New England Patriots Rookie May Have SURPRISE Impact | Terry McLaurin Trade?

New England Patriots Rookie May Have SURPRISE Impact | Terry McLaurin Trade?

An unsuspecting rookie could have a big-time impact this season. That’s where we start on this episode of Locked On Patriots. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What’s up, Patriots fans? I am your host Nick Catles. Born and raised in New England, your New England Patriots expert, host of the Everything Pats podcast, co-host of the Greg Baddard Patriots podcast with Nick Catles, and also a sports talk show host veteran. On today’s episode, the availability of a top wide receiver comes into question and we’ll discuss the player who might just be the most underrated addition of this off season. But first, a rookie has unexpectedly turned heads early. We appreciate you joining the show, making us your first listen, and for being an everydayer. The Lockdown Patriots podcast is a proud partner of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. And today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Craig Woodson has an opportunity to go from criticized reach to critically acclaimed. During OTAAS this week, lot of people talking about Woodson. Mike Gardi of Boston Sports Journal wrote this. Woodson looked like a vet on Tuesday. Again, just one day, one snapshot of a multiple month process this spring and summer, but when I had eyes on him, he didn’t appear to waste any movement. Phil Perry posted, “Strong rookie mini camp running with some big names at OTAAS. A pickoff of Drake May. It’s early, but Woodson has been one of the most impressive newcomers to this point. Craig Woodson has an opportunity. He has an opportunity to be a bigger factor than many of us thought. You go back to draft weekend. And you begin with the fact that the Patriots, they committed a legitimate asset to draft Woodson. It wasn’t a late fourth round pick, an early fifth round pick, a late fifth round pick, early sixth round pick, seventh round lottery ticket, undrafted free agent that fell into their lap somehow someway. No, Craig Woodson was the fourth pick in the fourth round. He was just outside the top 100. He was pick 106. That’s a legitimate draft asset that you are spending on Craig Woodson, which tells us the Patriots thought highly of him. The other thing that tells us that the Patriots thought highly of him was the fact that they drafted him at the top of the fourth round, which means they had all Friday night and all Saturday morning to rethink the strategy. Look at the big board, say to themselves, “Yeah, we like Woodson, but we don’t love him enough to pull the trigger. Can we trade down? Is there somebody else on the board that we want instead of him?” And on top of that, you had the Patriots drafting Woodson ahead of other names at the same position that a lot of pundits liked more than they liked Woodson. Woodson went 106. Billy Bowman out of Oklahoma went to Atlanta at 118. Lean Ransom out of OSU went to the Panthers at 122. Malachi Moore out of Alabama went 130 to the Jets. 118 122 130. all safety picks in the fourth round of the draft. So, the Patriots committed to Craig Woodson, which should tell us that they they thought highly of him. They decided to use that pick on him, knowing that there was going to be a run of safeties later on in that round and they drafted Woodson ahead of all those other guys. The opportunity is also going to be there for Woodson because when you look at the rest of this roster, there are questions at safety. Dell Pettis made the roster last year. Good story, but inevitably an undrafted free agent. And the Patriots knew that Pettis was on the roster when they decided to use that pick on Craig Woodson. Marcus Jones, electric athlete, fun to watch with the football in his hands, but not a big guy. And you also have to wonder, was he a Bill Bich player? Did Bill Bich love Marcus Jones? Maybe he wasn’t an Elliot Wolf pick or a Matt Gro favorite. And Marcus Jones with his size and some of the health things he’s gone through, far from a guarantee to play 17 games for you. Jaylen Hawkins, more of a strong safety. Had that one-year deal last season with the Patriots. Didn’t play great. Wasn’t god awful. Back on a one-year deal. Could easily be cut before the season kicks off. But Nick, they signed Marcus Eps. Yes, they did sign EPS, but EPS signed a one-year deal, shorter on money, and he’s returning from an ACL. So, when you start to look at those safeties, I’m not talking about Duggar, I’m not talking about Peppers, we know who those guys are. But when you look at the rest of the safety depth chart, there’s an opportunity here for Craig Woodson to make some noise. And it’s very early. We all know it’s very early. Nobody’s going to sit here and tell you that in late May we know that this guy’s going to be a starter. This