Pats Pulpit
Previewing the Patriots safety heading into his first NFL season.
The New England Patriots made some investments in their safety room this offseason. Besides drafting Craig Woodson in the fourth round, they also signed Marcus Epps in free agency and re-signed Jaylinn Hawkins. They also brought one player in as part of their class of undrafted free agents.
Name: Josh Minkins Jr.
Position: Safety
Jersey number: 16
Opening day age: 23 (1/21/2002)
Measurements: 6’1 1/8”, 207 lbs, 31” arm length, 9 1/8” hand size, 4.54s 40-yard dash, 7.15s 3-cone drill, 4.20s short shuttle, 38” vertical jump, 10’8” broad jump, 15 bench press reps, 9.53 Relative Athletic Score
NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: Louisville (2020-23), Cincinnati (2024)
A three-star safety recruit, Minkins received his first scholarship offer during his junior season at Ballard High School in Louisville, KY. Ten others followed, with the final of them coming from his hometown team, the Louisville Cardinals. He decided not to pass that particular opportunity up and joined the school in 2020.
Over the next four seasons, Minkins developed into a starter in the team’s secondary. However, after appearing in 38 games with 13 starts and picking up a pair of passes, he decided to transfer to Cincinnati for his final year of eligibility. As a Bearcat, he added 11 more games plus two more interceptions to his résumé.
Minkins joined the Patriots as a rookie free agent after the 2025 NFL Draft.
Strengths: Standing at over 6-foot-1 and 207 pounds, Minkins is a well-built player who combines size with some workable athletic traits. While not the most agile runner, he has shown burst to close down on offensive players and can turn his hips while backpedalling. He also has shown the ability to read the quarterback and locate the football in the air, all while having the versatility to line up both deep, in the box, and in the slot.
Minkins furthermore improved his discipline through his college career; after getting flagged four times in 2022, that number dropped to one and eventually zero the next two seasons. In general, he seems to be wired right: he became a leader and important communicator at Cincinnati despite being a transfer arrival and also began hosting a free youth football camp during his career at Louisville.
Weaknesses: While Minkins posted a good Relative Athletic Score during his pre-draft preparation, he was not always able to use his athletic skill on the field. He was slow to the ball at times and got beaten deep on occasion, while also taking questionable angles when coming down to make tackle attempts; the latter was an issue throughout his college career: he had a missed tackle rate of 16.6 percent during his stints at Louisville and Cincinnati. Consistency as a whole has been a problem for Minkins.
Stats: 11 games (11 starts) | 466 defensive snaps, 75 special teams snaps | 45 tackles, 9 missed tackles...
