- 11 minutes ago
Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald joins Arcand to talk all things Patriots, with the trade deadline just days away. Will N.E. land their target?
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00:017.30 here, Christian Arcand Show, WEEI.
00:04Nice to have you with us here tonight and joining us here on the guest hotline from the Boston Herald,
00:08my guy Doug Kide. Doug, how you doing tonight, bud?
00:11Doing well. How you doing, Christian?
00:12Doing very well. Nice to talk with you here and nice to see the Patriots come back from what was
00:18about as bad of a first half.
00:20I thought that was a worse first half than even the Super Bowl, which was about as bad a first
00:24half as you could possibly have.
00:25And then in the second half, we all saw what happened there. With a couple of days of hindsight, what
00:30do you attribute that bad start to, Doug?
00:34Yeah, I mean, it seemed like they were being pretty conservative on offense.
00:37It didn't seem like they had a great plan for the game.
00:39I think they probably realistically went in being like, all right, we could probably beat this team, you know, not
00:45pulling too much of that hat for us.
00:47And then they really pulled it together, trusted Drake Maymore, relied on the backup wide receivers.
00:55And Drake May's ability to find them. So that was the difference for me.
00:59And the defense certainly showed up a lot more, too.
01:02It seemed like even on defense, they were able to play a little bit more aggressively in coverage, which helped.
01:07Because, I mean, that first half, the secondary was awful against the Dolphins' wide receivers, which was truly shocking to
01:13me.
01:15Since it's such a weak group, not a great passing quarterback in Malik Willis.
01:20That was probably what I was most disappointed by in the first half.
01:23But they locked them down much better in the second half.
01:26So, yeah, pretty wild how much better they played in the second half after a terrible start to the game.
01:31Was there a sense in the locker room that maybe they overlooked this team?
01:36They certainly weren't saying that heading into the game.
01:40And maybe Mike Vribble even laid it on too thick just by saying, you know, how they've got to play.
01:46But even at the time, some of his comments, he was laying it on thick.
01:51But he kind of said, given their circumstance or something like that.
01:55So they were certainly aware that this was a Dolphins team that lacked a lot of talent.
01:59So it's certainly possible that they were overlooking them a little bit.
02:03One thing that he did say in the postgame was that he was happy that the team wasn't frontrunners.
02:07Kind of implying that in the games that they won this year, they've had to be.
02:11And that's not true in all of them, obviously.
02:13Some of the wins were comeback wins.
02:15But is that something, is that like a point of view that you share about this team?
02:20Yeah, I mean, I think that that was important in this game for them to have to come back.
02:24And not be frontrunners, I guess, in the game.
02:28But, I don't know, it's not necessarily something that I'm concerned about too much with this team.
02:33I think that they did a good job.
02:35I think in the long run, what they did in the offseason by reshaping the roster a little bit will
02:41wind up being beneficial for them.
02:43It really does seem like this is the type of character that Mike Grable wants for one of his teams.
02:50So I think in the long run, it's going to be most of the offseason moves they made are going
02:54to be positive for this team.
02:56Just as far as like, I don't know, chemistry and, you know, just what he's trying to build.
03:03On the topic of Mike Grable and the character of this team, a lot of injuries, a lot of guys
03:08playing after being injured on short weeks recently.
03:13Ted Johnson talks about this a lot, how in his career, Mike Grable didn't miss a lot of games, despite
03:18where he played.
03:19He was very, very durable.
03:20He played most of the games in his career.
03:22And I guess the question is, is there a sense in the locker room of, hey, we've got to play
03:28even if we're playing through something.
03:29We've got to be out there.
03:30That's maybe more important than it would be under a different coach or a different regime.
03:35Um, I'm not, I'm not totally sure about that, but I think that those are the types of players that
03:41Mike Grable is trying to find for this team.
03:44Like Draymond Jones is a good example of that, where like, obviously he's playing through a shoulder injury right now.
03:51Like he's got it wrapped up underneath his pads.
03:54He is in pretty severe pain.
03:57Seems like once a game and then, then just keeps playing through it.