guy’s going to play a bunch of snaps. We don’t know that. As Gardi wrote, it’s it’s one practice. It’s one snapshot. It’s one day. So maybe Woodson falls back. But at rookie mini camp, he stood out. OTAA is the only day in front of the media this week. He stood out. And that’s all you can do, right? When you’re given the opportunity, when you show up to rookie mini camp, you want to show out. You want to stand out. And that’s what Woodson did. When you have a chance at OTAAS to work yourself into the rotation and to make some plays, to pick off Drake May, that’s what you do. You stand out. So, the limited opportunities that Woodson has received so far very very early, the infancy stages of his NFL career, he has made the most of those opportunities from what we have seen. And it’s obvious because of the draft pick that the Patriots used, they want this guy to succeed. They want him to be a part of the program here. You don’t draft somebody at the top of the fourth round and stash him for the next couple of years. But maybe the biggest argument for Craig Woodson getting an opportunity and having a bigger impact than many people thought, including myself, is just the fit. He makes sense. Woodson from a positional value standpoint makes sense. I have been talking about this for years and I mentioned this when the Patriots drafted Woodson in real time and I tweeted this out at Nick Cradio. If you want to follow me at Nick Cradio, I tweeted out, “Look, I know that some people believe that Woodson is a reach. I know some people are going to question that pick at 106, but if Woodson could end up being a coverage safety, if he could help this team in coverage on the back end, and it’s not, let’s be honest about this, it’s not his strongest suit, but Evan Lazar, patriots.com, was watching his catch22 podcast and he mentioned that Woodson, from what he saw at OTAAS, again, one day, one snapshot, one practice ice. But Lazar said that Woodson looks more like a cover safety, a pure cover safety. And if Woodson can be a pure cover safety, that’s the kind of guy that I’ve been clamoring for over the past few years. Duggar closer to the line of scrimmage. Peppers closer to the line of scrimmage. You need somebody who can cover. Pepper’s probably better than Duggar, Duggar has struggled in that area. So, not only do you look at the depth chart and beyond Duggar and Peppers, there are questions where you can easily see Woodson leapfrog into a rotational spot, not only did they spend that fourth pick in the fourth round on Woodson after sleeping on it and drafting him ahead of other safeties who were favorites of some for some analysts out there. Not only that, but he could be the fit that they’ve been looking for. Or maybe they haven’t been looking for the fit, but now they have the fit. If he can play coverage at an average to above average level on the back end, that would help out this defense tremendously. And it’s not just playing a quasi free safety role. He’s 6 foot. He’s 200 lb. He could play maybe some big nickel. And we know that Mike Vrabel has talked about how crucial the nickel role is for an NFL defense in 2025. So if if he could play some big nickel, if he could play some free safety on the back end and be average to above average in his coverage skills, make some plays on the football like he made at the practice on Tuesday against Drake May, then that’s going to be the icing on the cake because we know for a fact that he is violent. We know for a fact that he is a high impact hitter. He’s somebody who you could easily see fit into the Terrell Williams defense, the Mike Vrabel defense. Violence, physicality, downhill, stick people. That’s what Woodson does best. So, if you have that to go along with average to above average coverage skill, he will get the opportunity. and so far he’s made the most of his early opportunities. A big name is having some contract issues and would fill a major need for this football team. That’s coming up next as we continue with today’s episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every [Music] day. 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Make every moment more with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. [Music] As good as this off season has been, and it’s been very good, the Patriots didn’t fill every hole. And there are a couple of big holes left on this roster. Premier pass rusher, premier wide receiver, an alpha in that wide receiver room. Stefan Diggs is good. We’ll see if he’s still good returning from the ACL, but he is no longer a number one guy. He’s more of a number two. He might even be a 2B after the ACL surgery. We’ll have to wait and see. A huge hole remains that alpha wide out. And Terry McLaren is having a contract dispute with the Washington Commanders. Now, I understand you understand it’s very unlikely that McLaren is