The Patriots came into the 2024 Draft hoping to add depth at tackle, specifically on the left side, and it appears they may have accomplished that Friday night.
New England snagged offensive lineman Caedan Wallace with the #68th overall pick out of Penn State, with Wallace apparently being a player who had been on their radar for most of this offseason leading up the draft.
The reasons were pretty obvious. He’s a big player, coming in at 6’5″, 328 pounds, yet he’s also surprisingly athletic for his size and extremely powerful. At right tackle, he was one of the key reasons why the Nittany Lions were so strong in the running game, anchoring the other side of the line opposite Olu Fashanu, who was selected earlier in the draft by the Jets.
However, Eliot Wolf said Friday night that given their conversations and what they had seen, they felt confident that he could potentially play on the left.
“He was a guy that we felt was athletic enough to possibly make the switch over on the left side,” said Eliot during his press conference with the media Friday night. “Really good pass protector. Really took a big step forward this year as a four-year starter. Athletic, can bend, strong, powerful, tough, can possibly play guard. Think he can be a four-position guy but definitely feel like he can play on the left side.”
One of the things that was interesting about the selection was the fact that Wolf admitted they came into this draft with him on their radar, and at one point, they pondered possibly trading back. But in the end, they felt the smart move was to go ahead and take him.
“Wallace was a guy we had targeted,” said Wolf. “We had some exploratory conversations about possibly moving back from 68, and then it was just kind of like, ‘Well, why? This is the guy we had wanted all along.’ So, sometimes it doesn’t fall for you. It fell pretty nicely for us today.”
The rookie is extremely intelligent and well-spoken, with Wallace telling the media during his conference call that he loves the game and spends most of his time honing his skills and that’s an aspect of the game he really enjoys. It’s also one of the things he said helped him make the improvement everyone saw from last year through this past season.
“I mean, to be honest, I’m just a grinder,” said Wallace. “I love working. I love the game so I love figuring out new things about the game and how to improve my game. I’m just locked in. I’ve been locked in, and this year, everything came to fruition. Was able to tie everything together that I’ve been learning these last few years.”
Wallace said that “it’s been a while” since he played left tackle in a game, but admitted that he spent time there during the Shrine Bowl and didn’t hesitate when asked how confident he was that he could make the transition to left tackle.
“Extremely confident,” said Wallace. “I mean, I play every position on the line and I’m just excited to get there and learn under some great coaches and get after it.”
Given what we’ve seen so far, he appears to be a solid addition to a position that’s definitely in dire need of help. The fact he’s so confident is certainly a great sign, as the Patriots are going to need to make sure they have someone who can protect Drake Maye’s blindside for the long-term rather than some of the short-term signings they’ve been forced to settle on recently.
Fortunately, Wallace appears to not only be up for the challenge, but excited to take it on. In the meantime, he’s also glad to be part of his new team after what’s been a long process to get to this point.
“Just crazy excited to be picked and to be picked by the Patriots,” said Wallace. “It’s just been a whirlwind of a day.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
