Drafting a tight end is a must for New England this year.
The New England Patriots need a brand new tight end in 2026; luckily, this year's draft class is full of them.
The Patriots currently have two notable names at that tight end position ahead of this upcoming season. Hunter Henry has been with the team since 2021. He's currently 31 years old and about to serve the final year of his contract. The Patriots lost Austin Hooper in free agency to the Atlanta Falcons and brought in Julian Hill on a three-year deal; it must be mentioned that Hill only has 33 total career receptions, therefore making development in the position a must.
A prime candidate heading into the draft is none other than Georgia's Oscar Delp, and according to ESPN's Mike Reiss, Delp paid the team a visit in a Top 30 pre-draft visit recently.
Delp dressed for 55 games and started in 34 of them, which added up to 1,946 offensive snaps and 208 special teams snaps. He accumulated 854 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
The former Georgia Bulldog is a self-proclaimed receiving tight end who learned how to block. His primary duty for the Bullfogs was as an inline blocker, but his versatility showed where he could grow if given the opportunity. He could alternate into the rotation to give an aging Henry the breaks needed and evolve into a three-down tight end that could be used anywhere on the field.
In 2025, Georgia used Delp in different situations in the game. He played 9 backfield snaps, 581 inline snaps, 113 slot snaps, and 5 wide snaps just last season.
Delp fits what the Patriots could be looking for this time around. The last tight end that they drafted was Jaheim Bell in 2024 in the seventh round, who is now on a futures contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Delp is projected to go much higher, maybe even into the second or third round.
The tight end is undoubtedly key for New England at the draft in a few weeks. The Patriots Roundtable Podcast has brought it up a lot in their mock draft episodes and, more recently, in their Draft Favorites episode, where Delp was mentioned alongside other names like Stanford's Sam Roush and Eli Raridon out of Notre Dame.
Delp's production stats may not be particularly lucrative. Still, if you take notice of his versatility, any team, including the Patriots, could benefit from drafting him.
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