In recent weeks, Michigan edge player Josh Uche had taken a liking to using the Patriots defense while playing the ever-popular Madden football video game.
After New England traded up with the Ravens for the 60th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Uche is now a real-life member of that very defense.
A part-time player during his first three seasons on Don Brown's defense in Ann Arbor, Uche started nine of 13 games last fall while notching 8.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two passes defensed playing both on and off-the-ball linebacker for the Wolverines.
The 6-1, 245-pound Uche then opened eyes with an impressive week at the Senior Bowl. Now he's found a professional home on a Patriots defense that ranked No. 1 in the NFL last year but lost Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins in free agency this offseason.
"I would say it's a good fit for me because I'm a hard-ass worker and the Patriots work their asses off," Uche said. "That's first and foremost and just the Patriots themselves are very unique, very diverse, very dynamic and they do a bunch of different things. I feel like that's who I am as a football player. I just feel like it's definitely a perfect fit."
Uche is looking forward to reuniting with former Michigan edge defender teammate Chase Winovich on the New England front seven.
"I have the utmost confidence in myself. I definitely feel prepared for what's to come," Uche said of following Winovich from Brown's complex defense to the one he'll run in New England.
Uche is also well aware of the talent he'll be joining in Foxborough, a unit led by guys like veterans Dont'a Hightower and Devin McCourty.
"It inspires greatness," Uche said of joining such a group. "Those names right there just ooze greatness right there. I was playing with the Patriots on Madden for the last couple weeks and just seeing how efficiently things run…everyone does their job, everyone is very locked in, very disciplined. Just when you say those two names, it inspires me to be great."
