Join 98.5 The Sports Hub's Alex Barth and Pats Pulpit's Brian Hines go live to discuss the latest news on the Patriots coaching staff and also preview the National Championship.
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SportsTranscript
00:00All right, everyone, welcome back into another live edition of the Patriots Beat Podcast
00:28here on the CLNS Media Network, presented by our wonderful friends over at PrizePix
00:34and GameTime. It is Brian Hines back as always with Alex Barth. We got some movement on the
00:39Patriots coaching staff really since the last time we've been on, which was last Thursday.
00:45They waited till we got off as usual to, you know, start bringing all this news to us.
00:49And then it was a fantastic football weekend. It's going to continue into tonight with the
00:54national championship coming up here soon. So we will talk about all of that. Some great snow
00:59football, too, especially yesterday in the divisional round of the playoffs that we'll
01:04make sure to touch on. But we will start with that Patriots coaching staff. We have people coming
01:09back. We have people leaving. We have some interviews and more people coming in potentially.
01:14But we'll start with those coming back in the latest news on Monday. And that's special
01:19teams coordinator Jeremy Springer. He will be retained by Mike Vrabel. I'm guessing that Tom
01:25Quinn, assistant, will stay under Jeremy Springer. He has some familiarity with Vrabel. He was a
01:30special teams coordinator in Tennessee. But, Barth, this kind of seemed like the one where if
01:35you were going down the Patriots coaching staff of last year, you're like, OK, this might be the
01:39easiest kind of retain for Vrabel on the staff. And I would say it was a good move keeping Jeremy
01:45Springer in there to lead the special teams group again next year. Yeah, it makes a ton
01:49of sense. Mike Vrabel worked with Tom Quinn in Tennessee, and it was a good unit last year.
01:53So you're probably not going to blow out the guy who ran it just to promote his assistant.
01:57So, you know, talk with Tom Quinn. He's in his 60s, right? Like he's run his own unit. He's kind
02:04of he was one of the oldest coaches. He might've been the oldest coach on staff last year. I was
02:0956. That's why I felt so much older because everybody was like my age. But yeah, you know,
02:16he's kind of been around the block, so he knows the deal. Springer ran it last year. They did a
02:21good job. Makes a ton of sense. It doesn't mean there shouldn't be turnover elsewhere. There will
02:24be. I think at this point, outside the quarterback position, we're insured complete turnover on the
02:30offensive side defense. We're still waiting to hear about a couple different guys, but
02:34that's one kind of people are like turn the whole staff over last year.
02:37Sucked the special teams units. They had their warts, but for the most part were solid.
02:42If you want to do this thing, and I think it's, you know, I hate these numbers,
02:45but for those who are interested, there's second ranked special teams unit overall by PFF.
02:52So it makes, it makes sense. The, uh, the DVOA was, are you a DVOA guy?
02:58No, it's a made up number. No, I mean, what's the formula?
03:04I'm not a math guy. I don't know formulas. Nobody knows. It's a secret. He doesn't tell people.
03:08Oh, really? That's just not. Oh, okay. That's either DVOA or EPA. It's one of them,
03:13but you get my point. I think DVOA is out there because that's like adjusted for situations and
03:20opponents and everything like that, which, um, I think is probably better than EPA and all that.
03:27But, um, you know, under Sprinter or the last two years under Belichick, they were 32nd and 28th
03:33in a special teams DVOA Sprinter comes in here. They jump up to 13th. You mentioned second and
03:38PFF, which, you know, PFF grades are what they are. But, uh, I think one of the most important,
03:44most impressive parts about his job too, uh, that he did was it was a lot of young guys,
03:48a lot of rookies, right? Like you lose Matthew Slater. You have Marcellus dial out there at
03:53Gunner. You have an undrafted free agent Del Pettis as your personal protector.
03:57A lot of other guys, a lot of young guys, uh, mixed in that group too. And you know, even
04:02Brendan Schooler, which was someone we were talking at the end of last year, right? Like
04:05penalty problems, some missed tackle issues. We were kind of wondering like, okay, what kind of
04:10version of Brendan Schooler are we going to get? And then he gets in here. Sprinter had some
04:14familiarity with him already. And now he's first team all pro, you know, their lone pro bowl guy
04:19that the path just, you know, gets, gets right for Brendan Schooler, uh, under Jeremy Sprinter.
04:24So I thought that was, uh, probably their best unit this year. Uh, and good to see Jeremy Sprinter.
04:29And we would imagine Tom Quinn stays around to continue running that as well. Maybe
04:34they have to find a kicker. Now, you know, that's one thing that they'll have to do. Joey
04:38slides a free agent. So, uh, get to work on that kicker position, but overall impressive from that
04:44special teams unit and good to see Jeremy Sprinter back running that again. So that was the, uh,
04:50loan retain as if you want to call it so far from what we we've heard, but we have some coaches,
04:56uh, since the last time we spoke that are moving on. And one that was officially announced this
05:02morning, going to the Cincinnati bangles along the offensive line, Scott Peters, as well as
05:07assistant Michael McCarthy, who assisted Peters here, uh, as kind of a general, he was a general
05:12assistant, but spent most of his time on the offensive line. They will be going same roles
05:17to the Cincinnati bangles. So new offensive line coach coaches, uh, for the Patriots next season,
05:23we'll still see about Robert Kugler, who was an assistant. He was, he's coaching the shrine bowl.
05:28So we'll see if he plans to stay around what variable has in store for him, but new offensive
05:32line coach next year as Scott Peters and Michael McCarthy are off to the Cincinnati bangles.
05:39Yeah. I, you know, I thought Peters did a good job this year. Relatively speaking,
05:44I've kind of talked about this before the Patriots offensive line was bad, but it probably should
05:49have been a lot worse just based on the personnel that was available. And I think Peters did a good
05:54job getting what he got out of the group that was put to his disposal. And that's not like Dante
05:59Skarnick. He had just walked out the door or anything like him. I don't think he was the
06:03guy you had to keep, but I, if we're going to place blame for the offensive line being what it
06:08was, he it's Elliot Wolf and Matt grow much more than, than Scott Peters and his staff.
06:14So he'll have better players to work with in Cincinnati. I think that's a good hire by the
06:18bangles. Uh, now we see, I don't think it's a Garrett. Like I guess let me put it this way.
06:25There's certainly room to upgrade the offensive line coach. I don't think it's a guarantee that
06:29they upgrade though. Like you still have to go out and make a good hire. So we'll see who they get.
06:33Yeah. It's really tough to evaluate the job he did last year just because of
06:38the injuries, the roster turnover, right? Like they're starting left guard was claimed was
06:43Michael Jordan, who they signed to like a futures deal at the end of the year. He ended up on
06:47waivers halfway through the year. They're starting right. Tackle was DeMondrick Jacobs,
06:52who was, you know, claimed off waivers at the roster cut down day. We had the whole Ben Brown
06:56thing. Like there were injuries, there was roster turnover. It was just devoid of talent
07:01in general. So it was kind of tough to see evaluate Scott Peters. I will say,
07:08you know, I don't, I don't think you saw someone like Leighton Robinson who was in there a lot.
