Who is Patriots' next TE? Scouting draft prospects who could fill void

Adam Trautman (Dayton, 6-4?, 256 pounds): “He’s done nothing but climb and climb. He had a great week at the Senior Bowl. He went [to Dayton] as a quarterback and just kept growing. He has the measurables, is a crisp route runner, has good quickness. He has a basketball background, he can catch the ball over people. Adam was truly a man among boys at that level this year [70 catches for 916 yards and 14 TDs]. Then to come down to the Senior Bowl and show out like he did, he might be the first tight end taken. He’s going to test well and he’s a great kid. He’s hungry. What he really showed [at the Senior Bowl] was what he can be as a blocker. Everyone knew what an athlete he was and what kind of player he was in the pass game, but here he is going against SEC-level guys, some really good ones in the game this year, and he just fought his tail off and got into people and showed a level of physicality and competitiveness. Someone is going to draft this guy to be their starter.”

Brycen Hopkins (Purdue, 6-3¾, 238 pounds): “He’s the son of [longtime Titans offensive lineman] Brad [Hopkins], NFL bloodlines. He’s a phenomenal kid. Really bright. He had a big senior year statistically [61 catches, 830 yards, seven TDs]. He was going down to the wire with Harrison Bryant for being the most productive tight end in the country this year at the FBS level; Trautman was the most productive at the FCS level. Hopkins is a really good route runner. Hands were a little inconsistent on tape during the fall, but I thought he caught it really well Senior Bowl week and answered some of those questions. He’s going to do a really nice job at the combine. He probably will be the best tester at the position. They didn’t ask him to do a ton as a blocker at Purdue, so the physicality, that will be where he needs to make his biggest [jump]. But I think he will play on special teams and will have a role in sub packages early, because he can really run and is a mismatch.”

Charlie Taumoepeau (Portland State, 6-2¾, 248 pounds): “We used him at fullback. He was kind of the favorite small-school guy of the West Coast area scouts in the fall. He really got our attention last year as a junior, in the two games they played up in competition against Oregon and Nevada. He really went off. He is a really fluid athlete who can run. A really natural catcher. He [shined] down here in Senior Bowl week and did a really nice job blocking — even in pass pro. Charlie is another guy you can get production from in the pass game. He’s a really smooth route runner and has quickness at the top of the break, so he can get open.”

Sean McKeon (Michigan, 6-5, 248 pounds): “He was injured early in the week and didn’t play in the game. Sean is a legit ‘Y’-sized guy, which makes him a little different from some of the others. He has a nice, big frame. Good blocker. He can come in and be functional on the line of scrimmage pretty quickly. He’s a really solid kid whose ceiling is probably as a really good No. 2. He’s not the pass-game player that some of the others are. Hands were a little inconsistent at times, but he’s a big target who runs well. He’s tough, competitive. I don’t know if McKeon will get drafted higher than the fifth [round], but … it shouldn’t be any lower than that for him.”