FOXBOROUGH — Yes, the Patriots drafted an offensive tackle again. Yes, he has the potential to play left tackle.
No, Will Campbell is not being replaced, at least not anytime soon.
"Will's the left tackle," Eliot Wolf said after the first round on Friday night.
So all of you who hold resentment toward Campbell for his postseason performance — especially in the Super Bowl — and blame him for the Super Bowl loss, you're going to have to put away your No. 66 voodoo dolls for at least a season.
Caleb Lomu is on the developmental track, which he should be at, just 21 years old (he's my Dec. 23 birthday buddy, and an offensive lineman ... you can see where this is going). He needs to get stronger, and developing a mean streak would be nice.
An assortment of comments on Lomu:
"A prospect whose best football is still ahead of him ... Although he has flaws, the upside with the young tackle will have coaches pounding the table come draft time to get the opportunity to mold the blindside protector into a long-term starter at the professional level." - BSJ's own Ric Serritella.
"A strong physical player, with the need to add some bulk,15 to 20 pounds that will help fill out his body to an excellent finished product. ... his upside will be whatever he wants it to be. An easy pick for a patient team who will continue to develop him. He is one of the top tackles coming out and still has youth as an upside." - OurLads.com
"Overall, Lomu must get stronger and continue to develop his technique and grit, but NFL teams are understandably intrigued by his movement ability and ready-to-cultivate left tackle skill set. His upside points to him becoming an NFL starter." -The Beast
"Lomu has the prototypical size and length. He’s light, too. He has the bigger frame (than Fano). He has the traditional tackle body that you like. Not that he’s soft or anything but he just doesn’t finish with the same urgency. Fano has more strength and power than Lomu.” ... "Needs to gain some strength. The feet, the athlete, the body to work with – it’s all there. It may take him a while. I don’t think he’s a guy you can pencil in this year. Physically, there’s some things he needs to get better at and get stronger. I saw him get bull-rushed a couple times.” ... "He’s the kind of guy that by the end of his first year he’ll be playing good, productive football. I just don’t think he’s a plug-and-play starter.” - Scout comments to Bob McGinn.
Everyone just needs to get used to the fact that we are in an age where, unless you are on the level of Penei Sewell or Joe Alt, the first year for most rookie tackles is going to be a work in progress, especially now with NIL and the transfer portal. Some players don't stay in one place long enough to get properly developed by one coach. College offensive schemes are often not even close to what NFL linemen have to do. And the level of line coaching just isn't great on the college level.
Really, what you're hoping for, especially in the bottom half of the first round, is to get a player with good tools, good character, and a chance to develop into a starter in time thanks to good coaching and scheme. Lomu has all of that.
One team I talked with after the first round had Lomu on a shortlist of players they would have considered trading up for in the bottom of the first round, or top of the second round, should he have fallen into the 30s.
"Campbell was better coming out, better technique," the executive said. "Campbell had good feet, but this kid is just as athletic, not as strong, not as nasty as Campbell. Campbell's what you want is going to protect your quarterback. He's got that nasty to him. (Lomu) lacks that. That was one of the things that they talked about at the school, that they just wish he was a little bit more nasty. It's in there, you see flashes of it, but he's just not consistent with it. Athletically they are similar but I think Caleb, there's more upside just because just longer and bigger frame.
"We were hopeful (Lomu would fall). We obviously knew there was a chance (the Patriots) would take him, but we like that pick. If he got to the 30s, we probably would have had the conversation about trading up."
Lomu got on my radar with his performance against No. 2 overall pick David Bailey of the Jets. Lomu shut him out, and now they'll be seeing each other twice a season.
The plan will be for Lomu to compete with James Hudson for the swing tackle spot, and then go from there. He could get snaps as a jumbo tight end. Mostly, he will be Morgan Moses' understudy. There's nothing wrong with that. Moses is not getting any younger, and he barely made it through last season physically. Of course, Campbell missed time with his knee injury and was not the same player after. Who do you want to be next up, the well-traveled Hudson, Marcus Bryant, Sebastian Gutierrez, Lorenz Metz or Lomu? Injuries are going to happen, especially on the offensive line. It's a matter of when, not if. You have to be ready for it.
After years of neglect by Bill Belichick, at least somebody is doing the proper things. How many times did Belichick have to bring Trent Brown back just to staff the position? His last top picks at tackle were Yodny Cajuste (101st, 2019) and Antonio Garcia (85th, 2017).
Now, after drafting Drake Maye in 2024, the Patriots used their next two first-round picks to give bookend protection to The Franchise. That's how you do it — and don't be surprised if they don't take an interior player at some point, despite moving Jared Wilson and signing Alijah Vera-Tucker. Don't forget about Romeo Doubs, a blocking TE and FB, and A.J. Brown, likely coming at point (the Eagles traded up for WR Makai Lemon on Friday).
With everyone in Josh McDaniels' system for a second season, let's just say we're a long way off from the days of the 2022 season, when Belichick crafted a masterclass in How To Ruin A Young QB 101. What the Patriots have done the past two seasons has been the exact opposite.
And if Lomu needs to sit for an entire season, there's nothing wrong with that.