Patriots: Dalton Keene’s latest workout video proves he could be starting tight end

Patriots rookie Dalton Keene has been training in Massachusetts for a while now.

When the New England Patriots took two tight ends in the third round of this year’s draft, just about everyone scratched their head — especially since nobody had really ever heard of either of them.

Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene and UCLA’s Devin Asiasi weren’t stars in college, and while Keene was productive with the Hokies, Asiasi only logged one full season as a starter and barely did anything before that.

But both of these guys will be in the mix for the starting tight end position since Matt LaCosse is the only other viable option on the roster. Don’t look now, but Keene could be getting a leg up in the race with his offseason workouts.

Keene’s got serious size (6-foot-4, 250 pounds), has athletic moves and good hands. We’ve heard some chatter about him being more of a Swiss Army knife for Bill Belichick, logging reps at tight end, full back and H-back given his size and blocking abilities.

However, this workout clip gives us other ideas. Do the Pats really want to waste this athleticism on blocking? It seems like Keene has the speed, route-running ability and pass-catching ability to be an everyday tight end.

But that’s where this gets confusing. Because Asiasi profiles strictly as a receiving tight end. So perhaps we’ll see Keene in a multi-faceted role but very much active in two tight end sets?

Whatever goes down, this is a good problem to have for the Patriots. A couple of hungry rookies coming into Foxborough looking to compete for the starting job is the exact kind of energy Belichick wants.

Putting in extra reps with the rookie reporting date being pushed back will surely turn some heads on the coaching staff, right?