New England Patriots ‘fortunate’ to land Jacob Hollister as an undrafted rookie
Former Wyoming star Jacob Hollister had a great showing Thursday night for the New England Patriots. Is he on his way to cracking the 53-man roster?
Who is Jacob Hollister? On Thursday night, the undrafted rookie free agent out of Wyoming made quite the impression on New England Patriots fans. Following a seven-catch, 116-yard performance, he let everyone know who the guy wearing No. 48 was. Now he just has to keep it up.
Hollister’s performance wasn’t something we haven’t seen before in the preseason. Players rise to make a push at the 53-man roster and then falter. The exception to that is cornerback Malcolm Butler, who played his way onto the team and became one of the team’s top contributors.
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Can Hollister become that guy at the tight end position or is he setting us all up to become another Zack Sudfeld (remember him?).
A player the team likes
With a $90,000 guaranteed contract the Patriots signed Hollister to as an undrafted free agent him, the 6-foot-4, 240-pounder has something Bill Belichick likes.
"“[Hollister] had a good spring workout,” Belichick said when asked how the team landed Hollister. “We also worked out his brother at Arkansas and then Jacob actually trained at Arkansas with his brother in the spring. Obviously, he was pretty committed to playing football, was in a good training program and when the opportunity came after the draft to fill out our roster, he was one of the players that we approached and we were fortunate to be able to sign him.”"
Neither the guaranteed money nor the performance during the team’s 31-24 loss Thursday night has etched a roster spot for Hollister. As much as Belichick lauded the young tight end, he also made it clear that he still has some learning to do.
Some things to work on
Although he has adapted well, the New England Patriots coach is looking at how he performs in other phrases of the game and not just the passing game. How he performs in the running game as a blocker and on special teams will also determine whether or not he makes the team or even ends up on the practice squad.
On a team with only a dominant, but injury prone tight end in Rob Gronkowski and veteran Dwayne Allen leading the depth chart, the role of third tight end is there for the taking.
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Jacob Hollister is out to claim it. As of right now, the defending Super Bowl champions are fortunate to have a player who may just turn into that third tight end they are looking for.