LIVE Patriots Daily: The GOOD and BAD of Mac Jones vs Dolphins w/ Derrik Klassen

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Join CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles and Derrik Klassen for another episode of Patriots Daily! Derrik and Taylor discuss the good and bad from Mac Jones' performance vs the Miami Dolphins in Week 8.  This episode of the Patriots Daily Podcast Show  is brought to you by:  FanDuel Sportsbook, the exclusive wagering parter of the CLNS Media NetworkRight now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! So, visit https://FanDuel.com/BOSTON and kick off the NFL season. FanDuel, Official Partner of the NFL. 21+ and present in MA. Hope is here. First online real money wager only. $5 pregame moneyline wager required. First onlinereal money wager only. $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable bonus bets that expire 7 days after receipt. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. GamblingHelpLineMa.org or call (800)-327-5050 for 24/7 support. Play it smart from the start! GameSenseMA.com or call 1-800-GAM-1234. ￼￼  Visit https://Linkedin.com/BEAT to post your first job for free! LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Did you know every week, nearly 40 million job seekers visit LinkedIn.￼￼￼  Factor! Visit https://factormeals.com/PATSDAILY50 to get 50% off your first box! Factor is America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Kit, can help you fuel up fast with ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door.  #Patriots #NFL #NewEnglandPatriots

Transcript

00:00 Jones in the midst of a second tough season, unfortunately.

00:03 But the story hasn't been as straightforward as you might

00:07 think. There's been some good for Mac, there's been some bad

00:09 for Mac. And there's also been times where the supporting cast

00:12 hasn't exactly done him a ton of favors. So to get a closer look

00:16 into what exactly is going on with Mac Jones, I've got one of

00:19 my favorite people in the business when it comes to

00:21 breaking down and analyzing quarterbacks. He does the NFL

00:24 draft for Bleacher Report, QB charting for Reception

00:27 Perception, and NFL work for the 33rd team. Ladies and gentlemen,

00:32 Derek Klasson. Derek, how are you doing, brother?

00:34 I'm good, man. Happy to be here. So you know, first time we've

00:38 actually been face to face, we've known each other for like

00:40 five, six years now, but it's finally good to be here. Feels

00:43 good.

00:43 Like I said, better late than never, man. Very happy to have

00:46 you. So before we get into the actual film and break down

00:50 what's going on from a play to play basis using last week, as

00:53 examples, what have you seen for Mac Jones for the entire season?

00:56 Obviously, I thought he had a pretty solid start the first

00:59 couple weeks wasn't really specifically putting the team in

01:02 position to lose those games. Then obviously, you got the

01:05 Dallas game, you got the Saints game where he took some massive

01:08 steps back. And it feels like he's basically been trying to

01:10 claw his way back since then. Is that kind of what you've been

01:13 seeing?

01:13 Yeah, pretty much. I thought for the first, I mean, well, first

01:16 of all, coming into the season, I thought he was kind of

01:19 underrated. Like I think people, he's funny to talk about

01:22 because I think his rookie season was overrated. But then I

01:25 think people forgot how good he can be in the right

01:27 circumstances because of everything that went wrong last

01:30 year. And then I thought, like you said, for the first few

01:32 weeks of the season, the offense looked a little bit more

01:35 cohesive, they were getting some decent play out of a couple of

01:38 the skilled players and the offensive line was not quite as

01:40 bad as it was early, especially early last year, early last

01:43 year, they were a complete nightmare. And so I think

01:46 everything around him looked a little bit better for a second,

01:49 and he was playing a little bit better. I think he was he was

01:51 playing a little bit more confident, some of the accuracy

01:53 that he really showed his rookie year was starting to pop up. Not

01:57 quite to that level again, but he was starting to play a little

01:59 bit better. And then like you said, there was those two weeks

02:01 there where he just, that's the worst that he's ever looked at

02:05 really any level of football. Like he never even really had

02:07 stretches like that at Alabama. And even for large parts of last

02:10 year, he wasn't like that kind of terrible, where he was like

02:15 actively rebelling against the offense and just and just

02:18 completely cratering every time something happened. But I think

02:22 it's been nice that he's been able to bounce back a little bit

02:24 and actually play within the offense again. I think I think

02:26 he's like you said, crawling back a little bit and looking

02:29 okay.

