Sunday Patriots Notes: Offensive line lessons drive continued tackle investments

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - OCTOBER 19: Tanoa Togiai #73 of the Utah Utes and Caleb Lomu #71 walk towards the field for warm ups prior to a game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Rice Eccles Stadium on October 19, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images | Getty Images The NFL Draft is officially in the books.

After entering the week with 11 picks, the Patriots ultimately used nine as a pair of trades up helped the team land offensive tackle Caleb Lomu and edge rusher Gabe Jacas in the first two rounds. The focus here on Pats Pulpit has been all draft talk. For anything that fell through the cracks, let’s clean out the notebook.

Welcome to this week’s edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes . Priority on tackles Patriots EVP of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf knows how important offenisve tackles are — and how hard they are to come by. In his first season as de facto GM in 2024, Wolf’s Patriots had a revolving door at both tackle spots.

Free agent addition Chuks Okorafor lasted just one game before leaving the team. Third-round draft pick Caedan Wallace struggled to switch sides before starting just two games due to injury. New England was primarily forced to rely on Vederian Lowe and Demontrey Jacobs, who was claimed off of waivers prior to the season, throughout the year.