04:00So I think that that's probably something that Mike Grable has, um, I don't know, verbalized to his team.
04:09And I think for the most part, they're trying to do that.
04:12I mean, Will Campbell, uh, obviously playing through, uh, the knee injury that he had, Trivion Henderson playing through whatever
04:18ankle sprain that he had.
04:20So there are a lot of guys doing that and trying to do that right now.
04:24Yeah, certainly.
04:25Uh, it seems like that's a big problem for this team this year and a big contrast from last year
04:30when they had really, uh, you know, kind of a charmed life injury wise, uh, in terms of moves and,
04:37you know, trying to arrange different guys in different places, any, uh, intel on what that might look like this
04:42week going into this green Bay game?
04:44Um, not fully, but they do have an open roster spot.
04:48So it certainly seems like they're at least anticipating one other move coming this week.
04:53Um, I would not be shocked if that was Matt Collins, just because when he first had the calf injury,
04:59didn't seem like he was planning on missing that much time.
05:02And they wind up putting on IR.
05:03So certainly wouldn't be surprised if, if he was ready to come back this week, but there's a number of
05:08guys who were eligible.
05:09Reggie Gilliam, the fullback, uh, safety Dale Pettis is still eligible guard, uh, guard, Greg Van Roten, Marcus, uh, Bryant
05:16was already activated off IR.
05:18So that is like one piece of good news for this team is that outside of Michael Wenu, who I
05:24would personally be pretty surprised if he came back this season outside of him, like everyone else really seems like
05:29they're going to be back at some point.
05:30So once they get back, they have to stay healthy and everyone else has to stay healthy.
05:35But at least right now, when you look at the roster, there's not a lot of season ending injuries for
05:41this team.
05:41So it's possible that by the time they make the playoffs, they could be playing their best football.
05:46We're talking with Doug Kide, Boston Herald, uh, Doug, a week from tonight will be the trade deadline.
05:51There's been reports, rumors, I guess, about, uh, potential players that could be on the trade block that are on
05:57this roster right now.
05:58And that's more than I've heard about any players that they may be interested in going out and acquiring.
06:03And I know that that's sometimes just the way that the rumor mill works, but what have you heard about
06:07that?
06:07Do you have any, uh, follow up on any of that?
06:11I'm not super surprised by that just because of their cap situation right now, they don't have a lot of
06:16ways to free up cap space.
06:17So if they were to make a move, they kind of have to ship someone out first right now, um,
06:23because they, they really cannot open up much cap space, uh, through the, the regular
06:28creative means.
06:30Um, I will just say though, that if they do wind up trading away, Carlton Davis or Christian Barmore, those
06:36are the two names that our birth throughout there.
06:38Like they have to make moves to, to recoup value onto this team because like, that's only going to weaken
06:45their roster.
06:46And this is a team right now that should be going on a playoff run.
06:50Like they have the potential to go on a long playoff run right now.
06:53And you don't want to be looking at this team in February or January and saying like, oh man, if
06:58only we had one more guy rushing the passer from the interior and Christian Barmore.
07:01Like if they do that, I think it's, it's really important for them to then bring guys in via trade
07:08as well.
07:09Even if it's not the same position, like reshape your roster one way or the other to, to make yourself
07:14as good as you were.
07:15Uh, if you, if you didn't trade any players, who would be a more impactful loss between the two of
07:20those players, Davis and Barmore?
07:22I think it would be Davis just because of their lack of depth, uh, on the, uh, at cornerback.
07:28I think Barmore so far has been a more impactful player just because Davis has missed so much time.
07:34But if you take Davis off the roster, you kind of have to lean more into zone coverage, which they
07:39haven't been very good in this year.
07:40Like if you, if you have to put Charles Woods in as a starter and Marcus Jones, it kind of
07:45weakens the position overall and it weakens the impact that Christian Gonzalez can make where if you're, he's better in
07:51man coverage, he makes his biggest impact there.
07:53If you're forcing yourself in a zone, then that's just going to weaken the secondary overall.
07:58Well, at defensive tackle, taking a Barmore obviously doesn't help, but at least you've got six, you're six guys deep
08:04at that position.
