Patriots continue to draft need with third-round T Caedan Wallace

After nabbing would-be franchise QB Drake Maye in the first round and playmaking WR Ja’Lynn Polk in the second, Eliot Wolf continued to fill New England needs with the selection of Penn State T Caedan Wallace at No. 68 overall in the third round on Friday night.

The 6-5, 314-pounder started 40 of 47 games played at right tackle for Penn State over his career and is an older prospect at the age of 24 heading into his NFL career. Wallace is a big, thick blocker who plays with a level of violence.

Curiously though, Wallace is yet another right tackle type on a New England line that still lacks obvious, top-end options at the left tackle spot with Trent Brown having moved on in free agency. The Patriots re-signed starting right tackle Mike Onwenu this offseason and then signed Steelers free agent right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor in free agency.

In his pre-draft press conference Wolf said that if the season started today that Okorafor would be New England’s penciled-in starter at left tackle, a position he played in college at Western Michigan.

Wallace was projected as a potential fourth-round pick by The Athletic, but was graded highly enough by Wolf and the Patriots collaborative to get the call near the top of the third round.

With 99-percent of Wallace’s college snaps coming at right tackle and some limitations in athleticism he seems an unlikely candidate to be much of an option at left tackle at the NFL level, although New England may hope there is a possibility of that transition. Wolf said as much when explaining the Wallace pick, though more likely he adds depth to an offensive line that will be working in first-year coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s zone running scheme in New England. Wallace might also add the depth at right tackle to allow Onwenu to possibly move back inside to guard, which may still be his most natural position.