Patriots draft OLB Anfernee Jennings in third round

It’s never easy to predict what the Patriots will do when it comes to the draft. However, it was clear the team had a need at linebacker/edge rusher after losing Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy in free agency.

On Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Patriots rectified that situation. First, they traded into the second round to select Michigan’s Josh Uche with the 60th pick. With their first third-round pick, 87 overall, the Pats drafted Alabama outside linebacker Anfernee [...]

It’s never easy to predict what the Patriots will do when it comes to the draft. However, it was clear the team had a need at linebacker/edge rusher after losing Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy in free agency.

On Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Patriots rectified that situation. First, they traded into the second round to select Michigan’s Josh Uche with the 60th pick. With their first third-round pick, 87 overall, the Pats drafted Alabama outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings.

"Obviously he comes from a great program with a lot of great players," Nick Caserio said. "Coach Saban, what he's done at Alabama, I mean, hard to match what he's done. They put out a lot of good players. You saw it in this draft. However many players they had drafted, it was a lot, which it usually is every year. This kid is a really tough, tough kid. A little bit bigger in terms of size than Uche. Jennings is 255, 260. Uche kind of 240, 245. Different defenses. But had some elements where they were used kind of similarly. Jennings has a background playing a couple different spots. Really tough, good leadership. They're call-them-into-the-line-of-scrimmage type players, front seven type players. How they'll project into our system we'll see."

Jennings (6-foot-2, 256 pounds) was a standout at Alabama. In 2018, he led the Crimson Tide in pass breakups with 12 to go along with 6.5 sacks, 51 tackles and 14 tackles for loss. This past season, Jennings led Alabama in sacks with eight and tackles for loss with 12.2 to go with 83 tackles and six pass breakups. Last year, he earned first team All-SEC honors.

Jennings started for Nick Saban's Alabama team over the last three years. He was used as an outside linebacker and said to be an aggressive player who is a solid athlete. Jennings’ NFL comparison on NFL.com is Van Noy.

Jennings will join Uche on the Patriots linebacker/edge rusher depth chart along with Dont’a Hightower, Chase Winovich, John Simon, Brandon Copeland, Ja’Whaun Bentley, Shilique Calhoun and Derek Rivers. The Patriots had an obvious need here after free agency and worked fast to fill the gaps on Day 2 of the draft.

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