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Patriots select Division II safety Kyle Dugger in second round of NFL Draft

By Patrick Morgan

MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 25: A backview of Safety Kyle Dugger #23 from Lenoir Rhyne of the South Team during the 2020 Resse's Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama. The North Team defeated the South Team 34 to 17. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
MOBILE, AL - JANUARY 25: A backview of Safety Kyle Dugger #23 from Lenoir Rhyne of the South Team during the 2020 Resse's Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on January 25, 2020 in Mobile, Alabama. The North Team defeated the South Team 34 to 17. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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The New England Patriots raised plenty of eyebrows around the league when they used their first 2020 draft pick on Kyle Dugger.

With their first pick of the 2020 NFL Draft — No. 37 in the second round — the New England Patriots selected Lenoir-Rhyne safety Kyle Dugger.

It was a bit of a surprising move. New England had been linked to Alabama’s Xavier McKinney, who went a couple picks earlier. Instead, Bill Belichick selected a player from a Division II college program many casual football fans have probably never heard of.

Granted, Dugger is a stud. He’s 6’1, 217 lbs, and he definitely fills an area of need for the Pats. Especially since New England traded Duron Harmon away to the Lions — and with Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung both on the wrong side of 30 — it makes sense that Belichick and the Patriots would want to get younger at safety.

Still, Antoine Winfield Jr. and Grant Delpit were both rated significantly higher on most draft boards around the media circuit than Dugger. Additionally, Winfield went to the University of Minnesota and Deplit went to LSU, both Division I programs that had high profiles during the 2019 college football season.

Belichick will be Belichick though. Even though ESPN had Dugger rated as their fifth-best safety — and their 65th-best prospect overall — the longtime New England coach obviously saw enough from Dugger’s film highlights to make him a second-round draft pick this year.

It’s also the only second round pick the Patriots have, barring any unexpected trades to move back up into the second round. New England does have four picks in the third round as of this writing.

Dugger offers the Pats plenty of versatility. He can play both safety or cornerback, and he also has displayed incredible athleticism and instincts as a returner. The Patriots will almost certainly give him an opportunity to become their go-to starter when it comes to fielding kickoffs and punts in 2020.

dark. Next. Who are the biggest targets and needs for the Pats on Day 2?

As far as actually starting on defense, it’d be a surprise to see Dugger log many significant reps this season. Consider that Vanderbilt corner Joejuan Williams was taken in the second round last year and barely saw the field much as a rookie — the Patriots are still absolutely stacked in the secondary with returning stars Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Jonathan Jones, Patrick Chung, J.C. Jackson, Jason McCourty, and new addition Adrian Phillips.

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