On the field, Moses should be an upgrade at right tackle, while his leadership is already making an impact. At each spring practice open to the media, Moses was constantly giving tips to Campbell and the Pats younger tackles. Following each practice, Moses has held court, offering his expertise from years in the league. That post-practice group grew over the course of the spring, signaling that Moses' leadership is influencing others to put in extra work. There's a chance that Moses will be a team captain in his first season with the Patriots.
Along with retooling at tackle, the Patriots also made a switch at center, with franchise great David Andrews retiring after 10 seasons with the team. After making the difficult decision to move on from Andrews, the club signed former Vikings C Garrett Bradbury and drafted C/G Jared Wilson in the third round. Wilson is a 21-year-old rookie with significant development upside, suggesting that Bradbury will serve as a bridge option until the Georgia product is ready to take over. There's a world where that's sooner rather than later but given that Wilson was a limited participant due to an undisclosed injury in the spring, it's trending toward Bradbury starting the year at center.
The last puzzle pieces for the Patriots starting five are at the two guard spots. The lone returning player guaranteed to start this season is RG Mike Onwenu, who took a slight step back last season after the team initially planned to play him at right tackle. Onwenu started five of the first seven games at right tackle a year ago and then was permanently moved to right guard in the second half of the season. From this perspective, right guard is Onwenu's natural position, given his body type and skill set, so keeping him there should stabilize his on-field performance.
With the projected starters at four out of the five spots along the offensive line mostly known, left guard is the one spot where there's a wide-open competition. At this juncture, it's anyone's guess who will be New England's starting left guard for the regular-season opener vs. the Raiders and beyond. After veteran Wes Schweitzer retired, fourth-year pro Cole Strange has the inside track to start at left guard based on the spring. However, one would expect that Sidy Sow, Layden Robinson, Caedan Wallace, Tyrese Robinson, and possibly Wilson will get a shot to compete at left guard during training camp.
The competition at left guard truly begins in padded practices, where it's better to evaluate linemen. For now, we only have takeaways based on practice reps. From this viewpoint, Strange is the clubhouse leader, but the competition is far from over, and we wouldn't rule out Wallace or Wilson winning the job. Wallace was viewed by many as a possible college tackle-to-guard convert in last year's draft, while Wilson has played some guard in the past and might be the most talented of the group in a "best five" scenario with Bradbury at center.
On paper, the most straightforward starting five for the Patriots along the offensive is LT Will Campbell, LG Cole Strange, C Garrett Bradbury, RG Mike Onwenu, and RT Mike Onwenu. However, Strange is only penciled in. One element to consider at left guard is that Campbell (77 ⅜" wingspan) and Bradbury (76.5" wingspan) are both narrower body types at their respective positions. Thus, having a larger left guard who takes up more space, such as Sow, Wallace, or Wilson, could make sense.
Ultimately, the cream will rise to the top in the Patriots left guard competition, meaning it'll be settled in camp. From there, filling out the depth comes down to a mix of developing talent and having ready-made backups for game day. Although he is a one-position backup, last year's starter, Vederian Lowe, is the only other experienced left tackle on the roster behind Campbell. The Pats drafted rookie Marcus Bryant in the seventh round, who was Missouri's left tackle opposite first-rounder Armand Membou last season, so that's one of those development vs. experienced backup coin flips the Patriots could decide on this summer.
Another sneaky storyline to monitor is second-year G Layden Robinson's future. In the spring, Robinson wasn't as involved with the top group as one might expect after showing some positive flashes in 11 starts as a rookie. The fourth-rounder has good power, but it's unclear how the new coaching staff views him. Although he got more meaningful spring reps than Robinson, the same could be said about Sow, who fell out of favor with last year's coaching staff but performed adequately as a run blocker at right guard for Bill O'Brien during his first season in 2023.