The tight end class wasn’t regarded as particularly strong heading into the 2020 NFL Draft, but that didn’t stop the Patriots from doubling up at the position.
Devin Asiasi was the second tight end to come off the board when New England selected the UCLA product with the 91st overall pick. The Patriots followed suit 10 selections later when they grabbed Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene.
Football Outsiders editor Aaron Schatz was a bit surprised to see New England spend a third-rounder on Keene given his underwhelming 2019 collegiate season. In fact, Schatz labeled the Patriots’ Keene pick as the biggest head-scratcher of the draft.
“After Cole Kmet was drafted at No. 43, the entire tight end position veered from conventional wisdom,” Schatz wrote for ESPN.com “I was surprised to see players such as Devin Asiasi, Josiah Deguara and Keene go in the third round, while well-regarded tight ends Hunter Bryant, Jared Pinkney and Thaddeus Moss went undrafted. Keene had just 21 catches for 240 yards last season. George Kittle also had very little usage in college, but that kind of stardom from a similar college career is exceedingly rare.”
The Patriots evidently like what they see in Keene, as they made an unprecedented move in order to land the 6-foot-4, 253-pounder. In a trade with the rival New York Jets, Bill Belichick for the first time in his New England tenure dealt a future pick as part of a package to scale up the board.
It remains to be seen if Dalton will be an impact player from the get-go in Foxboro. But given the current state of New England’s TE depth chart, he’ll likely at least have the opportunity to contribute from Day 1.
