The New England Patriots went into this past offseason with a pretty clear and obvious need at offensive tackle, specifically on the left side.
To deal with the issue, Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf signed Chukwuma Okorafor and drafted Caedan Wallace. However, Okorafor was benched in Week 1 and left the team right after while Wallace has spent most of the year on injured reserve.
Instead, New England has had to rely on Vederian Lowe on the left side, and due to poor performance at right guard, they were forced to slide Mike Ownenu inside from right tackle and put Demontrey Jacobs at right tackle.
These issues came to a head against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, as Lowe was penalized four times and Jacobs was penalized twice. Both tackles also allowed consistent pressure, leading to Jacobs' benching for second-year lineman Sidy Sow.
With tackle still set to be a clear need next year, Bleacher Report's Kristopher Knox believes the Patriots will add Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Walker Little in free agency to help stabilize a line that's been hard to watch.
"It can take a while for offensive linemen to develop into their potential in the NFL," Knox wrote. "Walker Little is set to hit free agency this offseason but is just now starting to showcase his potential as a starter. The 25-year-old was good enough that the Jaguars traded Cam Robinson at the deadline. Little has earned a 67.9 grade from PFF and has allowed two sacks on 291 snaps this season.
The Patriots could reap the benefits of the time Jacksonville has invested in getting him ready to be a starter. It wouldn't be surprising for Little to become a better player than the contract he signs in the offseason."
Little was a 2021 second-round pick out of Stanford and will be coming off of a four-year, $7.6 million rookie deal. Should he enter the offseason healthy, he'll likely make significantly more on the open market.
The Patriots need to make sure they can protect rookie quarterback Drake Maye for the foreseeable future, and acquiring Little could be a good step in achieving that goal. His ability to play both tackle spots as well as left guard could be a nice bonus if other players continue to be issues or there are injuries.
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