The New England Patriots have had a surprisingly strong offensive line over the past few weeks, despite injuries to both Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. Wilson has since returned to the lineup, and Lowe has been a more than capable Campbell replacement. Despite the strong patchwork, the line still needs further insurance.
With Campbell on IR, Lowe slides into the left tackle slot as mentioned. The backups across the offensive line are now Thayer Munford and Marcus Bryant at offensive tackle, Ben Brown on the interior, and Caedan Wallace, who played as a tackle last year and has since been moved inside.
The reshuffling comes because of injuries. Morgan Moses will turn 36 during the offseason, so, to no surprise, this season has been a grueling endeavor. He missed part of SNF against the Ravens with a knee injury and was replaced by Thayer Munford, who's primarily been a blocking tight end and swing tackle.
He stepped in for 20 snaps at right tackle, and combined with his 12 snaps as an extra blocker, he recorded an impressive 88.4 PFF grade.
Munford was also banged up with a knee injury later in the game. With the pair of tackles dealing with injuries that could put their Week 17 statuses in question, Vrabel may have to change the construction of his gameday roster.
Marcus Bryant should be on the Patriots' game day roster in Week 17
When we talk about the Patriots' rookie tackles, Marcus Bryant isn't the first one we think of. A four-year player at SMU before transferring to Missouri for his final season, the seventh-round pick stood out in preseason as a lineman with legitimate potential.
He posted a 77.0 pass-blocking grade according to PFF, and allowed an outstanding 2.2% pressure rate. He's played only 18 snaps this season, seven coming out of necessity against the Bengals after both Campbell and Moses went down.
While there's still developing to be done, he has the frame to be in the league for the long haul. At 6-foot-8, 320 pounds, he's the tallest player and fourth heaviest on the team. With Campbell already down and the top two right tackles dealing with injury, the "break glass in case of emergency" option may be needed.
Bryant's been a healthy scratch the past three weeks, ever since Munford joined the team from Cleveland's practice squad. It seems unlikely Bryant would play any meaningful snaps if it really did come down to him: given Mike Onwenu's experience at right tackle, they may opt to shift him outside and slide Ben Brown into right guard if it came down to their third right tackle.
Whether he has a chance of playing a real role or not, Vrabel should take a long, hard look at Bryant as a candidate to make the game-day roster, especially should either Moses or Munford be dealing with any type of significant injury.