New England Patriots training camp: Darryl Roberts turning heads
One name we keep hearing out of New England Patriots training camp is that of 2015 seventh round pick, cornerback Darryl Roberts. Drafted out of Marshall this spring with the 247th overall pick, Roberts is proving to be a very good offseason addition. Don’t be surprised if he sneaks onto the 53-man roster.
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According to Doug Kyed of NESN.com, Roberts was one of the few bright spots in a rainy, sloppy Patriots practice yesterday.
"Roberts recorded four pass breakups during the two-hour session. The rookie is making a strong case to be the No. 5 cornerback on the Patriots’ roster."
The Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe noted that Roberts now leads Patriots’ defensive backs with 10 pass break-ups thus far in training camp. The Herald’s staff of writers in Foxboro named Roberts the practice player of the day, echoing the words of Kyed.
"Roberts broke up back-to-back throws from Jimmy Garoppolo to Josh Boyce to close down the 7-on-7 periods. He then terrorized Ryan Lindley twice in an 11-on-11 period by breaking up a throw to Jonathan Krause before deflecting a bid for Chris Harper that was intercepted by Tavon Wilson. Roberts nearly intercepted the bid for Krause, but the wideout turned into a defender to prevent the turnover."
People don’t usually throw around the word “terrorized” when describing a seventh-rounder’s performance in training camp. Here are a few whispers from the Twitterverse about Roberts’ big day:
Hell of a day for CB Darryl Roberts as the offense imploded. He knocked down 4 passes by my count and may have gotten a hand on another.
— Mike Giardi (@MikeGiardi) August 11, 2015
Darryl Roberts was really disruptive today. Impressive showing.
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) August 11, 2015
Now, it’s important to take this with a grain of salt. Tom Brady wasn’t present at practice, and the wet weather helped the defense. But Roberts standing out isn’t something new, as he’s been performing well throughout training camp.
At the very least, Roberts will make the practice squad. He will have to post many more days like today to surpass the likes of Robert McClain and Bradley Fletcher on the depth chart, but he’s a player that Patriots fans should have on their radar as September approaches.
Here’s Roberts post-practice.
Photo: Rookie CB Darryl Roberts, who has shown solid ball skills in camp, waits for an interview. #Patriots pic.twitter.com/GmUT8CvXVb
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 11, 2015