The Patriots spent two third-round picks on tight ends last April. The more accomplished of the two was Devin Asiasi from UCLA. After doing little to staff the position the past few years, this flurry of activity seemed to bode well.
Asiasi finished the season with the same number of catches and touchdowns as Cam Newton. Two and one. He edged Newton in receiving yards, 39 to 35.
The Patriots 2020 offensive ineptitude can be illustrated in many ways but the bleak production at tight end is really a treasure trove of bad stats.
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The Patriots got 18 receptions from their three tight ends, Ryan Izzo (13 for 199), Dalton Keene (3 for 16) and Asiasi.
We thought things were bad when the 2019 contingent of Benjamin Watson, Matt LaCosse and Izzo combined for 36 catches with Tom Brady? That group was literally TWICE as productive as the 2020 group with Cam Newton throwing to them.
Would the results have been better if LaCosse hadn’t opted out. Maybe? But not enough to make the position worth even a moment’s notice from an opposing defensive coordinator.
New England Patriots
OK. Enough. That was then. What’s next?
LaCosse, after his year off, is still under contract. So too are Keene, Izzo, Asiasi and Rashod Berry, an undrafted player from Ohio State who took tight end snaps last season but also played on the defensive line.
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The group will automatically improve with a better quarterback. How can they not? But is anyone in the group capable of producing at even a modest, 30-catch level? Asiasi seems the best bet. He moves well, is sudden and during training camp practices looked the part of a capable player.
Keene was a Swiss Army knife at Virginia Tech and his assimilation to the league is going to take more time. His ceiling may just be useful as a special teamer and gadget blocker/receiver/runner.
LaCosse did produce for Denver at a modest and acceptable rate in 2019 with 24 catches on 37 targets. And his 2019 season was marred by an ankle sprain during the preseason and an MCL injury around midseason. He’s 29 in September so if he returns rested and ready he should be able to make a contribution.
But all this is a far cry from even 2018 when the Patriots had Gronk as a blocking/receiving weapon and Dwayne Allen as a battering ram in the running game. How do you let it fall so far so fast? Especially when the tight end renaissance of last decade started here? Especially as so many young ones entered the league? There’s no easy answer there.
The reality is the Patriots' tight end situation is the worst in the NFL and it’s been that way two years running. That can’t be part of a master plan for success.