Back to the New England Patriots Newsfeed

ESPN tabs this player as Patriots X-Factor for 2022 season

New England Patriots tight end Jonnu Smith was one of the team’s prized free agent acquisitions last March. After a rough 2021 season, he is being pegged as a major X-factor heading into 2022.

Smith caught 28 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown last season. Although he showed flashes of his playmaking ability throughout the season, he was never able to put it all together in the season’s entirety.

ESPN’s Ben Lindsey tabbed Smith as one player that could be a major piece for the Patriots next season. New England hopes to replicate the two tight end production that was a staple of the offense in the early part of the 2010s.