After taking Michigan State defensive back Ameer Speed with their final pick in the sixth round, the Patriots closed things out with their final pick of the 2023 NFL Draft by taking another cornerback.
This time around, they opted for Jackson State’s Isaiah Bolden with the 245th selection in Round 7.
Looking at what limited film there is on him, Bolden is a player who is terrific in the return game, which is likely what caught New England’s attention. He’s got really good speed and acceleration, having clocked a 4.31 40-yard dash at his Pro Day, which is where many believe his stock improved.
According to reports, Bolden, at the time, believed that he may have been a higher prospect.
However, while that may not have panned out, clearly one thing that should make him happy is that here in New England, Bill Belichick and his staff saw enough in Bolden to give him a chance here, and used their final pick of their lot of draft choices to bring him to Foxboro.
One thing that stands out about the 6’2″, 203lb player out of Jackson State is the fact he’s fairly strong, often not going down on first contact. He’s really terrific at returning kicks, and likely will be an asset on special teams, which should certainly help both he and the team given the issues they had last year covering kicks.
Defensively, he’s got good quickness, and he also closes and drives on the football really well. He finished his final season with 30 tackles and seven pass break-ups in the 13 games he played in 2022.
Whether or not he’ll be a factor on defense for the Patriots is obviously difficult to say, but again, improving their depth is likely an area of focus this offseason, and Bolden will presumably have an opportunity in camp to carve out a role.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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