Patriots leave no doubt about their plans for rookie Caedan Wallace

The New England Patriots entered the 2024 NFL Draft with a major hole at left tackle. However, they didn’t end up tackling this place – at least at first glance.

Although they drafted a tackle in the third round, Caedan Williams has been 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 problem ?

Despite his lack of experience playing left guard for the Nittany Lions – a position held by fellow NFL draft picks Rasheed Walker and Olu Fashanu throughout his time in Happy Valley – the Patriots have confidence in the Wallace’s ability to pass to that side. line. In fact, they’ve left no doubt about their intentions since investing the 68th overall pick in the 24-year-old.

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

“He was a guy we thought was athletic enough to potentially move to the left side,” Wolf said shortly after Wallace was drafted Friday night. “Very good pass protector, I really took a huge step forward this year as a four-year starter. Athletic, able to bend, strong, powerful, durable. He could possibly play the role of goalkeeper. We think he could be a four-position guy, but we definitely feel like he can play on the left side.

Mayo added that he trusts the Patriots assistant coaches to make this decision. The evaluation of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, offensive line coach Scott Peters and assistant O-line coach Robert Kugler played a significant role in Wallace’s arrival with a move to the left at the mind.

“I like the way he plays, but after having conversations with Van Pelt, Scotty Peters, this group and Kugler, they were very confident that this guy could play both ends,” Mayo said. “I have to trust that I chose the right people to evaluate or project what this guy can do in the future. 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,” fine, I’ll take it.

Mayo and Wolf talking about Wallace’s move to the left side wasn’t just lip service to appease a fan base looking for an upgrade at left tackle, either. Look no further than the Patriots depth chart, which was visible on a behind-the-scenes video shared by the team:

Even if the quality of the blurred shot leaves something to be desired, the information displayed is still sufficient. What we can see, after all, is the Patriots roster with the defense at the 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 of those cards with the quarterback group (first-round pick Drake Maye) and another at left tackle. This card is Caedan Wallace.

It remains to be seen how effective he will be at left tackle. Wallace himself, meanwhile, also spoke of his own confidence in his ability to move if asked to do so.

Based on all the information we have, that’s precisely what the Patriots will do.