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EPISODE 37 - PATRIOTS MINICAMP!
240 Plays2 months ago
Drake Maye! Christian Gonzalez! enjoy.
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Transcript
Introduction and Summer Vibes
00:00:00
Savage Boston
All right, guys, welcome back to the Savage Boston podcast. We are here. It is June 10th, 2025 at around 840 at night.
00:00:05
Bret
Thank you.
00:00:10
Savage Boston
Such an exciting time
Minicamp Changes and Speculations
00:00:11
Savage Boston
of year. We're in the ah prime dog days of summer. Just kind of waiting for football. waiting for football The prime dog days. um Yeah, so we're laughing now because we have basically a Zoom split screen. I'm just going to tell the audience about this because they might get confused. Typically, we're not actually seeing each other while we're doing this. We're just recording audio.
00:00:32
Savage Boston
Now I can actually see everyone, so hopefully it doesn't distract me too much and makes me laugh as we're recording, just in case there's some awkward laughter.
00:00:36
Bret
Thank you.
00:00:40
Savage Boston
This is immediately going to make our recording much worse. So thank you for tuning in Welcome back to the podcast. um Yeah, so we just basically had um mini camp today, right? There's only two days. We're hoping for three, but they...
00:00:56
Savage Boston
They reduced it to two for whatever reason. i don't know what tomorrow is going to be. um I think they're going to be be there doing some sort of walkthroughs, but but they're not practicing. So
Offensive Challenges and Adjustments
00:01:07
Savage Boston
um awesome to to have the guys in there. i think today, you know, we should just review the...
00:01:13
Savage Boston
the mini camp really good offensive day on, on Monday, i guess Drake may looking sharp, the offense looking good. Kind of a lot of people getting a little too hypey with the offense, including our guy, Greg Bedard, who I think I'm still blocked on Twitter from Greg Bedard said they're way ahead of schedule.
00:01:21
Bret
Thank you.
00:01:32
Savage Boston
And then, you know, today Drake throws an interception. I'll be at a one, one armed interception, a Christian Gonzalez. Um, and, uh, and yeah, the offense looked a little more pedestrian. So, um, why don't we just get our like initial thoughts on how mini camps going from your perspective? Um, Studi, why don't you, why don't you kick it off?
00:01:51
Snooty
Yeah, i mean, I think it's gone as one would expect, right? Like the offense learning a brand new offense, which is completely different from what they had last year with new players, new coaches, et cetera. it's going to take some time, um, particularly for the receivers.
00:02:03
Bret
Thank
00:02:05
Snooty
It's ah it's a timing thing. Um, so they need the reps. They need to do well, but you know, there's going to be some ups and downs. It's fucking May and June. Like it's okay.
00:02:17
Snooty
That's why I didn't freak out when they threw four interceptions. i was like, yeah, okay. It's fucking May. Who cares? Like, it's,
00:02:22
Savage Boston
I was going to be like, it's not actually May.
00:02:24
Snooty
It was when he threw four interceptions, like when everybody's losing their minds.
00:02:26
Savage Boston
That's true.
00:02:28
Snooty
It's like it it doesn't fucking matter. And then, you know, they got better. That's what you're looking for is just growth, right, to not be a repeat offender in terms of mistakes. Like you want to make a mistake, you fuck up, it's fine.
00:02:39
Snooty
Like today he tested Gonzalez, right, and, you know, reportedly it was a tremendous play, like the the interception, one of those, yeah, on a 50-50 ball.
00:02:46
Savage Boston
One-handed interception. Yeah.
00:02:49
Snooty
So it's like, look, like, go 50, 50 balls. That's sometimes it's going to happen, especially when you're facing like an all pro caliber corner.
00:02:53
Bret
Thank you.
00:02:55
Snooty
So, you know, I'm eager to see, you can't really tell what the O line D line until they get pads on. So,
Team Growth and Potential
00:03:01
Snooty
you know, we'll see what happens.
00:03:03
Bret
See, I'm surprised you didn't open up saying like football never left. we're just We're just fully kind of getting into the hype season of everything. And that's essentially where we are right now.
00:03:11
Savage Boston
After all, um
00:03:13
Bret
So it never left. And on top of it, Savage still can't get over the video game of actually seeing each other. So this is this is a fun change of pace. But anyways, when it comes to what we're seeing in minicamp, yeah, I mean, it's Positive signs. I think the most notable thing is that the offense looks at a competent level and the players around them look really good.
00:03:37
Bret
i like the comment coming out of Travion Henderson about like watching James White and kind of playing into that script, which we all want him to be the next James White, which is essentially a role we've been missing since James White left. So great to see what we're seeing from that.
00:03:52
Bret
um And yeah, I mean, it's going to hinge on... Drake May's progression. So I think it really is going to be interesting to see how he gets through these mini camps and works his way through the offseason and you know learning the new offense. And again, as we talked about, I'm less concerned or less focused on what we're getting for actual reps on like, hey, he went 10 for 14 or he went 4 for 8 and threw 4 picks.
00:04:22
Bret
I'm more focused on You know, schematically, what are we trying to get ourselves into? Who's getting the reps and where are they getting the reps? ah Because I think that gives us more of an indication of what it's going to look like.
