Which Patriots Undrafted Free Agent Has Caught Bill Belichick's Eye?

College journeyman Brenden Schooler has impressed in the secondary and on special teams in New England's first two preseason games.

New England Patriots safety Brenden Schooler has seen all three phases of the game in his football career, all while playing on nearly every edge of the country. 

He started off as a wide receiver for a short time with the Arizona Wildcats before transferring to the Oregon Ducks, where he played for four seasons. He finished off the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Texas Longhorns, where he officially made the switch to safety under coach Steve Sarkisian in his sixth and final year of eligibility. 

From Tucson, to Eugene, to Austin, the 25-year-old rookie finds himself as an undrafted free agent with the six-time Super Bowl champions.

No-gloves look and all. 

And now, he's caught the eye of coach Bill Belichick, who spoke extensively Saturday morning about what he's seen from Schooler following Friday's 20-10 Week 2 preseason win over the Carolina Panthers. 

"He did a good job at Texas, that's where we noticed him and signed him as a free agent after the draft," Belichick said. "I think some of the things we've seen this year in the kicking game are the same things he showed at Texas: versatility, speed, play speed, aggressiveness, instincts in coverage. That's shown up, there's still a lot of things he needs to improve on and understand." 

The versatility that Belichick mentions shows up on Schooler's extensive career stat sheet. In six years of NCAA play, he totaled 143 total tackles (96 solo), one sack, two passes defended, and four interceptions on defense while adding 55 catches, 661 receiving yards, and six receiving touchdowns on offense. 

He now adds an NFL interception to that list, as he picked-off Panthers quarterback P.J Walker in the closing seconds of Friday's game to officially secure the win. 

The interception certainly helps draw attention to the defensive instincts Belichick touched on. But should Schooler make the final 53-man roster, the head coach already seems to have an idea of where he could carve out a role. 

"This game is a little bit different than the college kicking game, but he's done a good job of adapting to those and shown up and made a couple plays for us in the kicking game," Belichick said. "He's had an opportunity to play and has been competitive, so we'll continue to evaluate him in those roles and see what we have." 

Belichick even pointed to the fact that Schooler can continue learning under the wing of Patriots' special-teams veteran Matthew Slater, who, with three Super Bowls rings, 10 Pro Bowls, and two All-Pro selections, is one of the most decorated specialists in NFL history. 

Nothing is certain for Schooler, as he's aiming to make a team that has one of the highest standards of excellence in the NFL. 

But already with the stamp of approval from the Belichick, Schooler's chances of having his NFL dream come to fruition continue to rise as the Patriots travel to Allegiant Stadium to take on the Las Vegas Raiders Friday.