Former Michigan Wolverines football linebacker Josh Uche came off the NFL draft board in the second round last night, with the New England Patriots selecting him with the 60th overall pick.
Many publications called the pick 'a steal' last night and this morning, thanks to the consistent abilities Uche has displayed the past two years to get to opposing quarterbacks (he led U-M in sacks in both 2018 and 2019).
Uche primarily stood up in a linebacker role in coordinator Don Brown's defense while also playing with his hand in the dirt at times, with plenty of debate having surfaced as to whether or not he'd be better suited in a defensive end or linebacker role in the NFL.
"There's really no preference," he revealed in a conference call after being drafted. "At Michigan, Coach [Don] Brown had me do a multitude of things so it just really depends on the game plan.
"Whatever is needed of me, I've got to get the job done. I have the utmost confidence in myself. A lot of guys don't know how complex Coach Brown's defense is – there's so many different depths to it and levels to it and a bunch of different plays and sets and different formations you've got to do different things with.
"I definitely feel prepared for what's to come because Coach Brown is the best in the business and he makes sure his players get ready."
Uche's speed was even taken advantage of in pass coverage on occasion at Michigan, perhaps most notably this past season at Penn State when he defended a play downfield while running step for step with Nittany Lion wideout K.J. Hamler, widely viewed as one of the fastest players in the Big Ten.
"It was a very unique play," Uche recalled. "I was playing off-ball [line]backer and the game plan was to force any dig route in front of me. So I just remember K.J. running a sluggo [route] which kind of made me stop and start my feet.
"It made me stop and play the dig, and he just took off. He booked it down the seam. My responsibility was to carry anything vertical, and I just remember just running as fast as I could and playing late hands – as soon as his hands went up, just playing through his hands and keeping my composure."
Uche will be paired up with former teammate Chase Winovich in New England, with the defensive duo having wreaked havoc on opposing offenses throughout the 2018 season.
Winovich compiled 17 tackles for loss and five sacks during Michigan's 10-3 2018 campaign, while Uche recorded eight stops behind the line of scrimmage and seven quarterback takedowns.
"That was my boy," he said of Winovich. "When he was at Michigan, I remember before every game we talked about what techniques we were going to use to beat the tackles that week.
"We would just always go over the motions in practice and, 'Okay, this move is going to work on this guy. I feel like this guy struggles with this move.' It's just great to be able to have that chemistry back possibly.
"He's just a great guy – high motor, high character, high effort guy. He's just a really good human being."
Uche helped the Wolverines compile a 37-15 during his four years on campus, and will be joining what has been the NFL's top organization in recent years, in New England. The Patriots have won three of the last six Super Bowls and have won at least 12 regular-season games in nine of the past 10 seasons.
"I would say it's a good fit for me because I'm a hard-[butt] worker and the Patriots work their [butts] off, so that's first and foremost," Uche noted. "The Patriots themselves are just very unique, very diverse, very dynamic and they do a bunch of different things, and I feel like that's who I am as a football player.
"I just feel like it's definitely a perfect fit. I was playing with the Patriots on Madden for the last couple weeks and just seeing how efficiently things run and the uniqueness of the defense and stuff like that – everyone does their job, everyone's very locked in, very disciplined.
"I didn't have a formal [interview] with them at the combine. But I sat down with Coach [Bill] Belichick's son and we talked for a little bit and I talked with [linebackers] Coach [Jerod] Mayo on a virtual conference call.
"That was about it. I hadn't heard anything from the Patriots for a little bit. When I got the call, I just knew that it was a perfect fit for me. I feel like the Patriots are going to maximize everything that I have to offer and they a run a tight ship just like Coach [Jim] Harbaugh does – probably better and everything like that because it's the pros.
"It's just a blessing. I knew they were interested, but I didn't know it was going to happen like this."
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