02:29 So first off, like I mentioned, in the intro, hasn't always been

02:34 max. Sometimes the pieces around him just aren't always elevating

02:37 him to the level of just being the quarterback you would

02:40 expect him to be. So I'm going to pull up this first clip. This

02:42 is going to be one where again, part of the other players around

02:46 him not really putting him in position to succeed.

02:49 Yeah, this one was so I think it was a third down maybe a third

02:53 and six, something like that. But the first thing before I

02:56 even roll the clip that I want to show is the the dolphins have

03:00 a nose right over the center. That's going to make it really

03:03 hard to slide one way or the other just because you have a

03:05 guy who is immediately going to pressure the center. And then as

03:08 I kind of roll the clip a little bit more, you're going to see

03:11 they're going to kind of get into this a little bit of a rush

03:14 front. So if the center can't slide anywhere, and they only

03:17 have to the left guard and left tackle for these two immediate

03:21 threats off of the line of scrimmage, they got to block

03:24 those guys like they're in man protection, those those three

03:26 guys have to go get blocked. What ends up happening is the

03:31 Patriots don't keep the back in protection to get any other

03:35 potential blisters, which would be this Mike linebacker, and he

03:38 just goes out for a quick route. And then the dolphins actually

03:41 drop the end. So the left tackle ends up blocking nobody. And the

03:44 Mike ends up coming through through the a gap and getting

03:47 immediate pressure on Mac Jones, Mac has to kind of scramble a

03:51 little bit and go make a throw to the running back and he

03:54 completes it, which is nice. But the problem is the end who

03:57 dropped out, which I think was Bradley chubb is able to get

04:00 enough piece on the running back to where the rest of the team

04:03 can rally they can't convert. So that to me was kind of just a

04:06 situation where it was like, I don't know if it's fully max

04:09 fault that they couldn't get into the right protection or

04:12 keep the back in or whatever. I don't know if on that play,

04:14 that was something that that they had in. But that to me was

04:17 like Miami just cooked up a perfect, perfect pressure and

04:21 they just they didn't have an answer for it.

04:23 It's funny you mentioned that because I specifically asked

04:25 Cole strange yesterday about this one. I tried to like tiptoe

04:28 around it as best I could basically be like, why did you

04:31 allow that sack? Oh, but he was really cool about it. He was

04:34 saying that, you know, with defensive linemen, especially

04:36 when it comes to blitzes, they usually have a tell like a guy

04:39 is kind of closer on you or you got a safety cap and there's

04:42 usually something that you've seen from film where you're

04:44 like, all right, I know what's coming. Apparently with this

04:46 specific front, they didn't see anything on film that indicated

04:49 there was going to be a blitz. And then as you see, it's a very

04:52 late adjustment. So it's that split second where if you're

04:55 watching at home, especially because it looks bad when you've

04:57 got Trent and cool strange both blocking the same person, it's a

05:01 lot easier in that situation than it is when you're actually

05:03 on the field. And you have to make that split second

05:06 adjustment. And early on, this was one of the things that kind

05:08 of encouraged me for Mac because we've seen at times he just

05:12 crumbles when there's unexpected pressure around him. He'll throw

05:15 into traffic or just his fundamentals kind of fall flat.

05:18 And this one, he recognizes it gets it to his check down and

05:21 lives to fight another day, which I thought he did a pretty

05:23 decent job in this game compared to what he's done in some games

05:26 past

05:27 100% and like that's the thing is like Mac did something which

05:31 is cool. This was just one of those ones where it's like the

05:33 structure of the offense just didn't didn't quite have an

05:35 answer.

05:36 Exactly. So before we get to our next play, I wanted to send it

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06:21 Alright, so this next play, we've got a pretty rare signing

06:28 from the Patriots offense, a touchdown. So let's get your

06:31 perspective on Kendrick Bourne's long catch and run, which is

06:35 helped a little bit by some extra attention to a guy that

06:38 Patriots fans are really rallying around jumping all the

06:41 bandwagon for a little pop Douglas. So what did you see on

06:44 this play?

06:45 Yeah, I thought this one this to me was like, you know, before I

06:49 actually run the clip, I'll kind of I'll kind of run it down.

