After training camp in 2021, Josh Uche’s breakout game seemed inevitable. The speedy, pass-rushing linebacker flew around the field in practices and was a disruptive presence off the edge. He looked, at times, like a worthy counterpart to outside linebacker Matthew Judon.
And yet Uche never played more than 48% of defensive snaps in any one game and finished the year taking the field for just 22% of the team’s defensive snaps. The breakout game never came. He had 12 tackles and three sacks. It wasn’t the second-year leap that many anticipated.
He has a massive opportunity in 2022, however. With the Patriots trimming away their veteran linebackers like Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins and Kyle Can Noy, New England figures to ask more of Uche.
