Patriots Urged to Monitor Intriguing Prospect

The New England Patriots may want to give some more playing time to this interesting young player down the stretch of the NFL season.

Jul 24, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Alex Austin (28) walks to the practice field during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots don't exactly have a whole lot of elite talent on their roster, so they will absolutely need to add some pieces via free agency and the NFL Draft.

But do the Patriots potentially have some in-house solutions?

The cupboard is fairly thin when it comes to New England's current 53-man group. While there are some standouts, the Pats don't possess a ton of depth.

However, Bernd Buchmasser of Pats Pulpit has identified a very intriguing prospect to monitor the rest of the way this season: cornerback Alex Austin.

"Two players we will keep an eye on — one on offense, one on defense — are offensive lineman Cole Strange and cornerback Alex Austin," Buchmasser wrote. "The former is a 27-game starter who is expected to return from the physically unable to perform list soon, while the latter showed some promise before the bye and could give New England a viable CB2 opposite [Christian] Gonzalez."

Austin has only played in five games this season, logging one tackle and a couple of passes defended. All of his statistics came during the Patriots' Week 13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

The 23-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Oregon State, was originally selected by the Buffalo Bills in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

However, he was released by the Bills just before the start of his rookie campaign and proceeded to sign with the Houston Texans.

Austin did not log a single statistic with the Texans until finally being released by Houston midway through the 2023 season. That was when he signed with New England, where he proceeded to post nine tackles, a pair of passes defended and an interception in five contests.

Pats head coach Jerod Mayo has said he wants to get a feel for more players down the stretch, so perhaps the Patriots will give more time to Austin.

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