Next Pats Podcast: Why Devin Asiasi could have leg up in Patriots' offense

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Learning the Patriots' playbook isn't easy. Just ask the host of wide receivers who have flamed out in New England over the years.

But there's reason to believe Devin Asiasi can hit the ground running in the Patriots' system.

The rookie tight end, whom the Patriots traded up for to select No. 91 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, spent two years running Chip Kelly's offense at UCLA.

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Kelly spent four years as an NFL head coach with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers before heading to UCLA. Joining Phil Perry on the Next Pats Podcast, UCLA tight ends coach Derek Sage confirmed that Kelly modeled the Bruins' offense around the systems he ran in the NFL.

According to Sage, that familiarity -- and UCLA's heavy usage of tight ends -- will help Asiasi get a head start in New England.

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What we're doing now at UCLA, it's the production and the usage from the tight end position and what we're doing with them, as well. Yes, we're giving them the football if they're a good player and if they can do things with the ball in their hands, like Devin could. But it's the total package. It's run blocking schemes that are being used at the next level. It's the Eagles' offense that Coach Kelly was using with the Eagles and the Niners.

... I think you see a nice blend of college offenses coming into the NFL, and I think that's a really good thing. And I think it helps our guys get ready in terms of what the NFL is looking for, what the scouts are looking for, what the coaches are looking for. ... And I think that's where Coach Kelly's relationships with some of these NFL guys comes into play. He gets some calls and says, 'Coach, explain to me this play. It looks like he did this on one play.' 'Oh yeah, he's doing this.' 'Oh really? Good, that's how we do it.'

According to The Athletic's Jeff Howe, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made one of those calls to Kelly -- a New Hampshire native and friend of Belichick's -- during the draft to get the scoop on Asiasi.

Sage believes Patriots fans will be very pleased with what they're getting in the 22-year-old: a highly versatile tight end who can perform several roles while also being a playmaker.

"I think they're getting a really versatile player," Sage added. " ... He's got the ability to stretch the field vertically and also stretch the field horizontally, which is something we did with him with some option routes a lot. He's a good athlete that can sink his hips, drop his weight and not really change his rate of speed, which I think is really what you're looking for in a tight end position that has to do a little bit of everything: pass protection, four verticals, pass routes, run blocking, blocking in space. ... Those are the things you saw on film of Devin doing a really good job."

Asiasi will join fellow rookie Dalton Keene in a Patriots tight end group that desperately needs a boost following Rob Gronkowski's departure two seasons ago. Sage isn't about to declare Asiasi the next Gronk -- but he sees some similarities.

"I think Devin is a good blend of what people are looking for at 6-foot-3, 257 pounds," Sage added. "Everybody likes to say he's not Gronk, well, nobody is ... but I think Devin gives you that versatility at 6-foot-3, 257 that's kind of in between that can do both and be really athletic."

Want to hear more from Perry and Sage on Asiasi? Listen to the Next Pats Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network or watch on YouTube below:

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