08:06And even if Leonard Taylor can't bring the same amount of pass rush, at least they've got bodies who are
08:11healthy and who are experienced in this defense able to fill in there.
08:15Does this team have a kicker controversy, Doug?
08:18Not yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to one, especially if he has one or two more misses, just because
08:27when I look at Andy Borgallis, he's not that big legged kicker where you can kick it from the 50
08:35yard line and maybe he makes it.
08:36And a lot of other teams have that type of guy.
08:38I think that's a real weapon to have on your offense where it's like, all right, if you get the
08:43ball at the 35 yard line, you only need, you know, one and a half first down to get in
08:47range for your kicker.
08:48I don't look at Borgallis as that type of guy.
08:51So if you're not that type of guy, then you have to be extremely dependable on the short kicks.
08:56And so far through two years, that hasn't necessarily been Andy Borgallis.
08:59So he really has to start being much more dependable on, let's say, like 45 yards and under if he's
09:06not going to be that guy who can kick a 60 yarder.
09:09All right, before we let you go here, I think that Drake May being reintroduced to the MVP conversation this
09:15week and really the last couple of weeks has overshadowed Ramondre Stevenson and what he did, certainly in that Dolphins
09:22game.
09:22A big time effort from him.
09:24And of course, in that Chicago game, he had that big play before the half, too.
09:28Is this more of the same from Stevenson or are you noticing an elevation maybe to his game this year
09:34as well?
09:36Yeah, I think it's a lot of what we saw at the end of last year, the second half of
09:39last year.
09:39He was really good the second half of last year as well.
09:42And I think it's just a continuation of that.
09:44The thing for me on Stevenson is that you don't want to overwork him at this time of year.
09:49So you either have to figure out that you can depend on Corey Kiner, maybe Trevon Henderson comes back with
09:55new life when he's back from the illness.
09:57I don't think Land Larrison is going to be that type of guy.
10:00So one way or the other, I don't think you want to be giving Stevenson this many snaps.
10:05I was a little bit shocked by how little the Patriots used Corey Kiner in last week's game.
10:10And if they can't depend on Kiner and if they can't depend on Henderson, that is a position that I
10:15wouldn't mind the Patriots making a deal for a player.
10:19I don't know how willing the Ravens would be to trade Derrick Henry, but I know that's a name that's
10:25been on social media.
10:26And the thing that I kind of like about him more than even Jonathan Taylor is that his contract is
10:31a lot more easily digestible for the Patriots.
10:34He barely counts anything against the cap if you bring him in by a trade because his salary is so
10:39low.
10:39So if they can figure that out, obviously that moves everyone down the depth chart.
10:44But I don't want to see Ramondre Stevenson getting 75% of offensive snaps every week because he's the only
10:53guy you can depend on running between the tackles and pass blocking and being able to hold on to the
10:59football.
10:59So one way or the other, they've got to figure that out.
11:02All right, before we let you go here, Caleb Williams last night against that Seahawks team, where did that elevate
11:07him in your mind in the QB rankings for this season so far?
11:12Yeah, he's pretty high up there.
11:13I mean, I was extremely impressed with him against the Patriots as well.
11:17So I think there's now a real debate between who the better quarterback out of 2024 NFL draft class was.
11:25And I don't know if we need to be making those decisions right now, but last year it was obviously
11:30pretty clear that Drake May was a better player.
11:32And Drake May is obviously still taking his team to the Super Bowl.
11:35He's now an MVP candidate for the second straight season.
11:37So I can certainly understand people still wanting Drake May over Caleb Williams.
11:42But Williams is pretty special in his ability to evade sacks and, you know, just come in clutch and doing
11:49that against the Seahawks defense.
11:50It's some really impressive stuff right now.
11:52Yeah, he was awesome.
11:53All right, Doug Kide, great stuff as always.
11:54You were awesome.
11:55Thanks so much for coming on.
11:57Thanks, Christian.
11:58All right, that's Doug Kide, Boston Herald, joining us here on the Christian Arcand Show.