00:04:34
Bret
And, you know, so far, early indicators is that it looks like it's going to be a more competent offense than what we've seen in the past.
00:04:39
Savage Boston
Thank you.
00:04:42
Snooty
And that's the thing. Like, I'm not even worried about performance. Like, they could have, you know, not have great results, but at least, like, they're efficient and they're getting the line. It's not like a slop show.
00:04:53
Snooty
And again, I think I texted you guys about this earlier in the week. Like, I'm not... saying that this means they're going to be successful. But if you just
Offensive Line Concerns and Strategies
00:05:01
Snooty
compare how they're being reported on this year versus last year, it's fucking night and day. Like last year was like, they're a disaster.
00:05:08
Snooty
Like they fucking stuck.
00:05:09
Savage Boston
It was really bad.
00:05:10
Snooty
They're like, they're fucking terrible. Right. And you're like, oh, well that's not good. Like you don't want to hear that but from fucking May all the way through August. Like now, at least this year, they're like, no, no, they're like, it's a professional run like unit. Like they're a professional unit.
00:05:25
Savage Boston
Well. Let me, you know, one one area of the line that you you texted about today and the group thread, and I think this is like our most glaring area of need, and we've all addressed it in the past to some level, but it's like the interior offensive line.
00:05:41
Savage Boston
And andt Nobody wants to talk about, know, I know deep cut, talk about center guard, whatever. Maybe you lose a few people and we're not talking about the wide receiver position. But, you know, the problem is obviously incredibly important position grouping.
00:05:55
Savage Boston
You can't just have ah nobodies at center and left guard.
00:05:57
Bret
Thank you.
00:06:00
Savage Boston
And like today was the first time we heard. that there was really significant pressure from Keon White um right up the middle. And he is he's a force. Like when he actually gets going and he's not double teamed, Keon White's going to be tough. And you have basically, you know, what I'm pissed about kind of is you have Garrett Bradbury, who by PFF standards, again, that's who we're going with. I know pn everyone doesn't like PFF, whatever.
00:06:21
Savage Boston
You throw me another grading system, great. We're going to go through PFF. Garrett Bradbury was one of the worst pass blocking centers in football last year. It's terrible. Okay. He can run blocks still. He's a terrible pass blocker.
00:06:33
Savage Boston
And then a left guard, you quite literally have i one of like six guys. You have nobody. So if you have basically a huge hole and then we have a rookie at left tackle. So i don't know. I i think it's it's something that they didn't address correctly.
00:06:49
Savage Boston
to the degree that they should have. And it's mostly because they could have addressed it. That's the problem. Like it's not, you could have even, you could have brought in a vet. The guy I'm going to keep throwing at everybody was they really screwed up with not getting Joe Tooney.
00:07:01
Savage Boston
You could have traded a future fourth for Tooney had an excellent vet at left guard. You're done. So I think they blew it at the interior line. You still have time. and' you know They could still address it. Maybe somebody steps up. Maybe Jared Wilson is your starting center as a rookie.
00:07:17
Savage Boston
I don't know. but um But I feel like they kind of left a massive hole there.
00:07:21
Snooty
Well, so a few things about right now. So, and when you was limited today, which that's a big problem, if you're starting right, the last year, you're only really good.
00:07:27
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:07:31
Snooty
No lineman last year, right. Was he was limited today. So I don't know how much exactly he, he practiced. It's fucking passing camp aside from an occasional screen.
00:07:41
Snooty
They don't worry about anything except fucking pass rushing, which happens like, I don't
Trade Rumors and Team Weaknesses
00:07:46
Snooty
know, a handful of times.
00:07:47
Savage Boston
Yeah, no pads on.
00:07:48
Snooty
Yeah. it's like a handful of times a game.
00:07:49
Savage Boston
Everybody's slippery.
00:07:50
Snooty
It's like, you know, it, you can't go by that. Like it's, they don't have to worry about the run. They probably don't really have to worry much about screens or anything like that. It's just fucking pin your ears back and go, which happens. i don't know.
00:08:02
Bret
Thank you.
00:08:03
Snooty
I, a handful of snaps a game at best. Like it it's, I'm not, I'm not that worried. I'm my concerns with the old line are not impacted by the performances from mini camp, passing camp.
00:08:15
Bret
Yeah, and I think just to jump in, ah like I said, we talked about Keon White. Where is he going to play? And last year he played all over the line and thought was maybe this year he doesn't play all over all over the line. Maybe he's more of an and edge guy and you keep him out there ah because you bolster the interior. But then you get this one, you say, okay, he's in the interior. So that's something where I'd say, okay, let's see how much he's in there to see if there's going to be something there where we would consider that going into the season. But back to Snooty's point,
00:08:44
Bret
Yeah, I mean, this is not... do it like This is not like judgment on like the player's performance and what you're seeing, because I just don't think it's a good indicator on what we're seeing in minicamps. Now, do we think bradford Bradbury's the guy outside of minicamp and knowing what he's been through the entire length of his career? Well, that's a different story and a conversation.
00:09:05
Bret
And i yeah, i would I would say our O-line improved, but I'm not like confident in them. I still think they're going to be a challenge, and we're going to have to schematically work through it.
