When will the Patriots’ starting offensive line be set? Jerod Mayo shares a timeline
As continuity starts to take shape on the Patriots offensive line, head coach Jerod Mayo shared a timeline for the team to determine its ‘best five.’
Entering 2024 training camp, the Patriots offensive line was arguably the biggest question facing the team. After being one of the worst groups at the position in the NFL last year, multiple positions lacked clearly defined starters heading into camp.
Going back to the spring, the Patriots seemed to establish a commitment to keeping the interior group of Mike Onwenu, David Andrews, and Sidy Sow together (although Andrews missed Monday’s practice for undisclosed reasons, with Nick Leverett filling in). That left the tackle positions up for grabs when camp began.
Through the first few days of camp, there was a lot of mixing and matching at both left and right tackle. In recent days though the top pairing has been consistent with rookie Caedan Wallace at left tackle and Chuks Okorafor on the right.
While there are still some questions that come with that group (namely with Wallace, who will be making two major adjustments going from being a career college right tackle to playing left tackle in the NFL), it’s certainly encouraging the Patriots seem ready to let one group start to build continuity and chemistry with fully-padded practices getting underway.
However, don’t go calling this group of five the ‘starters’ just yet. “We don’t have starters right now on the offensive line,” head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters prior to Monday’s practice.
Mayo has talked about the need for the Patriots to find their ‘best five’ up front when putting together the offensive line. Asked about the timetable for doing so on Monday, the head coach gave a pretty direct answer.
“Honestly, that’s why we have the preseason,” he said. “Hopefully, going into the third preseason game, we have a good understanding of who those five will be.”
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While that may seem like a long way away, it does make sense. Locking in a starting offensive line without seeing them play together in any sort of game action would be shortsighted.
As the pads come on, the offensive line the Patriots have been working with in recent days should be seen as a starting point, not an ending point. Assuming they’re kept together for the next week-plus, they’ll get tested in padded practices and at least one preseason game.
If they hold up to the test, the Patriots offensive line may be set for the start of 2024 set. If not, the team will still have time to adjust with more padded practices and games to evaluate further.
