Patriots draft punter Jake Bailey in fifth round

FOXBORO – Ryan Allen should be on alert.

After being pushed by undrafted rookie free agent Corey Bojorquez last summer, the Patriots added another punter to the mix on Saturday. With the 163 pick, in the fifth round, the Pats drafted punter Jake Bailey from Stanford.

Bailey is a right-footed punter, who will compete with Ryan Allen immediately. He finished his career at Stanford averaging 43.8 yards per punt. He had a punt travel a school record 84 yards last year. [...]

FOXBORO – Ryan Allen should be on alert.

After being pushed by undrafted rookie free agent Corey Bojorquez last summer, the Patriots added another punter to the mix on Saturday. With the 163 pick, in the fifth round, the Pats drafted punter Jake Bailey from Stanford.

Bailey is a right-footed punter, who will compete with Ryan Allen immediately. He finished his career at Stanford averaging 43.8 yards per punt. He had a punt travel a school record 84 yards last year. The Patriots even traded up for Bailey sending pick 167 and a seventh rounder (246) to Philadelphia to make the selection.

Bailey had an outstanding career at Stanford. There he earned All-Pac-12 honors three times. He finished his career as Stanford’s all-time leader in punting average (43.8). Last year, he had 20 punts of 50-plus yards and pinned 24 kicks inside the 20-yard line. He also handled kickoff duty for Stanford.

Bailey becomes the first punter to be drafted by the Patriots since 2010 when the team selected Zoltan Mesko, also in the fifth round. Mesko held the job until Allen beat him out in training camp in 2013. This offseason, Allen re-signed with the Patriots. His 1-year deal worth, $1.5 million only has $100,000 in guaranteed money.

As a fifth-round pick, he isn’t guaranteed a roster spot, but the fact that Bill Belichick drafted a punter means the team will give Bailey a serious look and chance to beat out Allen.