Why the Patriots chose TE Asiasi rather than the ones better known.
by Jeff Howe, theAthletic
https://theathletic.com/1804280/2020/05/11/devin-asiasi-patriots/?source=emp_shared_article
Devin Asiasi had just completed a virtual positional meeting with the Patriots’ tight end group last week when his focus shifted.
The rookie third-rounder was already loaded up on new responsibilities – note cards and play sheets with schematic principles, route concepts and blocking assignments that can often be confused for a foreign language. Asiasi was still euphoric over the idea Bill Belichick liked him enough to trade up for him, and he remained on the verge of a contract that would do wonders for his family in northern California.
But Asiasi wasn’t thinking of any of that, not for that moment at least. Instead, he asked his former coach at De La Salle High School, Justin Alumbaugh, if he could join a Zoom call to share some inspirational words with their offensive linemen.
“I love the kid,” Alumbaugh said. “I told him that (during the call), too.”
That’s part of Asiasi’s selfless nature, instilled by his family and conveyed throughout his life. And it wasn’t the only example of that attribute during the call with the high schoolers.
Alumbaugh couldn’t help but share his favorite Asiasi story. De La Salle needed a third-and-5 conversion to run out the clock in the 2015 state championship with a 28-21 lead against Corona Centennial, which had the most prolific offense in California history, and Alumbaugh’s staff was scrambling for the right play call when Asiasi made a proclamation.
“Devin walked over,” Alumbaugh recalled, “and was like, ‘Coach, you want to win the game?’ I go, ‘Uh, yeah.’ He goes, ‘Run 18 Veer right behind me.’”
It was De La Salle’s most basic triple-option play, and it required Asiasi to seal off the defensive end to procure a running lane. Asiasi had been one of the west coast’s most highly decorated recruits and an offensive force who played every position except guard and center – not that he was incapable, but because the interior line positions required a jersey change.
But Asiasi didn’t want the ball and the individual spotlight. On the final play of his high school career, Asiasi wanted the block and the team glory.
“(Asiasi) goes, ‘Run it right behind me, and I guarantee we’ll win.’ He was so convinced and so fired up about it,” Alumbaugh said. “All of the linemen, you could just see them light up. Everybody knew right then and there we were going to win. We ran it, and he literally picked up the (defensive end) and drove him 9 yards. We got a 9-yard gain. Our runner tripped on the pile that he created. He looked over at the sideline and all of us, and it was like, man, that was great.”
Now,
along with fellow third-round pick Dalton Keene, Asiasi has a chance to anchor the next generation of Patriots tight ends. Listed at 6’3″ and 257 lbs, Asiasi is massive and freakishly athletic, and he has been lauded throughout his career for his team-first commitment.
That’s why the Patriots made him the second tight end off the board last month with the 91st overall pick. With an extended dose of consistency to refine his game, the 22-year-old has a combination of attributes that could lead to a special career in the NFL.
‘It was a frenzy’
Former UCLA coach Jim Mora can’t shake the memory of his first chance to watch Asiasi in person. He still gives off a tone of disbelief while recalling the game at De La Salle.
Asiasi, a two-way player, wreaked havoc at left defensive end. Then on offense, he played tight end at the point of attack, split out wide and shifted to the backfield for snaps as a traditional quarterback, Wildcat quarterback and even running back.
“They tossed him the ball, and he ran in for a touchdown. It was like, wait a minute,” Mora said. “Now he’s a running back and nobody wants to tackle him. It’s just cool.”
Alumbaugh loved it. Over the course of four years, he was able to tinker with the physically gifted athlete in his football lab and deploy him in ways that made him a menace to the opposition. And to think, Alumbaugh didn’t even know Asiasi would play football when he got to high school.
De La Salle, a private school in the San Francisco Bay Area, has one of the strongest football traditions in the country, once boasting a national-record 151-game winning streak (1992-2004) and piling up a host of national and state championship trophies. The program is structured with high demands, preaches team over self, shuns showboating and laziness, and places importance on treating one another with respect.
Asiasi, of Polynesian descent, typically spent weekdays at his father’s house near the school and weekends at his mother’s house about 45 minutes and two bridges to the south. With three brothers, three sisters and an extensive list of cousins, Asiasi always had a massive cheering section.
