Even though they have two starting tackles on their roster, the New England Patriots entered Thursday night with a definitive need at the position. Morgan Moses, who started all 21 games at right tackle last season, turned 35 in March, which means his days in the NFL are definitively numbered.
And so, finding a replacement was high up on the Patriots’ list entering the 2026 draft. And with the 28th overall selection, following a short trade up the board, they picked their guy: Caleb Lomu out of Utah.
We have spoken at great length about Lomu so far, from what his selection means, to his strengths and weaknesses, to his impact on the rest of the roster and his position group in particular, to why the Patriots might have been drawn to him. So, with all that out of the way and the focus quickly shifting to the second and third rounds on Friday, let’s clean out the notebook from what was a busy Day 1.
Lomu spent three seasons at Utah, starting 24 games and playing over 1,600 offensive snaps. A majority of those came at left tackle; he actually was one of the few pure left tackles in the first round of this year’s draft.
The Patriots, of course, have a left tackle. Will Campbell was drafted fourth overall in 2025 to serve as quarterback Drake Maye’s blindside protector — a role he held throughout his rookie campaign and will resume as a sophomore as well.
So, why was Lomu picked if he is not a natural right tackle? Because the Patriots believe he can be.
“We feel like he has the athletic ability and talent to — obviously has to come in and earn a role somewhere — but he has the athletic ability, talent, strength and upside to kind of play anywhere on the line,” executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said on Thursday. “We’re just really thrilled. Big athletes like this are hard to come by, especially later in the in the first round like this. I don’t want to set him up for any wild comparisons or anything like that, but just really, really happy that we were able to acquire him.”
Wolf added that the Patriots also believe Lomu’s athletic abilities — he posted a 9.77 Relative Athletic Score in the pre-draft process — would allow him to move inside to guard. However, for the time being, the plan is to have him serve as the eventual bookend to Campbell.
Of course, that will likely not happen right away. With Morgan Moses still entrenched into the starting right tackle role, Lomu likely will have to go the Nate Solder route: like the 2011 first-round pick, he will start as a swing tackle and jumbo tight end.
For the 21-year-old, none of that is a problem as long as he gets to play.
“I just want to play,” he said. “Whatever position’s open, I just want to get on the field and get out and play.”
What kind of player are the Patriots getting in Lomu? On a conference call with the local media after getting picked, he gave some insight into his play and what he would bring to New England’s offensive line.
“I’m a very technical player,” he said. “I study the game really hard. I like to be very prepared out there so I know what I’m going to do, what to expect, so I’m able to move faster and play faster. As an offensive lineman, too, you’ve got to be mean and aggressive, so that’s part of my game as well.
“But I love to be smart out there. Football’s a very physical game, but it’s also a very mental game. Having that right mindset being on the field, it’s just as important. So, that’s how I make sure I focus on that, and I feel like that’s what makes me a very good football player.”
Traditionally, the Patriots are quick to introduce their first-round draft pick to the media. Last year, Will Campbell arrived at Gillette Stadium on Friday for a photo op and quick Q&A with the beat writers.
However, the schedule was changed this year and no date for the introduction has been set yet. The team did tentatively announce Thursday, May 7, as a potential opportunity for Lomu to be presented to the world; rookie minicamp is set to begin the following day.
With offensive linemen starting to come off the board quickly in the middle of the first round, the Patriots knew they couldn’t sit around and No. 31 and hope for one of them to fall into their lap. If they wanted their guy, they needed to be proactive.
“There are still some good players at the tackle and guard as well,” said Eliot Wolf, “but we felt like there was a drop off and we felt like just the ‘best player available’ type situation for us at that point.”
And so, Wolf called his counterpart in Buffalo — Bills general manager Brandon Beane — to make a trade. The Patriots would move from the 31st to the 28th spot and give up the 125th overall selection in the fourth round in return. As a look at the various draft value charts shows, this was a pretty fair deal for the two teams involved:
The Patriots might not be done trading up in the draft either. As Wolf said on Thursday night, his team is not opposed to using its current capital — nine remaining picks between Rounds 2 and 7 — to further manipulate the board to its liking.
“I think that’s a possibility,” he said about possibly moving up from No. 63. “We like to have as many picks as we can and obviously we gave one up, so I don’t know how likely that is. But again, if it’s the right thing for us, which we felt like this one was, certainly wouldn’t rule it out.”
