New England Patriots rookie tight ends can make a huge impact

The New England Patriots need instant impact from Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene.

One of the main reasons Tom Brady was willing to leave the New England Patriots after 20 years with the organization? Their lack of offensive weapons.

With all due respect to Julian Edelman, the Patriots’ arsenal of weapons has been significantly depleted in the past couple of years, and it had to be driving Tom Brady absolutely nuts.

As great of a slot receiver as Edelman is and has been throughout his NFL career, there’s no excuse for the fact that he received 153 targets this past season. Only three players in the NFL were targeted more (Allen Robinson, Julio Jones, and Michael Thomas).

Considering the fact that Edelman doesn’t have the same impact on the game as those three guys, and also that the Patriots really didn’t have anything besides him — though not for lack of trying — it’s clear that the Patriots needed to revamp their wide receiver and tight end room.

They did just that in the 2020 NFL Draft.

After drafting N’Keal Harry in 2019, the Patriots took to the 2020 NFL Draft to upgrade the tight end position, which with all due respect was atrocious in 2019.

Patriots 2019 tight end woes

Ben Watson and Matt LaCosse combined for 30 receptions and one touchdown last season for New England despite playing a combined 900 snaps.

Without Rob Gronkowski on the roster, the Patriots’ tight end production took a nosedive into oblivion last season, and although they must have thought their system was more effective than the players running it, they corrected course in 2020.

If young Jarrett Stidham is going to have any measure of success in his rookie season, he’s going to need both rookie tight ends Devin Asiasi (UCLA) and Dalton Keene (Virginia Tech) to be playmakers and quick learners.

Asiasi, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound tight end, is probably one of the most underrated players in this draft class.

He’s underrated first of all for the fact that this year’s tight end class was not highly regarded whatsoever.

Combine that with the fact that he was a transfer player from Michigan who really only starred one year in college, and it’s understandable that a player with his skill set fell to the third round of the draft.

Watching Asiasi play, it’s clear that his functional athleticism is better than anything he showed at the Scouting Combine. He’s a natural route runner with great play speed who looks more like Evan Engram out there for UCLA than he does a traditional in-line tight end whose movements are clunky.

He runs crisp routes with really good body control, especially when he’s making plays near the sideline as a receiver.

His hands may be his best overall strength, but there’s no doubt that between the two players the Patriots drafted that Asiasi is more of the downfield type of player who is going to get open against nickel defenders, safeties, and linebackers.

Dalton Keene is a tremendous athlete who did his best work on short routes, delayed routes, and drag routes. Not that he didn’t make any plays downfield, but he is a threat after the catch with his 4.71 speed at 253 pounds.

Not that Asiasi can’t block, but Keene has a bit more experience blocking from a number of different positions, which the Patriots will undoubtedly ask him to do.

If the Patriots are to return to having a potent 1-2 punch in their 12 personnel offense (one back, two tight ends) they are going to need both Keene and Asiasi to have an instant impact in 2020.

There’s no doubt about the fact that both players have the physical skill set to do so, and they both complement each other quite well.