The New England Patriots did a good job of addressing some of their biggest holes on Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft. Armed with five picks, they spent one pick on each level of the defense and added a couple of tight ends to fix their biggest offensive weakness.
On Day 2, they had the same goal. With six picks available, the Patriots both had the opportunity to add a volume of players they liked or they could package the picks to move up and grab a player that they really liked.
They chose to stay put and made their first selection of the day in the early stages of Round 5. And with the 159th pick, they selected a replacement for Stephen Gostkowski.
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The pick ended up being Marshall kicker Justin Rohrwasser. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound Rohrwasser served as the Thundering Herd's primary placekicker for two seasons after transferring from Rhode Island. He made 96.3 percent of his extra points throughout his career and hit 18 of 21 field goals in his senior season. He attempted two kicks from beyond the 50 and made both of them. The longest was a 53-yarder.
Here's our Phil Perry's assessment of Rohrwasser:
Rohrwasser is just the third kicker drafted since Bill Belichick took over the Patriots in 2000. The previous two were Owen Pochman (2001) and Stephen Gostkowski (2006). The two couldn't be more polar opposites, as Pochman was one of Belichick's worst draft picks while Gostkowski turned into the Patriots' all-time leading scorer and helped the team win three Super Bowls.
Rohrwasser will no doubt hope to become more like Gostkowski than Pochman. Currently, he is the only kicker on the Patriots roster. Nick Folk, who finished last season, became a free agent and Gostkowski was released. We'll soon see if the Patriots bring in any competition to challenge for the top kicker spot.