The Patriots selected Wallace in the third round of the NFL Draft.
The New England Patriots’ offensive tackle position has been an area of concern for several years now. Entering the 2024 NFL Draft, the team was therefore definitively in the market to address the position.
New England apparently tried doing that by unsuccessfully trading back up into the tail end of the first round. Eventually, however, it stayed put and after picking wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk in the second finally invested pick No. 68 in Round 3 to address the group.
Caedan Wallace, a 40-game starter at Penn State, was brought aboard to bolster the group. While virtually all of his experience in college came at the right tackle position, the expectation shared by both the young player himself and Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf is that he will factor into the mix on the left side as well.
With that said, let’s assess where Wallace fits into the picture.
Offensive tackle
Michael Onwenu (71): The Patriots re-signed Onwenu to a three-year, $57 million contract ahead of free agency, which allowed them to stabilize their right tackle spot after a few years of personnel inconsistency at the position. While the former sixth-round draft pick has the flexibility to play both guard and tackle, he will stay outside and has shown that he can more than just hold his own as a bookend. Onwenu is a quality starter and a player capable of alleviating any and all concern at his particular spot in the lineup.
Chukwuma Okorafor (77): The Pittsburgh Steelers’ former starting right tackle, Okorafor was added on a one-year pact ahead of free agency. The Patriots feel confident in his ability to move back over to his college position on the left side, and would greatly benefit from him living up to the promise he showed back at Western Michigan. Will he do that? That is a multi-million dollar question, but for now he still appears to be the top option available for the team.
Caedan Wallace (–): The Patriots have high hopes for Wallace, and it is not hard to see why. He was overshadowed by first-round pick Olu Fashanu at Penn State and is a bit on the shorter side by conventional offensive tackle standards (6’4 7/8” with 34” arm length), but was a quality starter in his own right and offers the functional athleticism needed to succeed at left tackle. Time will tell when he will get the opportunity to fill that role in New England as well, but the traits are there.
Calvin Anderson (76): Anderson is a dark-horse candidate in the Patriots’ left tackle competition. He showed promise early on in his Patriots tenure last spring, but his mystery illness set him back and essentially led to a lost season for the 28-year-old. He does offer NFL starter experience, however, and at the very least will get a chance to get back on track as a OT4 candidate with the potential to earn a bigger role.
Conor McDermott (75): The Patriots relied on McDermott on multiple occasions to start the last two years, but that was more the result of necessity than anything else. He too will get a chance to fight for a roster spot and maybe even a starting position, and is a steady presence at either tackle spot. His ceiling is limited, though, and he appears best suited for a backup or practice squad role at this stage in his career.
Vederian Lowe (59): With injuries decimating the Patriots up front last season, they had to rely on their late-August trade pickup to play a prominent role early on in the season. The results were rough, with Lowe struggling mightily in extended action. Maybe he will move past his 2023 growing pains, but the early results were anything but promising.
Tyrone Wheatley Jr. (72): With free agency signings Calvin Anderson and Riley Reiff both bothered by medical issues, the Patriots acquired the aforementioned Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley Jr. on the trade market. Unlike Lowe, however, Wheatley Jr. was unable to make an impact before ending the season on injured reserve. He too projects to be in a battle for his roster life over the coming months.
Andrew Stueber (64): Entering his third NFL season, Stueber has yet to show he can be more than a backup and scout team player. There is value in such a role, of course, but the Patriots having to rely on him to play prominent snaps in 2024 would likely still be bad news for the overall composition of the offensive tackle group.
All in all, the left tackle spot in particular remains an area of uncertainty in New England. Realistically, the Patriots will have Chukwuma Okorafor and Caedan Wallace compete for the starting spot. On paper, the the veteran should be the frontrunner given his superior experience against NFL-level competition, but Wallace has the skillset to factor into the mix as well.
Regardless of who will start, a big question mark continues to hang over the position overall. Well, except at the starting right tackle spot considering that Michael Onwenu is holding down the fort on that side.
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