Mystery Patriot Revealed: New England Signs Rookie Free-Agent Receiver

The New England Patriots had an unknown player wearing No. 17 on their practice field Wednesday. And no, it was not Antonio Brown nor Stefon Diggs.

The Patriots signed rookie wide receiver Kelvin McKnight to their practice squad Wednesday. McKnight spent the summer with the Denver Broncos, catching seven passes for 43 yards this preseason. The 5-foot-8, 186-pound receiver went undrafted out of Samford this spring. He ran a 4.63-second 40-yard dash with a 39.5-inch vertical leap, 10-feet broad jump, 4.34-second 20-yard shuttle and 6.98-second 3-cone drills at his pro day in March.

McKnight, 22, caught 100 passes for 1,453 yards with nine touchdowns as a senior in 2018. He had 312 career college catches for 4,121 yards with 32 touchdowns. He also carried the ball 18 times for 110 yards with a touchdown, returned 74 punts for 643 yards with a touchdown and three kicks for 66 yards.

He worked out for the Patriots on Tuesday.

Here’s the Patriots’ full practice squad:

CB Nate Brooks
LB Terez Hall
DT Ufomba Kamalu
WR Kelvin McKnight
S Obi Melifonwu
LB Calvin Munson
OT Dan Skipper
DT Nick Thurman
G Najee Toran
TE Jason Vander Laan