Dalton Keene Speaks to His Versatility in Introductory Teleconference with the Patriots
Former Virginia Tech and recently drafted New England Patriots tight end Dalton Keene was introduced via teleconference over the weekend with his new franchise, and had an opportunity to sound off a bit on Virginia Tech, and how it made him the player he is today.
Keene elected to forgo his final season of eligibility in Blacksburg after three seasons as Virginia Tech's "Swiss Army Knife" on the offensive side of the football.
Keene lined up just about everywhere on offense, proved to be one of the team's best blockers, and emerged as a true pass-catching weapon, tallying 59 receptions for 748 yards and eight touchdowns in three years with the Hokies.
When asked about his time at Virginia Tech, a member of the media spoke to Keene's versatility, and asked Keene how he thought his versatility would translate to the NFL.
"Yeah I think (Virginia Tech) tried to do a lot of different things with me. It was awesome that they trusted me to do so many things and I think it says a lot about how I play and as a football player. That's why I'm so excited that I got picked up by the Patriots because I think they do so many different things with their tight ends and are really creative there. So I couldn't be happier with where I ended up."
As for what went into his decision to leave school early?
"The biggest thing for me was by going back another year, I felt like it would be really difficult to improve my draft stock a lot. Just because I feel like we wouldn't change a lot on offense and my production probably wouldn't have a crazy increase. I want to make a career out of this and if that's the case, I need to come out now and take a run at it. Now I really feel like I made the right decision. I feel like I made the right decision the entire time but being with the Patriots, I'm just really happy to see it pay off."
Keene has quite the opportunity in front of him in New England, and his versatile role at Virginia Tech certainly sounds like it set him up well for the start of his pro career.