07:12Like, I don't think you saw much development from Leighton Robinson throughout the year,
07:15like still kind of the same mistakes as the year went on specifically in past protection.
07:21I tweeted this earlier too, like maybe the whole strike system thing, which, you know,
07:25Peters tried to implement it. Maybe it was just too complicated, right? Like scar used to say,
07:30like, keep things really simple. I found this quote, like we ain't building rockets here,
07:34right? Like this is simple, just step and block the guy in front of you. Maybe that whole strike
07:39system kind of was overcomplicated, especially for some of the young guys, like city. So just
07:44disappeared off the face of the earth after starting 12, 13 games last year. So maybe it
07:51would have been better with, with good talent, right? Like 12 offensive linemen, they started
07:55this year, 10 different combinations. It was a mess, but as you said, they're probably if they
08:02play it right, they probably could upgrade still at that coaching spot there. But yeah, I'd agree
08:07with that. The other big kind of departure on the offense side of the ball was the wide receiver
08:13position. Both Tyler Hughes and assistant Taekwon Underwood are moving on. That was a position we
08:21pegged and looked at a lot this year. You know, when you have two rookies, Jalen Polk and Javon
08:26Baker, not developing as you would have hoped. So kind of expected that they moved on. We've
08:33talked a lot about that, but just thoughts on that and anyone you're eyeing, you know, the West
08:38Welkers, uh, of the world to maybe come in here with, with Vrabel as that wide receiver coach.
08:43Yeah. I mean, they needed a new wide receivers coach. This one was a no-brainer Welkers,
08:46one name. I still like the idea and I don't know if there's a connection between him
08:50and Mike variable, but I just think Sean Jefferson's a damn good coach.
08:53And if you get him to come in and coach wide receivers, the other name I wonder about
08:56is, uh, sorry, Jefferson was jets too. Right. So they'll probably be some movement with their
09:02new coach. Yeah. Um, and yeah, I would think he'd be one of those guys. Like you see coaches
09:08like we saw DeMarcus Covington, right. Hasn't technically been fired,
09:11but he interviewed with the bangles. I wonder if he could do something like that.
09:14Uh, the other name I wonder about, and this might be a little bit of a stretch,
09:17but there's just a connection. So I'm curious is Heinz ward. Who's been the wide receivers
09:23coach at Arizona state, I think for two years now, uh, he played with Mike Vrabel in Pittsburgh.
09:29So those two, they, they overlap there for a couple of seasons, some familiarity, if they
09:33want some of that college feel, um, Oh no, sorry. He just joined Arizona state this year, but, um,
09:40another, if you want like a guy with league experience with I, which I think would be
09:44good, then you want experience. They need some experience in that room.
09:49Well, he's not as much of an experienced coach, so I guess that changes it, but.
09:53Yeah. But, um, Rob Moore was the other one just cause he was Vrabel's, uh, wide receivers coach.
09:59The entire time he was in Tennessee, he did hold the same role, uh, with the Panthers last year.
10:04So I don't know if he can get out of that contract or then, then we're talking like
10:08past game specialist coordinator, giving them some sort of elevated,
10:11he did a good job of trailing Coker. So yeah. And, uh, so he was there for,
10:16he was there for AJ Brown's rookie year, but then he would have been there for
10:20Trayvon Burke's rookie season. So mix and match, uh, whatever one you want to look at there.
10:25But, um, Trayvon Burke's might've just been bad. I'm just going to say that at the time,
10:30Trayvon Burke just might've not been good. That that's fair. That's fair.
10:34He's one of those guys. I know I'm always like, well, it's the development and it's not just
10:37drafting the right player. I always say drafting the right players, half of it. Uh, I don't know
10:41that you were ever getting that half with Trayvon Burke's. Yep.
10:45Oh, I forgot. They had the ghost of Julio Jones too. I was looking at their receiver.
10:48They, they, they love those old players, Brian. They do. They do. Oh, they do. And, um,
10:54so maybe, uh, Rob Moore, they can find a way to get him, uh, out of Carolina. And I mean,
11:01Ohio state national championship tonight, we have to mention Brian heartline, right? Like
11:05the God of all wide receiver coaches that has to be mentioned when you talk about,
11:10uh, wide receiver coaches, maybe if he's interested in moving up, you know,
11:13moving up, you know, we heard, uh, there were some reports that, you know, Josh McDaniel spent
11:18some time and at around Ohio state at the college level. So if he's the OC and there's some
11:24connection with rabble and Ohio state, maybe it is, uh, Brian heartline, which the success with
11:29Ohio state speaks for itself at that position. That'd be great. I just don't know what's changed
11:34now that, I mean, he really hasn't, there hasn't been a ton of noise externally, at least about
11:39him wanting to move unless it's already, he got his national title. Now it's on to the next. I
11:45don't know what, like what changed now that he's going to move at Ryan day. He's not going to lose
11:50his job. He's saved his job at this point. So, yep. Weren't they, uh, who had chip Kelly too?
11:56Was that Mike Reese out of the box? OC candidate chip Kelly on that. I mean, yeah, I know some
12:03people have floated Ryan day because I guess if he wins the NFL, well, no, I guess when
12:09was hiring in Tennessee, he kind of went hard after Ryan day. So there's a connection there,
12:13but if you want Ryan day and Ryan day is not available, like it makes sense. It, it, it,
12:19I don't know that I would hire him. I don't think he'd be at the top of my list,
12:23but if we're just going to put like the, the line of thought together. Yeah. I think chip
12:28Keller should be on your list. If you're trying to think of like logical Patriots,
12:31offensive coordinator candidates. Yeah. Plenty of experience. If you're looking for experience
12:36as that play caller. So 61, he's older than Tom Quinn. He's 61. I guess he's been around a while.
