Patriots’ 2020 Draft just got even worse on Tuesday
By Adam Weinrib
The New England Patriots have lost both tight ends from their 2020 NFL Draft class, and just cut their sixth-round pick. Is that good?
The Patriots have been scorned repeatedly in recent years for their relatively barren draft classes, replete with a devastating series of positional near-misses.
After Tuesday’s update, can we officially put the 2020 draft in its rightful place among the worst in Patriots lore?
Without a first-round selection, second-round “top pick” Kyle Dugger, the safety out of Lenoir-Rhyne (yes, really) still has promise. But the Patriots’ attempt to replicate the Gronk-Aaron Hernandez duo of years past with the selection of tight ends Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi in the third round is essentially a 2020 wash, at this point.
Keene joined Asiasi on IR on Tuesday afternoon, meaning that neither can appear again before Week 12 at the earliest (Keene can’t come back until Week 13).
The Patriots' already thin TE room is getting thinner as the team will be placing rookie Dalton Keene on IR, per source. The team recently placed fellow rookie Devin Asiasi on IR too.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 10, 2020
That’s the good stuff.
Meanwhile, Ryan Izzo is holding down the tight end spot for the Patriots, and he’s essentially the only one. But that’s the way it’s been all year anyway, right? Keene and Asiasi combined for a robust single catch in 2020, an eight-yard catch by the former in the team’s loss to the 49ers.
All told, Patriots tight ends have made 10 catches in 2020 in sum total, nine of them by Izzo. If that’s what the team envisioned when they spent two prime picks on two separate tight ends, then they should probably attempt to manifest some more valuable visions next draft cycle.
Oh, but that’s not all! In addition to the entire third round being functionally eliminated on Tuesday, the team also waived sixth-round pick Cassh Maluia, who had been active on Monday night against the Jets without playing a single snap.
The Patriots have waived rookie LB Cassh Maluia today. The sixth-round pick from Wyoming, who was active for Monday’s win but did not play, would likely land on the practice squad if he clears waivers.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) November 10, 2020
AND Nick Folk won Special Teams Player of the Week, further proving that the selection of Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round was beyond laughable.
All this ahead of Patriots player personnel man Nick Caserio becoming a commodity again this offseason, eh?
If anybody else wants the man who helped assemble a roster devoid of viable offensive options, then best of luck to them.
With every day that passes, the 2020 draft looks like just as big a disaster as Michel over Chubb or Harry over the entire field of elite wideouts that followed his selection.
