New England Patriots: 5 rookies who will make headlines in 2021

4. New England Patriots rookie defensive end Ronnie Perkins will make some noise

Another former Oklahoma Sooners player who could make headlines as a rookie this season is defensive end Ronnie Perkins.

Drafted No. 96 overall in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Perkins could be the steal of the draft given his ability to disrupt the passer and his instincts on defense.

Both of those qualities will remind New England Patriots fans of Trey Flowers, who was also drafted in the third round and played himself to stardom along the Patriots’ defensive line.

Perkins, who stands at 6-foot-3, 253 pounds is undersized for the position, but is a player who could’ve been drafted higher had he avoided issues off the field during his time at Oklahoma.

The Patriots rookie defensive end addressed those issues during his conference call with the media following Day 2 of the NFL Draft, via Patriots.com:

"“Really just going through some stuff, went through some off-the-field things that I really just had to get figured out as a person.  Dealing with some off-the-field stuff that kind of affected me on the field.  So really just taking the whole situation and learning from it and taking it into this draft process and learning from that situation like I said.  Just becoming an NFL player, learning not to make that mistake again and learning how to deal with that off-the-field issue.”"

Hopefully, Ronnie Perkins doesn’t make headlines due to any other off-the-field issues during this season.  As long as he has matured, like he says he has, he will be a player Patriots fans want to see on the field more as the season progresses.

With veteran defensive ends like Deatrich Wise Jr. and Henry Anderson ahead of him on the depth chart, he could push those players for playing time if either of them struggles to get to the passer or present a weakness along the defensive line.