Periodically we like to check in with NFL Films and Matchup producer/analyst Greg Cosell, who is one of the best film guys in the business, to take get his unbiased take on the Patriots. You can watch/listen to it above or on your devices wherever you desire, or here's a transcript of the meaty parts for BSJ members.
What kind of player is JuJu Smith-Schuster at this point in time? And do you think he's an upgrade over Jakobi Meyers for what the Patriots do?
I do think he's an upgrade. The big question with Smith-Schuster is health and can he be durable and play a full season? That's always a big question. So I don't want to act like that's unimportant, because obviously, it is important. But I think when you look at what Smith-Schuster is what he's been essentially since he came out of USC when he was thought of highly and I remember watching him then, he had some great years with the Steelers, caught over 100 balls. He was obviously a meaningful factor for the Chiefs in their Super Bowl season a year ago. He's big, he's physical. I think most probably see him more as a slot but he can work outside. So I think he does give you the inside-outside flexibility. And he's a big man. So to me, and again, it's not as if Smith-Schuster's a 10 and Jakobi Meyers is a two. But I think if you were really just evaluating the individual player, and there's always more to it as you know than just the individual player. There always is. But I think if you were just evaluating the traits of the individual player, you would say that Juju Smith-Schuster is a better receiver than Jakobi Meyers.
From what I've seen on film, it looks like Smith-Schuster's a pretty smart guy — which is pretty important in the traditional Patriots offense they appear to be returning to with Bill O'Brien. Would you concur with that?
Yeah, I would. At his best, he's physical, because don't forget, he's pretty big. He's physical, he can work the middle of the field. And not that Jakobi Meyers can't, I think Jakobi Meyers could as well. But I think that element is really, really important when Mac Jones is your quarterback, the ability to work the middle of the field effectively. And I think, you know, that's something that they probably really looked at when they signed Smith-Schuster, because the way in which he plays, there's a physical element to his game, then there's a run after catch element to his game that I think is clearly better than Jakobi Meyers.
What do you see from Mike Gesicki? And what kind of role do you think he would play in a traditional Patriots offense?
Well, I think this ties in with Bill O'Brien coming back as the OC because as you well know, one thing Bill O'Brien has always liked and particularly when you have a quarterback that smart, like Mac Jones is Bill O'Brien likes empty sets, and empty sets, when you go with two tight ends, 12 personnel - one back to tight ends - and you have Gesicki, who is essentially a position diverse player ... He's technically a tight end, but he's really a linear player. He's long, he's linear, he's really a detached player. So in a sense, he's a big wide receiver, and Hunter Henry, he can also detach from the formation. He'd be a little more of a conventional tight end, but he certainly has the ability to split out wide, whether it's slot or out at (the) No. 1 spot. So now you give yourself some options offensively and see how defenses respond because you can line up with two wide receivers, two tight ends, one back and you can be in empty sets. And I think that Bill O'Brien really likes that opportunity. And as I said, I think Mac Jones can handle that with the empty set. So I think that Gesicki, to me, was a signing that probably related to Bill O'Brien being back because of the nature of Gesicki's skill set.
I've described Gesici as kind of a poor man's Travis Kelce. I mean, he's not as thick, but the same type of athlete and you can use them to like Kelcie can be X-iso. So in the red zone if he gets matched up with a linebacker, that sort of thing.
Yeah, Gesicki can certainly do that. He can be the boundary X on the backside of trips, you can put him detached in the slot, you know, he can line up in multiple locations within your formation. He's kind of straight line. As I said, he's linear. You know, he's not necessarily a sink your hips and snap out or breaks. But he does give you a vertical element from the tight end position, which I think they thought Jonnu Smith would, because that seemed to be the kind of player he was, certainly when he came into college and at times with the Titans and for whatever reason, you would know better, it didn't work out. But you know, he certainly can can run the seams, he's a three-level receiver at what would be considered the tight end position, even though he's not a tight end, in a strict sense.
What do you think about James Robinson?
You know, I've always thought and I hope I can explain this clearly. I think Robinson is a really good runner in terms of understanding how to run. I just don't think he has a lot of juice. Does that make sense? I've always liked the way in which he runs. I think he understands his blocking schemes. I think he understands what I always call gap fluidity. In other words, when you're in the backfield, let's say whether you're offset or in the eye formation, you look at the defense, a back has to look at the front seven, or whatever the front is, just the way a quarterback does. And he has to understand what that front means. So when he takes a handoff on a given run, whether its zone, gap scheme, whatever it might be, he has to understand initially, what the front is. But as you know, the front changes, gaps change as soon as the play starts. And I always thought that Robinson was really good at understanding the defensive movement and how gaps change, what I call gap fluidity. So I always felt he was a really good runner. He just doesn't have a lot of juice.
What do you think about where they are offensively as a whole, especially considering what's going on in the AFC East and the AFC in general?
Well, I guess the biggest question and I know you've probably talked about this a lot. The biggest question is ultimately what Mac Jones can be. I think we understand that Mac Jones is not going to be Josh Allen, we know that. At his core, what Mac Jones is, is a ball distributor and an efficient executor of a well-designed and well-schemed offense. That's what Mac Jones is. Now, one can have the debate as to whether that kind of quarterback in today's NFL is good enough to take you where you want to be. And that's a legitimate debate to have. The bottom line though, is he is the Patriots' quarterback. And he's going to be the quarterback this season for sure. So now, how do you maximize what Mac Jones is within the context of everybody else? Because as I said, he's a ball distributor, he's not going to make those special wow plays on his own, he can move around a little better than people may think. But he's certainly not going, you know, on third and 12 to run for 25 yards, you're not really going to see that. If you do, it'll be a rarity. So the question is, this is the kind of offense now that in all situations, and particularly those critical type situations, third and 9, red zone, where the scheme has to present the throws, and that Mac Jones has to see all that both pre-snap and post snap. To me the book's probably a little out on that. I don't know how you feel. I know you study Mac Jones in great detail, I have as well. I think the reports would be mixed. There's times you feel that he's played really, really well. And there's other times you feel that, hey, it wasn't quite the way it needs to be given what kind of quarterback he is.
