manxman2601
PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Here we go, arguably my favourite thread of the cycle.
Dan Vitale (FB/TE Northwestern) met with the Patriots twice at the combine. Very intriguing. 6-1, 239lbs, 4.58 forty (U), 38.5" vert, led all RBs on bench press with 30.
Thirty-one of the 32 NFL teams showed up (only the New Orleans Saints skipped) for Vitale’s pro day, despite only a handful of other draftable prospects working out at Northwestern’s facility. Perhaps the best-known evaluator in the house was New England Patriots director of personnel Nick Caserio, the team’s de facto general manager, who met with Vitale privately after the workout. If there ever was a team that would value Vitale’s versatility, it would be the Patriots.
And that includes his work on special teams. Throughout his four seasons, Vitale has been a fixture on the team’s “core four” units, playing just about every spot there was to play. As his offensive role increased this season, playing 60 or more snaps per game in 2015 for the 10-win Wildcats, Fitzgerald dialed back Vitale’s special-teams work. But not by his choice.
Definitely sounds like a Patriot. Not sure where he fits in with Devlin already here, but I'm sure we could make use of him on special teams.