looking for.
23:15I think I gave another award later on.
23:18Charles Turner.
23:20Yeah, excuse me.
23:23Undrafted free agent.
23:25But I ultimately went with Andrew Stuber, who was a seventh round pick in twenty twenty
23:32two like a seven round pick.
23:35I'm not expecting them to, you know, hit on pay dirt.
23:38I mean, they did get what was it?
23:41Was it that draft?
23:42Where the hell did they get a winning from?
23:45Draft was that?
23:48Well, anyways.
23:50Oh, well, when it was twenty twenty six round pick, I mean, you're not going to hit on guys
23:56like that all the time.
23:58But Stuber was just this guy who I think he had injury issues when he came in, wasn't
24:03around basically his whole rookie season.
24:07And then once he did get back, he wasn't very good this year.
24:12They moved him inside the guard and like that's always the that's always the kiss of death
24:17when they take a tackle and move him in the guard.
24:20Like you know, the next thing is a a ride to the plane to the to the airport for the
24:27flight home.
24:28And so, you know, nothing against him.
24:30I'm sure he's a nice guy.
24:31He's a nice Michigan guy.
24:33But he was yet not not good, not a good tenure.
24:37Most improved might surprise people.
24:40Yeah, a couple of guys that I considered for this city, so Keon White again, Austin.
24:53The hell's his name?
24:55The cornerback, Alex Austin.
25:00And ultimately, I went with Jalen Ragour.
25:05He was a guy that I thought started to come on at the end of last season, certainly had
25:09a big kick return very late.
25:12I don't know if that was the season finale or what.
25:13He was basically like the best offensive player in the season finale in that in the snow and
25:18that forgettable Belichick final game.
25:23And I think he did a really nice job this spring.
25:25I mean, he was one of the most active wide receivers in practices and, you know, had
25:30some touchdowns.
25:31And so, yeah, I'm looking, you know, I wouldn't write off Ragour just yet.
25:37Plus, with the kick return ability and the change in kickoff rules, he could be one of
25:41those guys that they they look at for that position.
25:44So I think he's improved steadily since he's been here.
25:48Let's swing it the other way.
25:49Least improved guy.
25:51Antonio Maffi.
25:54I didn't like the shape that he came in, not that he's a skinny guy, but he was big last
26:00year and I was like, well, let's see where he is coming back year two.
26:04Let's see if he, you know, trims down.
26:06He's not exactly when you see him in the locker room.
26:09He's not exactly an Adonis, but, you know, a lot of those offensive linemen aren't.
26:14But I I thought he came in in worse shape.
26:18Unfortunately, they had to move him to center because Jake Andrews wasn't available.
26:24And I think any practices or at least certainly not the later practices.
26:28So he had to go to center.
26:30And I talked about it before.
26:31His snaps were terrible.
26:34You know, I just don't know where he fits on this team.
26:39You know, we'll see how things shake out with Jake Andrews.
26:42You know, they have Leighton Robinson at guard.
26:44They have that veteran Nick Leverett that they signed.
26:48Is there a place for Moffey?
26:49I mean, I could see him more being sort of a practice squad player.
26:54Keep developing him because remember, he was a defensive lineman for most of or at least
26:57half his college career.
26:58So he's he's always been sort of a project, and I think that's going to continue.
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28:21All right, let's continue to roll along with the offseason practice awards.
28:27Best rookie.
28:28I think people listening to this podcast would would have a pretty good guess as to who Greg
28:33has listed here.
28:35Yeah, probably.
28:37It's not the quarterback.
28:38It's not Drake May.
28:39You know, I was fine with Drake's not certainly not underwhelmed by him.
28:47I thought he did a good job.
28:48It was about what I expected.
28:50But my pick for best rookie of the offseason is Jalen Polk.
28:54I just think he he's a guy that continue.
28:57He gets better every day.
28:59You're more impressed the more you watch him.
29:01Just the little things that he does, his body control.
29:04He just he just knows how to play football.
29:07And I just can't wait to to continue to watch him grow in training camp joint practice.
29:15I think they have with somebody and then preseason games.
29:18And then I think he's going to have a pretty big role once we get to the season.
29:22That's sort of the Packer way is to to play these guys, especially if you're rebuilding.
29:26And so I I thought Polk was awesome.
29:31Not exactly the most explosive guy in the world, but he's no slouch in that in that
29:37area.
29:38And I think he's I think he's going to be a really good pick for this team.
29:42Think he's going to immediately contribute.
29:44I think Patriots fans are going to be happy with him.
29:49And by all accounts, he knows how to deal with stuff away from the field and gets along
29:54with guys.
29:55And not that that's like the end all be all.
