The New England Patriots entered the offseason with everyone knowing that they needed to add talent to their starting offensive line for whatever quarterbacks would be under center to start the 2024 season.
However, the Patriots didn't add top talent. Instead, they signed a cheap right tackle who was benched in 2023 (Chukwuma Okorafor) and waited until the third round to draft another right tackle (Caedan Wallace). The hopes were that one of them would be able to slide in on the left side.
Through most of the training camp sessions and the two preseason games, we've seen Vederian Lowe, who New England acquired in a trade for a sixth-round pick last year, line up as the starter protecting Jacoby Brissett's backside. The other spot has been manned by Okorafor, Calvin Anderson, Caedan Wallace and even Michael Onwenu again.
The results haven't exactly been pretty, as Scott Peters' position group isn't allowing their quarterbacks to feel comfortable in the pocket.
Despite what's been seen on the field, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf still believes in the group that he assembled.
"We’re excited about our offensive line group," Wolf said. "We’re still working to find the correct combination in there, and I think we have the pieces in place to be able to compete... We feel confident in all these players, and we’re just working to find the best group, rather than the best five individuals."
It's hard to imagine things gelling for the offensive line sometime before New England's first game of the regular season, where they'll have to outduel Joe Burrow and company at Paycor Stadium. When the group wasn't working earlier in camp, they should've been willing to make changes, whether that meant adding in a veteran (via trade or free agency) or moving Ownenu back to tackle sooner.
Instead, it feels like everyone is just hoping things will be all right, and either Brissett or Drake Maye will be able to make do. We've seen that movie play out before with Mac Jones last year, and it wasn't pretty.
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