06:51 They end up running Kendrick Bourne on the crosser from from

06:53 three here and he ends up scoring that to me is like a

06:55 quintessential Mac throw like you saw this all over his film

06:58 at Alabama where he was throwing these mid range crossers. That's

07:01 just kind of one of those throws that he really loves. He's

07:03 really good at being able to hit guys in stride. And so what ends

07:05 up happening here is Miami is going to roll down this strong

07:08 safety into a kind of funky cover one look where this guy is

07:13 not really actually playing like a whole. He's kind of almost

07:16 playing down at the sticks to one and two, where he's kind of

07:20 expecting Mac to throw like a slant or something right at the

07:23 sticks because they're the Patriots and he's Mac Jones. And

07:26 that's what they've typically done on offense. So what ends up

07:29 happening is like so so they roll that guy down to come and

07:32 play number one and number two, Max sees this and he goes, Oh,

07:36 well, if we've got man coverage and the whole player is down

07:39 trying to start trying to play right at the sticks. I can come

07:43 back and hit Kendrick Bourne one on one, hit him in stride, hit

07:46 him for a touchdown. And they actually they actually kind of

07:49 blocked this play up. Okay, Miami didn't really send an

07:51 exotic pressure, they kind of just go five across the board.

07:53 And all they've got to do is block it up. And they do it. I

07:57 mean, guy gets beat there a little bit, but he gives Mac

07:59 enough time, right to get the ball. And really, that's all you

08:03 can ask for it at the stage of this offense. So I thought this

08:06 was one of the one of the rare plays where Patriots actually

08:09 just got into a right look, Mac read it out correctly, Kendrick

08:11 Bourne beat his guy. And these are the type of plays you hope

08:14 they can get more often, but haven't really been there all

08:18 year. So

08:19 and like you mentioned, they block it up pretty well. But

08:22 just because of where the Patriots offense is right now,

08:25 you can't really take for granted the fact that Max still

08:27 was able to keep his eyes downfield with David Andrews

08:30 kind of getting pushed in his lap because we've seen even

08:33 mentioned it, I think it was a couple weeks ago where he

08:35 acknowledged Yeah, there were a couple times where I dropped my

08:37 eyes against the bills where, you know, the game tape was

08:39 really good, really good. It was pretty good for the most part,

08:42 all things considered. But still, when he would see a flash

08:45 of color in his face, eyes drop, kind of gets into that panic

08:48 mode. We're like, Nope, Mac, rain it in, rain it in. It's

08:51 okay, you're gonna be alright. So yeah, just nice to see him

08:55 actually be able to get the ball out, show some confidence, not

08:58 the highest difficulty throw, but still being able to make a

09:02 play. But obviously, wasn't all good in this game for Mac, there

09:06 were also some pretty significant downsides. And then

09:08 this next one, we're going to see a play where live I wasn't

09:11 sure if this was just Jalen Ramsey making a play in his

09:14 debut. But really, when I looked at it for a second and third

09:17 time, I was like, I think this is probably just a play that

09:20 Mac would want back. And he acknowledged the same thing

09:22 after the game. So before I get to that, I want to hear what you

09:24 have to say about his interception to Jalen Ramsey.

09:27 Yeah, this one is I mean, first of all, Jalen Ramsey does make a

09:31 crazy play on it. I mean, just the way that he moves is, I

09:35 mean, he's one of one when he's playing. Well, you know what I

09:37 mean? Like, there's just not many guys like that. What I will

09:39 say is so before I end up running the clip, they run

09:43 basically a well, I'll run the clip. And then I'll kind of walk

09:47 back through it, they end up running what is supposed to be a

09:48 quarters beater, where they're trying to run this post wheel

09:52 concept. And it's really more of like a wheel sit where when he

09:55 sees this corner, take the post and really like take it high and

10:00 try to pass it off to the to the high safety. This guy can sit and

10:04 they actually ran this concept earlier in the game and Mac

10:06 Jones didn't throw it. So it's interesting that he goes back to

10:10 it here. But the thing I would say about this throw is it looks

10:15 bad when you run it all the way and Jalen Ramsey picks it off

10:18 with like room to spare honestly, like he could have he

10:20 could have been two steps away, he probably would have been

10:22 there. The first thing I would say is Mac Jones is I think his

10:26 footwork is really bad here. Like when he gets back into this

10:29 throwing posture, I think he's a little bit too wide here. And

10:32 you can even see when he throws, he ends up kind of leaning back.