00:09:16
Savage Boston
I just know you're going to get to training camp and that's going be like one of the first things we hear about. It's not just, go I mean, I know we're going be watching like Will Campbell and seeing how he looks at a left tackle. That's going to be a huge point, especially against real contact, real rushes.
00:09:30
Savage Boston
That'll be big. But I really think the interior line, man, like everyone's going to talk about that. And it's going to be where you're going to get a lot of pressure, especially like if you have Garrett Bradbury and Cole strange and a rookie left tackle. Will Campbell again, matching up against, let's say you, you stack that side and you have key on white and then Milton Williams. And then like Christian Barmore gets over the hat, the hat of Bradbury or something.
00:09:55
Savage Boston
How does that go? you know How does that look? Because I don't think it's going to look too good for the O-line. And I think other teams like that, like if you if you played a really good d D-line, like a complete D-line like the Eagles, you'd struggle a lot. So it's just like a position grouping where on offense, it's probably the the interior offensive line is on the worst position groups they have.
00:10:15
Savage Boston
I don't know. Is that worse than wide receiver?
00:10:16
Bret
Thank you.
00:10:18
Savage Boston
How do you look at that compared to wide receiver? What's the worst position grouping?
00:10:22
Snooty
Um, honestly, it's probably pretty fucking close. Like, and when he was a legit right guard, Bradbury's probably washed, but he's, he's okay.
00:10:29
Savage Boston
Give it.
00:10:34
Snooty
Like he's, he's for one year plug. You could do worse. I like strange more than most. I think he was playing decent before he blew out his, that is a pretty blowers.
00:10:45
Snooty
Patella tendon. Um, I think you can get by with what they have. to To Brett's point, it's not going to be an elite group. like They're not just going to be like, poof, we're the Cowboys line of you know the early 90s or whatever. But like are they to be better than last year? That's all I'm hoping for.
00:11:03
Snooty
They had, like sub they had to you know to borrow the term from baseball, they had sub-replacement level play at like three or five positions last year.
00:11:03
Bret
you
00:11:10
Savage Boston
Last year was horrible.
00:11:12
Snooty
Like, they don't have that this year, they shouldn't have that this year.
00:11:12
Savage Boston
Horrible.
00:11:15
Snooty
So that's an improvement. I suspect they'll be fairly conservative to open the season and run the ball more, which is going to piss some fans off. But I think they're going to do it to try to settle the O-line in and to try to keep everything, to try to keep the defense honest a little bit.
00:11:31
Savage Boston
They're just going to run the same offense as last year at the AVP. Just run it back. Same playbook.
00:11:36
Bret
God, God.
00:11:36
Savage Boston
It's like, come on back in, Alex. We need you.
00:11:39
Bret
Think about, just think back about how much we like would never throw the ball with Bursette. Or if we ever threw the ball, it was like never more than 10 yards. Like that bad. We're not going to go that far.
00:11:52
Bret
We'll just probably more be more run heavy. But like knowing Josh is going scheme up a lot of little design plays. I think he's going to utilize the running back, so you're going to see a lot of dunk passes that way.
00:12:06
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:12:06
Bret
But it I think they're going to open it up as they kind of build it into the offense and let Drake air it out. Until the O-line gets confident, there's some rhythm in the offense, there's some cohesiveness between the
Rebuild Reflections and Embracing New Talent
00:12:21
Bret
quarterback-wide receiver group, and then you see the offense starting to open it up. I mean, it's just such a... i think it's understated that you have so many new players learning a new offense who haven't done it together in a long time. So I would...
00:12:36
Bret
If I was in Josh's position, I would come out slow and kind of build up with that. But I think he's smart enough schematically. He is a good game manager enough to be able to figure that out.
00:12:47
Bret
And I think it'll be better than definitely was last year. But I do agree. I think we're going to be a little more run-heavy and conservative because of the fact that it's just so new for the offense.
00:12:58
Savage Boston
I don't think you guys have been on since we've had like the Efton Chisholm hype train starting up.
00:13:03
Bret
Ross?
00:13:04
Savage Boston
How do you feel about the Efton Chisholm? The exciting, the exciting whites, the gritty, the gritty gym rat a group with Chisholm and Lan Larison. would say Chisholm.
00:13:17
Savage Boston
Yeah. How do you guys feel about the Efton Chisholm hype train?
00:13:20
Snooty
I mean, he's quick as fuck. I mean, he's very, very quick.
00:13:23
Savage Boston
It's quick.
00:13:24
Snooty
So like, look, I mean, i think there's, yeah.
00:13:25
Savage Boston
He's quick. So is Pop Douglas.
00:13:29
Snooty
And Douglas, he's to have a huge year, but I think Douglas, obviously Williams digs and probably Matt Collins. They're the only ones locked into spots.
00:13:40
Snooty
So what's that for, um
00:13:44
Savage Boston
They have four. I mean, again, I've mentioned this in the pod before in in passing, but um right.
00:13:49
Bret
Thank you.
00:13:50
Savage Boston
You know, Andrew Callahan from the Herald, he had an interesting point on the radio one time where he just said in passing, he's like, I wouldn't say pop Douglas is a lock. He's like, I'd give it a really small chance that he gets like traded or something like that.
