The Patriots didn’t draft a tackle, but they reportedly have a plan.
You can always count on coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots to have some sort of unorthodox plan.
That appears to be the case along the offensive line after the team drafted three interior linemen and no offensive tackles. The latter was a problematic position for the team last season, and things appear even less certain in 2023 with Isaiah Wynn’s contract up.
Sure, the Patriots signed veteran Riley Reiff to possibly start across from Trent Brown, along with filling depth at the position by re-signing Conor McDermott and adding Calvin Anderson. However, the position clearly needed youth to push the eventual camp competition.
And they might have found it in rookie fourth-round draft pick Sidy Sow, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. The offensive guard out of Eastern Michigan has started at left tackle as a freshman 11 times, and he could be in line for a move back to that position.
Breer wrote:
I’d mentioned the Patriots not addressing their tackle need—there’s a postscript to that one. I know New England was excited to get Sidy Sow from Eastern Michigan, who has been projected as an interior offensive lineman, and who they got with the pick in the fourth round that they picked up for going back from No. 14 to No. 17 (in the Steelers trade) in the first round. My understanding is they’re gonna try Sow at tackle, where he actually played as a true freshman in 2018.
Sow definitely has the size to kick outside of the offensive line at 6-foot-5 and 326 pounds. He’s a powerful blocker that can be downright nasty to face in the trenches.
Reiff has the veteran experience on his side to help the Patriots immediately, but his ceiling is already capped at age 34. Sow is a bit of an unknown that could flourish with the right technique and coaching for years to come.
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