Ryan Izzo seemed like a player who might be on the New England Patriots roster bubble heading into training camp. The team brought in a large tight end rookie class, which included third-round draft picks, Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene.
With a shortened offseason, Izzo had a sizable advantage over the rookies and the Patriots’ low-level signings at the position. Izzo won the starting job, and New England was firmly committed to him to start the season. He’s missed just three snaps through two week.
“It’s been awesome,” Izzo said Wednesday. “I am really happy about it. I think it is attributed to all the hard work that I put in. Just moving forward I am just trying to keep being somebody the team can count on. Just being consistent and doing whatever I can to help them.”
Izzo helped comprised an underwhelming tight end unit in 2019, which was headlined by Ben Watson and Matt LaCosse. The three tight ends mustered some of the worst production among tight end groups in the NFL. So Izzo, with another year under his belt, is out to make a larger impact on the offense, even if he’s off to a slow start so far with three catches for 44 yards.
“I think overall physically, I made some leaps this past offseason,” Izzo told reporters. “I really worked hard in the weight room and on the field. Playbook-wise, I definitely feel more comfortable. I think once you start getting those years under your belt, you get comfortable with the details and how coaches want things done. It just helps.”
It wouldn’t hurt if the Patriots got their rookies up to speed. Keene has been dealing with a neck injury, which had him limited for the first two weeks. Asiasi, meanwhile, has been a full participant in practices, but he has just played 10 snaps this season, largely as an in-line blocker. He has no catches.
Izzo provided a window into why those rookies haven’t yet been contributors in the offense.
“I think it is more just day-to-day technique whether that’s run game, pass game, just really taking that and showing it out on the field. I am just trying to show these guys that it’s more a technique game. It’s not like college where some of the guys are maybe not as strong as us, we’re the better athletes. Most of the D-ends, virtually all the D-ends we’re going to be blocking are going to be better athletes than us. We have to out-technique them.”
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