New England Patriots: Key offensive line question

Important offensive line question needs to be answered by the New England Patriots in training camp.

The New England Patriots will have to answer key offensive line questions during training camp, which begins on July 28. That is, how to deal with the back-up guard/center position(s).

This is not an earth-shattering topic, but it may be more important than usually meet the eye. It certainly was in 2019. Let me explore this in more detail.

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New England Patriots rookie candidates to solidify the interior line backup spots.

The Patriots have several candidates for the interior line positions. The aforementioned James Ferentz and Jermaine Eluemunor are two veteran guard candidates. Ferentz has an advantage that he can play both guard and center. That’s a plus for him.

Eluemunor has the advantage of just being re-signed by New England coupled with the fact that he cost a 4th round pick (with a 6th coming back) in the 2020 NFL draft. That mitigates toward his being kept on.

In addition, New England brought in two offensive interior linemen in the draft who can be parts of the solution. One is a center, who has also played guard in the past. It’s Dustin Woodard drafted in the 7th round from Memphis.

Woodard has to be considered a strong candidate and his position-flexibility is a key. This is again especially valuable for gameday roster construction. Bill Belichick will not be anxious to use more than one spot for the interior O-line backup position on game day.

That type of position versatility is invaluable to the team. Woodard will be challenged, however. He is listed at only 6’2″ and 291 pounds. That is on the small side even for a Patriots team that has thrived in the past with smaller centers.

I’ve written about another low-round draft pick, this time a 6th rounder, guard Michael Onwenu from Michigan. He doesn’t have the size issue that Woodard has. Owenu is listed at 6’3″ and 344 pounds. He’s my favorite draft pick this season.

Onwenu is massive and doesn’t fit the usual profile for New England offensive linemen. But there are always exceptions. One of my favorites was an offensive tackle, Trent Brown.

Brown is a gargantuan offensive tackle who now is, unfortunately (and in my viewpoint mistakenly by the Patriots), with Las Vegas. Brown was only in New England for one year.

He was terrific for the Patriots and he helped win them a Super Bowl against the LA Rams. They felt his loss last season when Isaiah Wynn was injured.

I call Onwenu the offensive guard version of Brown. He can really block. He gets the job done. I see him making the team. If he can maybe pick up center duties, as well, he could be a gameday roster guy.

So those are 4 of the candidates to fill those important two spots as backups on the interior of the offensive line. The offensive line may not be glamourous positions on the field, but without them, nothing else works.  And you can take that, to the bank.