12:43When was he the Eagles coach? That was like early years ago. That was like early Nick Foles,
12:49right? That was like 13 to 15, 13 to 15. Yeah. Like I've been around a while. His annual salary
12:55happens to be on his Wikipedia page. He's making $2 million a year. So you're probably going to
13:00have to bake him the highest paid offensive coordinator in the NFL. Oh, 2 million that
13:06Ohio state cheese for an OC. Good for him. I guess you can get it. Yeah, clearly. And he was
13:14ceremoniously let go by UCLA. He was even going to be co-offensive coordinators with Billy. Oh,
13:20remember? No, it was good. No, it was going to be Billy Owen heartline. And then Billy O
13:25went back to, and then they got chip C and then they hired chip Kelly. Yeah, that makes more
13:30sense. That makes more sense. Yeah. I thought it was going to be both of them. I'm like,
13:33you're paying them $2 million to be a co-offensive coordinator, but that, that path makes a little
13:39bit more sense there, but yeah, maybe, maybe chip Kelly. We'll see that Ohio state offense
13:44later tonight, but two more departures. And then there were some offensive coordinator interviews
13:49that we can actually talk about, but two other departures of note, Taylor Embry running backs
13:55coach and Bob Bicknell tight ends coach. Maybe Bicknell was a little bit of a surprise,
13:59you know, that tight end room played well last year. And he had a little overlap with
14:04Vrabel when Vrabel was a player in Kansas city, Bicknell was the tight ends coach
14:09for the chiefs way back when. So, but ultimately they decide to move on and skill development coach
14:15Joe Kim, who's been with the team, you know, the last seven, eight years helping those pass rushers
14:19there with another mixed martial arts guy, but Joe Kim moving on as well. So that's more
14:26offensive coordinator. We'll see. They'll probably bring in their guys for tight end running back,
14:30all those types of stuff. But we'll note that those guys are out there. Bob Bicknell and Taylor
14:37Embry again. So any last thoughts on those guys moving out, or we can move on. Bicknell's a
14:46little bit of a surprise overlapped with Vrabel in Kansas city, you know, tight end room was solid,
14:50but again, it's one of those things, like I said, with Peters, like I said, with Bicknell,
14:53and I had to apply this to Alex van belt. So those guys individually didn't do a bad job.
14:58You know, they weren't amazing, but they didn't do a bad job. I think making any one of those
15:01guys, the fall guys would have made a mistake, but to like, if you're going to clean house,
15:07you're going to clean house that, that totally makes sense to just reset the thing all the way.
15:12So let me ask you, it's the only futures we haven't heard from on the office side are van
15:18pelts in TC. Are you thinking that T.C. McCartney quarterbacks coach and Ben McAdoo. Yeah. Do you
15:26think they're involved at all in this search? Like that van pelt might get an interview here,
15:33or do you think this is just kind of full, full clean house? Well, I I've said, like, I think van
15:39pelt Vrabel should actually absolutely interview van pelt for the offense coordinated position at
15:45the very least, just to, you know, get in a room as an excuse to get in a room, sit down and figure
15:50out what worked for Drake may last year and what didn't. Right. So I'd hope he at least interviews
15:53for it. I know that there's the idea out there of him, you know, staying in a lesser role.
15:59I'll still believe that one. When I see it, I just, it really doesn't happen in the NFL. Super
16:04rare. I can't imagine Mac who's going to be back in as high a role as he was. It's pretty close to
16:10the, the offense coordinator, the head coach is going to have any relationship with whoever that
16:14guy is with whoever the offense coordinator is. Probably not. I don't think he has a relationship
16:19with Vrabel and then T.C. McCartney. It's kind of the same thing where, all right, you know,
16:24you offense coordinator, especially if it's a different system is going to want his own
16:27quarterbacks coach. How does he fit into the picture? Things like that. So, and, and even
16:31if Van Pelt stays, okay, Van Pelt's now your quarterbacks coaches, McCartney also taking
16:35into motion. Is he now assistant? So I, I'm not writing off Van Pelt yet. I think McAdoo is
16:42probably out just, I guess it's not reporting just to guess. Um, and then we'll see with
16:48McCartney. I guess it would depend on what happens with the Van Pelt. Yeah. It's tough.
16:53Cause you would love to keep, you know, McCartney or Van Pelt just to keep some continuity
16:59with Drake may, but if you do get someone, you know, like Josh comes in here and it's
17:02a complete different system stylistic. I know they're both like left foot up guys,
17:07but you imagine like, are you going to keep someone who teaches something completely different
17:12as your offensive coordinator? Probably not. So, um, we'll see they're still around again.
17:17They're, they're the only ones on the offensive staff from last year who have yet to, uh,
17:21announce they're taking another job or that they're moving on. So, uh, they're still around.
17:25It looks like as of now, but we will see what happens with those guys, uh, future. So before
17:31we talk about those offensive coordinator interviews that happened over the last few days,
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18:36run your game. All right, let's talk offensive coordinators. We got two interviews on the books
18:44for Mike for able as he starts to fill out the staff, Thomas Brown, who was the, uh,
18:49basically held every role title for the Chicago bears last year from like passing game coordinator
18:55to interim offensive coordinator to interim head coach and offensive coordinator, someone they
18:59interviewed last year, uh, as well when Gerard Mayo was trying to fill this position. So Thomas
19:04Brown interviewed, I believe that was last Tuesday. Uh, and then they brought in Marcus Brady, who was
19:09the chargers, uh, passing game coordinator last year. He has play calling experience was an
19:14offensive coordinator, uh, with the Indianapolis Colts a few years ago. So two interviews on the
19:20record for now, we're still waiting to hear from anyone else, but what were your kind of thoughts
19:25on those two guys in those two interviews there? Um, Thomas Brown's an interesting one. I know
19:32things didn't go super well in Chicago last year, but that was kind of above him. And that's a guy
19:38that got some real thrown in the fire experience last season. So, um, you know, Marcus Brady,
19:43uh, uh, step away. I actually remember watching him play in the CFL a little bit, which is three
19:48time gray cup champion break up. He's a CFL legend. Uh, those are guys that, you know, I,
19:56Thomas Brown's qualified offense coordinator, um, Marcus Brady's more guy that you interview and,
20:02you know, maybe put on staff. Maybe he, he gets like a quarterbacks coach job or something like
20:06that. I know this was brought up. I think Evan brought it up that they're both Frank, right guys.
20:10Right. Yep. So if you were to hire like Frank Reich or somebody from that tree as an
20:14offense coordinator, those are the guys you bring in. I think what we were, they're waiting on was
20:18the Rams to lose because now you get into a lot of these names we've talked about, uh, the Fleur
20:24Dave Rangone, um, uh, the Nick Haley, uh, I think that'll kind of open the floodgates a little bit.
20:32So, and then there's still the Josh McDaniels of it looming, but I don't, I don't know. I don't,
20:39and Mike Reese kind of talked about this this morning with Fugger and Mads. Like,
20:42I don't think Josh McDaniel is a lock. This is like, we knew pretty quickly. It was going to
20:47be my gravel, right? For all the back and forth we did about Ben Johnson, that was kind of just
20:51to have the conversation. We kind of knew early on. It was variable. McDaniels being talked about
20:57the same way. I just, I wonder if it's, and that doesn't mean it can't be McDaniels.
21:02It very well can be like it. I still wouldn't be surprised.
21:06Was it rap rap who said he was the favorite over the weekend?
21:10I think he's the favorite, but I wonder if one of those Rams guys can really blow them away.
21:14Yep. It is interesting with Josh, like everyone else they bring in here. Like you mentioned Frank
21:20Reich, who Marcus Brady coached under Thomas Brown coach under like, that is a very different
21:25system than kind of Josh's, right? Like it's more of that West coast, West coasty, which is
21:30West coast air raid. It's not even like to say it's closer to Van Peltz, but it's not the same
21:35as Van Peltz. Yeah, but it's more of, it's different than Josh and it's more of what
21:39Vrabel ran in Tennessee. So you get the connection there, which, you know, then turning to Josh all
21:44of a sudden would be kind of a weird or not weird. It would just be like a completely different
21:48pivot. So yeah, definitely think Josh is still, you know, a candidate, even though we haven't
21:55heard that he, that he interviewed, but definitely still think he's probably at the top of the list,
21:59but it would be different from the two guys they brought in here and those Rams coaches.
