Patriots UDFA signings

[borisman]

Definitely practice squad material, even though a couple think he may stick while others think he’s too small.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I wonder if Bill will let him wear #56 in mini camp.

He'd be the only person on the planet who is befitting for such an honor.

 

[Patsgofor4]

Immediate non-expert on opinion on King:

He looks like a tough kid with good instincts and leadership skills, looks like “a gamer” but I see only average burst, acceleration and suddenness. He and Edelman have roughly the same 40 time (4.6) but watching clips of JE at Kent State is a very different experience. Edelman’s suddenness and elusiveness has a “wow” factor that King lacks.

 

[p8ryts]

Not really excited about these prospects. Ray might become something but he sounds to much like Easley with his injury history.
Can King become Edelman? One can only hope. I think I will designate Liam Shanahan, local lad, as my UDFA binkie.

 

[p8ryts]

We’ve got 2/4 of them. Nice.

Good write up on Russey. Maybe I dismissed him to quickly.

 

[jdlboot14]

I'm calling it now - the UDFA to make the team this year is EDGE DeMarcus Mitchell.
Started watching some tape. He has the patience and toughness to be a better all around edge guy than Winovich or Uche. He seems stronger than both of them, and good pursuit angles and solid tackler. He's not as "athletic" as Uche - but what has that done for him? Mitchell looks like he can set the edge and has a nose for the ball and instincts reminiscent of Bruschi. I think he could displace Uche & Jennings as a OLB/DE depending on scheme alignment.

 

[Wozzy]

Kody Russey, C, Houston - Guy is a plus athlete with a lot of starts in the pivot under his belt. Forty and vertical were good but his shuttle and bench were great. His 38 bench reps would have made him the strongest player at the combine had he attended.. and by a lot.

Brenden Schooler, S, Texas - Another guy who every measurable was in the plus column. At 6'2" 203 his 4.43 forty is good, as was his 37.5" vertical, 16 bench reps, 128" broad jump but lastly his agility drills were superior with a 6.71 Cone and 4.10 shuttle.

Both guys above ^ are my favorites to make the team despite the rooms they're entering being crowded already.

Liam Shanahan, C/G, LSU - I wouldn't necessarily put at the above guys level but he was a good athlete in many regards, his forty wasn't good but his vertical, bench and both agility drills were in that good not great area. He's a little tall for Center with short arms. He's on the outside looking in IMO but he's not without talent. He might make the PS here or on some other team.

Jake Julien, P, Eastern Michigan - I don't know **** about punters so I just copy/pasted his bio on his school page.

Julien was previously drafted No. 31 overall by the Ottawa RedBlacks in the 2021 Canadian Football League Draft. A special team standout in Ypsilanti, Julien was a 2021 Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection. EMU's all-time record holder in punt average at 44.0 yards per kick, Julien had 9,726 yards on 221 tries. Additionally, Julien is the only punter in Eastern Michigan history to record two 70+ yard punts in his career. In 54 career contests, he has 51 kicks of 50-or-more yards to go along with 71 placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Throughout his career at Eastern Michigan, Julien garnered two Second Team All-MAC honors and seven MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week honors. In 2021, Julien was named fourth team preseason All-American by Phil Steele's College Football Preview and selected first-team Preseason All-MAC by Phil Steele while grabbing second-team accolades from Athlon Sports.

Do I think we need a punter... not necessarily, but I suspect the team is negotiating with their current one who is slightly overpaid and this is a leverage/insurance move. The rest off the UDFA's are jags IMO.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Kody Russey, C, Houston - Guy is a plus athlete with a lot of starts in the pivot under his belt. Forty and vertical were good but his shuttle and bench were great. His 38 bench reps would have made him the strongest player at the combine had he attended.. and by a lot.

Brenden Schooler, S, Texas - Another guy who every measurable was in the plus column. At 6'2" 203 his 4.43 forty is good, as was his 37.5" vertical, 16 bench reps, 128" broad jump but lastly his agility drills were superior with a 6.71 Cone and 4.10 shuttle.

Both guys above ^ are my favorites to make the team despite the rooms they're entering being crowded already.

Liam Shanahan, C/G, LSU - I wouldn't necessarily put at the above guys level but he was a good athlete in many regards, his forty wasn't good but his vertical, bench and both agility drills were in that good not great area. He's a little tall for Center with short arms. He's on the outside looking in IMO but he's not without talent. He might make the PS here or on some other team.

