Dametrious Crownover’s position coach at Texas A&M believes Patriots got a good one: ‘His best football is ahead of him’

Hey, Dametrious Crownover, what’s it like being one of the biggest people on the planet?

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“It’s great,” he said with a smile. “Until you find somebody bigger than you. And then when you look at them, you think, ‘Wow, people really see me as that? Oh my gosh, he’s huge.’”

Crownover, who was taken by the Patriots in the sixth round of the draft last month out of Texas A&M, has landed in Foxborough as one of the biggest players in recent franchise history at 6 feet 7 inches, 319 pounds.

With Crownover, it’s not just the size — which includes an 86-inch wingspan — that demands attention, but the surprising athleticism, which includes a time of 5.14 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Texas A&M offensive line coach Adam Cushing said there was a tackle end-around pass in the Aggies’ playbook in hopes of taking advantage of Crownover’s arm.

“God gave him a lot of things that he didn’t give to everyone else,” Cushing said of Crownover, who will turn 25 in September.

So in an era where good offensive tackles are a valuable commodity, why did Crownover last until the sixth round? As Patriots executive vice president Eliot Wolf hinted after the draft, maybe it was his age, or maybe it was that he only played right tackle in college (25 games over the last two seasons).

Whatever the case, Wolf sounded happy to land Crownover.

“He’s really light on his feet, and he’s going to have a chance to come in here and compete,” Wolf said.

One possibility is while Crownover has played a lot of football, he’s relatively new to tackle, having been recruited to Texas A&M as a tight end. As a result, there’s the belief that he’s still ascending, which means the Patriots drafted him not for who he is, but for what they believe he could become.

Cushing saw the initial stages of that rise at Texas A&M when Crownover went from an unpolished gem to quickly understanding the nuances of the position.

“It went from me asking him questions and him looking kind of puzzled, to him asking me really intelligent football questions,” Cushing said of Crownover’s rapid development.

Cushing said there are still areas where Crownover’s game needs refinement — including consistency in his run blocking — but he’s quick to remind people where Crownover is in his development.

“His best football is ahead of him,” Cushing said. “He’s going to play at an even higher level than he did in college, as he gets accustomed to the NFL game.”

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In New England, Crownover enters an interesting offensive line room. Right tackle Morgan Moses is entrenched as a starter, but he is 35 and going into the last year of his deal. And the Patriots drafted two tackles in the first round the last two seasons, Will Campbell and Caleb Lomu.

So where does that leave Crownover? One short-term option is as a backup left tackle. Cushing said Crownover took left tackle reps in practice, and the Aggies tried to get him game reps at the position. But a wrist issue dictated a different path.

“We did have some designs on moving Crown to the left side, but what happened was that he had a wrist injury [and club cast] on his left arm, and the left hand is critical for that initial punch,” Cushing said.

“We were flipping him during walkthroughs, and we’ve done a ton of drill work with him at left tackle. But with that wrist issue, we went in a different direction.

“All that being said, he’s a smart guy and good athlete. I have no doubt he’d be able to pick it up on the left side. In that case, we just had to protect his wrist.”

Another short-term option is to have Crownover step into the role Thayer Munford had last season as an extra tight end in jumbo packages. With Munford having departed in free agency, an ex-tight end such as Crownover would slot nicely into a position that demands athleticism, physicality, and smarts.

“Crown is ideally fitted for that sort of role,” said Cushing. “He’s versatile like that. He’s an uncommonly gifted guy. They can check him in as eligible with his number and have him block or go out for the pass, and he’ll look right at home when doing it.”

Regardless of where he ends up, Cushing will be keeping an eye on Crownover’s development and sounds confident he’ll grow into an important role.

“There are obviously really talented players all over, but to see one like Crown — who did need to improve in a lot of areas — become the best version of himself, it was a lot of fun,” Cushing said. “He’s very open about that. But he put in the work.

“Crown is a tremendous person. There’s always positive energy there all the time with him. He just goes about his business, and is unapologetically himself. He’s going to be someone the Patriots can always count on to try and make the franchise a better place.”

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