29:58But if you if you have somebody who can be productive on the field and gets it off the
30:01field, there's obviously less risk with somebody like that.
30:05And I'm looking forward to Jalen Polk and to mention Drake May quickly here.
30:10All he does is bring back dubs.
30:12He was in the TD Garden twice in the postseason, both W's.
30:15He was in the building last night.
30:16So Drake may already bringing championships to Boston.
30:20We look forward to that.
30:21All right.
30:22You had a little bit of a tease earlier on for this poor man.
30:25This poor man's name is Charles Turner.
30:28You were not won over by what you saw during his time out there.
30:33No, he's he's really small.
30:36He looks like a either a long snapper or he just he he doesn't look he doesn't look like
30:46he's in the right place out there.
30:47Like it's just like he looks like a lower level college guy, which I think that he is.
30:56And you know, who knows?
30:58Maybe he grows into his body or whatnot.
31:00But it's just he sort of sticks out like a sore thumb.
31:04And yeah, I don't know how much longer he's going to be interesting because he played
31:08at LSU.
31:09And you would think that, you know, SCC, yeah, that that kind of that kind of pedigree, that
31:15kind of program.
31:17But yeah, we should also mention that he began his career as an offensive tackle.
31:22They moved him into center.
31:23So Greg just mentioned how if you move tackles to the interior of the offensive line, sometimes
31:29it's not a good sign.
31:30So they did that with him at LSU.
31:32And here he is not wowing Bedard at these at these mini camps, by the way, a note here
31:38sounds like rookies will be at training camp officially on July 19th, and the players will
31:44be a few days.
31:46Veterans will be a few days after that.
31:47So we're about a month away from from training camp kicking off.
31:51All right.
31:52Best coach, Greg.
31:55So that that would put the first practice as June 24th, the first three days.
32:01I don't think they can have pads or anything like that.
32:05So that weekend, that opening weekend after they after they open camp should be interesting
32:13and a lot of pads.
32:16So this is best coach.
32:18Now, I didn't really use any great criteria.
32:21I'm just telling you from sitting in my chair on the hill watching practice, and it's a
32:26little bit slanted because the coach that I pick always instructs his guys right in
32:32front of us where we are in the media.
32:34Now, the offensive line and defensive line are way down the other end.
32:37I do try to watch through my binoculars and see what's going on.
32:43But you know, it's it's hard to tell.
32:45But I'll just say I like I like to watch Brian Belichick coach.
32:52I think he's very thorough with his instructions.
32:55I think he's very clear.
32:57The guys listen to him, maybe because he sounds like his dad.
33:01And by the way, he looks like his dad more and more, which each passing like go to the
33:06Patriots coaches page and it looks it looks exactly like Bill, but but younger.
33:13But I was I was impressed.
33:16I you know, I was impressed with a lot of their coaches.
33:20We just don't know how good they're going to be until the pads go on.
33:23And of course, probably offensive line.
33:27Those two coaches will be watched closer than anyone.
33:32And I thought, you know, I thought Tyler Hughes, the wide receivers coach who the jury is still
33:37very much out on.
33:40I thought he did a nice job instructing his guys, too, and we'll see whether that pays
33:45off or not.
33:46Yeah, I just thought Steve Belichick sounds exactly like Bill.
33:49It's it's creepy how much Steve sounds like his father.
33:53All right.
33:54We still have worse coach, biggest surprise, biggest disappointment to take a look at.
33:57But before we get there, I want to remind you, this episode is brought to you by Prize
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34:09Also check out Greg and Mike Giardi with their coverage of the Patriots.
34:13And of course, John Corrales, all of his work with the Celtics and did a great job after
34:19game four of Dallas showing how the Celtics can counter some of what Dallas was doing.
34:25John always doing great work.
34:26So you can check him out.
34:27B.S.J.
34:28Fifty bucks for the year.
34:29Worst coach, Greg.
34:31OK, so this is a caveat before I get more hate mail.
34:36What are you doing today?
34:37Again, I have no idea.
34:38Trying to get people mad at you.
34:40Yeah, I have no idea what he's actually saying to the players, I have no idea what he's doing
34:45in the room.
34:46I'm just telling you my observations from watching practice and how much teaching is
34:51going on and how much interaction and what they're working on, in my opinion.
34:58And this isn't a surprise because he's never done this before and this is his first time
35:02doing it.
35:03And I know from what Gerard Mayo said, he's been asking a lot of questions and asking
35:07for help from the other coaches.
35:10It's Dante Hightower.
35:11I just don't think he knows it.
35:14You know, coaching, teaching, especially after being a very successful player and Dante Hightower,
35:23you know, was just an awesome player.