10:35 And that's always been a problem with him where he kind of fades

10:38 away from the ball fades away from the throw. Really hard to

10:41 do that when you're not a guy who has very good arm strength

10:44 in the first place. And so he's losing what arm strength he did

10:47 have, which is going to be a problem when you're trying to

10:50 fit a sideline throw like this. The other problem I think is,

10:53 I'm gonna scrub back again, when you watch the play or in trying

10:57 to settle because he knows the corner is high, and Mac tries to

11:01 lead him up the field. So I think that's a mistake on Max

11:03 part of not really understanding how this concept is supposed to

11:06 work against the way that the corner was playing it. So I

11:10 actually think this is like a workable throw. If Mac Jones had

11:15 a little bit cleaner footwork, if his arm was a little bit

11:17 better, if he knew where this ball was supposed to be, but all

11:20 those things were not true on this play. And he ends up

11:22 throwing the pick to Jalen Ramsey.

11:23 And the weird thing, it's not the only time this season, I

11:27 forget what exactly the play was. But there was another time

11:29 where there's similar situation, Kendrick Bourne tries to settle

11:32 into a void in zone. And for some reason, Mac doesn't adjust

11:36 with him and just ends up throwing a coverage. And one

11:38 thing we talked about this before the show, Max footwork

11:41 has been like that since week one. And you mentioned it's been

11:44 like that since college where for some reason, he throws away

11:47 it's a little bit sloppy. One, why do you think that is? Why is

11:50 that such a persistent problem that he hasn't managed to work

11:53 out in the third year in the NFL? And do you think that's

11:56 something that is fixable either this season, probably unlikely

12:00 because of what I just said? Or is that something he can maybe

12:02 iron out with more coaching?

12:04 You would hope that he could get a little bit better at it. But

12:08 at this point, he's played enough ball that it's like, I

12:11 don't know if or when he will. The thing I think really the

12:18 biggest problem and it doesn't necessarily always turn out this

12:21 way. But I think the reason why he does that is he's he just

12:25 doesn't want to get hit. And like he's trying to protect

12:28 himself from a lot of hits like you saw this a lot of Bama when

12:30 the when the when the pocket was getting a little bit tighter, he

12:33 would do a lot of that stuff. And we've seen that mostly

12:36 throughout most of his NFL career where like, he's willing

12:39 to make the throw, it's just that he's going to fade away

12:41 from it and try to protect himself a little bit. I think

12:44 because he's gotten so used to that, especially behind the

12:46 offensive line, the way that it's played the last year and a

12:48 half. I think it's kind of just been a recurring theme with him

12:51 where like, that's almost just the way that he plays now, which

12:55 is pretty frustrating.

12:56 And he's never had the chance to, like you said, actually

12:59 stand behind an offensive line where he was like, Yes, I will

13:01 have time, I'm not going to have people at my feet. And at the

13:04 very least, when that happens, you're just hoping, okay, don't

13:08 put it in harm's way. If you're going to do that, like there's

13:10 going to be some misses just if your footwork is inconsistent,

13:12 period. But you don't want the compounding mistakes, which

13:16 we've seen from him. But this is going to be another example

13:18 where we're going to give Mac a little bit of slack here show

13:21 something where he was positive. But again, someone on the other

13:24 side or someone in supporting cast didn't help him out.

13:27 Yep, this is the, you know, Mac is not the greatest quarterback

13:32 in the league, but he does some nice things. And it's just a big

13:35 part of the Patriots problem is they're just not helping him. So

13:38 they're gonna run like a what I've seen called rapper spin,

13:42 basically, where the front guy here is to the top of the screen

13:46 gonna run kind of like a little sit hitch, and then they're

13:48 gonna run their dig over the top of every offense in the NFL runs

13:51 this if you watch on Sunday, if you if you pay attention for it

13:53 on Sunday, you will see it in every single game. But anyway,

13:57 Mac is going to kind of set the protection here, he's going to

14:00 try to help everyone out. And they're going to end up sliding,

14:03 they're going to end up four man sliding to the right basically,

14:05 because there's no extra threat here to the left, like they're

14:07 probably not going to send the nickel from the field, like

14:10 teams aren't going to do that. And this guy has so much depth

14:12 that he's not coming either. And if he does, you're just going to

14:15 beat him with a hot so who cares. And so they kind of push

14:18 the line. And I think Mac Jones does a good job in that sense.