00:14:04
Savage Boston
But he had, I just found it interesting. He said that, but he had, he had, um, Hollins digs and Williams as the only like lock locks for him. I think Bob Douglas is like ah as close to his lock as you can get, but...
00:14:12
Snooty
i
00:14:16
Snooty
Yeah. I think barring injury, those four are locked in, which means you're looking at had best two spots. So, I mean, it's an uphill battle, but he can be a punt returner, presumably.
00:14:24
Bret
Thank you.
00:14:29
Snooty
um i mean, look, i think he still faces long odds to make the roster. But, like, it's a cool story. You know, we all like the short... I will say if they can get him or pop Douglas, they need one of them to be a yak guy.
00:14:44
Snooty
They haven't, there's two positions. I've said this for a few years now. There's two positions that they never replaced on offense were James White, the passing back and the, the guy who can take a three yard hitch and and turn it into seven and get a first down.
00:14:59
Snooty
They haven't had that forever. They haven't had a stick mover.
00:15:01
Savage Boston
I mean, pop Pop Douglas should be that guy.
00:15:02
Bret
Well,
00:15:04
Snooty
He should, but he wasn't before, but that's because maybe Alex Van Pelt's just stupid and can't use them.
00:15:06
Savage Boston
don't know. He should be, though.
00:15:09
Snooty
at That legitimately is very, very possible.
00:15:09
Bret
well
00:15:13
Snooty
But like they haven't had that forever. And it's like, so you throw all these short routes and guys just get tackled right away. And you're like, great. Now it's fucking third and forever because we can't run block and we just throw fucking two yard outs. Great.
00:15:24
Snooty
Awesome. It's the recipe to get your quarterback killed.
00:15:25
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:15:27
Bret
Yeah, I mean, i would say Chisholm... i said it before when we were talking about predictions. I think he'd be the special team guy if he gets a spot, but I don't i don't know. i mean, he's going to get hype just because...
00:15:42
Bret
It's just he fits the mold of what we've seen historically for good wide receivers and the Patriots. So they're going to all like jump on and say he's the next Julian Edelman. But the reality is he's probably not.
00:15:54
Bret
ah So we'll see how these things play out, where it goes. I mean... I still would like to see them try to make a move. You know, I i know you've proposed about getting Terry McLaurin and thought that was like a good thought process there.
00:16:04
Savage Boston
For hope.
00:16:10
Bret
I mean, the guy's holding out, he's getting up to 30. ah He clearly wants to get paid. So I don't know what Washington's planning on doing there. I mean, obviously they would want to keep a guy like him because they're trying to get over the hump and get into the Superbowl, but,
00:16:25
Bret
If that guy becomes available, like we should be first dibs in going full board because we can get a guy like that, like we don't have to dick around with guys like Chisholm and be like, oh, I wonder know what this guy could do. It's like, no, let's just go get a proven effing vet that knows how to do it. He's been doing it for consistently his entire career.
00:16:44
Savage Boston
Yeah, Terry McLaurin, I think he's a real – that's a real option. That's not like a fake option. It's a guy who is really mad and holding out and wants to get paid.
00:16:55
Savage Boston
And if you're the commanders, not sure why you'd be jerking around with your best wide receiver for your second-year quarterback. Maybe not the best option. I get it. Nobody wants to pay – Anybody like I get, guess the NFL, like nobody wants to give out money for free, but he's 29. He's a really great player. Still a really important player. He's going to give you at least probably three more years of high level football.
00:17:19
Savage Boston
um And if you're the Patriots, you know, you've been needing the, the home run guy for a while. you know Would you
Development vs. Long-term Strategy
00:17:27
Savage Boston
give up a second round pick and Bourne or second round pick and booty for Terry McLaurin?
00:17:31
Bret
Thank you.
00:17:32
Savage Boston
And I think the answer has to be yes. And usually you try to be given like a third round or something for a guy an expiring contract who you're going to have to pay $30 million a year. But... you know I think, do you go up to the second rounder?
00:17:45
Savage Boston
i think I would do that. Listen, I don't think they're going to make this deal happen. like you know i just think I personally would do it. And I think all of a sudden if you have a room where you have Diggs and Terry McLaurin and Hunter Henry at tight end and Trayvon Henderson, like again, we're back to the same argument. You're missing the interior O-line.
00:18:03
Savage Boston
But I'd be pretty in on on Terry McLaurin. Yeah.
00:18:08
Snooty
I mean, that's, you just hit on it. Like that right there might be the one argument. Does his timeline match up when you're going to be, when you're going to be competitive?
00:18:13
Savage Boston
you want to have any fucking linemen?
00:18:18
Savage Boston
think you'll be competitive this year, dude.
00:18:19
Snooty
I'm just, I'm just playing devil's advocate.
00:18:19
Savage Boston
Like, you'll be competitive.
00:18:21
Snooty
I'm just playing devil's advocate. That's the one potential argument for not doing it.
00:18:23
Savage Boston
Also, you'll be competitive. Like, you can have him for three years. Like, you don't think he contributes towards your competitiveness?
