Ahead of Saturday’s NFL Draft action, two of the AFC’s best teams struck a trade. The New England Patriots acquired tight end James O’Shaughnessy and a sixth rounder (No. 216 overall) for a fifth-round pick (No. 183 overall).
#Patriots acquire TE James O’Shaughnessy and the 216th pick from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for the 183rd pick. #PatsDraft pic.twitter.com/XqBo9L3hLq
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 29, 2017
O’Shaughnessy was a fifth-round pick (No. 173 overall) out of Illinois State in 2015. He has been used largely on special teams in his first two NFL seasons, catching only eight passes for 86 yards.
He’ll certainly enter training camp well behind both Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen. But given New England’s tendency to run multiple tight end sets and Gronkowski’s injury history, we can expect an increased offensive role from O’Shaughnessy.