Brandin Echols Returns from Injury After Stellar Preseason

Brandin Echols is one former Wildcat who is making some noise this NFL offseason. Taken as the 200th pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft, it appears Echols is carving out a nice little roster spot for himself on the Jets, and now he is returning from injury.

Brandin Echols dropped into coverage on 34 snaps this preseason and allowed 2-of-4 passing in his direction for 12 yards and zero first downs. He did have a 17-yard pass interference penalty against the Giants, but that appeared to be made up with an interception against the Green Bay Packers.

Brandin Echols (@matayo_echols) with the INT for the Jets vs. Green Bay. Rookie from @UKFootball. #BBN pic.twitter.com/WgdZWUVU54

— Alex Walker (@AlexWalkerTV) August 22, 2021

Echols’ preseason got thrown off track for a small bit earlier this week when he had to leave practice with a minor hip injury. A few days later, the rookie standout had to leave due to a shoulder injury.

The good news? On Sunday, Jets head coach Robert Selah announced Echols returned to practice, and it is likely we will see Echols in some Week One action.

#Jets HC Robert Saleh is "very very optimistic" about all the injured guys being ready for Week 1 vs Carolina:

– Denzel Mims
– La'Mical Perine
– Brandin Echols
– Lamarcus Joyner
– Mekhi Becton#NYJvsCAR #TakeFlight

— Paul Andrew Esden Jr (@BoyGreen25) August 29, 2021

Echols performance has drawn rave reviews from Jets beat-writers and fans alike. Scrolling through Twitter and some NFL blogs, it appears Echols star has shined the brightest on an extremely young New York defense, which is led by one of the greatest defensive games in the game, Bob Selah.

Echols has pretty much locked up a roster spot for the Jets and will more than likely see a lot of playing time in New York this season.

At Kentucky, we saw plenty of flashes of that same skillset from Echols. In his two seasons in Lexington, Echols played in 24 career games, starting in 22 straight. He totaled 108 tackles, 11 pass breakups, 4.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and an interception, helping the Wildcats advance and win the Belk Bowl and the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. 

In 2020, he ranked fourth on the team in tackles with 54 while also adding two tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and his first career interception in the win over N.C. State in the Gator Bowl. 

As the preseason comes to a close, we’ll have plenty more reports about the newest crop of Wildcats in the NFL–all of which have been pretty positive this offseason. Echols returning from injury is just another stream of good news coming from ‘Cats in the NFL.