00:18:28
Snooty
i'm Just saying that's – you asked me what the argument is. That's the one argument is it's going to take another year or two to like fully flesh out the OI and that's if you hit on Campbell and all the other picks, right?
00:18:32
Bret
well
00:18:39
Snooty
So, you know, you might –
00:18:41
Bret
Yeah, you're also in a position you could front load that contract to make it work. You could very easily front load that contract, make him happy. You're going to have to pay like that $100 million for a contract three years.
00:18:55
Bret
for like a contract ah for like three years um But you can front load it and you can make it happen. You have to see. And this is the argument I made all offseason where I wanted like DK, like trade and sign and go through.
00:19:09
Bret
I'm like, you have this salary cap. Like, I don't want to. You're not going to be in cap jail for a guy like this that you're going to sign for a three year contract, knowing the fact that like all these other young guys are going to be coming up the same time this guy comes off and you can structure it in a way that it like is so front loaded. It's not an issue.
00:19:30
Savage Boston
They wanted DK. Like they were in on DK, like confirmed in on DK.
00:19:32
Snooty
Yeah.
00:19:35
Savage Boston
And he literally did not want to come here. Like he just was like, nope.
00:19:38
Bret
what
00:19:40
Savage Boston
He's like, it's cold. But in reality, he meant fuck New England. Like he did not want to come play here, unfortunately.
00:19:46
Bret
Well, and the reality is is like they were going to offer around the same number for Godwin, reportedly, and he turned it down because he wanted to go back there, which is essentially what you would be wanting to pay McLaurin.
00:19:53
Savage Boston
Dirty.
00:19:57
Bret
And I know like Tommy Curran asked Vrabel about it, i think it was today, where he basically asked, like are you keeping an eye on these holdouts and where they're at? And Vrabel was really quick to respond, basically saying, like absolutely, we have to always be looking at our options, which I get is like a cliche response, but...
00:20:15
Bret
Yeah, you look at the look at the landscape and you're like, if we can go out and trade for a guy like McLaurin for a second year, move another player that is, we're like probably going cut, or we've been trying to trade like booty.
00:20:32
Bret
And then you get this guy in there, sign them. It's just, you're not thinking around with guys being like, I wonder what we're going to get for the sixth option, whether it's going to be Polk or, you know, Baker or Chisholm or, you know, you name it.
00:20:45
Bret
Right. We're going to say, nope it's fucking Terry McLaurin.
00:20:46
Savage Boston
Nobody cares.
00:20:48
Bret
Like no one gives a shit.
00:20:48
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah, it's true. Nobody would care if you had two legitimate, like one and one A wide receivers. don't know. That's a good option. The other guys that came on the market today were Trey Hendrickson.
00:21:01
Savage Boston
That came in the market. The guys that were disgruntled holding out who are potentially available are Trey Hendrickson and TJ Watt, who are both bona fide stud DNs. I don't see any reality that TJ Watt leaves at all.
00:21:13
Bret
Thank
00:21:14
Savage Boston
um I do think, I think somebody could like come get Hendrickson But the Bengals front office, not a Bengals pod, I get it. But the Bengals front office is so fucking incompetent that they like literally they can't sign to piss off Hendrickson.
00:21:28
Savage Boston
And their rookie Shamar Stewart, they're making him angry too.
00:21:31
Snooty
Mm-hmm.
00:21:32
Savage Boston
And he's complaining in the locker room. It's a fucking disaster. If that was here, we'd be losing our fucking minds every like what are you people doing? Like that's a joke, dude. You got a disgruntled rookie draft pick 17th overall.
00:21:45
Bret
Thank you.
00:21:45
Savage Boston
So I don't know what the fuck the Bengals are doing, but I could absolutely see a ah reality where Trey Hendrickson gets dealt. I just, again, I don't think they want to pay that kind of guy $30 million. Yeah.
00:21:57
Snooty
I don't think he'd want to... I mean, he would take wherever paid him the most, presumably.
00:22:01
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:22:02
Snooty
But, like, he's 31, I think. I know he's uber productive, but, like, you're clearly paying him for past results at this point. Like, DNs typically don't age particularly well as they get, you know... Particularly a guy who relies on speed as much as anything. Like, you kind of start to fall off after type of thing. So, I mean...
00:22:24
Savage Boston
Perry Kivolowitz- You
00:22:24
Snooty
so i mean Again, do you think you're making a push for a year or two? And like, look, I'm all for it. Like if it doesn't cost much in terms of trade, i don't give a fuck about cap space.
00:22:33
Savage Boston
do. Well, their analytics, whoever is in their staff, I assume is telling them, hey, the returns here for a guy who's 31 years old aren't great.
00:22:35
Snooty
Right.
00:22:38
Bret
Thank you.
00:22:44
Savage Boston
You know, he gets hurt, banged up, soft tissue, your whole contract is kaputs. So like, I
00:22:48
Snooty
Right.
Preseason Importance and Rebuilding Fun
00:22:49
Savage Boston
don't know, like the returns aren't great.
