New England Patriots: Grading each day of the 2020 NFL Draft
Day 2
On the second day of the draft, which included rounds two and three, the New England Patriots looked poised to make more noise on Day 2 than they were able to do in Day 1.
After gaining another pick following trading back out of the first round on Thursday night, Bill Belichick and the Patriots had a total of five picks during the second and third rounds on Friday.
During Day 2, New England ended up picking at No. 37 overall, No. 60 overall, No. 87 overall, No. 81 overall and No. 101 overall.
To kick things off with their first selection of the draft this year, Belichick and the Patriots made a Belichick-type surprise pick at No. 37, drafting safety Kyle Dugger out of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Dugger is a player who can be used in multiple forms while being a versatile performer that will be valuable on the back end of the defense while replacing some veteran players New England lost this offseason. He’s a hard-nosed, quick player that could vie for a starting role in 2020 for the Patriots.
At No. 60, the Patriots made their first move to actually move up in the draft, going up to select linebacker Josh Uche out of Michigan. Uche offers New England a player who is an athletic rusher and linebacker in the middle of the defense while filling a large hole among a defensive unit that was one of the tops in the NFL in 2019.
Later on in the draft, the Patriots selected another linebacker at No. 87, going out and taking linebacker Anfernee Jennings from Alabama. A product under Nick Sabin in Alabama, Jennings is a big versatile prospect who could counter Uche while providing New England with an intriguing young group to build on into the future.
With their final two picks in the third round, the Patriots surprised some people while going with back-to-back tight end selections to round out Day 2. At No. 91, New England took UCLA’s Devin Asaisi, rounding out its handful of picks by taking Dalton Keene out of Virginia Tech.
Grabbing the pair of tight end prospects marked the first time the Patriots drafted two tight ends in the same draft since they took Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Overall, New England filled multiple holes and address various needs on both sides of the ball in Day 2 on Friday, which gives them the heading into Day 3 on Saturday.