Isaiah Wynn might not be the durable left tackle Patriots were hoping for

Patriots OL Isaiah Wynn might not be the stable left tackle the franchise was hoping.

The New England Patriots’ probably won’t end up making the playoffs this season, but there are still reasons for fans to be excited about what the future holds. Their core of young players is incredibly promising and they will have close to $70 million in salary cap space to fill the current holes on the roster.

Speaking of the young core, we’d love to say that offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn will be a part of the future, but we simply can’t make that assurance based on his alarming proneness to injury, which has unfortunately reared its ugly head after a durable start to the 2020 campaign.

The 24-year-old left tackle (knee) has been ruled out of Sunday’s game against Arizona, and it might be time for fans to start wondering if he’s going to be one of those players who will always be hampered by injuries. He was placed on injured reserve Saturday.

We have no joy in admitting that, but this marks three consecutive seasons that Wynn will miss time with a lower leg injury. He missed the entirety of his rookie season with torn Achilles and followed that up by landing on injured reserve at the start of 2019 with a toe injury. He’s also been questionable for a number of games this season with a bum ankle.

Talent has never been the question with Wynn, who’s pretty much dominated every time he’s been able to line up at left tackle. The 2018 first-rounder earned a respectable 69.9 blocking grade from Pro Football Focus last season and he’s responded with an even more imposing display this time around, ranking as one of the best offensive linemen in the NFL with an 82.6 grade from PFF.

Those numbers prove that Wynn has all the requisite tools to become one of the best left tackles in the game. However, if he can’t shake the injury bug, the Patriots will have no choice but to start searching for alternative long-term options at the position.

Here’s to hoping that the Georgia product proves us wrong, because we want nothing more than for him to be a part of the future in New England.

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