00:22:50
Savage Boston
And I don't know, people have these metrics now. It's like with baseball, like everyone's got their got their analytics or metrics. Like you don't want to overpay for guys over 30 typically. Unless you're the Browns and you want to give how old Miles Garrett and would give him like 40 million a year, you know, like usually what?
00:23:04
Snooty
But he's an alien.
00:23:06
Savage Boston
Yeah, he's an it.
00:23:07
Snooty
He's an alien.
00:23:07
Savage Boston
Yeah, he's unbelievable. I get a total freak show. But for Trey Hendrickson, he's been absolutely crazy elite generating pressure. I mean, he is a great D end and friends their best defensive player. Again, don't know what the Bengals are doing.
00:23:22
Savage Boston
They're not my team. i don't have to care about how they run their organization. I think they're a shitty organization. Anyway, doesn't fucking matter. but But I would say this. um I get the hype. I get the Chisholm hype. That's fun.
00:23:37
Savage Boston
It's all in good fun. But um in reality, when the team's good and in the Brady years, right, you didn't have to pay this close attention to minicamp, to OTAs.
00:23:50
Savage Boston
to even preseason games. I remember were like, oh, you're watching the preseason game? Oh, yeah, maybe. I think Brady's playing one quarter. Okay, cool. like It wasn't like, oh, my God, I got to watch every snap. got to see these guys. Who's good? Who's not?
00:24:03
Savage Boston
like It was a different era. and like I think the young people on Twitter like don't really understand that like when Brady was at the helm, you didn't have to worry. There was no worry. You're like, we're going to win 12 anyway.
00:24:16
Savage Boston
So what's the point?
00:24:17
Snooty
Yeah, I mean, I kind of did watch everything.
00:24:17
Bret
Dude, Snooty's over there going... Yeah, Snooty's over there going, speak for yourself, buddy. He is all in on offseason.
00:24:23
Savage Boston
yeah
00:24:25
Bret
Who's watching? He is like, dude, he is like, did you see what that play just made when there's like three minutes left in the fourth quarter of a like fourth preseason game?
00:24:33
Savage Boston
I'm just saying it's all relative. it's As you know, it's relative. when When you have a good team, you naturally don't have to sit there focusing on who's the going to be the sixth wide receiver because you have you know Tom Brady. So that that's my point.
00:24:50
Snooty
Well, sure. But here's my thing. They suck, right? And you don't win eight games in two years and and and be good. Like, you suck.
00:24:58
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:24:59
Snooty
So you have to embrace, like, the fun aspects of that, which are like, all right, there's fucking position battles up and down the roster.
00:24:59
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:25:07
Snooty
Like, so you have to embrace that and be like, okay, well, at least it's fun. I get to see guys compete and see... it's like It's going to be interesting to see what happens and what flushes out in the end. like Because otherwise it's just like, well, this is just a miserable pile of shit for fucking years.
00:25:21
Snooty
You know what I mean?
00:25:21
Savage Boston
The
00:25:22
Snooty
like you have to embrace like the You have to embrace the suck at some point.
00:25:26
Savage Boston
last two years were beyond, I think, what people really thought it could be. like i like no like
00:25:32
Bret
Yeah. I
Rookie Uncertainties and Leadership Needs
00:25:33
Savage Boston
No one really thought they'd win.
00:25:35
Savage Boston
How many home games did they win in like two years? like Three home games in two years or something they won?
00:25:40
Snooty
Yeah, two or three.
00:25:41
Savage Boston
Fact check me on that.
00:25:41
Bret
i mean
00:25:42
Savage Boston
I don't you know.
00:25:44
Bret
what It's just been bad. i mean, we talked about it. Their final home game, like it was just embarrassing as an organization. you never Yeah, you're right.
00:25:54
Bret
We never thought we would ever dip that low as an organization, and we we got there.
00:25:57
Savage Boston
Not this bad. Yes.
00:26:00
Bret
And yeah, it's been putrid.
00:26:01
Savage Boston
yeah
00:26:03
Bret
But I think when it comes to the position battles and what we're doing... There's more hype around the team. There's a lot of excitement. I think one of the challenges, trying not to fall into the trap of just because he's your guy, he's the guy, it's because you kind of fall in love with these players thinking like, oh, this guy's going to be great. He's going to elite, etc.
00:26:24
Bret
And then you go out there and you're like, dude, he's like... the worst guard in the league, you know? And you're like thinking that they're going to be something more than they're not. And that's always the trap we fall into as fans during this off season, as we kind of go through it, uh, is you start sitting there thinking like, Oh, because this guy's on our team and he looked great in camp and he's getting great reviews.
00:26:46
Bret
He's going to go out there. It's going to translate to being like an all pro caliber player. And you're like, then the guy goes out and you're like, I don't know where that guy is.
00:26:53
Savage Boston
I would say this. I need to see a lot from Will Campbell in training camp.
00:26:57
Bret
Thank you.
00:26:58
Savage Boston
And I am a little concerned um about how he's going to look. I'm really hopeful. We talked about this all offseason. Really hopeful he looks good. And I am just concerned when he goes against someone like Keon White, you know, um or even...
00:27:13
Savage Boston
Harold Landry, I don't know, or Swenson, whoever, maybe a pass rush specialist. like i just I need to see a lot. I need to be confident enough that you're going to throw him out there in week one.
