Much is being made about who the New England Patriots will select with the fourth overall pick of the NFL Draft, but the other six rounds will also be immensely important to the team's rebuild.
The Patriots have a plethora of needs up and down the roster, and after not spending a whole lot of money on offense in free agency, they'll have to hit big on a few of their draft picks later this month.
Keagan Stiefel of NESN has identified who he feels could be a big-time sleeper for New England, and mainly because this player was a teammate of Drake Maye's at North Carolina: tight end Bryson Nesbit.
"Nesbit spent four seasons at North Carolina, really showing out during the middle two (26 games, 76 catches, 1,092 yards and nine touchdowns) with a future first-round quarterback slinging him the ball," Stiefel wrote. "The Tar Heels didn’t exactly get the same kind of production out of him when he wasn’t working with a star signal-caller, as his numbers declined across the board in his senior year. Do we think that’s because of the dip in talent? Yes, but there’s something to be said about familiarity between a quarterback and target."
The Pats don't actually need a tight end at the moment, as Hunter Henry is at the top of the depth chart, and they just re-signed Austin Hooper. However, Nesbit is projected to be a Day 3 pick, at best, so it may be worth the late-round flier for the Patriots.
Nesbit possesses impressive athleticism and good size at 6-foot-5, and while he isn't the most powerful prospect in the world, he does have the ability to take advantage of mismatches.
Stiefel likened him to Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, which is actually a very intriguing comparison considering that Higbee has carved out a very nice career for himself.
Perhaps Maye will put in the good word for Nesbit in the coming weeks.