14:21 And then when you run the play, I think Mac actually does a good

14:25 job of knowing where the ball needs to be because this sit at

14:28 this concept ends up working out the way where you want it to

14:31 where the sit kind of draws one of the underneath defenders and

14:35 the receiver Jalen Rager can get under the corner. The problem is

14:39 a you know, I'll go back again. Rager can't really get out of

14:43 this break and separate the way that he needs to. And so the

14:45 ball kind of ends up barely hitting him at his fingertips at

14:48 the front of the route. But I actually think this is a really

14:50 good pre snap process by Mac. I think it's a good decision by

14:53 Mac. I think it's a well timed ball. I think it's a well

14:55 placed ball. You just see Jalen Rager kind of get hitched up,

15:00 caught up and not really be able to to burst out of that break to

15:03 make this throw work. If Brandon Ayuk is running this route, it's

15:06 a completion and he's getting 25 yards. You know, like that's

15:09 the biggest issue in the Patriots offense.

15:11 They definitely need somebody like that. So this isn't super

15:15 relevant to this play because like you said, his pre snap

15:17 process was good. One thing we talked about before the show is

15:21 the fact that Mac is given a lot of responsibility before the

15:24 play. There's a lot of adjustments like find the mic

15:27 then reset the mic, you know, change the play if you don't

15:30 like it, which with a guy like Mac, who's really going to win

15:32 with his brain, you'd like him to be able to find the best

15:35 possible matchup, be able to get the protection where it needs

15:37 to be. But where does the detriment come into play there?

15:40 Because, you know, just from what we've seen, there's times

15:42 they get delayed games, there's times where you have guys moving

15:45 at the same time, JT O'Sullivan even mentioned, hey, sometimes

15:48 you seem to be confident in the play you call and run it. And

15:51 there is that in this offense. But from your perspective,

15:54 what's the the pro and con of having a quarterback with so

15:58 much control before the snap or just so such a lengthy pre snap

16:01 checklist? Yeah, I think the pro and I do think this applies to

16:05 Mac is like he is a very smart quarterback. I think his pre

16:08 snap process is good. And he can handle this to a degree that a

16:12 lot of young players necessarily can't. I do think he does a good

16:16 job of setting protections, especially this year. Last year,

16:19 it was tougher because I think just their overall protection

16:21 plan was a nightmare. But he's done a better job this year,

16:24 which I think which I think has helped. And I think he's just a

16:28 guy who functions better as a passer when he kind of knows

16:33 where the ball needs to go before it snapped. And I think

16:36 he's kind of worked himself into being good at that almost like,

16:38 you know, Philip Rivers was kind of like this, where he was just,

16:41 he kind of knew where he was going to pick and shoot before

16:43 the ball is snapped. And I think Mac Jones like that's the dream

16:46 for Mac is to get to that level. The problem is he's just he's

16:50 still a young player and he's not up to that level. And so to

16:53 ask him to do this every single down, when really the offense

16:57 doesn't ever have easy buttons to like take stuff off of him. I

17:00 mean, they'll run screens and all this other BS stuff and

17:03 they'll know run the ball a little bit, but they don't have

17:05 like, chunk plays that are just pushing the ball down the field

17:08 to help him out. You know what I mean? Right. So he's got to do

17:11 this for 810 snaps a drive. And it's like, man, as just asking

17:16 for a lot for a guy who's like 25 years old, and really only

17:19 has like one year in a functional NFL offense at this

17:23 point.

17:23 Yeah, not making his job any easier at all with personnel.

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18:56 Alright, so the final play we're going to take a look at this is

19:00 another one that not only Matt can improve on, but I feel like

19:03 we're going to see a similar concept this weekend against the

19:05 commanders who also run a defense is very heavy on soft

19:09 zone. So what did you see on this play?

19:12 This play to me was actually the most frustrating map play of the

19:17 game to me, even more so than the interception because at least

19:20 the interception like their stuff he could clean up and do

19:23 better. But this to me was almost like a this play just

19:27 isn't in max DNA. So what they end up doing here is the Patriots

19:30 are running. They're running an under center play action concept

19:33 that everybody runs where you're just getting the post from one

19:36 side. In this case, the Patriots are running it from the top of

19:38 the screen. And then you're going to get like an over route

19:41 from the other side. And basically the whole idea is

19:44 eventually I'll kind of roll it a little bit. You'll see the

19:47 Dolphins spin to one high. All you're trying to do on this

19:50 concept is see what the middle of the field safety is doing. If

19:53 the middle of the field safety is going to sit high and stay

19:56 high over this post, you throw the crosser if it's open. And if

20:01 he ends up nailing down, you try to throw the post. That's really

20:05 kind of all you're doing on this play. It's really like a two man

20:08 it's really a two man concept and then they'll have pop going

20:10 out for the check down but that's not really like part of

20:12 what he's reading. So I'll roll it out a little bit more. You'll

20:16 start to see we talked about this a little bit before the

20:18 show. I think Douglas probably takes a little bit too long.

