Tiquan

Underwood

Underwood will begin his coaching career under new OC Chad O’Shea, who was Underwood’s position coach in New England for a part of his playing career in 2011. Underwood turns 32 in 11 days.

Underwood spent the later stages of the 2011 season with the Patriots, but was waived on Thursday after the team signed Jabar Gaffney. The 25 year old Underwood has more career kick returns (26) than receptions (11), but the Bucs have poor depth at wide receiver, so he has a shot to crack the 53-man roster.

Underwood had been re-signed to a futures contract after being released a day before the Super Bowl. With Brandon Lloyd, Jabar Gaffney, Anthony Gonzalez, and Donte’ Stallworth now on board, Underwood had no realistic shot at earning a roster spot in 2012.

Taylor Price (hamstring) was also limited. Tiquan Underwood could function as the third receiver and situational deep threat for a second straight week. There’s no fantasy value here.

Underwood was signed only four days ago, and has yet to appear in an NFL game this season. In 10 games for the Jaguars last year, the stone-handed wideout hauled in eight catches for 111 yards.

The bonus is $88,000. Underwood would also receive a ring if the Patriots win. Per Schefter, Underwood was “unlikely to be active” against the Giants in the first place, so he’s not losing much. While some media members have tried to make Bill Belichick look like a bad guy for waiving Underwood the day before the Super Bowl, the reality is Belichick is intent on winning, and the Giants could have claimed Underwood off waivers if the move had been made earlier in the week.

Underwood received little interest between being released by the Patriots in September and re-signed in November, so it’s not surprising he went unclaimed. With just 11 catches in 19 career games, he won’t have an easy time cracking someone’s 53-man roster in 2012.

When Deion Branch needed a break late in the game, O’Brien turned to Tiquan Underwood instead of Ochocinco. Ocho has 13 catches in 12 games this season.

Price was expected to see an increased role in the absence of Chad Ochocinco, but instead saw himself out-targeted by Tiquan Underwood (who muffed a possible touchdown on his only look of the night). Price remains out of sight, out of mind in redraft leagues.

It’s a really bad sign for Price that he couldn’t get on the field even though Chad Ochocinco was inactive. Tiquan Underwood, who was signed just a few days before the game, split No. 3 receiver duties with Julian Edelman.