New England Patriots: 5 second-year studs destined to shine in 2021

3. New England Patriots tight end Dalton Keene will thrive in another position

When it comes to versatile players on the offensive side of the football, New England Patriots second-year tight end Dalton Keene will be trying to find a role on offense.

With the addition of tight ends Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, the pressure will be off a bit for either Keene or fellow 2020 third-rounder Devin Asiasi to make huge contributions at the position, but the team and fans hope to see some improvement from what both players shown in their rookie seasons.

New England Patriots

While both players will be competing for that third tight end role along with veteran tight end Matt LaCosse, Keene has an opportunity to show off his versatility as a tight end and at the fullback position.  The Virginia Tech product only played in 140 snaps during his rookie season mostly due to a neck injury he suffered prior to the regular season, but he was drafted due to that versatility and look for the Patriots to utilize it in 2020.

"“I think the things you saw him do, which was his blocking, his effort to block, his toughness, ability to make plays with the ball in his hands, and certainly the intent of the [Virginia Tech] offense to get him the ball was impressive,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said following the 2020 NFL Draft.  “They did a lot of things to try to get him the ball one way or another: hand it to him, throw it to him, put him in different locations so that he could run with it or catch with it.  That’s what you saw.”"

With Jakob Johnson as the only true fullback entering camp, it would be expected for the Patriots to try Keene at the fullback position given the skills Belichick highlighted above.  In ways, he may serve as a more athletic version of James Devlin who the Patriots did use in that third tight end/fullback role.

Although Keene had just three catches for 16 yards in his rookie season, look for him to make a year 2 leap and shine more as a fullback option who can catch the ball out of the backfield.  If there are injuries to either Hunter or Smith, don’t be surprised if he flourishes at the tight end position as well.