Hail to the Undrafted Free Agents

by Marima on Oct 26, 2009 2:55 PM EDT Comment 14 comments

Most Patriots fans are are aware that Wes Welker was an Undrafted Free Agent. They could probably name Gary Guyton and BenJarvus Green-Ellis as part of that undrafted class as well. But can anyone guess just how many Undrafted Free Agents are currently on the Patriots roster?

My friend Steve brought that question up at some point during the Sunday football blur that followed New England's win, and he was able to list 8 off the top of his head. Impressive as I thought that was, since I could only name 4, both of us were waaaaaay off in our underestimation. Here's a clue. Out of the 45-man active roster for yesterday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 14 of those were undrafted free agents. And that's not all. The Patriots also have four undrafted players on the Practice squad, three on the Reserve/Military List and one on Injured Reserve for a total of 22.

I can't tell you how this compares to other teams in the NFL, but I know that the number surprised me.

Here is a list of players and which team acquired them as Rookie Free Agents.

	Player		College	Acquired By	Year
52	Eric Alexander	LB	Louisiana State	Patriots	2004
23	Leigh Bodden	CB	Duquense	Browns	2003
63	Dan Connolly	OL	SE Missouri State	Jaguars	2005
42	BenJarvus Green-Ellis	RB	Mississippi	Patriots	2008
59	Gary Guyton	LB	Georgia Tech	Patriots	2008
6	Chris Hanson	P	Marshall	Browns	1999
8	Brian Hoyer	QB	Michigan State	Patriots	2009
64	Mark LeVoir	T	Notre Dame	Bears	2006
38	Bret Lockett	DB	UCLA	Browns	2009
30	Brandon McGowan	S	Maine	Bears	2009
61	Stephen Neal	G	Cal State-Bakersfield	Patriots	2001
83	Wes Welker	WR	Texas Tech	Chargers	2004
58	Pierre Woods	LB	Michigan	Patriots	2006
99	Mike Wright	DL	Ashland/Cincinnati	Patriots	2005

	Practice Squad
85	Robbie Agnone	TE	Nebraska	Patriots	2009
27	Kyle Arrington	CB	Hofstra	Eagles	2007
49	Bruce Davis	LB	UCLA	Patriots	2009
10	Terrence Nunn	WR	Nebraska	Patriots	2009

	Military/Reserve
15	Tyree Barnes	WR	Navy	Patriots	2009
44	Eric Kettani	RB	Navy	Patriots	2009
16	Shun White	WR	Navy	Patriots	2009

	Injured Reserve
35	Chris Taylor	RB	Indiana	Texans	2006

The views expressed in these FanPosts are not necessarily those of the writers or SBNation.

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Comments

Nothing like someone telling you you're no good to put a chip on your shoulder.

P.S. to Marima, I didn’t even SEE the picture of Wes until I got in here. So it’s not like a moth to a flame or anything. Really! :-)

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 26, 2009 3:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Puts a certain spin on the "Pats have had bad drafts lately" thing

A lot of the guys who are still in the team were originally picked up by the Pats as UFA straight after the draft. So even when draft picks washed out or were busts, there were home-picked and nurtured guys in the system. Presumably these guys were on the draft-board of the Pats but for various reasons weren’t picked. When people say “only 1 player from the ’06 draft is still around” they should really factor in guys like Pierre Woods, who beat out draftees for spots and earned starting time later.

by Comedic.Sans on Oct 26, 2009 4:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Great point

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 26, 2009 4:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hoodie plays the draft masterfully

Tom Brady has to be the most valuable player ever to have 198 guys picked ahead of him.

He got Randy Moss for a 4th rounder in 2007 and Welker for a 2nd and a 7th. No one will ever count Moss or Welker as part of the Pats’ 2007 draft, but don’t those two pick-ups make the Pats’ 2007 draft more effective than any other team’s so far?

And then you have guys like Richard Seymour. Great first round pick from 2001 who probably wasn’t going to be here after this year. Rather than let him go for nothing, Hoodie gets a 2011 first rounder that will almost certainly be a top 10 pick and has a great chance of being top 5.

by RSNexile on Oct 26, 2009 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Especially when you consider the depth

Seventh and even 4th round guys have struggled to make the team in the past, so flicking them off for proven vets or bit-part guys makes a lot more sense than drafting a 5th string receiver who will get cut in camp. Using a draft pick on a long-snapper, because a LS will have a 50% chance to make the team and any other 6th rounder won’t? Smart. Unlike drafting 10 WRs with first round picks in a row, or drafting 40-yard speedsters with no discernable talent otherwise. Hoodie ought to give lessons.

by Comedic.Sans on Oct 26, 2009 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In addition to all of our regular draft picks

it looks like we had a few extra:
2001 – 1
2004 – 1
2005 – 1
2006 – 1
2008 – 2
2009 – 7
There others we acquired from other teams with “surplus draft picks”.
Some teams think you have to shop 1st round every year, and miss the 2 for 1 sales.

My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.

by SlotMachinePlayer on Oct 26, 2009 5:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs