For the second year in a row, the New England Patriots drafted two tackles in the NFL Draft. After selecting Will Campbell in the first round and Marcus Bryant in the seventh round last season, they took Caleb Lomu in the first round and Dametrious Crownover in the sixth this year.
Those four joined a Patriots tackle room that has been in transition over the past couple of year. In addition to those draft picks, the Patriots also currently have Morgan Moses returning, Lorenz Metz and Sebastian Gutierrez back on futures contracts, and free agent signing James Hudson on the roster.
That led somebody to asking Patriots vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden over the weekend if the tackle room had gotten ‘crowded.’
“If I would want a room to be crowded, I’ll take that as being one room that’s crowded just based on what we talked about before and how hard it is to find tackles in the National Football League,” Cowden explained. He went on to note that the plan at the top of mind wasn’t to purpously double-up at tackle, but more of a best-player available appraoch when taking Crownover – who many projected as a fringe top-100 pick – where they did.
“A little bit of that was just trusting in the board. When we get to areas in the draft and we have players valued in certain ranges, and with that one we leaned into a guy who, between where we had things stacked, he was one of the better players remaining on our board,” Cowden said. “So, there was a value there.”
“We don’t ever know what’s going to happen tomorrow, the next day, so that’s why you stick to a concept of the best player available when you pick, even if it, today, looks crowded,” Cowden continued. “That’s not going to maybe be the same in a week, two weeks or by the time we get the training camp. So, that’s kind of the situation there, is those guys go in a room and compete. And when you take the best player, sometimes it may look crowded on the front end, but those tend to have a way of working out.”
“I would say most of my career, you always think you’re going to have enough once the training camp or preseason hits, and you don’t,” executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf ecchoed. “So, having obviously Caleb, but having the opportunity to draft a guy with the experience of Dametrious Crownover at that point in the draft was pretty important to us.”
Now it’s just a matter of sorting out how things will line up with all that extra depth. Who will play where, and what battles will be we batching this spring and summer?
Let’s start with the two starters, who return from last year. During his press conference after Round 1, Wolf told reporters Campbell is still viewed the team’s left tackle while highlighting Lomu’s versatility and the fact he worked on the right side during the pre-draft process.
Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics
Caleb Lomu projects to develop mainly on the right side for the Patriots to start his NFL career.
That leaves Campbell starting at left tackle and the 35-year-old Moses at right, with Lomu seemingly developing primarily at right tackle behind him. However, multiple comments about from Wolf about Lomu’s versatility suggest he could back up both spots this year – or at least until he moves into a starting role. Additionally, he provides an extra level of security at left tackle if Campbell can’t hold onto that job – although that would re-open up questions long-term on the right side.
“It’s pretty exciting to be able to acquire him,” Wolf said of Lomu last week. “Athletically, like some of the things at the pro day, the feet, the ability to play right tackle, and then obviously some of the zooms that we did with him where he showed the intelligence that we felt like he had some versatility and would be able to play more than one spot.”
While that could be Lomu’s role initially, the Patriots could have a longer-term swing tackle (a tackle that can be trusted to play both the left and right sides) in Crownover. It may not sound like much, but the difference in playing tackle on the left side versus the right side is underrated, and not every player can comfortably play both. Having a player that can do so can be valuable to a team, as it might save a roster spot and avoid having to carry an extra tackle.
That swing tackle ability can help players – especially those drafted later in the draft – make a roster and stick around. That’s something Crownover said he was aware of and has been training to do since the pre-draft process began.
“It’s definitely something that I’ve been working on, knowing that when I got to this next level that they’re going to ask me to do,” Crownover shared when speaking to the media after being drafted by the Patriots. “So it’s something I’m not saying I’m 100% at. I would be so confident in my right side, but it’s something I’m still working on and getting there. But definitely something that I’m looking to do.”
According to Cowden, it’s a role the Patriots can see him growing in to.
“Dametrious is a massive individual. He’s got great length. He really has some pretty natural pass pro ability. I think ideally, with his size, I mean, both tackle positions,” Cowden said. “Inevitably the tackle position, it becomes left and right and your ability to play both sides. And I think we think Dametrious can contribute on both sides of the tackle position.”
Ed Zurga/Getty Images
Dametrious Crownover played most of his college career at right tackle but projects to get work at both spots with the Patriots.
As Cowden mentions, at 6-foot-7, 319 pounds with 35 3/8-inch arms, Crownover has the size to move around. The big thing he’ll need to work on his equally developing his open side, after making 27 of his 28 college starts (and every start since 2023) at right tackle. That’s while he continues to develop on the right side, where he projects more if he’s going to start full-time.
So heading into camp, that sets up for Campbell and Moses to resume their roles from last year. Lomu slots on as the top backup, mainly working on the right side to get ready to take over for Moses, and Crownover working at both spots to cross-train as a swing tackle. That could involve him playing opposite Lomu on the second unit to get him more work at left, if he beats out Hudson there. Hudson has experience on both sides, but played left tackle almost exclusively left last year with the Giants, where he only started two games before being pulled from the lineup.
If the Patriots were to keep a fifth tackle, that spot would likely come down to Hudson and Bryant. Both would seemingly be practice squad candidates if not kept on the roster.
Overall though, this might be the best position the Patriots have been in at tackle – both in terms of the short- and long-term outlook – going back almost 10 years. After two years of significant investments in the position, that should be the case.
If anything, the bigger questions right now loom at guard – where the Patriots haven’t drafted since 2024 (if we count Jared Wilson at his natural position of center). The team has Mike Onwenu and free agent signing Alijah Vera-Tucker slated as starters, but Onwenu is entering a contract year and Vera-Tucker has a significant injury history.
Ben Brown, who was signed to a contract extension last year, offers experienced depth but is also the backup center. After him the Patriots have Caedan Wallace, Mehki Butler, and Andrew Rupcich, who have played a combined 22 games with nine of Wallace’s 10 games and all but eight of his 137 NFL snaps coming at tackle. The team has also reportedly added Jacob Rizy and JonDarius Morgan as UDFAs. This group could be in competition for a depth roster spot come camp. At the same time this is a spot – like tackle the last few years – where outside help could be brought in at a later time.