Joey

Iosefa

Iosefa is a coaching staff favorite, but simply isn’t talented enough. He literally has 5.00 speed. If Iosefa is going to hang around in the NFL, it’s as a special teamer.

Iosefa had 14 carries in a Week 15 callup last season, but finished the year on New England’s practice squad. The Patriots have Donald Brown, Brandon Bolden, James White and Tyler Gaffney behind LeGarrette Blount and Dion Lewis.

The plan was always for the Patriots to bring back Iosefa, who was waived last week to make room for undrafted free agents. Iosefa stayed in New England and even turned down an offer to work out for another team. 14 of Iosefa’s 15 carries last year came in a Week 15 win over Tennessee.

The Bucs still need to waive/release five more players before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline to get down to 75. Iosefa was the No. 231 overall pick of the draft, but getting waived at this stage of the summer suggests he isn’t a candidate for the practice squad.

He tried out for the Pats last week and apparently did enough to earn a second audition. The seventh-round pick was let go by Tampa Bay last week after failing to beat out Jorvorskie Lane for the starting fullback job. The Patriots are looking to replace James Develin, who was placed on injured reserve after suffering a fractured tibia in the third preseason game.

Iosefa (6'0/247) was a four-year starter at running back in Hawaii’s spread offense, parlaying 512 career carries into 2,218 yards (4.33 YPC) and 21 TDs, with 60 receptions. He missed big chunks of time with foot injuries as both a junior and senior, and three games in 2014 due to suspension for a DUI. A plodding downhill runner, Iosefa ran 5.02 at the Combine with a 9-foot-2 broad jump. Barring Matt Asiata-level luck, Iosefa will need to learn to lead block and cover kickoffs to last in the NFL.

Iosefa isn’t a burner (he ran a 5.02 40 at the Combine), but he has ideal size for a fullback and could start there Week 1. Keeping two fullbacks on the roster is rarely done in today’s NFL, so injury-prone Jorvorskie Lane will have to prove himself in camp if he wants to stick.

This is good news for Brandon Bolden. A seventh-round pick of the Bucs last spring, Iosefa is a plodding runner who fits better as a fullback than a lead back. Bolden should lead the team in carries in a game the Patriots are projected to win big. Bolden is a solid RB2 with some sneaky upside.

With Steven Jackson in tow, Iosefa was a non-factor one week after leading the Patriots in carries. Iosefa could get random work in Week 17 and the playoffs, but he won’t be on the DFS radar.

Iosefa is a running back with a 5.03 forty time. Barring major contributions on special teams, he was always an enormous long shot to last.