going to get traded. Washington just went to the NFC Championship game. Jaden Daniels had a tremendous rookie season. You don’t want to take away his best receiver. But if I’m the Patriots, I’m not taking that for granted. I’m picking up the phone. I’m putting up to my face and I am calling Adam Peters and just checking in. Hey, Adam. Great season last year, by the way. I mean, fantastic run. You guys did just an awesome awesome job getting to the NFC Championship game. By the way, Terry McLaren, what’s going on with him? Are you open to the idea of having that conversation? I would absolutely 100% call. Some people might beef with this idea that McLaren is a true 1A receiver. I think he is. And I think that his play over the several years prior to uh Daniels getting to Washington was more about the quarterback position than it was about McLaren himself. He’s a very good route runner. He’s got great hands. I mean, he’s made a bunch of tremendous catches that I have witnessed. I’ve watched it live in action, and the dude has just a great set of hands. Last year, 82 catches, just under,00 yards. He had 13 touchdowns. 13 touchdowns with a rookie quarterback. How good was Mcccluren last year? Second team AllPro. We talk about Christian Gonzalez. We rightfully and justifiably pump Gonzalez’s tires because he made the second team allpro last year. Well, McLaren did the same thing. So, you want to talk about level of player? Second team allp pro Gonzalez, second team allp pro Terry McLaren. You’re going to tell me that you don’t want to think about the idea of adding a second team allpro wide receiver to this roster. Of course you do. He’s also tough tough football player and he turns 30 in September. So I would think he takes care of himself. You pay him well. He’s got at least three years left. You could imagine that at the age of 32, he’s still playing productive football. So with the year he had last year, the resume speaks for itself. The tools that he has speaks for themselves. and being 30 in September to me is not this huge obstacle. He should be just fine over the next three years. And why would I be calling? Why would I be going after McLaren? And this goes for really any wide receiver one that might become available at some point down the road here, even if that guy is 28, 29, 30 years old. Because a a true number one receiver, I think, could be the difference between being on the cusp of the playoffs and being in the playoffs and not only being in the playoffs, but also being dangerous. If you add that alpha wide receiver, if you’re able to add that guy, everybody else falls in line. Let’s just use McLaren as the hypothetical here since he’s the one that’s having the contract dispute. You look at McLaren, if you put him there as your number one, you you you put him in the wide receiver room, he’s your number one wide receiver. He could do pretty much everything that you need him to do. So, you’ve got McLaren. Now, Stefan Diggs, you don’t have to worry about Diggs producing like a number one. You don’t need him to produce like a number one. You need him to produce like a number two. And I think he is fully capable of doing that. He was doing it in Houston last year before the ACL injury. And if you’re worried about Diggs subjugating his ego, I have absolutely zero issue with that. When he got to Houston, he understood, he realized, he acknowledged that Nico Collins was that guy. And he did not have this big- time issue taking a step back, Nico being the guy, and him being more of the number two than the number one. He used to be a number one, but I think he’s realistic now and understands that if you bring somebody in like McLaren, he’s not going to be at the top of the depth chart. He as in Digs. So, you’ve got somebody like McLaren in this hypothetical situation because of the contract. You’ve got McLaren, you’ve got Diggs as the number two, and now you’ve got Pop Douglas as your number three. You can play him in the slot, obviously. And then this gives you some time to develop Kyle Williams. Maybe Kyle Williams ends up becoming your number three guy. We know that Williams can play inside, he could play outside, so you could easily put him in the slot. The quick releases at the line of scrimmage are deadly. His ability to make a catch underneath and turn it into an explosive play would also help. So, if you add somebody like McLaren, you bring him in, you’ve got Diggs as your number two, you’ve got Williams/Pop as your number three slash4, and now you’ve got a lot less to worry about regarding Jaylen Poke and Jayvon Baker. You might be able to trade Kendrick Bourne for, you know, a fourth, fifth round pick. And the best thing of all, if you bring in that alpha receiver, it’s Mayday. You’re talking about supporting Drake May. And the Patriots, I think, have done a really good job given the options that they