It has been a busy couple of days in Foxborough with players coming and going. Here is a summation of those transactions:
Patriots Waiver Claims
Demontrey Jacobs OT 6’6” 315 pounds, 25 years old
Davis, played collegiately at Grambling State (2017-19) and South Florida (2020-22) before joining the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent last offseason. He spent his entire rookie season on their practice squad. Jacobs had a very good summer with the Brocos and was competing for a swing tackle position. In his brief time with Denver, he showed that he can block, on stretch plays in the west coast offense that AVP wants to run here. Pro Football Focus had him with an 82.1 Pass Blocking Grade, giving up just 1 pressure. That was good for an 99% efficiency rating.
Curtis Jacobs LB 6’ 1 3/8” 241 pounds, 22 years old
Jacobs, 22, went undrafted this year out of Penn State and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. He ran a 4.58 40-yard dash, 7.15 3-cone drill, 10’9” Broad Jump and a 35” Vertical Jump at his Pro Day. These numbers are ideal for a Special Teams player. This Preseason he was credited with 7 tackles for Kansas City. In his four years with the Nittany Lions, he recorded 171 tackles, 9.5 sacks, four fumble recoveries, three passes defensed, two interceptions and a forced fumble.
Eric Johnson DT 6’4” 299 pounds, 26 years old
Johnson was a 2022 fifth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts out of Missouri State, where he earned Second-team All-MVFC. He appeared in 28 games for Indianapolis over two seasons, recording 18 tackles (one for a loss), three quarterback hits, one sack and a fumble recovery. In his Pro-Day he ran an outstanding 4.87 40-yard dash. This indicates outstanding quickness for D-lineman.
Zachary Thomas OT 6’5” 308 pounds 26 years old
Thomas was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Bears out of San Diego State, where he earned First-team All-MW in 2021 and Second-team All-MW in 2020. He’s appeared in three games over his first two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams at left tackle and right guard. For his Pro-Day, he ran a ridiculous 4.96 4-yard dash. That is the exact kind of speed needed to play in this West Coast offense that AVP wants to run. Especially as a guard.
Four Players Waived
DB Isaiah Bolden – very surprised that he was cut, and Marcellas Dial was kept. Bolden was a 7th round draft pick last year. Are they keeping Dial just because he was a Draft Pick by the new regime and Bolden wasn’t? Dial is brutal as a Defensive Back, one of the worse players I have seen in any Patriots Pre-Season. Dial showed that he is an excellent Special Teams player, and I think they are keeping another Special Teams only player. I will list Dial as a Special Teams only player on my Patriots roster. Bolden missed all last season with an injury before the final cutdown. I thought Bolden could be a very good Special Teams player and play some DB and that’s why I had him over Dial on my roster projection.
WR Jalen Reagor – I didn’t have him on my 50-player roster projection, expecting him to be cut. He drops too many passes and his ability to return kickoffs wasn’t enough to save him. I think KJ Osborn was given the nod over Reagor because he chose to sign with New England as a Free Agent. Kayshon Boutte didn’t play Sunday for whatever reason. Boutte has a higher ceiling than Reagor.
OG Michael Jordan – He was kept on the 53-man roster as insurance against the injury to Sidy Sow. Once the Patriots were able to claim Zachary Thomas, a player that can play both Tackle and Guard then Jordan became expendable. Nick Leverett stepped in at LG for today’s practice with Sow out. Jerod Mayo stated that Sow escaped a serious injury, so he is not expected to be out long. Reporters noticed that Sow was wearing a brace in the Locker Room today.
DT Trysten Hill – I had him on the 50-man roster projection but also added that the Patriots needed another down lineman. Eric Johnson is an improvement over Hill. I think the team still needs a backup Nose Tackle. Look for the team to add a Nose Tackle to the Practice Squad. The injuries to Lowe (oblique strain) and Sow (ankle) necessitated claiming two Offensive Linemen. The claim of LB Curtis Jacobs may be because of injuries to Christian Ellis (concussion) and Josh Uche (unknown). C. Jacobs will fill a Special Teams role if neither Uche or Ellis can play.
Practice Squad Signings
The Patriots announced last evening they have re-signed the following players to the Practice Squad:
S AJ Thomas
RB Terrell Jennings
G/C Liam Fornadel
RB Kevin Harris
Edge Jotham Russell *
WR Matt Landers
TE Mitch Wilcox
*International Pathways Program (player doesn’t count towards the 16 man Practice Squad limit)
Latest News
All three veterans waived yesterday (Hill, Reagor and Jordan) were signed to the Practice Squad today and were at practice. Isaiah Bolden, since he is a 2nd year player, needs to pass through waivers and we won’t know his status until 4PM today.
New Addition to Practice Squad
Bryan Hudson C Louisville – 6’4.6”, 300 pounds, 23 years old
Ran a 5.4 40-yard dash at his Pro Day but he had outstanding Broad Jump of 9’ 5” (explosiveness) which is in the 97% percentile. Another area he excelled at was the Short Shuttle (short area quickness) with a 4.53 (89% percentile). Detroit signed him after the draft as an UDFA and he played all three preseason games. In the video I saw of him in those games he looked very good. Started his college career at Virginia Teck and played in 21 games while starting 10 at Center, transferred to Louisville and played in another 25 games while starting 14 at Right Guard and Center. Louisville ran the Zone Blocking scheme and Hudson excelled at it with his short area quickness. Per NFL DraftBuzz, Hudson “Showing some nattiness to his game, sustain his blocks to the whistle, thriving while in a phone booth.” This signing, like those of Demontrey Jacobs and Zachary Thomas are more in line with the type of offense line play that Alex Van Pelt wants to run in New England. With the addition of Hudson, the Patriots still have 8 spots to fill.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
It’s interesting that last year the pats drafted guys like Antonio Mafi that are more power/gap plow horse slow guys. Onwenu is a power/slow guy. The pats tried to convert to zone blocking two years ago and now AVP is too. But the o-line isn’t well suited for it personnel wise. I believe Andrews is not a ‘move’ guy at center either. It feels like the pats are just trying to spackle a decent line together and will call what plays that work, and evolve over the next 2-3 years to get both the new system and personnel where they… Read more »