New England Patriots 2019 NFL Draft: 3 round Mock Draft 1.0
Round 1, Pick No. 32: Noah Fant (TE) Iowa
With the departure of Rob Gronkowski, it truly is the end of an era of dominance for the New England Patriots tight end position.
Though Gronkowski battled countless injuries throughout his tenure, the Pats never had to worry about anything more than insurance policies at the position for the last decade. The large issue that creates now is the extreme lack of depth at tight end.
Right now the tight ends signed to the Patriots roster are Matt Lacosse, Jacob Hollister, and Stephen Anderson. In other words a collection of “who” players to the casual Patriot fan. It is clear the Patriots need to bolster that corps. That’s where we insert Noah Fant.
Related Story. New England Patriots 2019 NFL Draft: Watch out for tight end Dawson Knox. light
Fant is an absolute freak of an athlete. Standing at 6’4 and weighing over 240 pounds, Fant really impresses with the fact he ran an official 4.5 at the combine, an amazing time for someone his stature. He reminds me of a young Jimmy Graham, and it is noticeable how athletic he is (like Graham) when watching him on tape.
The only knock on Noah Fant is really his numbers at Iowa. He was in a run-first offense and had to split time with other elite Iowa product T.J Hockerson for starting reps. I am not too concerned with this though as tight ends rarely exceed statistically in college due the emphasis on pushing the ball outside to the hashes. I think it would be unfair to judge him for his lack of production because it was more of just a lack of opportunity.
Belichick is known for at least picking the tight end position a lot in the draft, so Noah Fant is not only a practical pick but also a great pick at 32.