00:00All right, so Paul Perillo from Patriots.com, Sunshine.com joins us.
00:04I'm going to give a nice softball topic here because I did want to do it.
00:07I was going to do it at 2 o'clock, but we got sidetracked with Vrabel
00:11and the Kendrick Bourne stuff and the DeVito stuff.
00:15But here's what I wanted to do because I still do believe they're going to be good.
00:18They're going to be respectable.
00:19They're going to get back to the middle of the pack.
00:21They're going to contend for the playoffs.
00:22I have them for nine wins.
00:23I believe all this.
00:24And it's going to be largely on the back of Drake May and Mike Vrabel
00:28whipping the team into shape to play wins against bad teams.
00:34And nowhere am I saying that they're talented or that the draft is the reason
00:37or the roster is the reason.
00:38These are not the reasons.
00:39The reasons they're going to be respectable are you have a good quarterback, right?
00:43You have a coach that's going to be able to take advantage of bad teams
00:46and bad football and the nature of the league.
00:48They have an easy schedule, okay?
00:50However, that being said, if there's a fourth thing on the list,
00:54they can't all suck.
00:55I think there's going to have to be guys on the team who are better than we think,
01:01perform better than we think.
01:02They are so overdue, Paul, for some diamonds in the rough,
01:07a mid-level free agent signing that turns into a real contributor,
01:10a low draft pick that really turns into a front-line guy.
01:14They are overdue for these kind of players to emerge.
01:18Who could they be?
01:19Give me some candidates for who these guys could be.
01:22Who are you?
01:23Where did that come from?
01:24I'm asking the question.
01:25Well, listen, I have them being good this year.
01:27But that's a very unfelker-like take.
01:29Well, I agree.
01:30Well, then take advantage of it.
01:31Who's going to be a surprise?
01:32I'm helping you out.
01:34I think he drank at lunch.
01:36I do think that they did a –
01:37Maybe a couple on the back nine.
01:38Go ahead.
01:39We talked a little bit last week, too,
01:40about the additions they made of the front-line guys that we've talked about.
01:44I think are upgrades.
01:45That's one of the reasons why I think they'll be better.
01:47But, you know, to fit the category you just described,
01:50Caleb on chase on, I think, would be one of the guys that I would say –
01:54kind of an old-school Belichick signing, former first-round pick,
01:59hasn't really lived up to the billing.
02:01Give him a shot.
02:02That's the kind of guy you want to bring in and see if there's –
02:05you know, there was some talent that allowed him to be drafted where he was drafted.
02:08We haven't seen it at the NFL level.
02:10Where was it again?
02:10I think he's been pretty good.
02:11Where overall was he drafted?
02:13Oh, middle of the first round?
02:16Go ahead.
02:16Five years ago?
02:17Yep.
02:17In Jacksonville.
02:18I want to say maybe 18, something like that.
02:20I don't know.
02:21But kid from LSU that I really liked coming out of that draft.
02:25That might be why I'm a little bit high on him now,
02:28maybe a little higher than other people.
02:3020th overall.
02:30Go ahead.
02:3120th.
02:31Okay, not bad.
02:32I was too off.
02:33But he was a constant presence, I thought, off the edge all summer in the practices.
02:38Didn't see a lot of him in games.
02:40But, you know, you don't really see a lot in the preseason games anyway.
02:43So he's one guy I would say fits into that category.
02:47One of the spots I was really worried about beyond the starters, you know,
02:50with Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, I think a really solid tandem of corners.
02:54But they both have – well, Davis has had injury issues
02:57and Gonzalez is currently dealing with an injury.
03:00So I was a little worried behind them.
03:02But I think Alex Austin and DJ James have had really, really good –
03:07Austin, I think, has had an excellent summer.
03:09Are these guys that play outside or in or a combination?
03:11Well, for Austin, they're trying to see if he can play inside as well.
03:14He's played outside for the most part.
03:16But both of those guys got a lot of reps on the outside,
03:18and I think they're trying to see if there's some versatility with Austin
03:21to get him on the field more.
03:23So those are three guys that I don't necessarily think, you know,
03:27have gotten a lot of headlines during the course of the summer
03:30that have been pleasant surprises for me.
03:31Okay, not just pleasant surprises, but who could – give me an offensive guy.
03:35Well, I mean, Trevion Henderson's gotten a lot of attention.
03:39Does that count?
03:39No, no, no.
03:40No?
03:41I got one for you.
03:41Diamond in the rough.
03:42Come on.
03:42Diamond in the rough.
03:43Who could emerge and be a guy that we're not saying could be a guy?
03:45Diamond in the rough offensively.
03:47I mean, aren't you contractually obligated to say Ifton Chisholm III?
03:51Yeah, he's not the guy I'm talking about.
03:53Who are you talking about, Mass?
03:54Booty.
03:56So I thought Booty looked like he was poised to have, you know,
04:00a pretty solid year, and now the more practices have gone on since Matt Collins
04:04has been back out there, it looks like Matt Collins is going to take that X.
04:09You know, I know you love the X.
04:10Yeah, I know.
04:10He's the next guy on my list.
04:12Yeah.
04:12One of those two.
04:13Matt Collins will be productive.
04:15He's just a professional receiver.
04:17He's not – I think he's one of those guys that's never been quite valuable enough
04:21to stay as that extra guy, and he's, you know,
04:25he's always been considered to be good in the locker room,
04:29and everybody speaks really highly of him, but he keeps changing teams.
04:33So those, to me, a radar guy, like, you know, why?