He was known more for his basketball ability when he enrolled, even making the varsity team as a freshman, but he went out for football and played quarterback and defensive end on the junior varsity team in his first year. Asiasi had a huge arm, but he began to fill into his frame as a sophomore and De La Salle had a talented quarterback depth chart. Austin Hooper (now with the Browns) had just graduated and moved on to Stanford, so Alumbaugh sat down with Asiasi and his dad to ask if he’d be willing to convert to tight end.
“Devin was like, ‘Sure, I’ll get the ball some, right?’” Alumbaugh said.
As recruits go, Asiasi became a superstar as he progressed through high school and took on every assignment Alumbaugh bestowed on him. He was a tight end, no doubt, but he lined up at every skill position and even slotted in as a tackle on unbalanced formations. Asiasi didn’t put up monstrous statistics, but his athletic dominance stood out for a team that routinely eclipsed 50 points against high-end competition.
As a junior in the 2014 California state championship, Asiasi even scored a rushing touchdown as a quarterback in a 63-42 victory against Centennial. Alumbaugh said he routinely had 10 plays for Asiasi at quarterback with a new wrinkle each week.
“I had opposing coaches go, ‘That’s really nice of you. You have a 265-pound Wildcat quarterback,’” Alumbaugh laughed. “One of the coaches in the area, I played with him in high school. He called me after the game and is like, ‘You’re an asshole.’ He’d get a head of steam and see some (defensive backs) who were not particularly fond of trying to tackle him. It was funny.”
The recruiting process wore on Asiasi, though, to the point where he asked Alumbaugh to be blunt with some big-time programs that didn’t interest him. He had offers from the likes of Alabama, Notre Dame, Oregon, USC and California, but it came down to Michigan and UCLA.
“It was a frenzy,” Alumbaugh said.
Mora added, “He was big time, especially on the west coast. People were clamoring for him.”
Both programs were led by former NFL coaches who prioritized tight ends with Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and Mora at UCLA. Asiasi was wowed by his visit to Ann Arbor and the game-day experience at Michigan Stadium, and he committed to the Wolverines.
‘This kid is going to be legit’
It just didn’t last. Asiasi was homesick as a freshman, and his best friend from De La Salle, Boss Tagaloa, was off to a good start as a UCLA lineman, so Asiasi decided to transfer. Aside from his obvious attraction to UCLA, he was won over by one more factor – Jedd Fisch, who coincidentally now works for the Patriots.
Fisch was Michigan’s passing game coordinator during Asiasi’s freshman year in 2016, and Mora hired Fisch as his offensive coordinator at UCLA in 2017. Asiasi knew he’d be comfortable in the system, and Mora was all in for a second chance with him.
“I didn’t believe it at first,” Mora said. “I was like, ‘No way, come on, no way.’ It’s always exciting when a great player comes back. And when he came back and was who we thought he was going to be in terms of his personality, his character, fitting into the culture, it made it even more exciting.”
Asiasi had to sit out the 2017 season due to transfer rules, but he was an asset on the scout team, filling in at quarterback, running back, tight end, wide receiver and offensive tackle, just like his days at De La Salle. As a redshirt, Asiasi could have prioritized his focus on his own development as a tight end for 2018, but Mora appreciated the way he devoted time to other positions for the team’s benefit.
“He never slacked off,” Mora said. “He never complained. He was never lazy. He always worked hard. That’s not always easy for a big-timer who knows he is going to be starting the next year. Some guys might just mail it in, and he never did – not once, not one day.”
Asiasi was the second tight end selected in last month’s draft. (Casey Sapio / USA Today)
Mora was fired by UCLA in November 2017 and replaced five days later by Chip Kelly, another tight end aficionado. However, the transition wasn’t as smooth as Kelly and Asiasi would have liked.
Asiasi violated an unspecified team rule and was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season. The incident was described as relatively minor by multiple sources, but it’s still unclear what happened. Mora said it happened after his dismissal, and Kelly said it occurred before his arrival. Asiasi knew of the suspension by February 2018, though it wasn’t publicly announced until August.
Asiasi was accountable for the infraction, and Kelly said he never had a problem with the tight end otherwise.