The Patriots had originally intended to bring Lomu into Gillette Stadium for a pre-draft visit, but they eventually decided to cancel because they did not believe he would fall into their range. And so, their only extended pre-draft meeting took place at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
For Lomu, it was a memorable one.
“I walked in – it was one of my first, so initially, it was kind of scary, walking in, seeing 20 people just all right there,” he recalled. “You just sit right in the middle and they just start attacking you with some questions. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but I loved it. It was amazing to be able to talk with those coaches and kind of get to know them. They’re just doing their interview thing, and so I enjoyed it. But that was like the first time I got to be with them.”
What would the Patriots ask him, though?
“A lot of it, all the basic stuff, just who I am, asking me some questions,” he said. “Then we got into the football stuff. They started asking me questions about who I am as a player, a person, about my game on the field, and they kind of started throwing football knowledge at me to see how I could retain it and then kind of communicate it back to them. So, the whole thing was just a test, really, and I loved it. It was super intimidating, but I loved being in there and being able to answer those questions that they were asking me. ”
Leading that test were Wolf as head of the Patriots’ scouting department as well as head coach Mike Vrabel. ANd as Lomu pointed out, the latter was making sure to make the draft prospect feel the heat — at least early on.
“I loved him,” he said. “I walked in there, and he was definitely playing his role. He was kind of mean-mugging a little bit. So, I walked in there, and that made me a little intimidated. He just started asking questions, you know? He knew he was a tough guy in there, so I walked in, he started asking me questions, was getting on me a little bit, and it was awesome. Then right after, it was all smiles.
“He came up to me, shook my hand, said, ‘Really good job,’ and I just walked out. It’s just speed dating at the Combine, but I loved it. He was a very serious guy, and he’s an amazing coach. I can’t wait to be able to play for him.
Mike Vrabel will not be with the Patriots on the third day of the draft, instead taking some personal time off from the team in light of his recent photo saga involving him and NFL reporter Dianna Russini.
With the head coach away, Eliot Wolf will be the undisputed main man in the draft room. As he confirmed on Thursday, he will have final word on the Patriots’ decisions (which he already had, but the hierarchy was flatter at the top with both him and Vrabel in the room).
Nonetheless, Vrabel will be missed.
“The stability of him as a person, some of the leadership, some of the presence,” said Wolf. “He does a nice job for us with the undrafted players. Obviously, he’s a tremendous recruiter, so that’s maybe something that we’ll be missing. But again, we’re very confident in the people we have with the process. The assistant coaches have done a tremendous job, as have the scouts, preparing for Day 3. And we’re excited about it.”
Even though the University of Utah produced some good players through the years, Lomu is only the second former Ute to join the Patriots through the draft. The first was fellow offensive tackle Darryl Haley, who was selected 55th overall in the second round of the 1982 draft.
Haley went on to spend five seasons with the Patriots, and saw action in 58 combined regular season and playoff games with 25 starts. After leaving New England in 1987, he had brief stints in Tampa, San Diego, Cleveland and Green Bay. Along the way, he added 24 more games and another star to his résumé.
Eagles tip their hand: If you needed any more proof that A.J. Brown’s Eagles tenure was coming to an end, the team traded up in the first round on Thursday to select USC wide receiver Makai Lemon at No. 20 overall. The expectation remains that Brown will be traded to New England at some point after June 1.
Jets revamp their offense: The Jets are overhauling their roster once again, and they added some critical pieces on Thursday. At No. 16, they brought in this year’s top tight end, Kenyon Sadiq out of Oregon, and followed the selection up with Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. at No. 30. Of course, they also picked the first defensive player off the board, taking taking Texas Tech edge David Bailey second overall. A busy day for Gang Green.
Bears with the steal: The Bears lost starting safety Kevin Byard to the Patriots in free agency, but they managed to find an adequate replacement. Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman fell into their lap at No. 25, arguably one of the biggest steals in the draft.
Quarterback of the future? Fernando Mendoza going first overall to the Raiders was no surprise. A second quarterback joining him in Round 1 also was not. However, Alabama QB Ty Simpson getting picked by the Rams at No. 13 was a move few some coming. Needless to say, he will become Matthew Stafford’s successor at one point in the future.
Surprises aplenty: Besides Simpson getting selected 13th overall, there were other picks that caught our eye as surprises. From Arizona indeed staying put to draft RB Jeremiyah Love at No. 3, to fringe first-round OT Kadyn Proctor getting selected 12th overall by the Dolphins, to G Keylan Rutledge finding his way into the first round with the Texans’ selection at No. 26, Day 1 of the draft was not short on unexpected developments.