Tag: Ryan Izzo

Bill Belichick gives insight to lack of production from Patriots’ rookie tight ends

This would get both Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene in the best scenario to be productive.

Remember when the New England Patriots dominated with the tight end position?

Yeah, it feels like it was some time ago. The 2017 season was the last time New England had over 1,000 yards from the tight end position and 2018 was Rob Gronkowski’s last year in New England. These past two seasons, the Patriots have been near the bottom percentile in tight end production.

Bill Belichick hoped to turn that tide in 2020 with two third-round tight ends being drafted. Devin Asiasi out of UCLA and Dalton Keene out of Virginia Tech had expectations to at least provide a threat on the field. Collectively, they have one catch for eight yards through 14 weeks. Ryan Izzo leads the group with 13 receptions for 199 yards — but, he’s now on the injured reserve list.

Asiasi and Keene have dealt with being rookies during COVID and injuries throughout this year. They’re both healthy and Belichick explained how they can show production during the final three games of the season.

“It’s good to have them back out there,” Belichick said on Wednesday, transcribed by Pats Pulpit. “Last week, they had a little more playing time, but unfortunately it didn’t correlate into more practice time or quality practice time because of the schedule we were on. So, we’ll see how it goes here as they get more experience and reps at what they’re doing and then how that transfers over into the game.”

Practice, they just need some practice.

“Both guys missed some time there kind of right in the middle of the season after they’d gotten started and had made some progress, and then weren’t able to continue and now have resumed full activity,” Belichick said. “So, hopefully we can make progress every day. We’ll just have to see how that all works out here. …

“I think we made the most of what we had, but, yeah, not ideal. You’d like everybody out there all the time, but unfortunately that’s not really realistic in the National Football League.”

Though the playoffs are likely out of the equation, it’ll still give the rookies three games to prove their abilities for the future.

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Report: Patriots to host 2018 6th-round tight end for workout

The Patriots are desperate for depth at the position.

The New England Patriots are scheduled to host free agent tight end Dylan Cantrell for COVID-19 testing and a workout, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

New England deployed only one tight end in Week 8 (Ryan Izzo), with the potential of bringing practice squad edge rusher Rashod Berry into the role in Week 9. Izzo’s dealing with an injury and the Patriots don’t have many choices at tight end currently. Rookies Dalton Keene, Devin Asiasi and Jake Burt are all dealing with injuries as well.

Cantrell was drafted out of Texas Tech in the sixth round in 2018 and he’s spent time on the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinal’s rosters. He hasn’t played an NFL snap yet, but he had 1,873 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns over four seasons in college.

The struggling 2-5 Patriots take on the New York Jets on Monday night.

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Bill Belichick says converted DE Rashod Berry could ‘definitely’ fill in at TE

The tight end situation is getting murky in New England.

Ever since the retirement of Rob Gronkowski, the tight end position has been a headache for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

The Patriots went from dominating in two tight end sets, to a team that hasn’t had a decent pass-catcher at the position for two seasons. During the 2020 season, things are much worse. Ryan Izzo was the only active tight end in Week 8 and that was due to injuries across the board.

Dalton Keene is limited with a knee injury, Devin Asiasi and Jake Burt both are on the injured reserve list right now. The only other available player to be activated on the roster is Rashod Berry, who was converted to a defensive end in the NFL. Berry played primarily tight end and some defense during his time at Ohio State, giving the Patriots flexibility.

If activated as a tight end in Week 9 against the New York Jets, he’d likely just act as a blocker.

Izzo and Keene still could potentially hit the field on Sunday, but time’s running out for the Patriots to make the decision.

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The Patriots’ tight end problem is becoming critical after loss to Broncos

The Patriots need to get more consistent production from the tight end position.

With the New England Patriots’ 18-12 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, one thing was made clear — the Patriots need to have more production at the tight end position.

For the afternoon, Patriots tight end Ryan Izzo recorded three catches for 38 yards.

For the most part, the Patriots’ wide receivers struggled all afternoon. They had trouble getting things going and in particular, Julian Edelman and N’Keal Harry struggled on the afternoon. They recorded a collective two catches for eight yards.

