Patriots rookie Caedan Wallace ‘prepared for anything’ amid uncertainty at left tackle
The rookie might be thrown into a starting role in Week 3.
Two games into the 2024 regular season, the New England Patriots offensive line continues to be in a state of flux. The left tackle position in particular remains an issue heading into the team’s upcoming Thursday night matchup with the New York Jets.
After Chukwuma Okorafor and Vederian Lowe started at that spot in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively, it now seems likely that rookie Caedan Wallace will get the call against the Jets. Wallace, after all, is the last man standing at the moment.
Lowe, who emerged as the frontrunner to start at left tackle in training camp, suffered an abdominal injury in late August and was forced to start the season opener on the bench. However, with Okorafor struggling, he reentered the lineup just 12 snaps in. Since then, Okorafor has decided to leave the team, while Lowe suffered a knee injury in Week 2.
Wallace, meanwhile, saw most of his action as a jumbo tight end; with the exception of two snaps in place of an injured Lowe on Sunday versus the Seattle Seahawks, he was used in that particular role only
On Thursday against the Jets, however, the Patriots might be counting on him to hold down the fort as Jacoby Brissett’s blindside protector — a job he is more than willing to take on.
“I’m prepared for anything,” Wallace told reporters in the locker room on Tuesday. “I’ve been saying throughout camp, really since I got here, whatever the coaches need me to do, whatever is best for the team, I’m here for it.”
A third-round selection by the Patriots in this year’s draft, Wallace entered the NFL without any left tackle experience. During his five-year college career at Penn State, he lined up almost exclusively on the right side.
The Patriots, however, felt strongly about his ability to make the move to left tackle — they even marked him down as such on their draft room depth chart. Wallace indeed spent some time as the starting left tackle over the summer, before Lowe started to emerge as the top option at the position.
With him now sidelined at backup Okorafor no longer part of the equation, all signs point toward Wallace soon seeing his first live action at left tackle.
“We’ll have to see. He’s had some good snaps for us, and that’s what it’s all about,” said head coach Jerod Mayo. “It’s next man up mentality. I know it sounds very cliché or very corny, but that’s the world we live in. This is the roster that we have, and we’re going to make do with it.”
