Strange Development: Patriots First-Round Draft Pick Announces Arrival at Minicamp

FOXBORO - When the Patriots selected UT-Chattanooga guard Cole Strange last April in the first round, analysts and fans were on the edge about the pick. Since then, Strange has silenced the doubters during mandatory minicamp.

While the practices are non-contact and the players aren’t wearing any pads, the 6-5 rookie is making his presence felt in the meantime.

Strange has been consistently running with the first offensive line unit at the left guard spot. One of the reasons Patriots brass selected him so high was his ability to compete from day one and become a starter instantly.

On Tuesday, Strange introduced himself to Patriots linebacker Matt Judon in a bit of a grit-filled aggression. After a forced fumble jarred the football loose, Strange dove for the football at the legs of the Patriots defender. While this led to some choice words between the rookie and the defensive linemen on the other side of the ball, Judon had nothing bad to say about his teammate.

“Great hustle from him. If you saw him, he sprinted from 30 yards away,” Judon said Thursday after practice. “Cole is going to be a player for us, and we’ve got to see how he develops. Yesterday, nobody was hurt, we all came back out on the field. So, it wasn’t anything.”

Playing with the first group means Strange is a footstep away from team captain David Andrews, who is currently entering his eight season after being undrafted in 2015.

Andrews has spent hours with Strange on the field and in the meeting rooms and just like Judon, showered the rookie with praise.

“I think he’s done a good job coming in and working really hard,” Andrews said on Wednesday. “Trying to learn it. Obviously, the biggest jumps really come in training camp. But he’s done a good job, he works really hard.

Strange enters Foxboro with a tall task at hand. The team lost two starters at his position this past off-season, with Ted Karras signing with the Cincinnati Bengals and Shaq Mason getting traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While Strange has a long way to go to match the productions of those two players, he has since told reporters he is taking it day-by-day, as well as expressing his joy of being in a New England uniform.

On May 31, he took to social media to post a couple of pictures of him at practice with the caption, “it doesn’t get any better than being a Patriot.”

Strange has seemed to enjoy his time in Foxboro immensely, saying, “I knew it was going to be tough, but I’m really just appreciative of the opportunity that I have to be here.”

The former Chattanooga Moc certainly is turning heads after his draft selection and it is safe to say he is already playing with a chip on his giant, offensive lineman shoulders.