22:03The one that I will say, you know, Michael Fleur is someone we talked about. I was reading some
22:08stuff over the weekend. I don't think Vrabel ended very, the Vrabel, Matt LaFleur tenure
22:16in Tennessee. I don't think that ended very well. You know, reading back some stuff, it sounded like
22:21if Matt LaFleur didn't take the Packers had coaching job that he was going to get demoted
22:26or maybe even fired for Arthur Smith if he returned to Tennessee. So I don't know where
22:31maybe the family connections are and how, you know, Matt LaFleur's brother, Michael LaFleur
22:36feels about maybe going to work under Mike Vrabel. You know, I get the connection with the, with the
22:42names and you know, seems like a good choice now being the offensive coordinator under Sean McVay
22:48coming here and getting to call plays. But that, that was just something like, I don't know how
22:52their, how Mike might feel like and how the relationship kind of ended where Mike's running
22:57to go, you know, work for Vrabel who was maybe going to fire his brother back at, back in Tennessee,
23:02you know, six, seven years ago, whenever it was. So here's the quote from Mike Reese this morning,
23:11or it was a couple of individual quotes that putting out McDaniels had never coached with
23:16Vrabel before. And he said, I think that's significant. And then I don't have any firm
23:21reporting on what direction Vrabel wants to go. So again, it doesn't mean that McDaniel's out of
23:27it, but I don't think this is one of those things where it's like, all right, you know,
23:31handshake behind closed doors. We got to make it look like a process. Okay, boom, here you go.
23:35I think it is a real process. I think this is more so than the offensive,
23:40than the head coaching thing was, I think this is a real process.
23:44So any other names you thinking outside of those, outside of those Rams guys, like
23:50Josh McCown, it does, doesn't sound like he's going to go anywhere unless he gets a head coaching
23:54job. So that was someone with the Drake May connection kind of cross him off the list, but
24:00anyone else that you think might be deserving of a, of an interview here?
24:05So this is another case where I might interview this guy for the offense coordinator job. He's
24:09probably a step or two away and then try to get them on staff. And people have watched this show
24:14going back to Evan. No, I, I think that this guy's a great coach and no, it's not, it's not Luke
24:19Steckel, Brian. I see you. Great. That's the guy I've been talking about. It's a guy named Holman
24:23Wiggins. Holman Wiggins was the wide receivers coach at Alabama in 2019, 2020, obviously worked
24:29with a ton of talent during that time. I remember, and this was when the Patriots are hiring wide
24:34receivers coach, kind of asking people at Alabama, cause there's a saving Belichick, you know, just
24:38the idea at the time was why doesn't bill just go down to Tuscaloosa and get the guy that's
24:42coaching those wide receivers is pretty good. So, um, and I guess when there was some staff over
24:46there, turn over there around that time, that was the one guy that Saban wouldn't let other teams
24:52interview. That was the one guy that Nick Saban was like, no, I need this guy actually promoted
24:57him to assistant head coach. Um, so he was the wide receivers coach in 19 and 20. And then he
25:02was the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach all the way through 2023. When Saban retired,
25:07he went to Texas A&M last year. He was the, uh, co-offense coordinator and still the wide
25:12receivers coach. So that's, we talked about wide receivers coaches before, right? But
25:17the fact that he's a co-offense coordinator at Texas A&M, maybe you can flatter him a little bit,
25:22you know, pump his tires, help him pump his stock. You interview him as an offense coordinator
25:26candidate. I don't know the variables connected to him or anything like that. I, I, I don't know
25:30that his name would come up inside the building. He's just a coach that I've always been a fan of.
25:35And pretty much anytime they do his coaching search on the offensive side of the ball,
25:38I like to bring up Holman Wiggins cause hell if he's good enough for Nick Saban to make him the
25:42assistant head coach. Yeah. He's probably doing something right. I remember, uh, I wanted him to
25:47come when they rehired Billy. Oh, a few years ago as the offensive coordinator. Yeah. Cause there
25:52was a connection there. That's I think we talked about him a good amount then. So, uh, Hey, maybe
25:57Billy Oh, Billy Oh, and Ray will have a great relationship. So maybe there's your connection.
26:02Maybe he puts a word in, uh, says, Hey, if you need a new, uh, a wide receivers coach,
26:07Holman Wiggins down there, I didn't know he went to Texas A and M that was makes sense. Cause you
26:11know, Saban left, but yeah, it's his first year there. I think a lot, a lot of that staff. Cause
26:15it's, um, uh, what's his name brought in his, his staff from Washington. So the bore. Yeah. Yeah.
26:23One of the many bad decisions he made.
26:25Okay. Um, I liked him too, but he's not ready for the sec. He was not ready at all last year,
26:31but, um, yeah, it does seem, even though we haven't heard a lot of candidates, it does seem
26:37like it's kind of between, you know, the guys they brought in and then Josh, and then we'll
26:40see if those, those Rams guys, uh, come in, you know, also on that Ram staff, you know,
26:46stretch John striker has been a popular one, you know, director of game management, uh, basically
26:52was labels, you know, Ernie Adams or Evan Rothstein, uh, when he was with, uh, the Titans.
26:57So it sounds like he'll be joining the staff at some point here. Um, if it is Josh, you know,
27:02Jerry Saplinski is on that Ram staff too, who was an assistant here. He worked with quarterbacks,
27:08uh, from 20, I think it was 2016 to 2018, uh, was with Josh and Vegas. So that's someone who,
27:13who you might, uh, think will, will jump over, especially if Josh gets that offensive coaching
27:18job. So a lot of guys on that Ram staff, uh, who, who might be coming over there and different
27:23roles outside of just even offensive coordinator. So, uh, we'll, we'll see what happens there.
27:28Anyone on the, uh, I know we don't, the defensive coordinator gets so washed over all these
27:33conversations. Uh, but there were, you know, some, one of the lions coaches who can, is now
27:38free to interview Terrell Williams, um, the Eagles linebackers coach who I'm blanking. I think Bobby
27:44Kane, I'll, I'll look it up in a second, but, uh, our two names that are going around out around
27:49there, anyone that you like for this defensive coordinator, uh, position that again, we, we don't
27:54talk about much because the offensive coordinator is so important, but, uh, anyone on that defensive
27:59coordinator list, you like, yeah, I, I really haven't. It's not something that I've looked at
28:04a lot. We're so invested in this offense coordinator search because it should be Mike
28:09May was hired in theory because of the work he did on the defensive side of the ball. And
28:14at what point, you know, it's not working. You got to step up and be like, no, I'm taking control.