I would agree with that. ... But I do think we saw a quarterback that didn't have confidence in the changes with the blocking scheme, his protection, the play call that it was going to be executed and that that is sort of what we saw on the field. Now whether he can come back from that we'll see.
He was an uncomfortable quarterback and you can't play position uncomfortably at this level. There's too much going on. So like I said, the larger debate is, which is separate from what you just said, is whether that style of quarterback now fits today's NFL and smart, reasonable people could disagree on that. And maybe you and I can have that discussion another time. But the point is, he's their quarterback, these are the traits he brings to the table. If he can execute those traits at the highest level, then you have a quarterback that I think does what probably Bill Belichick wants a quarterback to do. Then you get into the other issues perhaps a revamped online, can they have enough of a run game? You know, it's funny, we're in a stage where everybody totally kind of devalues running backs. But the thing is, a run game is necessary in this league. Now, no one is saying that that means you have to have the run game be the foundation of everything you do. But as you well know, there's times in every game you need to run the ball. Does that mean you need the best running back in the league to do it? No, of course it doesn't. But there are times you need to run the ball. And I think when you have a quarterback like Mac Jones, who's not going to make those out-of-structure plays the same way some other quarterbacks do, the run game does take on increased value.
Do you agree with Belichick that he should have confidence that in this division, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, all that Mike McDaniel does ... Do they have enough to do their part to be a winning team?
Well, I noticed the way you said Aaron Rodgers, I guess we'll wait and see on that. But yeah, it's a great question. Because ultimately, you're dealing with two things. The ability to rush the quarterback and the ability to cover on the back end. You know, I think that the pass rush is probably going to be okay. You know, I think that to me, is not going to be a big issue. I think they have some good individual players. And I think you can always scheme pressure, and I think they do a really good job with that. It's really on the back end, where I think there are some questions. I mean, if we were to start the season today, would both Jones be the outside corners?
I think they would go back to the way they had it most of last year. I think it would be Jonathan Jones outside. I think it would be Jack Jones on the other boundary. And I think it's basically going to be a competition, but I think they're hoping Marcus Jones becomes the slot.
Yeah, and I really loved Marcus Jones tape coming out of Houston. I thought it to be honest with you. And again, he's a player that can do a lot of different things. So I'm not saying I'm right, believe me, but I thought he was in many ways, like a Tyrann Mathieu-type player. I thought he had that kind of overall skill set. And boy, does he have a lot of juice to him. But I really liked his tape and even the kid Jack Jones, I really liked his tape as well. He's just slight. And you wonder if in today's NFL, if being slight is enough to play on the outside, because many would automatically say given his frame, that he's a slot corner, but he played outside in college and he was good. He's competitive. He's feisty. I like him. But I think the outside corner position because you know, Jonathan Jones, prior to last year, played almost exclusively in the slot. So I think those are questions, Greg, I think if they were being honest, they would say their questions as well. They might not tell you that publicly. But I think that those would be questions as we enter the OTAs and training camp in the season.
Yeah, to me, this team is screaming for a bigger No. 1 cornerback and perhaps there is one of those guys in the draft. I mean, you plug in Christian Gonzalez or Joey Porter or one of the other top draft picks ...
Julius Brent, who's 6-3, and has incredibly long arms. You know, guys like that.
Yeah, you plug that guy in at one of the boundary spots and you think he can play right away and all of a sudden you slot somebody else down. Maybe even you put Jonathan Jones aat free safety where he's played at times for the Patriots. Marcus Jones is your slot. Jack Jones is your number two. If that rookie hits, you know, sort of like Tariq Woolen did or Sauce Gardener, all of a sudden, they might have something in the back end. So we'll have to see that.
What do you think of Belichick's continued investment in special teams in today's NFL?
Boy, I wish I had something brilliant here to say Greg. I mean, I did not realize that the Eagles and the Chiefs technically had the worst special teams. I know I'm getting older, But if memory serves me correctly, those two teams were in the Super Bowl. Were they not?
That is correct.
So, you know, I don't know exactly what to make of it. Look, I think if you spoke to any coach, they would tell you that special teams are important. The question is not whether they're important or not. The question is, how much of your resources do you allocate to it because you only have a finite number of resources? So that's the larger question. I mean, no coach is going to say as you know, well, yeah, we want to be good on offense and defense and we don't care if our special team stinks. No one's going to say that. So it's really an allocation of resources. And I guess now we have to wait and see what happens with the remainder of free agency and the draft and how they approach it. I mean, we just spoke about it. I think as you seem to agree that they probably need to look at the corner position to compete in this division. We'll see if they indeed do that. You know, they might even need to look at the offensive tackle position based on the conversation we had. And we'll see if they do that in the draft. To me, those things would be more important. But you know, whether Bill Belichick thinks so or not, I can answer that. You may know that. But I to me, those other things would be more important.
There's one guy that I'm really curious to see this year, because I think they could have a pretty good receiving corp. And we talked about him last year. And I know he got hurt and then came in and he made some plays. I'm really anxious to see Tyquan Thornton this year. And I hope he can stay healthy because I think he could be a pretty good receiver.
He gives you jet sweeps. He gives you the kinds of things that the league, you know, does now. And I really liked him coming out of college. And you know, I was really sad to see him get hurt last year. But then as you know, when he came back, he made some plays. And he obviously can run and I think he can do a little more than that, too. So we'll see.