Patriots Rookie Punter Earns 90-Man Roster Spot After Tryout

Ryan Allen will have some competition this summer.

Punter Corey Bojorquez, an undrafted free agent out of New Mexico, successfully parlayed a rookie minicamp tryout into a spot on the New England Patriots’ 90-man roster, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss reported Monday.

Bojorquez will battle Allen — who’s served as the Patriots’ punter since winning the job as an undrafted rookie in 2013 — for a spot on the final 53-man roster, which will be finalized after the preseason.

https://twitter.com/coreybojorquez/status/994385671056850945

Like Allen — and Rutgers product Ryan Anderson, who also attended rookie minicamp on a tryout basis — Bojorquez is left-footed. A first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection in 2017, he ranked fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards per punt (47.3) and ninth in net punting average (41.99).

Just 11 of Bojorquez’s 67 punts last season were returned, according to the Albuquerque Journal, and four traveled more than 70 yards.

The Patriots have not carried two punters on their 90-man roster since Allen beat out incumbent Zoltan Mesko during the 2013 preseason. They begin organized team activities — the first full-team practices of the offseason — next Monday.

Bojorquez will be one of at least 10 Patriots UDFAs looking to earn roster spots for the 2018 season. The team announced the signings of nine others last Friday: wide receivers Darren Andrews and Chris Lacy, defensive tackles John Atkins and Frank Herron, cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and A.J. Moore, defensive end Trent Harris, running back Ralph Webb and tight end Shane Wimann.

UPDATE (5:52 p.m. ET): The Patriots announced Bojorquez’s signing. To make room for him on the 90-man roster, they released Andrews.