00:27:24
Savage Boston
He's going against Max Crosby, and who's a fantastic pass rusher, and he's going to have to hold his own. mean, he can't – you know what I mean? like and And I believe in the character. We all believe in the character and the kid.
00:27:39
Savage Boston
but he has that he has to perform. So I think that's still a big question mark for me. And if Will Campbell doesn't perform well, then the entirety from center to left tackle, I'm not optimistic about.
00:27:53
Savage Boston
um
00:27:53
Snooty
and Well, I think unlike last year, I don't think they're going to leave him on an Island, especially week one. They're not going to be like, Hey, go at it, kid. Like, yeah.
00:28:01
Savage Boston
Max Crosby.
00:28:02
Snooty
You know, like Van Pelt did shit like that. They're not, McDaniels is not going to do that to him. So they're going to try to, you know, soften the landing a little bit until he can, unless he just comes out and just fucking destroys people.
00:28:08
Bret
Thank you.
00:28:13
Snooty
You know, I don't think he's going to, they're they're just going to leave him on an Island, you know, 26 times a game. Like it's just not going to happen.
00:28:20
Savage Boston
I hope not.
00:28:21
Snooty
Um, So, you know, I think there's there's some room for that. i mean certain I mean, every rookie's up in the air. They could all be terrible, right? Like, who fucking knows? But we'll see.
00:28:35
Snooty
I have more confidence than you in the o and some of the O-linemen.
00:28:40
Savage Boston
I don't. Why didn't they get a veteran at left guard? I mean, i true like why didn't they solidify that position?
00:28:46
Snooty
I think they have... City so was better in McDaniel system than he was in Van Pelt system. Cole strange was, was okay with McDaniel.
00:28:56
Snooty
So I think they feel like you don't need five studs at up front. You just need competent, capable lineman.
00:29:03
Savage Boston
Yeah. Competent.
00:29:05
Snooty
Yeah.
00:29:05
Savage Boston
All right. If Cole Strange is competent, awesome. Amazing. I'm psyched.
00:29:09
Snooty
Do you realize how much of an improvement that is from last year where they had freaking Michael Jordan, who they cut mid season,
00:29:09
Savage Boston
I just don't, I haven't seen enough there.
00:29:15
Savage Boston
i think Demontre Jacobs watching him was one of the worst experiences.
00:29:18
Snooty
They had him at right tackle, which was like, I actually felt bad for him. Like, I was just like, that's, that just, it's just the more that just has to be demoralizing.
00:29:23
Savage Boston
Give him that right tackle again. Like,
00:29:27
Snooty
Like you just watch yourself or film like, yeah, yeah, this is bad.
00:29:28
Savage Boston
um Yeah, he hit a rough go.
00:29:32
Snooty
Ah, fuck me.
00:29:32
Bret
what
Season Optimism and Fan Expectations
00:29:33
Snooty
This is terrible.
00:29:34
Bret
Well, at the very least, we have to imagine that the offensive line got better than last year.
00:29:35
Savage Boston
ah
00:29:42
Bret
Now, barring injuries, we still don't have a ton of depth, and we got a lot of unproven guys in the back behind that. So... I think there's there's obviously still room there, and they've got to continue to groom and develop.
00:29:57
Bret
And the hope is is that some of the guys that they got are going to groom and develop into those guys. Like you mentioned, City So. Who's the center they just got the kid that they just dropped?
00:30:07
Savage Boston
Jared Wilson.
00:30:08
Bret
Yeah, so like maybe Wilson progresses into that guard slash center.
00:30:09
Snooty
Yeah, I will for you.
00:30:13
Bret
you know Who knows? So you've got to believe that This group of offensive line combined with Josh Daniels schematically and Doug Marone, don't forget our boy Dougie, you know we're going to do something.
00:30:29
Savage Boston
Do you remember Adrian k Clem came in was like you last year or two years ago and he came in like quit after one week.
00:30:36
Snooty
Uh, he didn't quit. He had a medical thing or something.
00:30:38
Savage Boston
it some yeah He had a health issue and then I i heard it was more like, I heard some other stuff about that.
00:30:43
Snooty
It was two years ago. They were like, so the Steelers basically shit talked him after he left. Then he went to Oregon for a year and then left and then came here and like, and like they were basically like, they didn't have an online coach.
00:30:57
Snooty
was basically like David Andrews, like, and Billy Yates, the assistant online coach is running the room.
00:30:58
Bret
No.
00:31:00
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah. was really bad.
00:31:03
Snooty
And they were like, well, this is fucking pathetic. with Was that the year that they had Patricia is the coordinator?
00:31:10
Savage Boston
That was 2002 was Patricia. 2022, mean. Yo, Brian was 2023, Van Pelt 2024. So was Billy
00:31:16
Snooty
and No, that was O'Brien.
00:31:16
Bret
now
00:31:17
Savage Boston
two thousand and twenty two i mean
00:31:17
Snooty
That was O'Brien's year. That was a Billy O'Brien's year.
00:31:19
Savage Boston
yeah know o'brien was twenty twenty three van van paled twenty twenty four
00:31:20
Bret
really well
00:31:22
Snooty
It was that year. So that was the year. It was just like, yeah, no wonder you like ran the fuck away from me.
