Grading the Patriots’ decision to draft TE Devin Asiasi

Devin Asiasi has incredible upside.

The New England Patriots may have found a hidden gem with the No. 91 pick.

Bill Belichick traded up to draft tight end Devin Asiasi out of UCLA and his ceiling is much higher than his college stats implicate. Asiasi didn’t get the opportunity to prove himself as a pass-catcher until his final season with the Bruins and he capitalized on the opportunity. He recorded 44 catches for 641 yards and four touchdowns his final season — compared to eight catches, 148 yards and two touchdowns in his first two seasons.

Asiasi is 6-foot-3, 260 pounds and is one of the best all-around tight ends to come in this draft. He’s also just exploring his ability as a pass-catcher and has an incredibly high ceiling.

Here’s our grade for Asiasi: A-

There were better pass-catchers and bigger names available on the board when New England selected Asiasi, but he went under the radar because of UCLA’s sporadic offense. He ran a 4.7 40-yard dash and ran his best routes in the seam and off play-action passes.

The Patriots desperately needed a tight end ever since Rob Gronkowski retired and Asiasi will help fill that void. Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse were the only rostered tight ends coming into the draft and they had very little production in the 2019 season. Asiasi gives New England a guy who could come in as an immediate starter.

He even has freakish athletic ability, similar to Gronkowski.

New England made an excellent choice in drafting Asiasi and they began loading up a position of desperate need.

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