Jake Julien, P, Eastern Michigan - I don't know **** about punters so I just copy/pasted his bio on his school page.

Julien was previously drafted No. 31 overall by the Ottawa RedBlacks in the 2021 Canadian Football League Draft. A special team standout in Ypsilanti, Julien was a 2021 Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection. EMU's all-time record holder in punt average at 44.0 yards per kick, Julien had 9,726 yards on 221 tries. Additionally, Julien is the only punter in Eastern Michigan history to record two 70+ yard punts in his career. In 54 career contests, he has 51 kicks of 50-or-more yards to go along with 71 placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Throughout his career at Eastern Michigan, Julien garnered two Second Team All-MAC honors and seven MAC West Division Special Teams Player of the Week honors. In 2021, Julien was named fourth team preseason All-American by Phil Steele's College Football Preview and selected first-team Preseason All-MAC by Phil Steele while grabbing second-team accolades from Athlon Sports.

Do I think we need a punter... not necessarily, but I suspect the team is negotiating with their current one who is slightly overpaid and this is a leverage/insurance move. The rest off the UDFA's are jags IMO.

Schooler's measurables line up very nicely with McCourty, although he's taller than Devin. He was used as a receiver for a few years. 6 seasons in college! Seems like a solid PS guy who could fill in at several positions for the scout team. Maybe he makes his money on special teams, too.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

6 seasons in college!

We seemingly focused on A LOT of guys with 4, 5, or even 6 years of experience this time.

some upside (maturity, coachability, leadership properties)..

downside is of course lesser shelf life, but in a sport with the average career still being under 4 years and a rookie contract limited to 4 or 5 years, maybe that concern is overrated, except perhaps at QB and maybe at RB, with a "too much tread burned off the tires" argument for RBs.

 

[Wozzy]

We seemingly focused on A LOT of guys with 4, 5, or even 6 years of experience this time.

some upside (maturity, coachability, leadership properties)..

downside is of course lesser shelf life, but in a sport with the average career still being under 4 years and a rookie contract limited to 4 or 5 years, maybe that concern is overrated, except perhaps at QB and maybe at RB, with a "too much tread burned off the tires" argument for RBs.

Many of these guys came back to school because of covid related shortened seasons, so one of those years didn’t result in a full seasons worth of wear and tear. It’s also why there was depth of talent in this draft class. Age doesn’t rob talent as much as injury, wear and tear does. I look at an extra year of maturity as a positive.

 

[Wozzy]

Schooler's measurables line up very nicely with McCourty, although he's taller than Devin. He was used as a receiver for a few years. 6 seasons in college! Seems like a solid PS guy who could fill in at several positions for the scout team. Maybe he makes his money on special teams, too.

He reminds me a little more of Nate Ebner or Cody Davis. If one looks at those two guys measurables what you’d find is superior athleticism. This fits a long standing practice by the Pats of rostering great athletes strictly for ST’s. This isn’t to say he won’t play defensive snaps because everybody carves out their own niche. But for a decade Brandon Bolden was one of the best pure athletes in our RB room but he was satisfied playing ST’s, FB and backup HB. At any time he could have gone to a RB needy team and started. His career has lasted a long long time (by RB standards) because he took a smarter route. This Schooler kid could create a role on ST’s and earn some defensive snaps.

 

[p8ryts]

We seemingly focused on A LOT of guys with 4, 5, or even 6 years of experience this time.

some upside (maturity, coachability, leadership properties)..

downside is of course lesser shelf life, but in a sport with the average career still being under 4 years and a rookie contract limited to 4 or 5 years, maybe that concern is overrated, except perhaps at QB and maybe at RB, with a "too much tread burned off the tires" argument for RBs.

I don't think shelf life is of great concern. If you can get 5 good years out of a player, it was worth it. How many players are with the team more than 5 years. I think a small number.

 

[Uptown]

 

[ctpatsfan77]

He reminds me a little more of Nate Ebner or Cody Davis. If one looks at those two guys measurables what you’d find is superior athleticism. This fits a long standing practice by the Pats of rostering great athletes strictly for ST’s. This isn’t to say he won’t play defensive snaps because everybody carves out their own niche. But for a decade Brandon Bolden was one of the best pure athletes in our RB room but he was satisfied playing ST’s, FB and backup HB. At any time he could have gone to a RB needy team and started. His career has lasted a long long time (by RB standards) because he took a smarter route. This Schooler kid could create a role on ST’s and earn some defensive snaps.

