The Patriots could have one of the most dominating Offensive Lines in the entire League.\u00a0 That is could, if everything comes together between injuries and motivation.\u00a0 The projected starters are Isaia Wynn LT. Michael Onwenu LG, David Andrews C, Shaq Mason RG, and Trent Brown RT.\u00a0 This assumes Brown will be motivated and in shape, Wynn can stay healthy and Onwenu continues to develop as he moves from RT to LG.<\/p>\n
Onwenu<\/strong> \u2013 played his best game, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF), at LG in 2020.\u00a0 His outstanding grading numbers ranked him as the #6 rookie in the 2020 Draft Class.\u00a0 A tremendous find by the Patriots.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t that good at Michigan and credit to Patriots OL coaches Cole Popovich and Carmen Bricillo for discovering something that had been wrong and correcting it.\u00a0 He played at least 80 snaps at both OG positions and 616 at RT.\u00a0 His play at RT was ranked #10 in the entire league.\u00a0 He allowed only 3 snaps and 1 penalty all year.\u00a0 He had never played RT at Michigan before the Patriots. \u00a0Owenu stands just 6\u2019 2.3\u201d but is listed at 362 lbs.\u00a0 He is short for a tackle and huge for a guard.\u00a0 Despite the weight, Owenu is quite nimble.\u00a0 NFL.com named him one of the top players under the age of 25.<\/p>\n Mason<\/strong> \u2013 You tend to forget about Mason.\u00a0 He is one of the better pulling guards in the league.\u00a0 They knew he could run block out of Georgia Tech but were unsure of his pass blocking since the Yellow Jackets played the triple-option football.\u00a0 Mason stands just over 6\u20191\u201d and 310 lbs.\u00a0 He is susceptible to strong bull rushers.\u00a0 With Owenu and now Brown manning the RT position, Mason will pull to his right and look inside with no one to block.<\/p>\n Andrews<\/strong> \u2013 is the glue that holds this OL together.\u00a0 When Andrews went down with the blood clot issue two years ago, Karras filled in admirably, but it wasn\u2019t the same.\u00a0 An Undrafted Free Agent, Andrews has been a rock since he was signed in 2015.\u00a0 In 2017 he was named a captain for the team and he has won two Super Bowl rings in his career.\u00a0\u00a0 Andrews is a bit undersized at 6\u2019 3\u201d 300 lbs., but he does not let that bother him.\u00a0 He is effective against bigger and smaller players.\u00a0 Glad to have him back in the fold on his very reasonable 4-year deal.<\/p>\n Wynn<\/strong> \u2013 has been a bit of an enigma, constantly getting hurt.\u00a0 He has never played an entire season.\u00a0 When drafted out of Georgia, he was considered undersized for a LT.\u00a0 Wynn was the 23rd<\/sup> pick in the 2018 draft despite being just 6\u2019 2\u201d 318 lbs.\u00a0 That is short for a tackle.\u00a0 In 2018, in his 1st<\/sup> series of pre-season, Wynn tore his Achilles and was out for the season.\u00a0 He began 2019 as the starter at LT, then hurt his toe during the second game and was placed on the reserve list.\u00a0 He was returned to the active roster and even played one game at LG.\u00a0 He would start 8 games in 2019.\u00a0 Big things were expected from him in 2020, but a knee injury limited him to starting 10 games.\u00a0 I was surprised the Patriots exercised his 5th-year\u00a0option as a 1st<\/sup> round selection from 2018.\u00a0 I supposed the Patriot didn\u2019t want both starting tackles as Unrestricted Free Agents the same year.\u00a0 No question Wynn has the talent.\u00a0 Can he stay in the lineup?<\/p>\n Brown<\/strong> \u2013 this is a mountain of a man.\u00a0 At 6\u20198\u201d, 380 lbs.\u00a0 He is so big he has his own zip code.\u00a0 In his previous stint with the Patriots, he was outstanding and earned a big contract from the now Las Vegas Raiders.\u00a0 Things didn\u2019t work out in LV and the Patriots re-acquired him this off-season while re-negotiating his contract.