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Patriots Draft Pick Profile: Josh Uche

Breaking down everything you need to know about Patriots second round pick Josh Uche.

Uche_Josh_Michigan_3
Michigan defensive end Josh Uche.

Breaking down everything you need to know about Patriots second round pick Josh Uche.

Josh Uche, LB: 2nd round, 60th overall

Height: 6-3

Weight: 226 lbs

Born: 9/18/1998

College: Michigan

Hometown: Miami, Fla.

Strengths: Explosive pass rusher with good length and strength. … Plays with great effort, no snaps off. …Quick off ball, with good bend around the arc. … Active hands. …Great closing burst. …Impressive Senior Bowl week. …Versatile, played out of two- and three-point stance. …Experience dropping into coverage zones as well as playing as "B" gap blitzer. …Could project both on the edge and as an off-the-ball linebacker. …Special teams experience.

Weaknesses: Undersized for full-time edge work. …Unclear NFL position, tweener on edge or off-the-ball. …Limited experience, only played 52.8 percent of snaps as senior in part-time role and 657 total snaps in college career. …Will need to improve instincts and diagnose skills from second level. …In-space tackling concerns. …Injury history includes stress fracture in foot and torn meniscus. …Only did bench press at scouting combine due to hamstring injury sustained during Senior Bowl.

Personal: Attended the same high school as former U-M and NFL quarterback Brian Griese. … Won Florida Class 8A state championships as junior and senior in high school. …Three-year letterman at Michigan. …40 career games with nine starts. …Recorded 16.5 career sacks. …Voted defensive player of the year by his Michigan teammates. … All-Big Ten second team selected by coaches as senior. …Twitter handle is @_Uche35

Comparable NFL player: Devon Kennard, versatile with better explosiveness. Anthony Barr, athleticism from the weakside linebacker position.

By the Numbers

Table inside Article
YEAR GP UA A TOTAL TFL YDS SACKS YDS PD FF FR INT YDS
2016 4 1 2 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 1 0 0 0
2017 10 3 0 3 1.0 10.0 1.0 10.0 0 0 0 0 0
2018 12 11 4 15 8.0 50.0 7.0 44.0 1 0 0 0 0
2019 13 23 12 35 11.5 74.0 8.5 65.0 2 0 1 0 0

View photos of Patriots LB Josh Uche in action during his time at Michigan and from the NFL Combine.

Workout Numbers

Table inside Article
UCHE COMBINE AVG. FOR POS.
Height 6-2 6-2
Weight 226 244
40 Yards DNP 4.67
BENCH (225) 18 21
VERTICAL JUMP DNP 34 7/8
LONG JUMP DNP 128
SHUTTLE DNP 4.29
CONE DNP 6.98

DNP - Did not participate (hamstring injury).

What they're saying …

NFL.com: Balancing Uche's skill set and athletic potential against his inexperience and lack of instincts makes him a challenging evaluation. He's unlikely to find sustained success as a situational rusher, but it should be in play for a team to turn loose his rush instincts and agility inside the pocket as a blitzer.

Dane Brugler: Overall, Uche will require a patient coaching staff as he learns to be a more polished and instinctive player, but his twitched-up athleticism and edge speed are difference-making traits, projecting as an NFL nickel rusher and eventual starter.

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