“Devin obviously learned from his mistake,” Kelly said. “It was something that happened before I got here. There are consequences for your actions. He owned it, and we never had an issue post-that. He understood how it could potentially affect his future. We talked about it that it was all part of growing up. There are life lessons you have to teach that this sport can help you with. He made a mistake. He paid a price for his mistake and came out better on the other end for it. Hopefully, he can reflect back on that and understand nothing is guaranteed. You always have to do the right thing and understand playing this game is a privilege, and with that privilege comes responsibility. In my two years with Dev, we didn’t have any issues post-that. He was a good young man to be around.”
Asiasi was tremendous in spring ball during his first offseason with Kelly. With starting tight end Caleb Wilson out with an injury, Asiasi monopolized the reps and distinguished himself, and tight ends coach Derek Sage said he realized right away Asiasi was “special.”
Wilson, a Cardinals seventh-round pick in 2019, seized the job upon his return due to his receiving ability, but Kelly wasn’t going to keep the well-rounded Asiasi off the field. For reference points, Kelly showed Asiasi tape of his offenses with the Eagles (Zach Ertz and Brent Celek) and 49ers (Vance McDonald and Garrett Celek) to prove how valuable Asiasi would be in a two-tight end system. Sage added cutups of Rob Gronkowski and Travis Kelce for Asiasi to study, too.
Asiasi only caught six passes for 130 yards and a touchdown in 2018, but he was useful in Kelly’s scheme to create mismatches. He had his best all-around game against Oregon, and Sage bragged about Asiasi’s back-to-back pancake blocks of USC linebacker Cam Smith in their rivalry game.
“The way Devin does it with his athletic ability, it was like, holy, this kid is going to be legit, man,” Sage said. “This kid is going to be really, really good.”
Asiasi also got off to a slower start than desired in 2019 because he was pressing too hard to become a focal point in the offense. He settled down and broke out with 44 receptions, 641 yards and four touchdowns while becoming an even more impressive in-line blocker.
Sage believed Asiasi was the best blocking tight end in the draft class. And while presently conducting virtual meetings with recruits, Sage shows them Asiasi’s blocking highlights, which he described as “clinic tape.”
Off the field, Asiasi was a joy to be around. He was known for his sneakily infectious smile and wit, getting on Sage anytime his hair was less than perfect or whenever he came back from vacation with an extra few pounds. Sage also gets a chuckle at the image burned in his mind from Thanksgiving when Asiasi was sitting around a miniature table decorating gingerbread cookies with his kids.
Asiasi cared about those around him, sometimes taking a quick flight home to watch his sister play basketball. He loved reveling in his teammates’ success, and UCLA coaches joked they would time him to see how quickly he’d congratulate a fellow Bruin for a big play.
But Asiasi wasn’t a third-round pick for his high-fives and baking skills.
Bruin to Boston
Asiasi was undoubtedly a projection pick for NFL teams.
His power, athleticism and speed were easy to identify, although his weight fluctuated between 255-270 pounds at times. But the UCLA staff didn’t stress over Asiasi’s weight, saying he played at the same speed at each end of the spectrum, only losing a little endurance, and he was capable of quickly shedding the pounds if necessary.
Asiasi also only had one prominent season of production, which can be traced to three coaching staffs in four years, in part due to his decision to transfer from Michigan. And of course, there were questions from the NFL over the suspension.
Belichick was comfortable enough to trade up to No. 91 for Asiasi. Why? Because he called Kelly directly during the third round for last-minute assurance from a trusted friend.
“His athletic ability for his size, someone that big shouldn’t be that smooth an athlete,” Kelly said. “His versatility is what a lot of teams in the NFL coveted, and obviously Bill saw that himself. The one thing I knew in coaching that league is there aren’t a lot of guys out there, no matter what year it is, who are as big and athletic. The combination of Devin’s size and athletic ability, I knew it was going to make him unique, not just in this class but any class.”
Belichick projects talent as well as any coach in the league. He has a vision for the best way to maximize Asiasi’s talent.
“I know how Bill likes to build his program and manage his culture,” Mora said. “He is a great pick for that place.”
Asiasi has shown he already understands that culture at every stop on his football journey – always true to his roots, sacrificing the ball for the block, willing to dim his own shine for the betterment of those closest to him.