20:22 Yeah, trying to snap this route off like he's, he's not really

20:27 like trying to pull the safety down until about 14 yards. I

20:31 think if he snaps it off a little bit earlier and starts to

20:34 take that angle on the over, he probably gets the safety to

20:37 trigger instantly and then it gives Mac a very clear read.

20:40 What ends up happening is it's it's kind of muddy because he

20:43 takes it so high. At this point, I think maybe a little bit

20:47 sooner. At this point, you can see the safety starting to turn

20:51 his hips. Mac has his eyes down the field like he knows that

20:55 this is the thing that he's looking for. But instead of

20:58 going, oh, the safety is driving on the crosser. I can throw the

21:01 post now. He just goes, oh, no, the safety drove on the crosser.

21:04 I don't have a play anymore. Which that's just not like

21:07 that's just not top 10 quality quarterbacking. And I do think

21:11 part of the problem is, you know, we've talked about it,

21:13 Mac is not very comfortable behind this offensive line right

21:15 now. And he was gonna get hit like he was gonna get hit if he

21:18 wanted to throw this post. And I think maybe he didn't want to do

21:20 that. But also, at the end of the day, you got to understand

21:23 like, Mac just doesn't really have the arm to throw a lot of

21:27 these consistently, unless it's just unbelievably wide open. And

21:31 you could make the case that that's true here. But again,

21:34 because some of the pressure, I think he might have been feeling

21:36 he wasn't comfortable, he could get it there. So this was one of

21:39 those plays where you kind of go from being able to have what is

21:44 for a really good quarterback, a pretty easy shot play to this

21:48 post player. You know, I said it when we were talking before the

21:51 show, if this is Gino Smith, he's throwing the ball, like

21:54 they are getting a touchdown on the post to I guess in this case,

21:56 it would probably be Tyler Lockett. Like that's probably

21:59 what is happening. In this case, Mac ends up holding the ball

22:02 kind of just goes into his shell and doesn't do anything and

22:06 takes a sack. So yeah, we've talked about this like where you

22:09 pointed that out. And honestly, in my brain, I'm saying that

22:12 throws just isn't like you said, it's not in his DNA. I actually

22:15 went back to see, okay, when's the last time that he actually

22:18 threw the post in that situation. It was last season

22:21 against the Bills in the last game of the year, doing a pump

22:24 fake, but he had a clean pocket and actually did throw a diamond

22:26 of Ante Parker. But like you said, that's not a throw you

22:29 expect him to make consistently. So you think about the wide

22:32 receiver situation now where you got Jalen Rager, who was the guy

22:35 who's taking the top off there. You got Taekwon Thornton. They're

22:38 fast guys, they can win deep. But then you also have to think

22:42 of, okay, does Mac skill set allow him to actually be able to

22:45 capitalize on those opportunities where a defense has

22:48 to respect, okay, there's a possibility is going to go deep,

22:50 or team's just going to go single high and then drive on it

22:53 and then just be like, all right, we'll switch it up and

22:55 just have the corner run deep, because we're not really afraid

22:58 of him throwing that like so in your against the commanders,

23:02 like I said, another defense plays a lot of soft zone, he's

23:04 going to get opportunities to attack some quarters coverage

23:07 and exploit some safeties. What do you expect to see from him?

23:10 Do you think that he can capitalize on some of those

23:12 chances? Or do you think it's going to be a game where you're

23:15 just trying to avoid Jonathan Allen and Duran Payne, and it's

23:17 going to be quick hitters, RPOs, and maybe just some in breakers

23:21 off play action?

23:21 I mean, I think that's kind of got to be the game plan still,

23:25 because again, that's really when what we've seen from Mac at

23:28 his best when he is able to operate pre snap and really win

23:32 pre snap throw a lot of quick stuff, really get to hots and

23:36 check downs comfortably, and then just hit a couple of in

23:39 breakers. I mean, that was really the game plan against

23:41 Buffalo, right, where he's, he's really just kind of being like a

23:44 pea shooter, just like, you know, five yards here, six

23:46 yards here. Oh, I hit a crosser and oh, it went for 50 yards.

