Which Rookie Are You Most Excited About Going Into Camp (also can discuss rookies here)

Which rookie/UDFA are you most excited about?

  • Josh Uche OLB/ILB/Edge Hybrid

    Votes: 23 23.5%
  • Kyle Dugger Safety/Punt-Returner/STer

    Votes: 18 18.4%
  • Anfernee Jennings OLB/Edge

    Votes: 3 3.1%
  • Devin Asiasi TE

    Votes: 32 32.7%
  • Dalton Keene TE/HY-back

    Votes: 19 19.4%
  • Justin "Top 3% of all kickers is what I meant" Rohrwasser PK

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Michael Onwenu OG and Hog-molly

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Justin Herron - OT/OL

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Cassh Maluia ILB/STer

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • Other - UDFA or Dustin Woodard (C) (Please write in)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    98
  • Poll closed .

SMU_Sox

queer eye for the next pats guy
SoSH Member
Jul 20, 2009
8,878
Dallas
With camp right around the corner and COVID behind us *la la la la la I can't hear you la la la la la* we finally get some football!

Side note: I decided to buy SMU season tickets for college ball this year and if the season is canceled they give you 3 options for a refund: 1) You get your money deposited back to your bank or CC, 2) You can have the money stay with SMU as a credit for a future purchase from the AD, or 3) You can choose for the money to be donated as a gift to SMU. Because of fucking course 3 is an option... Refund? Wouldn't you rather the money go to our endowment? But I digress...

So, going into camp which rookie are you most excited about for this year?

Personally I think it is between Uche and Asiasi with an HM for Jennings who is all about that floor. Jennings hopefully will be a rock-solid starter or rotational guy who can't drop back into coverage but will set a hard edge and can handle stacking duties. He is a technician and a snap jumper as a pass rusher so don't expect a ton of production there. Uche has a chance to be special and could contribute on third downs this year. He was one of the few edge types who can run under the table with all kinds of quick twitch. Asiasi OTOH should be able to contribute as a seam and matchup exploiter. For the handful of you all who contributed to the not-pod-pods you know Asiasi was my boy. He is so good after the catch - his vision and elusiveness for a man his size is most impressive. The caveat for TEs is they almost never contribute more than 200-300 yards as rookies. This isn't a purely logical exercise though and as a fan I am more excited to see Asiasi destroy opposing defenses running seam route after seam route while hurdling over defenders.

I am going to leave UDFA's as write-ins. Some early favorites in no particular order: Bill Murray DL William & Mary, Will Hastings Slot Receiver Auburn, Jeff Thomas WR Miami, Nick Coe DE Auburn, J.J. Taylor Arizona RB/Scat-back.
 

Dduncan6er

New Member
Apr 16, 2020
335
Springfield, MA
Went with Uche over Duggar because I think he'll see more of the field year 1. I will however be more interested in hearing camp reports on Duggar because he's taking such a jump up in level of competition. If I had to pick pick someone on the offensive side of the ball Asiasi is a no brainer.
 

Phil Plantier

Member
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Mar 7, 2002
3,419
I've totally bought into the hype about Onwenu. Tom Curran's podcast episode and interview with his line coach has me rooting for him.

Hopefully he's not cut when the Pats have to get down to 80.
 

IdiotKicker

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Nov 21, 2005
10,785
Somerville, MA
I went with Dugger. That kind of hybrid player has so many roles they can fill in today's NFL, and I want to see how he handles what is going to be a significant jump in the talent he's playing against.
 

EL Jeffe

Member
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Aug 30, 2006
1,314
For me, it's all about Uche. Even if everything goes right this summer in the Covid world, with no preseason games and shortened camp, it will be crazy difficult for a rookie to get PT. Uche can step on an NFL field right now and rush the passer at a good level. I can easily see him being a rush package player early on and doing it well.

Asiasi would be #2 for me. Love the ceiling and think he enters the league not TOO far off from being A Guy in the run and pass game. The versatile guys like Keene and Jennings I think will be hurt the most under the circumstances (besides obviously the UDFAs).
 

Harry Hooper

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Jan 4, 2002
34,369
I've totally bought into the hype about Onwenu. Tom Curran's podcast episode and interview with his line coach has me rooting for him.

Hopefully he's not cut when the Pats have to get down to 80.
If it's about 50-50 between a vet and a newbie like Onwenu, the default would seem to be to keep the newbie.
 

Super Nomario

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Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Uche is the "right" answer as the guy with the best combination of talent and opportunity. Dugger is more blocked and faces a bigger leap in competition; Jennings is less heralded; the TEs figure to take some time to contribute; the OL are fighting for bench roles.

But I went with Dalton Keene. Just loved his game and really interested to see how they use him. Realistically, more likely to contribute in 2021 than in 2020.
 

cornwalls@6

Less observant than others
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Apr 23, 2010
6,248
from the wilds of western ma
Uche for me. Think he’s got potential to have an immediate impact off the edge. And like the idea of potential young bookends with him and Winovich. Dugger was close as a really unique, hybrid playmaker in the secondary. Just not sure this is the year he gets major playing time on the defense, though could see him making an impact on special teams. Hope one of the tight ends emerges, but don’t have a great feel for whether either one of them is quite ready.
 

Soxy

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Dec 1, 2008
6,095
Went with Uche over Duggar because I think he'll see more of the field year 1. I will however be more interested in hearing camp reports on Duggar because he's taking such a jump up in level of competition. If I had to pick pick someone on the offensive side of the ball Asiasi is a no brainer.
This was my thinking too. I really wanted to say Duggar but there's a chance he's just a special teams guy that doesn't really see a lot snaps on D. Uche could at least be a situational pass rusher, if nothing else, pretty much right off the bat.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
47,094
I’m going with Dugger. Uche has clearer path to playing time but I don’t see why Dugger can’t force his way into situational use. Really want to see how his athleticism translates to NFL.
 

ShaneTrot

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Nov 17, 2002
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I went with Asiasi. I love Ben Watson but TE was a black hole last year. If they had 2 league average TEs last year, I bet they would have kept the second playoff bye.
Asiasi looks like a really smooth athlete who can stretch the field.
 

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
22,673
I'm not the most knowledgeable poster in this thread, but I went with Keene. Just looking at his highlights and how he was used in college, coming into McDaniels system, I'm very interested in how they line him up and how he is used. The way Hernandez was utilized in New England was unlike any other player I have seen, and I'd be very intrigued in seeing a similar type of player again (hopefully without any murders).
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
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Oct 1, 2015
24,376
I'm not the most knowledgeable poster in this thread, but I went with Keene. Just looking at his highlights and how he was used in college, coming into McDaniels system, I'm very interested in how they line him up and how he is used. The way Hernandez was utilized in New England was unlike any other player I have seen, and I'd be very intrigued in seeing a similar type of player again (hopefully without any murders).
This is the person I voted for too. He seems like an offensive Swiss Army knife, and Keene looks like a terrific athlete.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

Homeland Security
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Dec 4, 2005
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Portsmouth, NH
I went with Dugger. That kind of hybrid player has so many roles they can fill in today's NFL, and I want to see how he handles what is going to be a significant jump in the talent he's playing against.
I'm in this boat too. In addition, they need a kick returner and he should be able to hopefully not pull a Cyrus Jones.
 

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
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Jun 27, 2006
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A Scud Away from Hell
I am most excited for Keene as he seems to have the biggest gap between ceiling and floor. He could be the you-know-who or Jacob Hollister.

Also, "Justin 'Top 3% of all kickers is what I meant' Rohrwasser PK" was mean, bro.