Over the last two offseasons, the Patriots have added elite athletes along the offensive line in LT Will Campbell (9.90 RAS), C Jared Wilson (9.82 RAS), Alijah Vera-Tucker (9.77 RAS), and now Lomu, who registered the fifth-best relative athletic score among tackles at this year’s combine (9.89 RAS). Although that comes with some play strength concerns for the group, it projects as a good pass-blocking unit, which makes sense since the Patriots will likely be a high-volume passing attack with the MVP runner-up as their franchise quarterback for the foreseeable future.

The other thoughts kicking around my football-shaped brain are what this pick means for 35-year-old vet Morgan Moses and RG Mike Onwenu. The Pats top brass has said that Campbell isn’t moving off left tackle. They’ve also been consistent that Moses plans to play in 2026. Still, you wonder how much longer Moses, who was spotted in pictures on Patriots.com from the early days of the Patriots offseason program, plans on playing. With Onwenu, the Pats starting right guard is in the final year of a three-year contract with a $25 million cap hit. With the initiative to get more athletic on the offensive line, the 350-pound road-grading guard doesn’t seem to fit the mold.

From this perspective, Lomu projects a top swing tackle backup as a rookie while he develops behind the scenes. He’s immediate depth at a position where the Patriots were thin and a potential succession plan for Moses on the right side. When you peel back those layers, it makes sense that the Patriots targeted Lomu.

Let’s break down the film on the Patriots first-round pick from his two years as a starter at Utah.

Statistically, the numbers look great for Lomu as a pass protector inside Utah’s RPO-heavy scheme under offensive coordinator Jason Beck last season.

The Pats first-rounder allowed zero sacks and just five total pressures on 102 true pass sets, which removes screens, quick-games, and play-action passes to capture NFL-style drop-backs. Although the numbers look good, there’s important context needed. Among the seven first-round tackles, Lomu and his college teammate, Spencer Fano, had the smallest sample of true pass sets due to the nature of Utah’s offense. That said, Lomu had more true pass sets in 2024 with a different offensive coordinator (199).