Now you know I couldn’t write any draft articles and not tell you all about some of the tight ends for this year.
Whilst I know the Patriots early round picks need to be spent elsewhere, and I’m not in any argument, I want me a cornerback and some offensive line please. But, late round picks, undrafted guys…. I fancy a spot of that.
If you are a team who needs an earlier round tight end, you are going to be hearing names like Trey McBride of Colorado State, a complete tight end who is projected to go early in the third round. Second to him would be Greg Dulcich of UCLA projected to go around 70th, mentioned at the combine by Daniel Jeremiah as his number one tight end. These guys are both quality tight ends, but the Patriots aren’t going to be looking at these boys.
Further down the ranks, moving into the later rounds such as a projected fourth, is one guy I had my eye on, and that is Daniel Bellinger from San Diego State. A traditional Y tight end, a great blocker at 6 foot 5 and 253 pounds with very sure hands. He has been an afterthought in the pass attacks, so has a low yard average.
A fifth round guy that has been on the NFL radar is Jake Ferguson out of Wisconsin. Strong hands and great with the ball, he has limited speed, and whilst he is an experienced line blocker, he may have some difficultly transitioning those skills into the NFL. So a possibility for needing a developmental first year, but hey it was good enough for Jonnu Smith, right?
My favourite tight end who may be feasible for the Patriots is Austin Allen out of Nebraska. His skill set hadn’t been shown in the best light with Nebraska’s offense underperforming in recent years but his combine tests went well.
Really tall at 6’8” (depending on what you read), he performed as a good blocker, had good hands, and great movement for such a tall guy.
Bottom line, I know not many Patriots fans are looking for a tight end right now, and I am totally with you there. But, I do implore you to think about tight ends for the future, and some of these later round guys might just be feasible. The Patriots went through some lean years at tight end, and I feel they need to set up so that they don’t again. Hunter and Smith, yep top guys for a few years. But that doesn’t mean the Patriots should sit on their heels. If Keene and Asiasi don’t pan out, then the back up cupboard, the developmental tight end shelf, is empty baby and you can’t have that!