23:48 That's cool. And that's not necessary, like the getting

23:52 random explosives part is not necessarily like sustainable.

23:55 But against the commander's defense that is not very good

23:58 and doesn't have corners who in my opinion, can really run. I

24:02 think that might be something that they could they could

24:04 actually get. You know, I think that's something that they could

24:07 get. And I actually do think there's a chance that the

24:11 Patriots might be able to like wad up their protections a

24:13 little bit in the middle and be a little bit softer on the

24:16 edges, because the commanders just traded away their to Pro

24:19 Bowl level. And they're not really gonna have as much out of

24:24 there. So I do wonder if they can if Matt can not completely,

24:29 you know, crumble under whatever Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne

24:33 might get to him. I think if he can do that and just get the

24:35 ball out, like this commander's defense is just not disciplined

24:39 enough to to really beat them. So I think they could probably

24:43 they're not going to score 40 points. But like they could have

24:45 a decent enough day where the defense you know, Bill Belichick

24:48 I think is going to give Sam how a bad time. So

24:51 some entertainment value for this game, even if back in the

24:55 offense can't necessarily pull it out. But hoping at least for

24:59 some fun in this one. And if there's a I don't know,

25:01 Patriots fan necessarily want to get right game. I feel like

25:03 right now everyone's in let's get a high pick mode. But this

25:07 offense if it's going to get some confidence, it's going to

25:09 be this week. But Derek, thank you so much for your time,

25:12 buddy. Nice to finally do this face to face. Had a great time.

25:15 Please and thank you let everybody know where they can

25:18 find your fantastic work and anything you got coming out in

25:21 the pipeline.

25:21 Yeah, first of all, thanks for having me. It's been great.

25:24 First time, hopefully not the last time. We'll love to be

25:27 back at some point. Yeah, you guys can find me on Twitter at

25:31 QB class, you can find me. I mean, Taylor already mentioned

25:34 it all the places I write it beforehand, but we are going to

25:37 start pumping out a lot more of our actual scouting reports on

25:39 bleacher report very soon. I think by the end of the month,

25:42 so you'll be able to read those, you know, all my takes on Drake

25:45 man, Caleb and Brock Bowers, all that good stuff. So be on the

25:49 lookout for that for sure.

25:49 I'm gonna put you on the spot real quick. Who do you think is

25:53 the best pick and honestly, like more of an attainable kind of

25:56 person. So probably not a Caleb Williams, but in this

25:58 quarterback class, the Patriots want to get maximum actual

26:01 competition, who would be at the top of your list if you're a

26:03 scout for New England?

26:04 Oh, man, I mean, yeah, here. Yeah, the first two guys are

26:09 completely off the board. What I will say is like my take on the

26:11 quarterback class is that there are a lot of really interesting

26:15 guys that I would want to take in the top 100. I don't know if

26:18 there's another guy I would want to take in the first round

26:20 outside of the obvious two. I think there's a couple of guys

26:24 that could maybe fight for that. I've been really impressed with

26:26 Tyler van Dyck from Miami. And I think he kind of fits what really

26:31 the Patriots should want to do, which is like a run the ball and

26:33 then throw the ball down the field type of type of offense.

26:36 Tyler van Dyck is gonna throw the ball down the field, maybe

26:38 to his detriment sometimes, but he is gonna try to do it. And so

26:42 I like him. I like him a little bit. If Shadier Sanders chooses

26:45 to come out, I think he has something to him. Like I would

26:47 still like to see him improve a little bit in terms of, you

26:50 know, his processing and I think his timing and his pocket

26:53 management, but he just has unbelievable poise and he's a

26:56 really, really accurate thrower. And I think those things usually

27:00 translate pretty well. So those would probably be the guys that

27:03 that I'm looking for for, you know, if they end up in that

27:05 late first round, you know, or wherever it is that the Patriots

27:09 end up picking quarterback if they trade back or whatever. So

27:11 also just shudders poise with that offensive line is one of

27:16 the craziest just like he's a college quarterback, you would

27:18 think he'd crumble. But I mean, he's just got that Sanders DNA.

27:22 But Derek, thank you again, brother. I appreciate you and

27:24 you will be back. We're locking that in. Thank you all so much

27:28 for watching. We appreciate you. Take care of yourselves. Take

27:31 care of each other. And we will see you next time. Peace.

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