28:18This needs to be better. So I'd like to, you know, I'd like kind of an up and coming coach
28:23just to kind of, even though you're not going to need a, a team like that, but you know,
28:29you're not going to need a team like that. You're not going to need a team like that.
28:32You're going to need a team like that. You're not going to need a team like that. You're going to
28:34kind of, even though you're not going to need a defensive coach to take over in the same way,
28:40an offense coordinator with Drake may like, if you can get a defensive coordinator and young
28:44up and coming defense coordinator, and you can get them hired as a head coach in a year or two,
28:48even if it's very able doing a lot of the work, it shows other coaches around the league,
28:53especially young guys, that there is a pipeline in new England.
28:56When you establish that it's going to become easier to hire coaches. So I'd rather that than
29:00like, you know, the veteran, the guys who talked about prevent Johnson and Johnson,
29:04the veteran, former head coach guys that are going to be, you know, kind of been there,
29:09done that that's variable. You don't need that guys. I'd rather them go, go younger.
29:13I think it's going to be Terrell Williams who he's 50 years old. So he's not like,
29:18you know, tight pants version of the defensive side of the ball. But he was, he was very able
29:23to defensive line coach in Tennessee his whole time. The last year there, he gave them the
29:27assistant head coaching title. So that's noteworthy. And then he went to Detroit this
29:32year. He was defensive line coach run game coordinator, really got the most out of that
29:36unit, even, you know, down Aiden Hutchinson down a couple of defensive tackles late in the year,
29:41that the defensive line to defensive coordinator, just like we saw with the Marcus Covington,
29:47that scares me a little bit. But again, like you still have Mike variable kind of overseeing this
29:52thing. Right. And it does seem like, you know, players really like playing under Terrell Williams.
29:57So I would bet not speculate, speculate in here, but I would bet that Terrell Williams is probably
30:05one of the favorites and Schefter. He did like the candidates to replace Aaron Glenn on staff.
30:11He did not put Terrell Williams on the lion staff. So that would signal that maybe he's looking
30:16elsewhere there. So Terrell Williams dropping some interesting stuff. I don't know if you saw
30:20the other thing too, where he, when Ben Johnson got hired, he was like the coaching cycles off
30:26and running. The saints are interested in this guy. The Jags are interested in this guy. Um,
30:31the jets, he didn't mention the Cowboys. I don't know. Did you notice that by the way,
30:35you're grinning? I'm guessing you noticed that. Oh, no, I was going to say, he said
30:37the coaching cycles off and running, even though Mike Frabel got hired like a week ago,
30:42just because everyone paraphrasing. I don't remember exactly what he said. I think he was
30:45like, we're in like this second phase now or something like that. No, he literally said it's,
30:49it's, he said, and so the hiring cycle is now off and running. That was what he said.
30:54Oh, okay. And then, but he, he listened. Everyone knew of Rabel was just such a lock
30:58to come here. It didn't even count basically is what he was saying.
31:02But then he does the, uh, he doesn't mention the Cowboys, which I thought was awesome.
31:05They're going to do something weird. Dion Sanders. I believe it. I could see it. I could
31:12totally see that would be as someone who has no investment in the Cowboys. That would be so fun
31:16just from an entertainment perspective. Like I'm all for Dion Sanders going into the Cowboys,
31:23but, um, we'll see. So Terrell Williams would be my pick for DC or Bobby Kane Eagles linebackers
31:30coach. Another guy who's got a lot out of his players, Bobby Kane signs, Zach Braun and free
31:34agency chef kiss. Uh, I'm good with that one. So, uh, those two guys, again, we're not looking
31:40at defense coordinator as much, all the attentions on offense, but those two guys
31:44both have ties with Rabel would be at, at the top of my list there, I believe.
31:49So, um, any last thoughts, coaching staff, anything in general, or we can move on and
31:56talk about some of those games this weekend and, uh, the game coming up here soon tonight.
32:00Yeah, I think that's pretty much it for the coaching staff.
32:02All right. So, uh, before we talk about some of the games, I want to tell you guys about game
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33:34Did you see the prices that, you know, non-football BC basketball with Cooper flag in attendance this
33:40weekend? People love them flag. They were like $2,000 to get into Conti forum. That's probably
33:45the most state of Maine came down seriously. Probably the most expensive Conti forum ticket
33:53ever. If you're a Celtics fan, you're panicking. There's your silver lining. Maybe it gets so bad.
33:59Cooper flag, they end up in the lottery and Cooper, and then they fix it next year with
34:03Cooper flag. You want to know what I pulled up the other day after the Bruins game,
34:09NHL tank-a-thon right now. You know what? That's hang on. Keep going. I'm going to find something.
34:16I don't think I've ever been on NHL tank-a-thon or Boston sports, but I don't think because this
34:22is the Bruins thing. Jim Murray calls them the NHL Steelers. It's exactly what they are.
34:27That's a good, good cop. That is a very good. And you know what? I think they're probably at
34:33a point and I know people may not want to hear this and I don't think I'm the first at the stake
34:37either. It's not going to get better until it gets worse. They can't just keep being the 16th best
34:43team in a 32 team league. And maybe you win a playoff series. Maybe you don't, but you're never
34:47really contender. You're never bad, but you're never really contender either. Even the year they
34:52set the wins record, that wasn't like a dog or the points record. That wasn't like a dominant
34:58roster. It was just a pretty good roster with two goalies that got absurdly hot.
35:04So I think they may need a bottom out in order to get better. They need the draft picks. They
35:09need excuse to clear out the roster. Maybe ownership finally does something about the
35:13front office. You should be on NHL tank-a-thon. I think that's probably where the Bruins need
35:18to be right now. I'm with you. I'm with you. I'm, I'm, I don't want to say I am kind of rooting for
35:24them not to make the playoffs because like they're going to be the last year's version of the
35:29capitals. They're going to get in and just get boat raced in four or five games. And then you're
35:34going to be picking 17th and nothing's going to happen. Like, right. I'm team. What did Cam Neely
35:41call it? Like he didn't want to say sell. He said retool the other day. Yeah. And like retool,
35:46like trade off some of these guys, like Trent Frederick, the guy, the guys, you're not going
35:50to resign, get anything for Trent Frederick at this point. Like that's the problem I'm all for
35:54selling, but unless you're going to really blow it up and trade pasta knock, who are you?
35:58What are you getting for any of the NHL trade deadline gets pretty silly. Like you can really.
36:05Um, what's the word I'm trying to say? Uh, rips, rip some guys off, uh, on the NHL trade deadline.