\u00a0 He is getting $11M this year and will become an Unrestricted Free Agent.\u00a0 Brown credits Dante Scarnecchia with turning him around.\u00a0 Both coaches Popovich and Bricillo are disciples of Scarnecchia.\u00a0\u00a0 Hoping that we have a recurrence of play from Brown.\u00a0 The players are off on vacation until the start of camp in late July.\u00a0\u00a0 Not Brown, he is in a special conditioning program similar to what he did in 2018 for the next six weeks.\u00a0 When in shape, Brown is one of the most dominating tackles in the league.<\/p>\n Backups<\/strong><\/p>\n Karras<\/strong> \u2013 If Wynn gets hurt, Brown may have to move to LT and Owenu to RT as he has missed time every year.\u00a0 That would leave the capable Ted Karras at LG.\u00a0 Karras was a captain and starter all last season for Miami at Center.\u00a0 Same replacement if Trent Brown can\u2019t go at RT.\u00a0 Karras is also Andrews backup at C.\u00a0 His signing was a great move.\u00a0 At the time, David Andrews was a Free Agent and everyone thought he would go elsewhere when he hadn\u2019t signed immediately.\u00a0 Once signed, Karras is a plug-and-play backup with a starter\u2019s skills. \u00a0He is signed to a one-year contract.<\/p>\n Justin Herron<\/strong> \u2013 6\u20195\u201d 305 lbs 2020 6th<\/sup> Rd selection.\u00a0 Herron played much more than expected last season.\u00a0 He was questionable to make the team never mind playing in 12 games and starting 6 games at Tackle.\u00a0 He is light for the Tackle position, but that allows him to mirror the quick, pass-rushing DE\u2019s. \u00a0He is also a quality person, hailed for stopping a sexual assault in Tempe Arizona this off-season.\u00a0 He has room to grow and could be another great late-round signing.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be surprised if he is your starting RT next year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yodny Cajuste<\/strong> \u2013 a third-round pick, # 101 from the 2019 draft.\u00a0 At 6\u2019 5\u201d, 310 lbs, the former West Virginia Mountaineer was a fearsome run blocker at the D1 collegiate level.\u00a0 Cajuste would have been drafted much higher if it weren\u2019t for a series of injuries.\u00a0 This injury trend continued into the Pros.\u00a0 NE drafted him knowing he had a quad injury that would require surgery and that would keep him out all of 2019.\u00a0 In 2020 it was a knee injury that put him on IR for the 2020 season.\u00a0 According to the Evan Lazar of CLNS Media, Cajuste is at full health and ready for camp.\u00a0 Other reports had him as \u201clost\u201d during OTAs and mini-camp.\u00a0 Let\u2019s wait till they put on the pads and start knocking heads.\u00a0 I don\u2019t expect much from Cajuste because of his injuries, but if he can get it together, he might be a wildcard to make the team.\u00a0 If not injured, I would expect him to make the PS.<\/p>\n Marcus Martin<\/strong> \u2013 a third round, #70, by San Francisco, out of USC in 2014.\u00a0 He is big at 6\u20193\u201d 330 lbs.\u00a0 He has 27 games played with 24 starts in the NFL between SF, Detroit, and NE.\u00a0 He also had stints with CLE in 2017 where he didn\u2019t play in any games and Dallas in 2018 on IR.\u00a0 Seattle brought him to camp in 2019 but cut him and he didn\u2019t re-sign with anyone.\u00a0 He played for Detroit for 2 games in 2020 and the pats for one. \u00a0\u00a0His primary position is C but can play OG.\u00a0 He was a high draft pick that provides camp fodder and depth should there be an injury.\u00a0 At 27 yo, I wouldn\u2019t expect that he would be signed to the PS.<\/p>\n Will Sherman<\/strong> \u2013 at 6\u2019 6\u201d 310 lbs, he is little light for an OT.\u00a0 He is known as a great leader and a student of the game.\u00a0 The 6th round pick from this 2020 draft started 27 games in three years with the Buffalo\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I consider Sherman like he was an UDFA.