Patriots sought assurance before Devin Asiasi trade up
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick sough out "last-minute assurance" before selecting third-round rookie tight end Devin Asiasi, per Jeff Howe of The Athletic.
Belichick called Asiasi's head coach at UCLA, Chip Kelly, before trading up to select the tight end with the 90th overall pick. “His athletic ability for his size, someone that big shouldn’t be that smooth an athlete,” Kelly praised. “His versatility is what a lot of teams in the NFL coveted, and obviously Bill saw that himself." Asiasi currently projects to be the Patriots' number-one tight end in an offense with one of the lesser wide receiver groups in the league.
Asiasi averaged over 15.0 yards per catch and had 14 plays of 20-plus yards the past two seasons. He dropped just 1 pass on 68 targets in 2019, good for the third-lowest drop rate at his position. It helped earn Asiasi a top-10 receiving tight end grade from Pro Football Focus.
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