The Patriots switched gears and added some depth at left tackle on Saturday, snagging Missouri’s Marcus Bryant in round seven.
Bryant, who was taken with the 220th overall pick in the final round, is a big kid. The Missouri standout is 6’7″, 317-pounds and started 13 games during the 2024 campaign. He anchored an offensive line that was at the top of the SEC and was 7th nationally in time of possession, as well as ranking seventh in sacks allowed per game (2).
The Patriots did meet with Bryant ahead of the draft, with the rookie telling reporters Saturday that New England was right there with other teams in terms of their interest. Clearly, they like what they saw and now he’ll get an opportunity at the next level.
He joins an offensive line that just added LSU’s Will Campbell, who the Patriots selected with the #4 overall pick back on night one. But the bigger issue after Campbell is the fact the Patriots don’t have much quality depth behind him.
Last year’s third round pick, Caedan Wallace, played right tackle at Penn State opposite Olu Fashanu, who was a highly touted left tackle that was drafted in round one by the Jets in 2024.
Wallace made it clear after he was drafted that he was confident he could handle the transition. But his injury in his first start at left tackle against the Jets sidelined him for the majority of his rookie season.
From there, last year’s starter, Vederian Lowe, did an admirable job given what he was tasked with. Lowe is primarily a depth player and a spot fill-in, but he was forced into being a full-time starter after Chukwuma Okorafor left the team after Week one. That thrusted Lowe into the starting line-up for their week two match-up against the Seahawks, before Wallace got the nod the next week against the Jets.
Demontrey Jacobs then started against San Francisco, before Lowe ended up ultimately starting 9 of the team’s final 10 games at left tackle, including the last seven straight to close out the season.
Overall, the Patriots started 11 different starting offensive line combinations, while 16 offensive lineman all saw snaps during game action at some point last season.
As it currently stands, Campbell at least provides them with a player who has experience at left tackle and his size definitely makes him an intriguing prospect. As a seventh round pick, he’ll be fun to watch given that there always tends to be a late round guy who earns a spot, and hopefully for the Patriots’ sake, he’ll be among the last ones standing later this summer.
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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.
