New England Patriots: Bill Belichick still has hope for Jordan Richards
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick still believes former second-round pick Jordan Richards has something to add to the team.
Remember former New England Patriots second-round pick Jordan Richards?
Yeah, that Jordan Richards who was last seen in a Patriots’ uniform missing a key tackle in Super Bowl LI against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Well, according to Patriots.com, the team has announced they have signed the 26-year-old defensive back to the 53-man roster.
To be honest, this is a headscratcher. Drafted in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Stanford, Richards never lived up to expectations in his first stint with the team. Labeled more of a cerebral player coming out of college, Jordan Richards was never able to make much of a contribution during his three seasons with the Patriots.
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With the secondary and special teams being as strong as it is, bringing back Richards doesn’t seem like a necessary move. But, like the team did when they brought back cornerback Cyrus Jones for another shot, head coach Bill Belichick still sees a purpose in a player he drafted in the high rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft.
"“We think he might have a role for us,” Belichick said, via Patriots.com. “…We’ll see how it goes. Dealing with a few things here, we’ll see how it all plays out. I am not sure exactly what it is yet, but he has experience. He’s a smart kid. He’s played for us in the kicking game and on defense, so we’ll see.”"
Obviously, Belichick has more faith in the second-round pick than most fans do. And that faith appears to be more in what he could add to special teams than it would be in an already deep defensive secondary.
With running back Rex Burkhead dinged up a bit and Nate Ebner also nursing an injury, Jordan Richards return does add some depth there.
Perhaps, returning to the team after spending an entire season with the Atlanta Falcons will have better results this time around. He played in 15 games with the Falcons with 12 starts. He recorded 37 tackles in those 15 games played.
The hope for Bill Belichick is that Richards will contribute with the New England Patriots in similar ways that Patrick Chung, Jamie Collins and Brandon Bolden have performed since returning to the team.
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Obviously, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound safety isn’t quite on the level of a Chung or Collins. But, who knows, maybe, just maybe Jordan Richards will find his niche this time around and actually play like a second-round pick on the field.