36:12There is a guy Tanner's, you know, a few years ago, who's similar player as Trent Frederick. He
36:17produced a little bit better. Uh, the, the lightning traded like a first two seconds,
36:22a third, a fourth and a fifth round draft pick for him. So look, Frederick's done nothing to
36:27help his value. Like, cause he, he sucked this year pretty much, but, um, teams, teams will look
36:32at him and there'll be like, Ooh, big guy, physical, like he'll be great and play off
36:37hockey. We'll give up something, something for him. So I think they can make a few of those
36:41moves on the margin and just recoup some draft capital. Like they just need to take shots in
36:46the draft. They're back at that point. And the other thing, like, if you get some of these guys
36:50out, then you have to play your younger players. And the other thing cam nearly said that drove me
36:55crazy was these young guys have to outscore their mistakes. Just like, Oh my God. Like you wonder
37:02why you can't develop any talent they'll pass you years. Cause you call these guys up and they make
37:06one mistake. And then there are some in the Providence for the next three months. And like,
37:10that sounds fair. It seriously, it doesn't help their confidence at all. If they're out there
37:14being like, Oh my God, I can't make a mistake. Like I know Fabian Lysell, like he's not great
37:19away from the puck, but the fact that now that he makes one mistake and he's just gone for months,
37:24like that is just not a way to develop young talent and young players. So get rid of some of
37:29those, the Trent Frederick's of the world forced themselves to play, you know, Fabian Lysell,
37:34Georgie Merkel off. They've got forced into playing that posture and he's got three assists
37:38in three games since he's coming back in, like who would have knew that could make a difference.
37:42So I'm with the kind of retool, just kind of reset as much as you can. And then it will,
37:48it will help you in the long run because making the playoffs this year, unless something
37:51drastically changes, like making the playoffs this year, isn't, isn't going to do you any good.
37:56Yeah. I'm with you. They got to play the kids. That's a big thing for me. You got to figure
37:59out what you have in that group. Even if you're playing them as a showcase for the deadline,
38:02like you, you got to start playing those kids. Well, we're here impromptu Boston sports minute.
38:07You worried about the Celtics? No, not at all. I'll, I'll be worried about them when they're
38:12down three, one in the Eastern conference finals, if it gets, so here's what I don't
38:17want to hear from Celtics fans. Cause I, I just, well, no, that's fine. I w you started here when
38:24they lost a couple of games late in, in the calendar year. Oh, it's just December right now.
38:28Oh, it's just January. Good time. Turn around. Thank you. Oh, it's just February. Literally.
38:33Evan just texted me. Celtics are fine. I assume he's watching. I said this to him last night.
38:38Oh, they must be winning. Good for them that they're winning.
38:41They're up 76 49 right now. Excellent. Excellent. So maybe this point is moot, but like,
38:47oh, it's just January. Oh, it's just February. Oh, it's just March. And then it gets April and
38:51they lose and people being like, what the hell happened? No. Like I think it's a team. That's
38:57just, frankly, they won a championship a year ago. They're in the dog days of it. They all had
39:02very long off seasons. They just need to be able to flip the switch again. And I'd like for them
39:06to flip it sooner rather than later. Cause you don't want to get down three, one, and then
39:10suddenly you have to flip it and not have that margin for error. So I'm not super worried.
39:14I'd like to see him get another score at the deadline improvement on Sam Hauser. But
39:18no, I, I, I think that the whole idea that they were going to come in this year and dominate
39:23cause Steve Kerr, Nike, you know, the, you know, not giving Tatum his MVP had like the revenge
39:30Celtics. That's what opening night was. That's what that barrage against the Knicks was.
39:35Now they're just kind of bored. They're just kind of playing with their food and it's not going well.
39:39And I think they can flip the switch again, but I would like to see him do it sooner rather than
39:43later. Cause you don't want to see him fall too far in the seating. I know the East as a whole
39:48is better this year, right? Like the calves are up there. Who else is up there in the,
39:53are the Knicks good? I'm so like, you're up there, but I still don't believe in the Knicks.
39:57The bucks are up there, but we know the Celtics have their number like seating wise. Cause you'd
40:02obviously prefer home court in the playoffs. Like it's not the end all be all, but if you stop,
40:07if you start dropping these games in the regular season and then you're all of a sudden the three
40:11seed, like then you're on the road when you're down three, one in the Eastern conference finals
40:16to whoever you're playing. There's still really only two teams in the East that worry me. The
40:19calves might be legit. And then it's going to sound weird to magic just because they always
40:24play the Celtics so tough. I, and look, maybe they get bounced in the first round before they play
40:30this and they kill them the other day, the Celtics. Yeah. But that was the first time they'd be,
40:34I think they're like two and eight against the magic in their last 10 or something like that.
40:37Like, um, the magic have had their number. So, all right. That's all right. You got anything
40:42on the Red Sox? Uh, well I could say Red Sox and kind of tie it in with the, uh, Patriots. We had
40:48that, um, Oh yeah, there we go. Chris Cotillo noted that a long time Red Sox executive Joe
40:54McDonald, uh, who is Boston's director of baseball analytics, left the organization in December
41:00to work for the Patriots as a senior analyst of football strategy. So not a Mike Vrabel hire
41:06cause he came in December, but we've talked a lot about that, you know, Patriots analytic
41:10department, how it's kind of lacking and their whole football operations is kind of lacking as a
41:15whole. So they add a, uh, director. What'd I say? The title was their director of, or senior
41:21analyst of football strategy, maybe getting some more of your favorite analytics involved there
41:26in the front office. So look, I've said this, if, if analytics means using like the player tracking
41:32when it comes to the draft, which is what Vrabel makes it seem like he sounds about,
41:36I don't consider it analytics to me. Analytics is imaginary numbers and spreadsheets. That's real
41:41tangible data. If they're going to use that fine. And like, if this guy's just here to kind of get
41:45the infrastructure in place, fine. There's not somebody I want making football decisions.
41:49I don't want them to start getting into, you know, you got to call it to the booth to make
41:53sure your decision to kick or not is cool with the nerds up there, punching the numbers into
41:57the calculator. I don't want that. I want Mike Vrabel coaching the football team. I don't want
42:02him just regurgitating, which is what I think it's a pressure point at times between the Red
42:07Sox front office, Dallas Cora. I don't want Mike Vrabel just being there to be the mouthpiece for
42:12the nerds. But if this guy's going to help them implement some of that stuff for the draft,
42:16I'm all for it. Yep. It will be interesting. Cause he wasn't a Vrabel hire. Like he came
42:21in December. So who hired him? Like, is Vrabel going to be on the probably Elliot Wolf,
42:25I guess. Probably. But I do on EEI Vrabel has kind of three things for analytics was one,
42:33you know, the player acquisition, like you mentioned play speed, estimated play speed,
42:38you know, stuff like that. You were talking about the second was health and safety, right? Like you
42:44see them where those sports trackers out in practice. So a lot of stuff like that, like load
42:51management, how they construct practice. And then the other was that in-game stuff, like the risk
42:56ratio of going for it in different, different scenarios throughout the game. So that's how it
43:01makes it seem like he wants to use those analytics. That was a big thing in Cleveland that he
43:06apparently learned about, you know, cause the Browns are one of the, you know, leaks top teams
43:10when it comes to their analytic department. So it seems like that's at least a step they want to go
43:15to a little bit more, but we will see how that looks under Mike Vrabel and how much he actually
43:20did take from Cleveland, but there's your impromptu Boston sports minute to tie it all
43:27together. So we'll end anything stand out to you from that divisional round of the playoff,
43:34some great games this weekend, some snow games, which got people like Evan all upset with,
43:40you know, no dome football, but I don't know. I catch by, by poking the cool was pretty freaking
43:46precise. Uh, all four teams, here's my big takeaway, all four teams that had that won the
43:53yardage battle lost. Yeah. Turnover. So I think when you hear people talk about, you know, you
44:00know, the offense, this, the offense, that, and it, you know, you've got to be able to score 30.
