Over the next few months, we’ll be breaking down all undrafted free agents signed by the Jets. However, today we look at a recent veteran addition in wide receiver Tim Patrick.
The 32-year old Patrick is listed at 6’5” and 210 pounds and was undrafted out Utah in 2017. He has started 49 games and caught 191 passes for 2,590 yards and 18 touchdowns in his NFL career.
Background
Patrick was unranked as a high school prospect and had to go down the junior college route as he spent three years at Grossmont
between 2011 and 2013. In his final season, he earned all-PCAC honors after coming up just 36 yards short of a thousand yard season, while catching eight touchdown passes.
He was initially still unable to earn a scholarship to a Division 1 school, but opted to walk on at Utah and then was given a scholarship after the first day of practice.
Patrick’s first season at Utah saw him catch 16 passes for 177 yards but then he suffered a serious injury that ended his 2011 season and also meant he only played one game in the following season, with no stats.
He was healthy in 2016 and racked up 711 yards and five touchdowns on 45 catches, ending up seventh in the PAC 12 in yards per catch.
Despite not being invited to the scouting combine, Patrick had a good pro day and had a chance to be drafted but eventually got signed as an undrafted free agent by the Ravens. However, he was cut in camp and then claimed on waivers by the 49ers, who also cut him at the end of preseason.
Eventually he did get an opportunity with the Broncos, who placed him on their practice squad and opted to sign him to a futures deal even though he didn’t play as a rookie.
Patrick made his debut with the Broncos in 2018 and ended up making four starts with 23 catches for 315 yards and a touchdown. Then, injuries affected his 2019 season but he still had 16 catches for 218 yards in eight games.
2020 would be a breakout season for Patrick, who had two touchdowns in a 100-yard performance against the Jets on national television early in the year. He ended the season with 51 catches for 742 yards and six touchdowns.
At the end of the season, Patrick signed a three-year extension and put up similar numbers in 2021 with 53 catches, 734 yards and five touchdowns.
However, his career took a downturn as he did not play in 2022 or 2023 due to back-to-back season-ending injuries in training camp.
In 2024, Patrick was sixth in voting for the comeback player of the year award as he made his return to action with the Lions having been released in final cuts by Denver. After a stint on the practice squad, Patrick was elevated to the main roster and had 33 catches for 394 yards and three scores.
His 2025 season initially saw Patrick re-signing with the Lions but he was traded to the Jaguars and didn’t play much of a role with them as he started three games and caught 15 passes for less than 200 yards.
The Jets signed Patrick to a one-year deal last week, which was worth a reported $2 million with $1 million in guarantees.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Patrick brings to the table, based on in-depth research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Patrick has excellent height and a big catch radius, but also put up good measurables during the pre-draft process (although this was nine years and two serious injuries ago).
He ran 4.47 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day with a 37.5-inch vertical and 128-inch broad jump. His short shuttle was below average but he posted a sub-7.0 in the three-cone drill which is excellent for his size, along with 22 bench press reps.
Usage
Patrick fits the mold of a big target on the outside, but has played inside 25 percent of the time during his career. In fact, last season, he played there over 40 percent of the time, which was a career-high.
He can also motion to the edge of the line from time to time, and has carried the ball as a rusher three times in his career, albeit that all three carries were in his first season.
Deep threat
Patrick had some good success going downfield for deep throws and jump balls while he was in Denver. While he perhaps doesn’t have the pure speed to blow past a cornerback, if he gets half a step, he has the size to keep his man on his hip to maintain separation and is able to track and locate the ball well.
Since the injuries, he hasn’t been as effective on downfield routes with just four catches for 131 yards on throws more than 20 yards past the line of scrimmage since 2021, so that perhaps isn’t really part of his game any more.
Hands
Patrick has been a reliable receiver over the course of his career with a decent 64 percent catch rate. His drop rate has been consistently low, with four being the highest number of drops he has ever had in a season.
One of his three drops last season came in a game where he caught his other five targets for 78 yards, which was easily his best performance of the season.
Patrick isn’t necessarily flashy in terms of making highlight reel grabs at full extension or with one hand, but he does have good concentration and adjusts to the ball well.
