Josh Uche was late bloomer at Columbus and Michigan. Now he heads to Patriots in Round 2
There were signs of Josh Uche’s breakout 2019 throughout 2018. Although he didn’t start a single game for the Michigan Wolverines until his redshirt junior year and only had 15 tackles as a redshirt sophomore, seven of those tackles were sacks and another was a tackle for loss.
In his final season in Michigan, the former Columbus star transformed from a situational pass rusher into a second-day NFL Draft pick.
On Friday, the New England Patriots selected Uche with the No. 60 pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He’s the second player from Columbus to be picked in the first two days of the Draft, joining former Florida Gators cornerback C.J. Henderson, who was the No. 9 overall pick in the first round Thursday.
Unlike Henderson, Uche’s path to the NFL was unlikely. While Henderson was a four-star prospect in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2017, Uche was only the No. 707 overall player in the Class of 2016 and only played a total of five games in his first two seasons in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Outback Bowl at the end of Uche’s redshirt freshman season and the outside linebacker complained to defensive coordinator Don Brown about his lack of playing time.
“Well, go earn it,” Brown shot back. “How about that? How about go earn it?”
Uche’s transformation began. As a redshirt sophomore, Uche proved he had one promising skill — his ability to get into the backfield. As a redshirt junior, the linebacker set his sights on become more complete as a player. In the 18 months leading into his final season with the Wolverines, Uche packed on about 30 pounds and became a reliable contributor in coverage. He became more than just a third-down pass rusher.
Uche, the son of Nigerian immigrants, credits his foundation to his time in Miami. He barely played in two years at Palmetto. At one point, his father forced him to stop playing because he thought Uche wasn’t focusing enough on school.
Uche joined the Explorers for his junior year, first playing outside linebacker and eventually moving to defensive end. The offers finally started to pour in.
He initially orally committed to the Miami Hurricanes in 2015, but decommitted later in the year after Miami fired former coach Al Golden. He wound up picking Michigan on National Signing Day 2016 and took time to bloom. Once he did, the unconventional 6-foot-1, 245-pound prospect became one of the best in the Big Ten Conference.