44:05You do need to be able to do it, but you can't sell out the rest of the roster building process
44:11just to build the pass game. Like that, that doesn't work. It's not viable. The chiefs have
44:16not scored more than 30 points in a game this year, and they're going to the AFC championship.
44:20And I know that they're kind of an anomaly because they're the chiefs, but like,
44:25if you score 35 a game, but you give up 37, the style points don't mean shit.
44:32So I think it's just a reminder. The Eagles are a very well rounded football team. The bills,
44:39as much as it kills me to say it, or a very, I've become a very well-rounded football team,
44:43especially on offense. Um, you know, are you team bills or chiefs next weekend?
44:48I huge football fan always have been. Yeah. Um, you know, the, the commanders are for where they
44:56are in their rebuild. They got here pretty quickly. Um, I would say it's pretty like,
45:00they have a good run game and some of it runs to the quarterback. They have pretty good run game,
45:03good defensive front. They've gotten better in a secondary. Like you can't just say improve.
45:08Well, you know, if they pass in games better, they'll win or, well, you know, if they could
45:12just rush the pastor better, they'll win. Like, yeah, they'll win more games, but to get to this
45:17level, you can't just say, all right, well, we'll be, but we're going to put all our resources.
45:21You know, I want them to sign T Higgins, draft a wide receiver in the first round and then go,
45:26you know, trade for another receiver. No, you can't just, you can't consolidate the improvement.
45:32It has to be spread around the roster. And my one other thought along those lines,
45:37uh, and I, I'm not, I know I'm not the first one to point this out. I think Evan pointed out,
45:40other people pointed out the job, the commanders did in free agency and they didn't really,
45:46none of the guys they added. I mean, they're good players. Frankie,
45:51there wasn't like a splash. No, there wasn't that like a T Higgins. It wasn't even, uh,
45:57Calvin Ridley type guy. And I remember saying this last year when it became clear that they
46:02were going to do the Packer way and draft and develop. It's all well and good if you want to
46:06do that. And if you become a team that streamlines the draft process, you're going to be good for a
46:10long time because the, because it is the most effective way to be competitive in the NFL.
46:15But the reason it worked in green Bay and it works in some of these other places is because they had
46:22time to build a foundation. And you had Aaron Rogers, you had some of these other guys in place.
46:29You come here, that foundation's not there. You're starting from scratch. And I would have
46:34loved it. I said, remember saying this last year, I didn't need them to go out and sign Calvin
46:38Ridley. I just needed them to sign five or six solid veterans to just be that, give you that
46:44floor for, right? Well, you're drafting and developing. These guys are going to carry it.
46:50So you're not, you know, a basement team. That is one of the major differences between the
46:54commanders and the Patriots. The commanders did that. The Patriots didn't. So look, we all want
46:59to see him go out to one of these big name wide receivers to saucy. And I still think you can do
47:02that, but they're going to need to kind of get some of those mid level, just solid veteran
47:10foundational pieces in place, uh, at this point. And that's part of the reason too,
47:15I know this conversation is going to come up that how screwed the Patriots were by winning that game
47:20last year. So, you know, Jane Daniels got to the NFC championship. Drake may only won one game.
47:26Drake may doesn't have Terry McLaurin. Drake may doesn't have that offensive line.
47:31Drake may doesn't have cliff Kingsbury. Drake. May's not playing with that defense.
47:36If you switch, switch the quarterbacks, where are the commanders right now? If it's Drake may there.
47:43Probably a pretty similar spot. I mean, one thing I'd say is like,
47:48I was expecting, I was a huge Drake may guys, everyone knows, but Jane Daniels came into the
47:52league with like 30 more starts and three more years of experience. There was that element,
47:57you know, maybe a little bit more win now, but like, if you think Jane Daniels is doing this
48:01on this Patriots team, right? Absolutely not. It's it's, this is not about Jane Daniels and like
48:08Jane Daniels probably is better than Drake may right now. Cause what you said, he's much more
48:10experienced. He's three years older, has a ton more starts, but this isn't about, you know,
48:15it's not like, Oh man, if the Patriots had picked second, first of all, I still made a pick Drake
48:18may had they picked second, but it's not about all the Patriots pick second. They got screwed.
48:24They didn't do all that winning, beating the Steelers in December did not prevent the Patriots
48:30from signing a real left tackle. Beating the Patriots in December is not the reason the
48:35Patriots went and signed a bunch of guys to extensions that they then didn't play up to.
48:40Right. Beating the Steelers in December is not why the Patriots chose Jalen Polk over
48:46a live McConkey. There's, there's a lot more to it than that. Yep. Yep. I think it's a great
48:54point with, with free agency, how they attacked it. And I think I said in the, excuse me,
48:59in the crossover, maybe that's why outside of the Patriots first pick, because that's number four,
49:05that's such a huge piece. Like the way they go about free agency, I think is the biggest piece
49:11of this off season, just to get some veterans in here, preferably those who have, you know,
49:16championship winning experience just to help raise that floor. And you hope with Rabel,
49:21you know, he might have some guys he played with in Tennessee, right? Like who he likes and knows
49:27and can help do that. So I think free agency is going to be so big for them, even if it's not
49:32that huge splash with the $130 million, but if you can go get five or six guys at different
49:38positions, just veterans that, you know, you can count on to just raise that floor and help
49:44elevate things to start. I think that'll be huge. And then you look at three, three out of the four
49:49teams that won, you know, not including the chiefs, all three coaches are kind of like this
49:54defensive minded culture builder, right? You know, like Sean McDermott, Nick Sirianni,
50:00and then Dan Quinn, they all kind of come in that Vrabel mold and all, a lot of them,
50:04uh, you know, high top 10 draft picks. Uh, I think every quarterback this week was a first
50:10round draft pick outside of jail and hurts. And most of those guys, uh, were top 10. So if you
50:15look at the core, uh, Drake May and Mike for able, you hope you have that now go out and add to that
50:20in free agency with all this money. And then you got to nail the top of the draft, uh, pick as well
50:25to keep, keep building this thing out. So yeah, that was probably the big takeaway I thought from
50:30the divisional round, uh, of the playoff. So now it is time to execute, but maybe Washington
50:35gives you some hope there. So, um, last game of the weekend, Notre Dame, Ohio state national
50:41championship kicking off soon. Who you like, I think your Ohio state, that was your prediction
50:46before this thing started, but who you like and, uh, who you watching from a draft perspective in
50:52this one. Um, I have Ohio state. I said since August, it's the best roster in the nation,
50:57Ryan day or no, that team should win the championship. Marcus Freeman's done a good
51:02job. I'm frankly surprised. Notre Dame got this far, a ton of credit to them,
51:05especially with some of the injuries they've had, but Ohio state's the better football team draft
51:10wise. I have a list up on 98, five, the sports hub.com, but I blindfold yourself, throw a dart
51:15at the Ohio state roster. The guy's either a likely Patriot or not draft eligible yet.
