As I sit writing this, on the eve of my five year anniversary of signing at Pats Propaganda, I ponder, is this the Patriots year of TE?
We have recently seen the commencement of the Chinese New Year with the year of the horse… the spirit animal of a traditional tight end perhaps?
Could the stars be aligning for me, as I move into year six of my content creating that finally the Patriots are going to gift me that new TE?!?
Okay, seriously, I know this is not about me at all, but let’s be frank, the Patriots have not appeared to be serious about the dynamic position since Rob Gronkowski retired from the Patriots. (We don’t need to discuss his un-retirement to play with Tom Brady in Tampa, okay?!)
My rebound guy Ryan Izzo was drafted in 2018, but round seven, 250th and unfortunately did not even play his first year, spending the 2018 season on injured reserve.
2019 saw a minefield of ‘ready for retirement’ Ben Watson playing with an injured and kind of journeyman TE of Matt LaCosse, whilst I was still hoping Ryan Izzo wouldn’t break my heart.
The 2020 draft saw a lack of high end athleticism at the TE position, but the Pats had a bash, and double dipped with pick 91 being Devin Asiasi and 101 for Dalton Keene. Unfortunately, this was to be another mismatch and both of these guys were released in 2022, with poor Dalton Keene being limited to only six games due to various injuries plaguing his two seasons.
It finally happened in 2021, Bill Belichick broke my little rebounded heart and traded Ryan Izzo away to the Houston Texans, but he did bring in Hunter Henry from the LA Chargers and Jonnu Smith. Now, whilst many fans were lamenting over Smith’s superb athleticism, my TE gut feelings weren’t as settled. I wasn’t certain it was necessarily the right fit but Hunter Henry ticked my boxes, and I was looking forward to Jonnu proving me wrong. Unfortunately, he did not, and the Pats traded him away in 2023.
The Patriots 2022 53 man roster saw two tight ends as they rolled with Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, not picking up any of the draft available TE’s such as Trey McBride or Isaiah Likely but adding Jalen Wydermyer to the practice squad for a while. Matt Sokol was also brought into the fold claimed off waivers from the LA Chargers, but he hopped around mostly on the practice squad too.
The draft class of 2023 was STACKED and the Patriots were in need… trouble is they were in need of plenty of player positions and some of these guys were going high. Nevertheless there were a glorious glut of names, Sam LaPorta, Dalton Kincaid, Michael Mayer, Tucker Kraft… need I go on? Probably not because I might cry, especially since the Patriots didn’t draft any, they brought in Johnny Lumpkin as an UDFA, only to waiver him in the summer. The Pats did bring in Mike Gesicki, athletic TE from the Miami Dolphins and I was excited. I ignored my little inner voice of ‘but he’s similar to Jonnu’ and ‘he really isn’t a blocker’ and was all in. Gesicki played 17 games, with 10 starts and put up 29 receptions for 244 yards and two touchdowns, providing a modest red-zone target but failing to replicate his high-production Miami years and so after one season… he gone.
Whatever was a TE loving girl to do?!
2024 wasn’t much for TE’s in the draft other than Brock Bowers so I had finally began to taper my expectations. Good job really as they only picked up Jaheim Bell in the 7th round and as lovely a guy as he was, he didn’t see the field much and was released after the 2025 training camp. The Pats did sign Austin Hooper to a one year deal and the Hooper-Henry tandem was a decent one, not dynamic but definitely a good veteran combination for a young quarterback such as Drake Maye, with Hooper putting up 45 receptions and 3 touchdowns.
Finally, 2025 and the Tyler Warren, Colston Loveland, Mason Taylor et al draft. But the Patriots.. nope. Well, not really. They did sign UDFA CJ Dippre. Dippre was waived on August 26 as part of final roster cuts but joined the practice squad the next day.He was signed to the active roster on November 17. Marshall Lang was picked up for… two days. So, with Jack Westover an official FB, the Pats ran it back with the solid combo of Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, which I was happy with. Mostly.
And now here we are, 2026, with a draft class that has a sweet spot of the second round for a run of decent tight ends. Top of the pack is definitely Kenyon Sadiq, and he’s going in the first round. With serious athleticism this Oregan TE is probably too rich for the Patriots at 31. But this year, with darling coach Vrabel mentioning how there’s volume at the tight end class, so… you’re saying there’s a chance?!?
And so, whilst trying to steel the marshmallow soft heart I have, perhaps let myself feel again. Maybe.
And so to that end, what are we looking at?
As aforementioned, the stud that is Kenyon Sadiq with his explosive athleticism probably isn’t dropping to the Pats at 31, so I’ve turned my attention to the mid cluster, those that with a little time could be proper starters. The youth and future of the Patriots tight end position, to work and grow with Drake Maye. The future of our franchise baby!
There’s definitely a group of the more athletic, a bit less blocking type TE’s but the 2026 class really has quite a selection to choose from with a lot of potential. Like anything, potential doesn’t guarantee success but there are so many names that I’m keeping my eye on that I feel like I have a box of chocolates selection!
As there were 27 tight ends at the combine alone, with varying amounts of testing, I shall not bore you with an assessment of every single one. I won’t go into the details of some of the more top prospects either, with Max Klare being very high on my list, an athlete with fluidity and a strong route runner, Klare is not a natural blocker and needs work but is expected to be a top-60 selection.
On my radar, possibly further down the draft board (or maybe even not, because these things are truly not a science!) are the likes of Sam Roush, Will Kacmarek and John Michael Gyllenborg.
If I were to admit to a draft crush, which I usually do, I’m a little tied up this year with multiples. Now, let me preface that with the fact that there are quite a few tight ends that I want to look into further, that by the time draft day rolls around I will be crushing on them too, but for now I shall stick with Stanford’s Sam Roush with his 6 foot 6, 267 pound frame as a plug and play in line blocker, and maybe John Michael Gyllenborg, also at 6 foot 6, with a slightly smaller frame of 249 pounds, who ran a good smooth gauntlet and had great execution of the sledge drill with good hips.
That’s not to say I’m cooler on Max Klare, or maybe even the soft handed fluid athlete that is Georgia’s Oscar Delp, it’s just there’s only so many hours in the day that you lovely lot are going to read my TE ramblings, and I have to stop somewhere.
In conclusion, dear Pats Nation, the future may be bright and it may, finally, be full of tight endage!
Go Pats!