Connor Barwin had an insane combine, and I described Ebner's numbers as Barwinesque. Schooler's aren't quite as strong, but they're pretty darn similar to Ebner's.

 

[Wozzy]

Connor Barwin had an insane combine, and I described Ebner's numbers as Barwinesque. Schooler's aren't quite as strong, but they're pretty darn similar to Ebner's.

I think fans often assume if a player becomes a special teams stalwart, that somehow that infers they’re less of an athlete. Another great example, one of the original examples, proving this false is Matthew Slater. The guy is a great athlete, he’s not much of a WR, but big fast strong, mobile explosive… he’s all those things. If you can’t play a specific position on offense or defense there’s always special teams. The more you can do, the more versatile you are, the more value you have to the team. Schooler is entering an extraordinarily deep Safety room, he’ll need to show up on special teams first assuming everyone else stays healthy. If he plays well in preseason he’ll latch on here or elsewhere.

 

[Gator Mike]

Write up on Russey from the Houston Texans' web site...

"Russey transferred to Houston after a decorated career at La. Tech. While at La. Tech, he started for four years, but stepped up a bit in competition transferring to Houston for 2021. He started every game at center and became a beloved captain on the 2021 squad. I could tell at Pro Day how much respect he'd garnered in a short time in his career. Players went nuts seeing him have one of the best Pro Days I've seen for an interior offensive lineman. He first posted a 30-inch vertical leap, then threw up a whopping 38 reps on the bench. His position drills were solid and, of course, intense. I fell in love with Russey, which sent me back to the film room, if you will, to see if the traits match the play. It did to a T. He's strong as an ox and if he gets hands on, he's going to win. He has to latch strong and play with more knee bend because he is still a shade under 300 lb. He can displace big men at the line of scrimmage due to his strength, but continued work with his technique and footwork and he'll be able to do that with regularity. A team looking for an interior keeper should absolutely draft/sign Russey and let him get comfortable because he'll make it pay off."

John Harris' Day 3 Sleeper Picks of the 2022 NFL Draft

Heading into Day 3, there are always a few big names that fell into Saturday. Here are a few to watch on Saturday.

www.houstontexans.com

 

[Patsgofor4]

Schooler's measurables line up very nicely with McCourty, although he's taller than Devin. He was used as a receiver for a few years. 6 seasons in college! Seems like a solid PS guy who could fill in at several positions for the scout team. Maybe he makes his money on special teams, too.

A good friend of mine was born and raised in Texas and is a huge Longhorns fan. I texted him about Schooler and this was his reply, FWIW:

4.4 40. He switched to defense after transferring from Oregon (graduate transfer). He was a super senior, so he’s older. Bill will love his work ethic and unselfishness. He’ll do anything and everything the DC and special teams coach tell him to do.

 

[scott99]

A good friend of mine was born and raised in Texas and is a huge Longhorns fan. I texted him about Schooler and this was his reply, FWIW:

4.4 40. He switched to defense after transferring from Oregon (graduate transfer). He was a super senior, so he’s older. Bill will love his work ethic and unselfishness. He’ll do anything and everything the DC and special teams coach tell him to do.

I wonder if Schooler gets the Gunner treatment. Though Schooler flip flopped between WR & DB at both Oregon & Texas, I wonder if Belichick makes him strictly a WR for the Pats this training camp/ preseason. And I’m pretty sure the CB Marcus Jones will get some snaps at WR as well. Could be one of the reasons they didn’t double dip at WR in the draft or in UDFA (I wish they did). Not saying Schooler makes the team, but hardly anyone expected Gunner to make the team, especially as a WR. Especially since he was a full time defender in college.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Instabinky!

 

[Patsgofor4]

Another signing. CB. WAC defensive POY.

Devin Hafford: 2022 Pro Prospect Interview – The Gridiron Crew

2021 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Devin Hafford, CB, Tarleton State University

Tarleton State University defensive back Devin Hafford was expected To enter the 2020 NFL Draft was suffered an injury. He is back now!

www.nfldraftdiamonds.com

2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Devin Hafford, CB, Tarleton State

I feel Devin Hafford could have possibly been drafted last season. His injury set him back, but he will rebound in a big way.

www.nfldraftdiamonds.com