\u00a0 The Patriots used their 2 sixth-round picks and their 7th<\/sup> to take players that would have been UDFA in previous drafts.\u00a0 Because there were only 600 players in the player pool (normally there are 1300) I believe the Patriots draft board was as low as 60 names or fewer.\u00a0 They normally have 75.\u00a0 When it came to the 6th<\/sup> rd, no team was willing to trade low-round picks for 2023 picks, so the Pats were stuck and had to select someone.\u00a0 They in turn selected players they would have signed as UDFA.\u00a0 The good part of this is that they did not have to compete for these players.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t expect anything out of Sherman.\u00a0 Look for him on the PS.<\/p>\n James Ferentz<\/strong> \u2013 I won\u2019t spend much time on Ferentz.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why they signed him.\u00a0 His father is BB\u2019s buddy.\u00a0 He was signed halfway through last season as a street Free Agent.\u00a0 I like to call him as part of the Patriots shadow roster, just in case there are injuries.\u00a0 I don\u2019t see the 32 yo with a spot on the PS.<\/p>\n Alex Redmond<\/strong> \u2013 a late signee to the team, Redmond will provide depth at C and RG.\u00a0 He originally signed as an UDFA with Cincinnati in 2016 out of UCLA.\u00a0 He was on their PS for the 2016 season.\u00a0 Made the 53 man roster in 2017 and became the starter for 2018.\u00a0 For his 4 years with the Bengals, he started 24 of 32 games played.\u00a0 Last season he played 9 games and started 7 at RG.\u00a0 He was originally signed to their PS, but activated for the 1st<\/sup> game and started 7 straight to start the season.\u00a0 He is an experienced player despite being underweight at 6\u20195\u201d 295 lbs.\u00a0 Based on his experience, and without seeing him in pads, I think he will compete for the last roster spot on the OL.<\/p>\n R J Prince<\/strong> \u2013 came to mini-camp on a tryout basis and was signed when the Patriots cut LS Wes Farnsworth.\u00a0 He is a little light but his height intrigues me.\u00a0 He is 6\u20196\u201d lbs 310 lbs. He has never played a game and was on the 53 man roster but not active for one game last season for the Ravens.\u00a0 \u00a0He was signed as a UDFA in 2018 by Pittsburgh and spent the entire season on their PS.\u00a0 In 2019 Baltimore signed him and he spent all of 2019 and part of 2020 on their PS.\u00a0 Probably just camp fodder but I am interested in hearing how he performs in camp.<\/p>\n Korey Cunnigham<\/strong> \u2013 It\u2019s his job to win or lose.\u00a0 Cunningham was active and played in 11 games last year but started none.\u00a0 I was surprised when I saw he was 6\u2019 6\u201d 311 lbs.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t look that big.\u00a0 I think he is in a big fight for his roster spot.\u00a0 Should be an interesting camp for the 4-year vet.\u00a0 He is only 26 years old.<\/p>\n There you have the O Line.\u00a0 It looks like a good group going into camp.\u00a0 Injuries always play a big part.\u00a0 Let\u2019s hope they stay away from the injury bug.\u00a0 Look for my next roster projection just before the start of camp the last week of July.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Patriots could have one of the most dominating Offensive Lines in the entire League.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":631,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22259],"tags":[22627,522,1773,1508,2310,22517,2309,22671,22,1029,1785,22599,2011],"class_list":["post-37207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2021-patriots-offseason","tag-alex-redmond","tag-david-andrews","tag-isaiah-wynn","tag-james-ferentz","tag-justin-herron","tag-marcus-martin","tag-michael-onwenu","tag-r-j-prince","tag-shaq-mason","tag-ted-karras","tag-trent-brown","tag-will-sherman","tag-yodny-cajuste"],"yoast_head":"\n