9 Patriots who need to step up for Jarrett Stidham next season

It needs to be a big year for N’Keal Harry.

TE Dalton Keene

Best-case scenario, he could develop into George Kittle. (The very best case scenario.) But he’s so quite far from that projection. When it came to working as a pass-catcher, Keene contributed most often out of the backfield at Virginia Tech, which had to design plays to get the ball into Keene’s hands. Belichick went so far as to tell Keene that the Patriots would not be doing him the same favor in the NFL. He’ll have to earn his touches, and that will include downfield routes, with which Keene isn’t particularly polished. So he needs to work on becoming an NFL-caliber route runner. That may take time over the 2020 (and 2021) season. In the meantime, he should contribute immediately as a willing run-blocker.