It seemed simple enough when the offseason started with the Patriots, and it made sense.
The team made it a priority to re-sign Mike Onwenu to a big-money contract extension, and then move him full-time to right tackle. If a left tackle presented itself either in free agency (little chance ... no one is letting anyone who can remotely play LT for 17 games leave - sorry, aging Tyron Smith) or in the draft, the Patriots - led by Eliot Wolf - would invest there. In the meantime, the front office identified Chukwuma Okorafor, a cap casualty of the Steelers, as a person who could possibly fill the LT role on this team in the short term.
While the Patriots got caught watching the paint dry a little at receiver and a lot at offensive tackles with left tackle upside during the draft, the Patriots set out in the offseason with an understandable plan:
LT: Okorafor/Calvin Anderson/Caeden Wallace
LG: Sidy Sow/Cole Strange (injured)
C: David Andrews/Jake Andrews
RG: FA Nick Leverett/Michael Jordan/Atonio Mafi/Layden Robinson
RT Onwenu/Anderson
The simple fact of the matter is that, yes, left tackle is important in the NFL. But if you have a right tackle who is great, like Onwenu, then you can easily deal with being weaker on the left side with TE, RB or motion help. Was it ideal? No. But Rome wasn't rebuilt in a day, and neither will this neglected Patriots offensive line.
I was on board with the plan. There was a definite path to success, even though it wasn't as flashy as some might like (by the way, flashy and offensive line are oxymorons - big plans on the offensive line usually blow up quickly; slow and steady wins the race).
And then during mandatory minicamp, what started out as a normal looksie — Wallace to RT and Onwenu to RG — looked to be a lot more permanent by the time the Patriots wrapped for the summer.
Color me concerned. Very concerned.
What's the deal? Was this just about getting the best five linemen on the field — which itself comes with some trepidation — or is something more nefarious at play? Was Wallace an immediate bust at left tackle? Was something going on with Ownenu?
We've spent the past couple of weeks trying to get to the heart of the matter and this is what we've found:
• The company line from the Patriots both publicly and privately is this is no big deal, just business as usual. They are trying to put the best five linemen on the field at the same time.
• The Patriots have loved what they've seen out of Okorafor to this point and feel like they've really hit on something. How the Patriots could know this without pads, I have no idea. I've seen plenty of linemen play like lions in shorts only to show a lack of toughness when the pads are put on. On Okorafor, I'm not taking the cheese yet but I certainly have a more open mind about him holding down LT than I did before. Like I said, let's see the pads get put on.
• Multiple team and league sources said Wallace going to RT has nothing about him proving to be a LT bust already. I understand their thinking. Even if the Patriots expect Wallace to be their LT of the future (again, how would they really know yet), are you better off having him sit and train for a year behind a veteran, or do you want him to play as soon as possible, even at another spot? Most NFL teams opt to have them play at RT, at least for the first year. The talk about switching sides, while a nice talking point that can generate content, is really not that big of a deal. Happens all the time. From what I've been told, LT is still in Wallace's future. Again, I hear them but I am not just going to throw in with the team. I need to actually see it. I would expect him to get some LT reps this summer.
• Onwenu — and this was a surprise to me as well — is actually one of the biggest question marks on the line. Despite talking about training for tackle in the offseason, he didn't appear to report slimmed down and more athletic. In fact, he looked bigger. Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong about that.
Two team sources told me that there have been concerns since before he was drafted that Onwenu doesn't love football. If that is in fact true and I'm not telling you it is, that will only be exacerbated by the extension. "I'm telling you, that that contract is not going to age well," said one of the sources.
So is the team not being truthful? Was the Wallace move not really about the best five, but in fact a move made after coming to the conclusion that Ownenu was not going to physically be able to play a good right tackle?
• There's also a lot of concern that the Patriots don't have any players that are traditionally good in the zone blocking scheme, which calls for smaller and more agile linemen.
"Me personally, I see a disconnect between the type of linemen they have and the type of scheme they want to run," said one rival NFL executive. "It won't show itself till training camp, but I don't see it. I struggle to see this being the right kind of guys. (Sidy) Sow, effing Mafi, effing Onwenu, the guard they drafted this year (Robinson) ... I just have a hard time seeing this being like, 'Oh, that's a perfect fit for the line.'"
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What do I think is the truth?
I do think the Wallace move to RT was more to get him on the field earlier, and also that the Patriots are pretty crappy at both guard spots. Sow is OK but has a long way to go (personally, I think he'll be fine), and the other guard spot is a disaster whether it's Leverett, Jordan, Mafi, Robinson or whoever. I also think Ownenu isn't in shape right now to play RT, but he could get there this offseason or in camp - if the league sources are wrong about him.
If Onwenu dropped about 30 pounds and looked fantastic this offseason, I don't think there's a chance in hell they would have moved him. You need to have one tackle spot locked down - it really doesn't matter which one.
I'm fairly scared to death at this point at what is going on with the offensive line — and we don't even know if Scott Peters, who the Browns passed on promoting, is even a good coach. He better be.
And Okorafor better be as good as the Patriots think he will be.
An unproven line coach. A left tackle who has yet to do what the Patriots think he will. A right guard being paid like a RT who might not be able to play outside. The possibility of a rookie RT who didn't even look like a good NFL player until the second half of his final college season.
A lot of things need to go right for the Patriots to compete on offense, before we get into the silly talk about when Drake Maye should play. Wolf and Jerod Mayo better know what they're doing, or this season could be over before it begins.