35:26You know, it definitely it's a transition.
35:29And that's not to say he can't be a really good coach.
35:31He could be.
35:32But just observing him, my thought was he doesn't exactly know what he's doing.
35:38And that's fine because he has a lot of veteran coaches around him and he's coaching a position
35:43inside linebackers that Gerard Mayo can easily come over and help him.
35:49So it's sort of like, you know, they have enough veteran coaches to be able to do it.
35:54And you know, they're sort of bringing Dante Hightower along.
35:57But I think he does have, I think he has a ways to go.
36:01But as long as he's open to learning, which Gerard says that he is, he could he could
36:09turn out to be a dynamite coach.
36:11Biggest surprise of the early camp season.
36:16Biggest surprise to me was Caden Wallace quickly moving from left tackle to right tackle and
36:23kicking Michael Winnew inside to right guard.
36:27You know, from talking to people around the team, you know, trying to get a grasp on this
36:34and to see if this desperation or what this this is a move, as we've heard with the discussion
36:42about best five.
36:44And I will say they're really happy with a core four at left tackle.
36:49I think he's been one of the surprises of camp to them.
36:53From what I've seen, I think he's done a good job, not a whole lot of pressure coming
36:58from his side.
36:59And you know, now they're they're they're trying to figure out right tackle and right
37:04guard.
37:06It's it's a little alarming to me, but I there's no way after the draft, the way Elliott Wolfe
37:14talked about Caden Wallace, there's no way I expected by the end of the offseason that
37:20they would have already moved Caden Wallace to right tackle and then moved a 19 million
37:25dollar tackle, the best tackle in free agency to guard.
37:29So yeah, surprised and shocked.
37:31You go back to what Gerard Mayo said a time during the draft and you mentioned that Alex
37:36Van Pelt and the all line coaches told them that they believe that Caden Wallace could
37:41play the left side.
37:42So it was either a massive misevaluation of the player or they were concerned about the
37:49right guard spot to the point where they felt like they had to push a winnow back in.
37:52But when you when you combine what Mayo said during the draft and what Elliott Wolfe tried
37:57to sell, people say we believe Caden Wallace can be a left tackle.
38:01And you combine that with Elliott Wolfe coming out and saying that they believe they signed
38:05the best offensive tackle in free agency and Michael Wenu.
38:09And now you have Caden Wallace playing right tackle and when you're playing guard again.
38:13Not great, Bob.
38:14Not great.
38:16Well, but again, I will say I've said this before, I'll say it again.
38:22If they do get their best five up front, that's what's important.
38:25So, you know, I'd rather them say to themselves, let's get the best five up front.
38:30Let's not be stubborn about the evaluation.
38:33Let's not try to force something to happen here with Caden Wallace.
38:36We think a core four is going to start at left tackle anyway.
38:39We can still we can now take our time with Caden Wallace maybe and put the best five
38:43out there.
38:45That's what you should do.
38:46You should have your best five offensive linemen out there playing on the offensive line.
38:50So big picture, 30,000 feet.
38:52I agree with the overall philosophy.
38:54It's just the evaluation of the players and how quickly they, you know, transition from
39:00one side to the other is certainly alarming.
39:04All right.
39:05The biggest disappointment.
39:09To me, it was the offseason for KJ Osborne.
39:13He's a guy that I had high hopes for coming from the Vikings.
39:16I like his profile.
39:17I like, you know, he's he's a professional wide receiver, can do a bunch of different
39:23things, a little bit of an underrated player, sort of lost in the mix with, you know, Justin
39:29Jefferson and in Minnesota and Jordan Addison and probably, you know, a really good profile
39:37for a team like the Patriots to maybe see if they can get somebody who's a little bit
39:41underrated.
39:42And he just had a lot of drops issues this offseason.
39:46And unfortunately for him, it's carry over from last season for him when all of a sudden
39:51his drop rate like went up.
39:52It was a week.
39:54Probably the Patriots thought it was a anomaly anomaly.
39:57Yeah.
39:58Can't speak.
39:59But judging on this offseason, it wasn't.
40:03And it has to be cause for concern.
40:05All right.
40:06That'll do it.
40:07Banner 18 edition of the Gregg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattles.
40:11Hopefully you all enjoyed.
40:12I certainly enjoyed last night.
40:13I enjoyed today.
40:14I'm going to enjoy the rest of my week.
40:16I'm going to enjoy it Friday.
40:17It's going to be a fantastic time.
40:20But before we get to the parade on Friday, Greg and I will be back a little bit later
40:24in the week.
40:25Talk more Patriots till then.
40:26Be well.
40:27Transcribed by https://otter.ai
40:42Transcribed by https://otter.ai