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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
New England Patriots QB Drake Maye<\/p>\n
New England Patriots<\/a> legend Rob Gronkowski weighed in on what he thinks the team should do in the NFL draft, with the event itself only a couple of weeks away.<\/p>\n The Patriots have a variety of directions to take. Coach Mike Vrabel talked about the Patriots\u2019 draft plans earlier this week<\/a> and kept things close to the vest. For now, it appears they are exploring all options after a Super Bowl appearance.<\/p>\n Gronkowski has one specific area that he wants to see the Patriots address in the draft. The area itself could benefit quarterback Drake Maye<\/a>, and the Patriots legend elaborated on this. Forbes.com\u2019s DJ Siddiqi reported this.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely go out and get another offensive lineman or two just to protect Drake Maye, because that\u2019s where it all starts,\u201d said Gronkowski. \u201cIf you got a dominant offensive line that can run block and also pass block, then you know you\u2019re going to move that ball down the field and you\u2019re going to have Drake Maye, your star quarterback, comfortable in the pocket at all times. That\u2019s what you want as a football team, absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n The Patriots were dealing with a young offensive line at the start of the 2025 season. Will Campbell<\/a> was selected that year with the fourth overall pick. He ended up becoming a valuable piece at left tackle. Left guard Jared Wilson<\/a> was selected in the third round. He too, ended up being a valuable piece on the line as well.<\/p>\n The line definitely got tested throughout the season, but some of it was due to injury. Campbell missed five games mid-season with a knee injury. Veterans were affected as well. Center Garrett Bradbury<\/a> also dealt with entry issues throughout the course of the year.<\/p>\n Youth of Patriots Line Exposed In Playoffs<\/p>\n The youth of the offensive line was exposed through the playoffs. The unit allowed 21 total sacks over a span of four games. This included six sacks against the Seattle Seahawks and five sacks apiece through the first three playoff games. This included games against the Los Angeles Chargers,<\/a> Houston Texans<\/a> and Denver Broncos.<\/a><\/p>\n Those defenses certainly were no slouches. In fact, the offense of white faced three top-five ranked defenses. The game against the Broncos was particularly frustrating for the offensive line, as Maye was pressured on 22.7% of snaps. This is something that would rear its ugly head once again.<\/p>\n The Super Bowl was a true test for the offensive line. Several of the players on the unit struggle, including Campbell. He allowed 14 quarterback pressures in Super Bowl loss, the most for any offensive tackle at a playoff game since 2018. Making matters worse for the unit, the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> often pressured with only four rushers.<\/p>\n Future Bright For Patriots\u2019 Offensive Line<\/p>\n There is a silver lining here. Campbell and Wilson, for example, were only in their rookie seasons. They have an opportunity to grow and learn throughout the course of their careers.<\/p>\n On the flip side of things, veteran right tackle Morgan Moses<\/a> is 35 years old. They need to get younger at the position. The offensive line unit itself is somewhat of a juxtaposition.<\/p>\n Gronkowski is absolutely right in his assessment of what the Patriots need. Maye has already shown that he can play at a high level. It\u2019s up to the Patriots to continue building around him. Finding quality offensive lineman and subsequently protecting the quarterback is not easy. Nevertheless, it is something that the Patriots must try to do if they want to continue to be considered an elite team not only in the AFC, but in the entire National Football League.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDanny Jaillet<\/a> Danny Jaillet is a sportswriter with more than 15 years experience in the industry. He has been featured on Fox Sports, USA Today, and Yahoo Sports among others. He graduated from Worcester State University with a B.A. in communications and a minor in writing. More about Danny Jaillet<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Patriots\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty New England Patriots QB Drake Maye New England Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski weighed in on what he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-856072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116355003304971816","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}