This indicates the Patriots definitely need to have more help in the passing game at tight end. Although Izzo put up some numbers in this game, he wasn’t consistent enough to make a viable impact. When the outside receivers were struggling, it seemed as though Newton did not have anywhere to throw the ball to. This will be a huge problem going forward against teams that aren’t Denver.

The Patriots need to find some sort of way to get the tight ends involved in the game plan. From the start of the season, New England has made it a point to get the outside wide receivers involved. They really have not looked the way of the tight ends that much and that tendency showed again on Sunday. For the most part, the Broncos played decent defense against the outside wide receivers. They did not allow them to get separation and they played tight coverage.

New England needs to have that security blanket at tight end if things are not going well on the outside. Right now, they do not have that. If anything, tight end position is nonexistent right now

Newton needs a security blanket at the tight end position. Although Izzo did play better, he did not make a big enough impact to change the course of the game. It’s not only Izzo at the tight end position, let’s be clear. The entire position needs an overhaul Patriots want to have sustained success in 2020.

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Ryan Izzo has made an unlikely starter, but he’s barely missed a snap

TE1.

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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Report: Patriots elect not to sign Jordan Leggett, after all

Will the Patriots look to sign someone else at tight end?

Despite reports that the New England Patriots intended to sign tight end Jordan Leggett, they will not add the free agent, after all, per ESPN’s Field Yates. New England was on the verge of signing Leggett following tight end Matt LaCosse’s decision to opt out of the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns. But the Patriots will stick with the players they have.

The group is extremely young. Tight end Ryan Izzo, 24, is the most experienced man in the group as he enters his third season. He has six career receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown. Otherwise, the group is comprised of rookies: Devin Asiasi, Dalton Keene, Jake Burt and Rashod Berry.

It’s possible — and perhaps even likely — that the Patriots will end up with only rookies at their tight end position if they elect not to add a free agent to bring additional competition at the position. And perhaps after they flirted with signing Leggett, they could sign a different veteran from the free agency pool.

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Patriots’ positional preview: Re-tooled TE group could surprise

With a few rookies and a couple vets, the TEs could be important this year.

The 2019 season brought nothing but disappointment from the New England Patriots’ tight end position. The trio of Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo, and Ben Watson combined for just 36 receptions for 418 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers were good for 32nd in receptions, 30th in yards and 32nd in touchdowns for team tight end production.

New England recognized the need and went after a couple tight ends in the third round of this year’s draft and brought in some undrafted free agents as well.

No roster spots should be guaranteed for anyone at this position. An open competition between the six tight ends would produce the best group that should be able to contribute much more than last year.

Matt LaCosse

Leon Halip/Getty Images

LaCosse’s first season with New England didn’t go exactly as planned. He appeared in only 11 games, as he dealt with constant injuries throughout the year. The 27-year-old totaled just 13 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown and has yet to top 25 receptions or 250 yards in any of his four professional seasons.

LaCosse will need to show a lot of growth and the ability to stay healthy if he wants to make the team.

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11 Patriots veterans who will be on the roster bubble in 2020

There will be no shortage of roster battles in New England.

The New England Patriots added 10 rookies in the 2020 NFL Draft, and signed a handful more afterwards, which should inject youth into one of the league’s older rosters in 2019. Tom Brady is gone. Stephen Gostkowski is gone. And New England seems intent upon replacing them with younger players.

The youth movement could continue into training camp, with a number of veterans losing their jobs to this rookie class. What’s more, there is a decent free agent class of low-budget additions who should be in competition for roster spots — but they may also be on the bubble.

Here’s a look at which veterans will be fighting for their jobs.

Matt LaCosse, TE

The arrival of two rookies could bring an end to LaCosse’s tenure with New England. It’s likely that rookie tight end Devin Asiasi arrives to the Patriots as a bigger contributor than LaCosse, who struggled to make an impact in 2019. LaCosse has as good a chance as anyone to get the third tight end spot behind Asiasi and Dalton Keene, the other 2020 third-round draft choice at tight end. But after LaCosse’s supremely rough season, New England could go the way of one of the undrafted rookie tight ends for the third spot.

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