The Patriots didn’t draft a quarterback or wide receiver this year, but they did address arguably their most pressing need last week.
In fact, New England doubled-up on the position.
Bill Belichick and Co. selected not one, but two tight ends in the 2020 NFL Draft. After first moving up nine picks in the third round to take UCLA’s Devin Asiasi, the Patriots followed suit 10 selections later, jumping up the boards to land Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene.
Asiasi and Keene now join Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo on New England’s tight end depth chart. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, however, believes the Patriots will move forward with only one of those veterans.
“Patriots tight ends caught a league-low 37 passes last season, which led Bill Belichick to use a pair of third-round picks on Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene,” Barnwell wrote. “Both players will be on the roster barring injury, which would likely leave one spot to pick between LaCosse and Ryan Izzo.
“Between the two, I would lean toward Izzo, whose blocking ability could be the difference for a New England team that is likely to try to run the ball more frequently without Tom Brady.”
LaCosse signed a two-year deal with the Patriots ahead of the 2019 campaign. He appeared in 11 games last season, catching 13 passes for 131 yards with one touchdown. While it’s a limited sample size, LaCosse’s underwhelming first season in Foxboro likely will make him expendable this summer.
That said, Izzo didn’t exactly turn heads either, so a legitimate roster battle likely will be in store come training camp.