had. I think they’ve done a pretty good job supporting their young quarterback this off seasonason, putting him in a position to succeed at a higher level. You add a McLaren to the mix, you’re doing even more for May. You want to talk about support, imagine Drake May with an improved offensive line, Mcccluren, Diggs, Kyle Williams, Pop Douglas, Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper, Trayvon Henderson, Raandre Stevenson. Not too shabby, right? And you have the resources. You look forward to the 2026 NFL draft. The Patriots have nine or 10 picks in next year’s draft. They have plenty of picks. They got that fourth round pick they picked up from Kansas City in the trade in this past draft. They’ve got first. They got a second. They got a third. So, you have the picks. You have the picks to play with next year. You have the cap space. The Patriots still have $67.3 million in cap space. They could easily bring somebody in like McLaren, frontload his contract, dump the money on the table, and then even it out as the years go on. And I don’t have much of an issue getting rid of some assets, getting rid of some picks at this point because you’ve done so much to supplement the roster that was existing. You’ve added so much that again, you really have two big needs, two huge needs. The pass rusher, the elite pass rusher, and a guy who you could consider as a number one receiver. And if I’m filling one of those two big needs, I’m willing to give up some assets for it. And that could be the difference from cusp of the playoffs to being in the playoffs and maybe being a little bit dangerous, a little bit frisky. Arguably the most underappreciated edition of the 2025 offseason. That’s coming up next as we continue with today’s episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. [Music] Robert Spalain is the most underrated, underappreciated addition of this off seasonason the Patriots have had. Not enough people are talking about Spain. Pro Football Focus this week released an article and I found this to be fascinating. Trevor Sigma over at PFF came up with every team’s top three players. All 32 teams and their top three players. The player on top for the Patriots. I’m sure many of you could guess this was Christian Gonzalez. Of course, Gonzo is at the top. Number two, I’m sure many of you could guess who it is. It’s Milton Williams. So, Gonzalez and then Williams. And then sitting at number three, this surprised me, but sitting at number three was Spalain. So, Trevor Sigma of Pro Football Focus says that Robert Spalain is the third best football player on this Patriots roster. And he is so underrated and so underappreciated. It’s been a part of his story throughout his NFL career, especially the last couple. But this is somebody who is familiar with the system. He played for Vrabel. He played for Terrell Williams in Tennessee. He understands exactly what Vrabel and Williams are going to be asking of their players on that side of the ball. He knows and he is a through and through style fit. If you want to talk about violence, you want to talk about downhill, you want to talk about chaos running around the field making plays, that is Spalain. He’s chaos. He’s fun to watch. If you enjoy linebackers who are running all over the place and making plays, Spain’s your guy. So, he’s obviously a style fit. Vrabel and Williams felt that way. They paid him some pretty good money. They brought him into the program here in New England because they feel like he’s the perfect guy for them. And during the OTAAS this week that were open to the media on Tuesday, this should not come as a surprise, but it’s an example of how big of a role that Spalain is going to have with this football team. He was the quarterback of the defense on Tuesday. He’s the guy out there that’s directing traffic, making sure everybody knows where they’re supposed to be, what the play call is going to be, what the purpose of the play is going to be. That is Spain. Spalain is the quarterback of the defense. a pivotal role when you talk about a new scheme, new coaching staff, some guys that are holdovers from the prior regime in the prior regime before that. It it is a huge role critical to the operation to have the right guy being the quarterback of the defense and that’s the role that Spain is filling. He is vital. He is vital to this season. So, let’s talk about him and what he brings to the table and why he’s underappreciated and underrated. Spain is one of the best linebackers in football against the run. And that’s not hyperbole. I’m not sitting here throwing sunshine his way because he’s wearing a Patriots uniform. Now, he is literally one of the best linebackers against the run in the league. If you don’t believe me, let’s back it up with some evidence. Last season, Pro Football Focus gave Spain the eighth highest run grade at linebacker. Eighth best linebacker against the run. His run defense grade was 87.3. And here’s the thing, that’s not a flash in the pan type deal. That’s not a one-year wonder kind of deal. Because when you go back to 2023, Spain was actually even better against the run. Last year, his grade was a 87.3. In 2023, his grade was 89. He was literally one of the best linebackers in football against the run in 2023. And he was a top 10 linebacker against the run in 2024. He knows what he’s doing. Relentless going after the football. A ton of solo tackles. You know, we we’ve seen some missed tackles here and there, especially last season. Some issues with some missed tackles for at least the stretch during the season. Spain, tons of solo tackles, and he’s just a tackle machine. In 2023, he was 10th in the NFL in tackles with 148. Last year, he was even better. Last year he was tied for third in the NFL with 158 tackles. He flies around the field. He hits people. He is a sure tackler. And that’s not all he does. Now, let’s be honest. Honest assessment. That’s what we do here. Transparency. If somebody does something great, I’m going to let you know. Somebody’s not so great, I’m going to let you know. Spain has not been very good in coverage. He was not very good in coverage last year. So we have to anticipate that. We have to understand that that is not a strength. I’ll give you the comparison. You know, when you look at what he did against the run, I’ll tell you one more time. His run defense grade was 87.3. His coverage grade was abominable. It was 48.8, eight, which placed him 137th out of 189 linebackers. He’s not out there to be a super coverage stud. He’s out there to hit people. He’s out there to make plays on the football. And he’s also out there to get pressure on the quarterback, which is another part of his game, another aspect of what he brings to the field, which makes him underappreciated and underrated. He was 21st in the NFL in linebacker pressures last year according to PFF. So, let’s just say top 20 rushing linebacker. He is a very good blitzer. And when you think about the Vrabel Williams defense, you think about some of those changes up front that we’re going to see. You think about simulated pressure. defensive lineman. Looks like he’s going to rush. Oh, all of a sudden he drops into coverage. Here comes Robert Spelain streaming towards the line of scrimmage. Making life miserable for the running back. Making life miserable for the quarterback. A very good blitzing linebacker. Top 20 in pressures, 21, top 20ish in pressures according to Pro Football Focus. And he was really good in 2023. Marcus Moer of Raiderswire wrote this about Spain’s 2023. Of the linebackers who played at least 1,000 snaps, Spain had the ninth highest grade in 2023. He was a top 10 linebacker in football according to Pro Football Focus. And that is when you’re looking at the grade itself. Top 10 linebacker in all of football just two years ago. It was really good last year. One final note that you should never underappreciate, that you should never underrate or overlook the guy’s ability to play. Snaps on snaps on snaps. Spain last year played 98.2% of the snaps for Vegas. 98.2%. In 2023, he played 97.18% of the snaps. This guy posts, this guy plays. He’s going to be out there on the field making an impact. So great against the run, great when it comes to rushing the quarterback, quarterback of the defense, perfect style fit, considered a top 10 linebacker according to Pro Football Focus in 2023. Could easily see him be in the top 20 this year. He is the most underrated and underappreciated addition this off season. Robert Spalain. That wraps up this edition of Lockdown Patriots. Let me know your thoughts on today’s topics. Reach out to me on Twitter, Nick Cradio. Don’t forget to throw a comment in on the YouTube channel. Help us out there. And thank you for making Lockdown Patriots your first listen today. For your second listen, check out Locked On Scouting. Crabs and Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan this off season. Find Locked On Scouting on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. Have a great holiday weekend and I will see you on Tuesday.

New England Patriots rookie Craig Woodson is turning heads early. We look at the opportunity Woodson has alongside Kyle Dugger, Christian Gonazalez, and the rest of the Patriots secondary in 2025.

Meanwhile, Terry McLaurin is having a contract dispute with the Washington Commanders. It’s unlikely McLaurin springs free, but we dive into the fit with the Patriots.

Finally, we tell you why one player signed by Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf is the most underappreciated and underrated addition this offseason for the New England Patriots. It’s a loaded episode on a Friday, enjoy!

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