New England Patriots top 5 offensive linemen in franchise history

The New England Patriots have grown from also-rans to a dominant franchise since 2001.  Yet, the teams were not always as bad in their earlier years as portrayed by the media. Far from it, but they never reached the pinnacle either and won a Super Bowl until that glorious win over the Rams after the 2001 season.

They then proceeded under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to dominate the NFL in the new “free agency” era like no team either before or since that era began. One aspect of the team, that garners probably less attention than almost any other usually is the most important unit on the field, the offensive line.

New England Patriots have a history of great offensive lineman

With this in mind, hopefully, it’s of interest to take look back at the five most influential offensive linemen in the team’s six-decade-long history. They are all Patriots Hall of Famers (save one who is a candidate this year).

There’s no surprise there. There may be differences of opinion on some of the players who should or shouldn’t be on the list.

But let’s take a flier on this anyway in ascending order, from the 5th best all the way to the best of them all.