The New England Patriots made the final pick of this year’s NFL Draft, known as Mr. Irrelevant, amid the team’s quest to return to relevancy.
Former Memphis standout and new Patriots cornerback Kobee Minor wants to see to it in doing his part, and he showed no lack of confidence amid being the final pick. Mr. Irrelevant has become a noteworthy title over the years, and few of those final picks have panned out before — most notably San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
“I would say I’m a dog, in my opinion, for sure,” Kobee told reporters on Saturday. “You’re going to get a hard worker, a guy that does everything right on and off the field. You’re getting a good football player and a better person. That’s all I’m going to say.”
Minor’s numbers don’t’ jump off the charts amid his 80 tackles, two forced fumbles, two sacks, and 12 pass deflections in five collegiate seasons with three different teams. Despite that fact, Patriots scouts took note of him at Memphis.
“Kobee’s a guy that our scouts that went into Memphis this year got on early,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf told reporters on Saturday. “He transferred (to Memphis) kind of late, so I don’t know that he was necessarily on the radar early in the season for some people. Then he had a hamstring, so he came back from it and played well.”
“The movement skills at practice, the ability to play the football in the air, his competitiveness, we brought him in for a pre-draft visit, a 30 visit, and he did a really nice job on that,” Wolf added. “He was a guy that we had some affinity for. Mr. Irrelevant, a pretty cool experience for him, but we were excited to be able to add him.”
Kobee Minor Relishes Mr. Irrelevant Title
GettyKobee Minor breaks up a pass for Indiana in 2023.
Minor expressed his appreciation of the title and. It’s a unique claim to fame that can result in trips such as Disneyland or meeting celebrities along the way, but for now, Minor has more of a chip on his shoulder
“To me, I love it because I’ve never been a highly recruited guy,” Minor said. “I’ve never been one of the top guys. So, really this isn’t anything new to me. I’m going to just go out here and do what I got to do, put my head down and grind, like I’ve always have.”
“It’s just fuel to my fire,” he added. “I’m going to just continue to work and I’m excited for this opportunity.”
Kobee Minor Transferred Twice to Find Opportunities
A three-star recruit from the Dallas-Fort Worth Area, Minor played three seasons at Texas Tech as a special teams player primarily. He then found more opportunities for defensive snaps at Indiana in 2023 and Memphis in 2024.
Minor had 20 tackles and four pass deflections with Indiana followed by 29 tackles, two sacks, and six pass deflections for Memphis.
“I would say I tackle very well. I’ll come up and run support. I feel like I’m a technician,” Minor said. “I can play man coverage. I feel like I’m versatile in the back end. I can play whatever defensive back position or help out on special teams, whatever I need to do to get the win, or do whatever I can to help the team out.”
Mr. Irrelevant Sends Message to Patriots