Patriots Activate Rookie Safety Joshuah Bledsoe to 53-Man Roster

Despite being nearly fifteen weeks into the 2021 NFL Season, a member of the New England Patriots 2021 Draft class is about to make his regular season debut. On Tuesday, New England activated rookie safety Joshuah Bledsoe from the non-football injury (NFI) list, according to the NFL Transaction wire.

Bledsoe first joined the Patriots on the practice field in late November, after spending the entirety of the season to that point on NFI with a wrist injury. The Missouri product had suffered a broken wrist at this year’s Reese’s Senior Bowl, an injury for which he required surgery to repair.

The Patriots opened the sixth round by selecting Bledsoe with the 188th overall selection. Throughout his four years at Missouri, he started 40 of his 43 games. Bledsoe appeared as a box safety, free safety, and slot corner.

As a result, Bledsoe projects as a versatile safety for the Patriots. His ideal fit would feature him in the D-gap/slot, in a big-nickel-heavy defensive scheme featuring man-to-man coverage assignments. Bledsoe could be an option as a third safety who subs in on late downs to play man coverage down closer to the line of scrimmage. While New England has a solid trio of safeties in Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger and Adrian Phillips employed in their base defense, Bledsoe should add some depth to the position as the Pats head into the home stretch of the 2021 season.

While Bledsoe was activated prior to the elapsing of his 21-day activation window, rookie linebacker Cameron McGrone unfortunately was not. The Michigan product suffered a season-ending ACL injury versus Rutgers in November 2020. As a result, his draft stock plummeted. However, his toughness and impressive range clearly made him worth the investment for New England. The 6’1” 234-pound linebacker has some upside, and has the potential to be a three-down player for New England in the MIKE role. McGrone played in only 19 games with 15 starts at Michigan, a relatively small sample size for scouting purposes. He finished his collegiate career with the Wolverines with 91 tackles, including 11 for loss, to go with four sacks and one forced fumble. Though his season has officially ended, McGrone is expected to be a significant contributor to New England’s linebacking corps in 2022.

In a series of corresponding roster moves on Tuesday, the Patriots waived linebacker Calvin Munson, opened the practice window for linebacker Josh Uche, activated safety Kyle Dugger from COVID-19 Reserve and placed offensive lineman Alex Redmond on the practice squad’s injured list.

Munson rejoined the Patriots in October after having spent time with the Miami Dolphins. The former undrafted free agent out of San Diego State appeared in six games for New England this season, logging 65 percent of the snaps on special teams as well as nine tackles. Should he clear waivers, Munson would be a likely candidate to rejoin the Patriots via the practice squad.

Redmond has been a member of the Pats practice squad since September. The 26-year-old spent the past five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. The UCLA product served as a standard elevation for the Patriots 25-22 victory over the Houston Texans in October. Redmond was active for the contest, but did not see any in-game action.

The Patriots will return to action on Saturday, December 18 at 8:20pm against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium In Indianapolis, Indiana