NFL Insider Tom Pelissero on the Key Moves to the Patriots’ Turnaround | The Rich Eisen Show

the just watch the the Patriots being built um and now they’re nine and two and they’ve won eight in a row. Do you have any insights on on all of this from the draft from last year? Any anything that you want to kind of shed light on because this is exactly what teams that choose top five in the draft uh a couple years in a row um hoping that it hits with a quarterback. Th this is the sort of ascension quick skyrock, you know, rocket ship type stuff that everyone’s looking for. Tom, listen. The biggest thing that the Patriots got right um in 2024 was Drake May and I know that that’s now the obvious answer, but you go back to uh draft night and um they were still fielding calls. They had multiple offers. The Giants had showed interest. The Vikings uh made an offer to go up and get him. I know that Kevin O’Connell was a big fan of Drake May. Obviously, Josh Macau had a pre-existing relationship with Drake May. And it wasn’t until about 2 three hours before the draft that I reported um that the Patriots are going to stand pat and make the pick. Um they wanted to see do they get the type of godfather offer that would allow them to move. But it always seemed like they really had a high level belief in Drake May, who is not, by the way, Rich, a slam dunk in the scouting process. Yes, he had all these traits and he’s a big physical guy with a big arm and he can make plays, but he was the youngest. He was arguably of the six quarterbacks that went in the top 12, the least ready in terms of the experience level. He was younger than these guys. A lot of them, you know, not everybody’s Bo Knicks playing six years of college football, but Michael Penn played uh six years of of college football. Obviously, Caleb had played a ton all the way through his career. Jaden Daniels had had an extended college career uh at multiple schools. So, there were there were a bunch of different flavors. It was not as if, boy, Drake May is clearly going to be the MVP candidate. He was the third quarterback to come off the board. But regardless of what else happened in that draft, they got the quarterback right. And then, you know, fast forward to January of 2025, they had to make a difficult decision on paper, which was moving on from their handpicked successor in Gerrod Mayo. But they had a very clear plan and they moved within a week to hire Mike Vrabel. They believed and they knew him very well um that he could lead an instantaneous turnaround. I think that if you even rewind to week one of the season, I was at that game against the Raiders. It did not look like it was going to be a quick flip. That was the best the second half of that game was the best football Gino Smith has played this entire season. They lost to the Raiders in week one. I believe the Patriots started one and two, but then you saw them begin uh to start gathering momentum. Mike Frabel has always had a really good eye for talent, not just in terms of players, but also in terms of his coaching staff. Josh McDaniels, it was kind of an open secret that he was going to be the offensive coordinator, but for instance, Mike Vrabel interviews Thomas Brown for the OC job. He was going to go with Josh, but he’s like, “This guy’s really impressive.” All right. Hey, man. I don’t I can’t give you the OC job, but do you want to be the tight end’s coach? and Thomas Brown who’s held a bunch of different roles and has always been, you know, he’s been a head coaching candidate in the past. He’s worked with Shawn McVey, he’s a great fit. Todd Downey, who had been the OC in Tennessee, he’s now the wide receivers’s coach. Um, obviously, you know, the defensive coordinator, that’s been a tough situation um with not having um him in the building here recently. But you we had Zack Kerr who’s kind of like when Shane Bowen was the play caller in Tennessee where it was Mike Verbel entrusted a guy that most people in the league had never even heard of but had been with with Mike going back to Ohio State that all right you know Terrell Williams is not going to be able to be the guy Zack you’re stepping in you’re now calling this defense and maybe the most impressive thing Rich to me is just when you watch Mike Vrabel interact with his coaches interact with his players interact with the officials he is in complete control of everything surrounding the team. He’s not going to cave to public pressure. Why are you not playing Trayvon Henderson early? Cuz we don’t think he’s ready. Then all of a sudden, we’re on week seven, week eight. All right, he’s ready now. And he goes off for three touchdowns, you know, last night. Stefon Diggs, what was the whole talk in the offseason? Are they going to cut him before his his, you know, his bonus money is due or they is he never going to pass a physical? And Velma just kind of shrugged off everything in the offseason and now Digg looks like the best bargain in free agency. It’s a long-winded way of saying Rich. They made a lot of wise decisions along the way getting the quarterback a year before Varel even got there and that decision which was the crafts and it was Elliot Wolf. Those guys got that right and that’s a huge piece of what they’re building right now. Hey, you made it all the way to the end. Thanks for that. Check us out every single day streaming live on Disney Plus and the ESPN app 12 to 3 Eastern.

NFL Insider Tom Pelissero and Rich Eisen discuss how the New England Patriots have been able to return to their winning ways this season.

Tune in to the Emmy-nominated Rich Eisen Show live weekdays from Noon to 3PM ET on Disney+, ESPN+, ESPN Radio, and streaming on SiriusXM channel 80.

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13 comments

  2. The key move was hiring McDaniels. He may be a shitty HC, but as just an OC, the guy is a QB whisperer. He took Mac Jones to the playoffs as a rookie. Then he left and the Pats sucked. He comes back, and hey, Pats are looking like a playoff team again. I really dont think people give McDaniels enough credit.

  7. The critical decision was the Coach. Vrabel was a slam dunk no brainer following the trials and tribulations of Jerrod Mayo. They had to move away from Mayo and with Vrabel still available, they had to move fast, like the moment the clock hit 0:00 on game 17. I think they had contacted Vrabel before the final game. Vrabel also felt more comfortable with the Patriots than the Jets. Once that was set, the McDaniels chip fell in place. It was also fortuitous that Vrabel and McDaniels were from different sides of the ball. Vrabel's previous experience as a HC and with the Patriots made it easy for him to get the things that followed right. The coaching staff decisions, the draft, the free agents. Remember, only 1 player from the 2024 draft still remains on the roster – Maye. The others are gone.

  8. They made some unbelievable additions on defense- Chaisson, Williams, Tonga, and Spillane have been amazing. Davis was supposed to be a great addition but he's sucked. If he can turn it around watch out. The O-line is infinitely better than last year, and Josh has elevated Drake and the receiving corp. Add Diggs and Vrabel on top of that, you have a winning formula.

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