The New England Patriots have sent their fifth round pick (#183) of the 2017 NFL Draft to the Kansas City Chiefs for TE James O’Shaughnessy and a sixth round pick (#216), per the Chiefs official Twitter account.
The Chiefs selected O’Shaughnessy with the 173rd overall pick of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Illinois State. The 6’4, 250 pound tight end runs a 4.68s 40 yard dash and has an impressive 9’8 broad jump and 7.20s three cone time.
As a prospect, O’Shaughnessy was regarded as a solid receiver, snagging 544 yards and 9 touchdowns on just 29 receptions in his final season, and a willing blocker. He was stuck behind Travis Kelce and Demetrius Harris on the Chiefs depth chart and was relegated to a special teams role, playing 287 special teams snaps in 2016 (versus 111 offensive snaps).
"He loves the game, like all players tend to," said Illinois State assistant coach Greg "Moose" McLain said about O’Shaughnessy, via ArrowheadPride. "We had to really hold him back from playing on special teams this season, because he was really good this year for us. And as you know, you look at the tape, his last play of his career in college was running down on kickoff.
"I think he would be a great special teams player, and he can be a guy that may not bear down on a line of scrimmage or embark right away on the opposition, but he's a very motivated player. He's really a 'move' guy. And he can really run, and move around a little bit. He's fast in college, but he will pick up speed and adapt right away."
O’Shaughnessy won’t be a lock to make the Patriots roster and he’ll also be stuck behind two capable tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Dwayne Allen. But the Patriots entered the final day of the 2017 NFL Draft with four main needs (linebacker, tight end, safety, interior offensive line), and the Patriots addressed one need and retained their total number of draft picks.
O’Shaughnessy will compete with Matt Lengel, Michael Williams, and Rob Housler for the Patriots third tight end role, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if FB Glenn Gronkowski was a part of the competition, too. Also look for the Patriots to add more tight ends as undrafted free agents.