04:36Why does he keep – and everybody I've asked this question to says the same thing.
04:40Sometimes those guys are really productive, but they're like secondary guys,
04:45third, fourth receivers, and teams don't want to invest in that,
04:48and that's why they just keep changing teams.
04:51Paul, is he fast?
04:52He runs pretty well, and he's got pretty good athletics.
04:55I mean, the size is there that you guys can see.
04:57I think he's – he was a pretty valuable guy for Buffalo last year.
05:00I was really surprised the Bills didn't do more to try to keep him.
05:04I thought he was really good when they called on him last year.
05:07I'm betting on one of those two, Mike.
05:09Booty got off to a good start, and look, now one of them was one of the Joe Milton –
05:13it was the Joe Milton game.
05:15Okay, but at the end of the season, the last three weeks,
05:17I think he caught 16 balls over three games.
05:19You know, and that doesn't sound like a crap ton,
05:21but, you know, you add it up over the course of a season, it's 90 catches.
05:25Booty's not a bad pick.
05:26He's another guy who had a pretty good summer.
05:28And if you guys remember back around the draft,
05:31his name was thrown out by some of the national guys as being on the trade block.
05:35And then all of a sudden –
05:36Yeah, totally.
05:37The spring came about, and he was out there a lot.
05:40And when camp started, it was Booty, Diggs, Douglas.
05:45Every time they had three receivers – now, Hollins was not practicing at the time.
05:49But those three guys started every team drill that they did.
05:53So, I don't know if they sort of didn't know about Booty before,
05:57and then he kind of won him over.
05:59But I think that's not a bad pick from Tony.
06:02And I think there's a –
06:03Booty can contribute.
06:04And I think there's a little something there with May.
06:06And I'm not telling you it's like, you know, going to be –
06:09Booty and May.
06:10Yeah.
06:10Yeah, no, I thought there was.
06:11He's good on the back shoulder stuff.
06:12You know, he's good footwork on the sideline.
06:14And I know everybody will remember that play as a rookie where he didn't get his foot inbounds.
06:18But he's done it countless times in training camp where he's made some difficult catches,
06:23good body control, and a good hands catcher.
06:26You know, you can tell a guy who can catch the ball with his hands as opposed to letting you get into him.
06:30Was that week one against Philly that didn't get his foot down?
06:32Yeah, as a rookie.
06:33His first game.
06:34Yeah.
06:34Yeah.
06:35Okay, Paul.
06:36What are your takeaways on the roster in general?
06:39Like everybody else, I'm, you know, sort of underwhelmed.
06:41I was – I saw the wide receivers yesterday and was like you guys.
06:46I mean, I never once did I think they were going to stay with eight receivers.
06:49To me, it was a question of five or six.
06:51And if it was six, then Chisholm stays.
06:53And he certainly earned it.
06:55He made all the plays, did all the things they asked him to do.
06:58The next step for him will be can he do some of this stuff against starters and with starters, with Drake May.
07:05And he has to get healthy before he has a chance to do that.
07:07But, yeah, there's some holes certainly on the roster still.
07:11They need some depth, I think, on the line.
07:14Probably on both lines.
07:16And I heard something today, and I forget where – I want to say it was like pro football focus had some sort of ranking on the defense.
07:25They're really high on the Patriots defense.
07:26They had their linebackers, like, rank third.
07:29And I was like, beyond Robert Spillane, I just don't know a guy that you feel really good about.
07:33Well, do you consider Landry a linebacker or a defensive end?
07:36More of an edge guy.
07:37I don't really consider those guys linebackers.
07:38Who's that linebacker Bedard was talking about, Jack something or other?
07:41Jack Gibbons.
07:42Yeah, Bedard thought he was going to get cut, and then he ended up staying, which, you know, I don't think – that wasn't a shot at Greg.
07:50I think that that was kind of a bubble.
07:53No, I thought he would make it, but kind of a bubble guy.
07:56You know, you could see it either way.
07:58I think he gives you a little depth there.
08:00I think Christian Ellis gives you a little – I just don't know if they have another starter, if they want to have two actual off-the-ball linebackers out there.
08:08I think they wanted it to be Tavai, and he just hasn't been healthy, and he's going to at least start the season on IR.
08:13I mean, I feel like their linebacking core blows.
08:15Yeah, kind of.
08:17I mean –
08:17It's thin.
08:17I wouldn't have used that.
08:19It feels thin.
08:20But it's thin.
08:21It's thin.
08:22Thank you, Jim.
08:22That's the word you can use at Patriots.com.
08:24Blow is not – they get zapped.
08:26No, you get a talking team.
08:29But, no, I think Bedar mentioned it before.
08:31Someone like Spillane goes down.
08:32You're like, well, it's Bone City.
08:33Yeah, there's a handful of guys, and that's why –
08:36Bone Town.
08:37And, Mike, and I know –
08:39Bone Zone.
08:40You had a good one with Holly last night, by the way.
08:42I like you, Holly, and Breer, about the expectations and everything.
08:47This guy's breaking out stats.
08:49Oh, God, I have reams of him.
08:50It was unbelievable.
08:51I have reams of him.
08:52Teams turn around all the time.
08:53But I think the reason –
08:54It's not unreasonable to expect this team to turn around.
08:56No, it's not.
08:57And I do think they'll be better.
08:59I don't know what that will translate to in the win total.
09:01I do think they'll be better,
09:03but I still think there are too many holes for them to be, you know,
09:05a 9 or 10 win team.
