Patriots leave no doubt about their plans for rookie offensive tackle Caedan Wallace

New England picked Wallace in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft

The New England Patriots entered the 2024 NFL Draft with a major hole at the left tackle position. However, they did not end up addressing that spot — at least at first glance.

While they did draft a tackle in the third round, Caedan Williams was exclusively a right tackle during his five-year career at Penn State. All 40 of his starts came on the right side, as did 2,290 of his 2,292 combined offensive snaps.

So, what’s the deal?

Despite his lack of experience playing on the left for the Nittany Lions — a spot that was manned by fellow NFL draft picks Rasheed Walker and Olu Fashanu throughout his time in Happy Valley — the Patriots feel confident in Wallace’s ability to transition over to that side of the line. In fact, they have left no doubt about their intentions since investing the 68th overall pick in the 24-year-old.

For starters, both director of scouting Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo spoke about Wallace being a capable left tackle.

“He was a guy that we felt was athletic enough to possibly make the switch over on the left side,” said Wolf shortly after Wallace was drafted on Friday night. “Really good pass protector, really took a huge step forward this year as a four-year starter. Athletic, can bend, strong, powerful, tough. He could possibly play guard. We think he could be a four-position guy, but definitely feel like he can play on the left side.”

Mayo added that he trusted the Patriots’ assistant coaches to make that call. The assessment of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, offensive line coach Scott Peters, and assistant O-line coach Robert Kugler played a big role in Wallace being brought in with a move to the left in mind.

“I love the way that he plays, but after having conversations with Van Pelt and Scotty Peters and that group and Kugler, they were very confident that this guy could play on both sides,” Mayo said. “I have to have confidence that I picked the right people to evaluate or project what this guy can do going forward. I’m not into micromanaging or anything like that. If the offensive coordinator and the offensive line coach say, ‘Hey, this guy can do X, Y and Z’, all right, I’ll take it in.”

Mayo and Wolf speaking about Wallace moving over to the left side was no lip service to appease a fanbase looking for an upgrade at left tackle either. Look no further than the Patriots’ own depth chart, which was visible on a behind-the-scenes video shared by the team:

While the quality of the out-of-focus shot leaves some to be desired, the information on display is still plenty enough. What can be seen, after all, is the Patriots’ roster with the defense on top and the offense at the bottom; the cards are the players with the yellow ones representing the draft picks.

What we can see is one such card with the quarterback group (first-round pick Drake Maye), and another at left tackle. That card is Caedan Wallace.

How effective he will be at left tackle remains to be seen. Wallace himself, meanwhile, also spoke about his own confidence in making the move over if asked to do so.

Based on all the information we have available, that is precisely what the Patriots will do.