Getty Joe GIles-Harris, in blue, the new Patriots linebacker.
The Patriots entered the week of their first preseason game—on Thursday night against Houston at Gillette Stadium—with 88 spots filled on their 90-man NFL roster. By game time, all 90 spots were filled. The team signed defensive end Trey Flowers, who helped the Patriots to three straight Super Bowl appearances from 2017-19, on Tuesday and followed that up on Wednesday by adding linebacker Joe Giles-Harris.
The Patriots are filling their final open roster spot with LB Joe Giles-Harris (Duke/Bills). He was one of 4 LBs in for a workout today.
Giles-Harris is a linebacker who spent two years in Jacksonville before he signed with Buffalo. He’s played for the Bills the past two seasons and was released in January. He played nine games at linebacker, including three starts, for the Jaguars but has been a special-teams contributor with Buffalo, taking 57 snaps in the kicking and punting game, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.
While there is a chance that Giles-Harris could land on the final 53-man roster because of his special teams experience, he is well behind the field on the 3-4 linebacking depth chart. According to the team’s unofficial depth chart, the Patriots have Matthew Judon, Josh Uche and Ja’Whaun Bentley in the first unit, with Anfernee Jennings, DaMarcus Mitchell and Jahlani Tavai behind them.
Ronnie Perkins and Raekown McMillan are listed as third string, and Chris Board is fourth, along with Mack Wilson, Marte Mapu, Calvin Munson and Olakunle Fatukasi.
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While the Patriots have depth at the linebacking spot, the unit will be defined by the health and continued success of its starters. Judon has established himself as a premier pass-rusher and led the Pats with 15.5 sacks last season. Uche, too, was excellent last year, throwing off his status as a second-round bust after two quiet seasons in the NFL and racking up 11.5 sacks in 2022.
Bentley was very good last year, too, and remains one of the better rush defenders on the team. He was ranked No. 16 among all linebackers heading into this season, according to Pro Football Focus. He led the Patriots by a longshot in total tackles, at 125, last season (No. 2 on the defense, Kyle Dugger, had 78).
As PFF noted, “Bentley had another strong season as a run defender, though his jump in coverage grade to a 72.2 mark is what really rounded out his game.”
Rookies Get New Numbers
All this means that Giles-Harris is a longshot to be on the roster on Opening Day. He did begin the preseason with the No. 53, worn by recent greats like Chris Slade and Larry Izzo.
One of the fun slivers of news from Patriots camp this week was the assigning of numbers to rookies. The most notable is first-round pick cornerback Christian Gonzalez going from No. 50 to 19, and second-round pick edge rusher Keion White getting No. 99. Linebacker/safety hybrid Marte Mapu, a fourth-round pick, now is No. 30.
Receivers Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas, who were both sixth-round picks and have been two of the more exciting players in camp to date, will be Nos. 80 and 81, respectively.
Bespectacled punter Bryce Baringer, a sixth-round pick from Michigan State, selected No. 9, the same number of Pro Bowl veteran Matthew Judon. When Judon saw the announcement on Instagram, he commented (jokingly), “WTH.”