New England Patriots: Gunner Olszewski is the ultimate Belichick player

The New England Patriots have set their 53-man roster and among the some of the surprises is undrafted rookie wide receiver Gunner Olszewski.

While most of the talk surrounding the New England Patriots wide receiving depth chart was on undrafted rookie Jakobi Meyers, another undrafted rookie in receiver/return man Gunner Olszewski took the spotlight by the fourth game of the preseason.

Still, given the reinstatement of Josh Gordon and the return of both Julian Edelman and Demaryius Thomas, it appeared to be a longshot for defensive back turned wide receiver to make the team.

That seemed to hold true on cutdown day when it was originally announced that Olszewski had been released.  However, the Patriots found a way to keep the versatile receiver on the final 53-man roster following a trade in which they sent cornerback Keion Crossen to the Houston Texans in a trade.

While the Bemidji State product didn’t light it up as a receiver during the preseason, keeping him on the roster is both a testament to what he did as a punt returner and also some insurance in case Edelman misses any time during the regular season after he appeared to re-injure his thumb.

In average 13.1 yards per runback on punt returns, Gunner Olszewski showed some traits comparable to Edelman in breaking tackles to turn short gains into long gains, like the play below:

But what stands out most about Olszewski and what has earned praise from teammates and coaches is his competitive nature.  It showed on the play above and showed when he took 29 snaps as a defensive back in the final preseason game.  Again, traits that quickly remind Patriots fans of Julian Edelman.

Most importantly, those same traits are recognized by Bill Belichick.

"“Well, he’s very competitive and he works hard and he’s improved,” Belichick said when asked what caught his eye about Gunner Olszewski.  “He has a long way to go but he’s made a lot of improvement.  He’s making a big jump from where he played to where he’s playing now, positionally and so forth.  He’s improved a great deal.”"

That early praise certainly means good things ahead for Olszewski as the football player moving forward.

Whether it is in the slot, special teams or playing some defensive backs, you better believe the New England Patriots head coach is going to find creative ways to put the undrafted rookie in position to make plays that will help the 2019 team.

It would not be surprising if Gunner Olszewski has a big impact on a game or two during the season, especially if Julian Edelman misses any of those games.