Routes
Patrick has worked hard at his route running since entering the league and he displays good footwork, balance and deception in his movements.
He executes the whip route well here to completely lose his man on the outside.
Red zone
Patrick has had 18 touchdowns in his career, including two seasons with five or more. 13 of these came from inside the red zone, with five inside the three yard line.
Although his size makes him an obvious fade option, he’s arguably more impressive in terms of his ability to create or find space in tight areas.
After the catch
Patrick is not particularly elusive and doesn’t break many tackles but his size means he can create yardage by falling forwards at the end of a tackle and he has a good nose for the chains and the goal line.
On those rare occasions where he can slip a tackle, Patrick is able to turn it upfield for extra yardage effectively.
Patrick has handled the ball several times on screen passes and jet sweeps or end arounds during his NFL career, but hasn’t generated much from these (14 touches, 46 yards).
He has fumbled twice in the NFL but both of these were when he was in his first season.
Blocking
As you’d expect, Patrick often has a size advantage over whoever is covering him and that can be an advantage when he is blocking.
While his grades on sites like Pro Football Focus have been average, he does show good effort and makes positive contributions.
Patrick has had six penalties for holding or illegal block in the back during his NFL career, though.
Physicality
Patrick has been somewhat effective on contested catches during his career. His size and catch radius are definitely big assets at the catch-point.
He has been called twice for offensive pass interference during his NFL career, though.
Special Teams
Early on in his career, Patrick was a big special teams contributor, working as a punt gunner and on kickoff coverage. He also rushed punts.
Having had seven special teams tackles in his first season, his special teams role reduced the following year. He’s barely played special teams at all since then and likely won’t be expected to with the Jets.
Instincts and Intelligence
Patrick had poor grades in junior college, which was why there weren’t many major colleges interested in him. However, this may have been more of an effort issue than an intelligence issue and he did eventually keep up his end of the bargain to earn the shot with Utah.
On the field, he shows an ability to read coverages and find the soft spot in the zone.
However, he’s also had some mental errors with four pre-snap penalties and one play where he ran the wrong route leading to an interception. He also made this costly mistake.
Attitude
Patrick went through a tough upbringing, during which his father was in prison. However, this perhaps helped him in terms of having the toughness and perseverance to overcome the lack of interest in him from college teams and being released twice early in his pro career.
On the field, he has had a few disciplinary issues as he was ejected for throwing a punch in a 2020 game and had two taunting penalties. One of these was after his first catch after having missed the previous two seasons, though, so his teammates were largely okay with that one. It was only in preseason anyway.
Off the field, Patrick has done a lot of community outreach work over the course of his career.
Injuries
As noted, injuries have been a major issue for Patrick, who missed 17 games in college due to a broken leg, missed the entire 2022 season due to an ACL tear and missed the following season with a torn Achilles. He played in 16 of 17 games last year but the assumption is that he’s probably lost a step.
He also missed half of the 2019 season due to a broken hand.
Scheme Fit
Patrick fits in well as a short-term option with good size to complement the smaller Garrett Wilson and Omar Cooper. However, he can also be deployed as a big slot and in the red zone.
He has been a teammate of current Jets Andrew Beck and Keidron Smith while in Denver and Isaiah Williams in Detroit.
Conclusions
Patrick gives the Jets a competent veteran presence with size, which is something they don’t really have, so he could be a useful cog.
The fact that they guaranteed half of his salary strongly suggests their intention isn’t just to bring him in to compete for a role but that he is going to be in the rotation. However, the Jets do have young guys like Williams, Quentin Skinner and Arian Smith who will want a shot and they could earn reps ahead of Patrick, especially if the team falls out of contention.
In the grand scheme of things, adding Patrick is probably akin to the Josh Reynolds or Tyler Johnson signings last year, which looked likely to be significant but ultimately weren’t. In the end, neither played a big role, partly due to injuries, but also because the Jets favored giving reps to younger guys once it was clear they weren’t going to be able to compete.
Hopefully, the team will last a bit longer in 2026 before they fall out of contention. If that happens, then Patrick has a chance to be a useful contributor.
