The Patriots selected Wallace in the third round of the NFL Draft.
Left tackle was a major position of need for the New England Patriots entering the 2024 NFL Draft, but they waited until the third round to address it. After spending their first two picks on a quarterback (Drake Maye) and a wide receiver (Ja’Lynn Polk), they invested their third in Caedan Wallace out of Penn State.
Wallace offers good size and athleticism, and was a 40-game starter for the Nittany Lions. The problem is all of those starts, and virtually all of his snaps in college, came at the right tackle position.
Nonetheless, the 24-year-old is expected to factor into the mix on the left side as well. Wallace pointed out that he would feel good about his ability to make the move over, or in fact play anywhere along the offensive line.
“Super confident,” he told reporters during his introductory media conference call on Friday night. “I play every position on the line, and I’m just excited to get there and learn from some great coaches.”
Whether or not Wallace’s confidence is justified will be seen, but it is certainly not the result of a vast number of in-game reps. During his five-year career at Penn State, after all, the 6-foot-5, 314-pounder played a total of 2,290 offensive snaps at right tackle versus only two in a different alignment (one each at left guard and inline tight end).
What he lacks in experience, however, Wallace makes up for with athleticism.
“He was a guy that we felt was athletic enough to possibly make the switch over to the left side,” said Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf on Friday.
“We feel like Caedan has the athleticism to play over on the left side. Really, his teammate, Olu Fashanu, who the Jets drafted, was the reason that he played on the right. Athletically, there’s no reason why he couldn’t make the switch over there. He’s a really smart, dedicated kid that we feel like could handle that.”
The Patriots will not be the first to ask Wallace to leave his established comfort zone and play on the left. During the East-West Shrine Bowl he also got some looks at the relatively unfamiliar position — a potential sign of things to come.
“In a game, it’s been a while. I did a lot of work at the Shrine Bowl at left tackle,” he said. “But I’m super fluid and I’m able to really switch around at any position on the line. So, I’m confident that wherever the coaches put me I’ll succeed at.”
You must be logged in to post a comment Login