00:31:25
Savage Boston
so billo
00:31:28
Snooty
or He's like, yeah, I'm done. I don't i don't want to deal with that.
00:31:31
Savage Boston
Well, in reality, like like we said before, when Brady left, they should have blown it up then. And they got they got mad and Kraft got mad and they're like, let's salvage it. And they try to spend all this money in cash to to salvage the operation. And then...
00:31:45
Savage Boston
it just led to ultimately the even harder fall. You know what mean? Like you could have had a more true bottom out at that point and rebounded.
00:31:49
Bret
Yeah.
00:31:53
Savage Boston
I'm happy with where we're at now and where we're at in this season. Obviously, it looks like we're going to get a competitive season, which is all we can ask for. it After having multiple seasons of non-competitive football, I never, i mean, watching Mac Jones was truly just amazing.
00:32:09
Savage Boston
the worst experience ever. And then morphing into this past season, at least we had Drake who gave us some highlights, which was improvement for Mac Jones, who I don't think had one highlight.
00:32:19
Savage Boston
um So that was, that was good, but it's been ah a lower bottom than everybody wanted. And again, the last two years have been the worst team since then, since Rod rust, um,
00:32:31
Savage Boston
And the 1990, whatever, one or two ah historically horrible year. this These last two seasons have rivaled that.
00:32:38
Bret
Thank you.
00:32:39
Savage Boston
um So naturally, you have to have some form of rebound. And I'm just going by just the law of averages here. Because if you win, if if they win six games this year,
00:32:52
Savage Boston
I don't know what the hell happens on the internet. I don't know. People are gonna lose their fucking minds. There's no way. Like, they have to win, like, nine games. They have to. Or else we're going lose our minds.
00:33:04
Snooty
I mean, I think it depends how it looks, right? Like it... Well,
00:33:07
Savage Boston
They can't lose lose. They can't win less than seven. ah They win less than seven.
00:33:11
Snooty
it depends how it looks. Like, it depends how it looks. Like, are you losing close games to good teams? Like, are some of the bad teams on the schedule turn out to be good? Then it's like... all right, you're in games. Like it was a tougher schedule than you thought. Like there's some good teams. You, you take, you split with Miami and Buffalo. Like, okay.
00:33:28
Snooty
You know, like you do, you're in the games. If, or are you like, is it like last year? We're just sort of fucking debacle every week after week. Then you're like, all right, well, fuck me.
00:33:35
Savage Boston
Yeah, no, that was awful.
00:33:37
Snooty
We didn't move anywhere. Great. Awesome. This sucks. Like, so it depends how it moves.
00:33:40
Savage Boston
We need Ws. They need Ws. You got to start winning some games. That's it.
00:33:46
Snooty
I think the,
00:33:46
Bret
Don't worry. Snooty's got us one in 12.
00:33:49
Savage Boston
Oh, yeah. but yeah where You're like like, hold your horses.
00:33:50
Snooty
hu
00:33:53
Savage Boston
If the games are close, maybe theyre they'll win six. And I'm like, what's your prediction? 12 wins.
00:33:59
Snooty
wins.
00:34:01
Snooty
It's, I look at, I look,
00:34:01
Bret
Undefeated at home.
00:34:03
Savage Boston
I think nine is a good bet. I think nine wins is a good bet.
00:34:08
Snooty
I have sneaky, sister rich sneaky fears about the D line, but I look at and the reason I have optimism is I look at the quarterbacks that they have to face and there aren't many good ones that they have to play.
00:34:21
Snooty
Really aren't.
00:34:21
Savage Boston
me
00:34:22
Snooty
And it's like, I think we've seen the last few years that if you have, you can still decent team and a shitty quarterback and you're not going very good. Like at some
Closing Thoughts and Future Hopes
00:34:32
Snooty
point that quarterback's going to fuck up bad and just like here we you're going to have, I think the lasting image image of Mac Jones to me, and this is where really, really, truly lost me, was when he sprained his ankle and like wept leaving the field.
00:34:32
Savage Boston
You need to QB.
00:34:44
Savage Boston
Oh my God, he was screaming.
00:34:45
Snooty
And I was like, I thought he like broke his leg and I was like, well, no, that must really hurt. Like you break your leg or whatever. But then like, like three days later he's like practicing. I'm like, dude, what?
00:34:53
Savage Boston
They knew he was this kid coming out though. They had him to, they have fucking Intel on this. Like he's, he's an entitled rich kid. They knew this from day one. They knew who he was. He's like a child model. Like they knew who he was like, and, and they didn't have an issue with the character somehow, even though he had, everything was perfect. His whole career through Alabama, through the web, all of it just went perfectly.
00:35:16
Savage Boston
And so they, they knew this about him, but we don't have to go deep dive Mac Jones right now. I'll, I'll have an aneurysm. So, uh, anyway, thank you guys for tuning in. Appreciate it. We're going to cut off here and we'll catch you guys, uh, next week.
00:35:31
Savage Boston
Peace.
00:35:32
Bret
Peace.
00:35:32
Snooty
Yep.