51:20And how crazy is this from a draft point of view? There's a lot of names talk about tonight
51:26on one team. The two best NFL prospects are not draft eligible. They're too young
51:31on the other team in terms of guys playing. I like, uh, Benjamin Moore, somebody start.
51:36So on the other team, you could make an argument that their best NFL prospect is their head coach.
51:44So it's, it's really interesting. Um, Notre Dame is a couple of guys that there's really not a ton
51:50relevant to the Patriots, especially with guys like Morrison and Riley mills hurt.
51:54Ohio state is a ton and it's like, even at the same position, the running backs,
51:57the defensive ends, the court, uh, cornerbacks, and I'll still throw Will Howard out there.
52:03Like we've talked about this. Can Will Howard, the Patriots not taking Will Howard, but can Will
52:06Howard be this year's JJ McCarthy? And if he wins tonight and if he has a good game tonight,
52:11does he start suddenly start getting first round buzz? And if there's another quarterback in that
52:15top 10 conversation, it changes the value of that fourth overall pick immensely, right?
52:21If a team really likes him, it makes the pick more valuable. But you know, even if, even if he
52:26goes in the bottom half of that top 10, well now maybe the Raiders are less desperate to get up to
52:32six. Now maybe some of those teams they're right behind you are less desperate. It's like, we'll
52:35just wait on Will Howard. So that story is going to be interesting to watch as well.
52:41Yep. Yeah, it should be Ohio state. Their roster is just so talented. And can you trust Notre Dame
52:46in a college football championship? Probably not, but, uh, so many good players, you know,
52:52I'm a huge Ameka Buka fan. We talked about the running backs, the edge players on Ohio state.
52:56One guy I did want to ask you about, cause I don't think we've really talked about him.
52:59Uh, we talked about the guy he took over for a lot, but Jason even mentioned it in the chat.
53:03Where are you with Donovan Jackson right now? Because he started the year as Ohio state's left
53:07guard. Uh, and then Josh Simmons gets hurt and he kicks out to left tackle. He's played pretty well.
53:13And people say he has the size to stick out there at left tackle. That's someone who we might be
53:18talking about in the Patriots second pick wherever that falls, if they trade up. But, uh, are you on
53:24the Donovan Jackson train? That's kind of been picking up steam. I feel like on, on Twitter
53:28lately. So it's funny. I just pulled up cause I was curious for reference, uh, to Brandon Thorne
53:34scouting report on Donovan Jackson pro comparison, Michael Jordan. There we go. Okay.
53:42So he sees him as a guard that, that might be an older, older report. Uh, I don't want to throw a
53:48thorn under the bus there. I think it is a little bit older. Um, this isn't just a guy that these
53:53were his first tackle snaps, right? Right. And that's my point. This isn't just the guy that
53:57kicked out to tackle, you know, has been bouncing back and forth. This is a guy that just started
54:01playing tackle this year. He's played four or five games. You know where I'm at with tackle,
54:04Brad, just draft, just draft a freaking left tackle. Please do not get too cute with it.
54:10Draft a healthy, functional left tackle. That should not be a left tackle. Now though,
54:16he's playing left tackle. He might, he might be a real NFL left tackle. He could even be,
54:23you know, a guy that he could even end up being like a guy that's played left tackle his whole
54:27career. And you have a better idea about it. It's a mystery box in the boat. If Josh Connerly is
54:32there, Arianta Ursary is there. I know what those guys look like at left tackle, right?
54:37So, Oh, he could, he could even be somebody who should have been playing left tackle this whole
54:41time. Great. Get a guy who's been playing it this whole time. Who's healthy. That's where I'm at.
54:45And I think it's irrelevant because he's a really good freaking guard. And I do want,
54:51I do think there's a chance of team at the back end of the first round that needs a guard, just
54:55outright drafts him as a guard. Cause he is a first round guard. He's not a first round tackle,
54:58but he is a first round guard. And I could see a team maybe just grabbing him there, but
55:03I, enough with the trying to, and I don't mean to get annoyed at you. It's the whole thing.
55:07It's not sexy. I get it. It's the offensive line. You're not going to buy his Jersey. You're not
55:10going to draft him in fantasy and everybody wants shiny new toy. They know they have to
55:14take care of left tackle. So it's, how can I wedge this in and get creative and get cute?
55:18So I still get what I want, but I can still say that I have them addressing the tackle position.
55:23So you can't, it's a premium position, either invest in it or you don't half measures or why
55:29they're in the position they are right now. He's another half measure guy for me. I, I, I wouldn't
55:36be, if that's their answer at left tackle, I wouldn't be a fan of it. I think they need to
55:39come away with a more convincing answer than Donovan Jackson. Is he going to the senior bowl?
55:46I was looking at the, I don't think so. That's disappointing. He would have been fun to watch
55:50at the senior role just to see a, where he plays, but, um, Hey, he's been decent at left tackle.
55:56He's given a, he gave up two sacks in his first game, which came against Penn state. So that was
56:00probably Abdul Carter, which that's whiplash kicking out the left tackle for the first time
56:04and going against Abdul Carter, but he hasn't given up a sack sense. So, um, I dunno, I, I get
56:10it like just draft the left tackle, but he seems to be holding up pretty well, uh, out there since,
56:16since he's been out there. So he'll be, uh, Ohio state's left tackle. If you guys are watching
56:20tonight, if you want to keep an eye on him, um, someone that we'll probably be talking about as
56:25we keep going on our draft coverage, but, uh, we will wrap this one up here tonight.
56:31We'll be back Thursday, most likely around our usual time. Uh, we'll probably have some more
56:37coaching updates to talk about. Maybe go back to you guys for a little Q and a, uh, and then next
56:42week is all senior bowl. So we'll have tons of senior bowl stuff coming. Uh, neither of us will
56:48be down there mobile, but, uh, we'll have tons of stuff. We'll be watching practices and all that
56:52and keep you guys up to date on what's going on. So in the meantime, you can follow Barth on
56:56Twitter at real Alex Barth, head over to 95, the sports hub.com to read his Patriots coverage over
57:02there as well. And you follow me on Twitter at I am Brian Heinz head over to Pat's pulpit.com
57:06for our Patriots coverage online there as well. Thank you all for tuning in with us
57:11tonight, and we will see you guys later this week. Bye now.