The New England Patriots invested some premium capital in their defensive tackle position during Mike Vrabel’s first offseason as head coach. Not only did they sign free agents Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga, they also selected Joshua Farmer in the fourth round of the draft.
Williams and Tonga are pretty clear projections for 2026; the former is a starter, the second in Kansas City now. Farmer’s outlook, on the other hand, is somewhat uncertain.
Hard facts
Name: Joshua Farmer
Position: Defensive tackle/Interior
defensive line
Jersey number: 92
Opening day age: 23 (1/17/2003)
Measurements: 6’3 1/4”, 312 lbs, 10 1/4” hand size, 35” arm length, 83 3/8” wingspan, 5.11s 40-yard dash, 29” vertical jump, 9’4” broad jump, 26 bench press reps, 8.23 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: Florida State (2021-24)
Growing up with his grandparents and siblings after losing both his parents at a young age, Farmer split his high school career between Port St. Joe, FL, and Gadsden County in Havana, FL. Initially a running back and linebacker, he later moved to the defensive line and was rated a three-star college recruit — one who received almost two dozen high-profile offers from schools such as Auburn, Texas A&M, Miami and UCLA. Eventually, however, he committed to Florida State.
Farmer spent four seasons in Tallahassee, including his redshirt freshman campaign. He did enter the transfer portal briefly during the spring of 2023, but stayed put to finish his college career with the Seminoles. Along the way, he appeared in 42 games with 25 starts, registering 80 total tackles as well as 11 sacks. As a junior in 2024, he was named to the All-ACC team as an honorable mention.
The two-year starter opted to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft in 2025. Farmer heard his name called in the fourth round by the Patriots, and went on to saw action in 13 games as a rookie.
Scouting report
Strengths: Measuring 6-foot-3, 312 pounds with long arms and good core strength, Farmer is a well-sized player capable of patrolling the interior defensive line as a run defender and driving blockers back versus the pass. He is perhaps somewhat surprisingly quick off the ball and finds his way through gaps in an instant. He has shown that he can use leverage to his advantage while his active hands create chaos at the point of attack. Farmer also is a fairly good finisher and sound wrap-up tackler, who uses his length to get a hold of ball carriers.
Weaknesses: Farmer has a solid technical foundation but he is an inconsistent player overall when it comes to applying it to gain an advantage. His hand placement can be all over the place, with his timing not in sync with his lower half and his use of counters only rudimentary. Not helping his case is the fact that his pad level tends to prevent him from playing the leverage game. That becomes especially clear when faced with double teams, which are able to challenge his anchor and force him to play high and off balance.
2025 review
Stats: 13 games (3 starts) | 224 defensive snaps (17.4%), 17 special teams snaps (3.1%) | 15 tackles, 0 missed tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FR | 7 QB pressures (7 hurries), 1 PBU | 1 penalty (incl. 0 declined/offsetting)
Season recap: Farmer opted to forgo his final year of college eligibility to enter the NFL Draft in 2025, and he promptly received invitations to two of the most important talent showcases. After participating in the Senior Bowl and the Scouting Combine, he established himself as a projected mid-round selection and ultimately came off the board 137th overall in the fourth round. Now a Patriot, he found himself in a deep defensive tackle room highlighted by the top trio of Milton Williams, Christian Barmore and Khyiris Tonga.
With those three hoarding reps and Cory Durden also factoring into the mix, Farmer saw irregular opportunities as a rookie. He finished fifth among New England’s interior D-lineman with a 17.4% playing time share, even though that number does not tell the whole story of his first NFL campaign: ankle and hamstring injuries forced him to miss seven total games, including the final six in a row.
When he was healthy to play, he had some solid moments as a pass rusher, run defender and tackler. His most notable play, however, might have come in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills.
Reacting quickest among all the players around him, Farmer was able to jump onto the loose football following a botched exchange. The Patriots didn’t capitalize on the turnover, but it did prevent the home team to building an early lead after it had previously scored four opening-drive touchdowns in four games.
Other than that play, Farmer was largely anonymous in 2025. For a defensive lineman, that is not necessarily a bad thing even though his lack of standout statistics was impacted by his inability to consistently remain healthy. His position on the snap counts list might have looked different had he not suffered his multi-week hamstring injury in December. However, the ailment disrupted any momentum he might have built up until that point.
2026 preview
Position: 1-/3-technique defensive tackle | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2028 (2029 UFA)
What will be his role? Even though Khyiris Tonga left New England in the offseason, Farmer still projects mostly as a backup option along the Patriots’ interior defensive line. He has spent most of the summer so far working with the second-stringers, and as a player mostly focused on run defense rather than pass rush.
What is his growth potential? Farmer has some solid athleticism, which in turn allows him to do things other players at his position have a harder time duplicating. That said, he remains a work in progress and it is hard to project him as anything but a rotational option at this point in time. Maybe some uninterrupted in-season work might help him show some growth, though, and begin trending into possible early-down starter territory.
Does he have positional versatility? Like any 6-foot-3, 312-pound player, there is only so much versatility Farmer can provide. That said, he has played multiple techniques along the defensive line and at one point in training camp even found himself kicking out to the edge. His main focus, however, will be patrolling gaps from the interior and providing pressure on field goals and extra points.
What is his salary cap situation? Entering the second season of his four-year rookie contract, Farmer comes with a modest cap hit of $1.17 million. Like most other rookie pacts, that number consists of a non-guaranteed base salary ($1.01M) and a fully-guaranteed signing bonus proration ($166k).
How safe is his roster spot? Despite being selected in the fourth round just 16 months ago, Farmer is an unclear projection heading into his second season in the NFL. Based on his usage in camp, however, he still appears to be in the safe zone as far as making the 53-man team is concerned.
Summary: Outside of a handful of flashes, Farmer has been quiet since arriving in New England. As noted above, that is not a bad thing per se, but it shows that expectations need to be adjusted accordingly: it would be a surprise if he suddenly developed into a player jumping off the stat sheet or even one capable of eating into Milton Williams’ and Christian Barmore’s playing time.
What do you think about Joshua Farmer heading into the 2026 season? What will his second-year development look like? Where will he slot into the defensive tackle depth chart? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts with the rest of the community.
