The New England Patriots' offensive line was up and down in 2025. The need for major offseason replenishment was clear. They signed a high-priced free agent guard, Alijah Vera-Tucker, and wasted little time in the draft selecting a top offensive tackle, Caleb Lomu, with the 28th pick overall after trading up three spots.
Regardless of their 12th overall 2025 ranking by Pro Football Network, they still received a C grade, and they deserved it.
Interestingly, four of the starting linemen return in 2026. One, Jared Wilson, who's moving from guard to center, is now being touted by Pro Football Focus as a member of their "All-Breakout Team" as a future great NFL center, a position he hasn't played at all in the NFL.
Clearly, PFF sees great potential in Jared Wilson at his new position, the last position he played at Georgia in 2024. They'd better be right, and Vera-Tucker had better work out. The Patriots allowed 47 regular-season sacks in 2025 and another 21, including six in the Super Bowl loss, in the postseason.
It wasn't good enough. It put Drake Maye in harm's way far too often and got him injured in the process. Now Wilson, after a position change, is expected to help remedy that situation in a hurry.
A lot is expected of Jared Wilson and he'd better be ready
Whether the Patriots did enough this offseason to remedy a sieve-like pass-blocking O-line is debatable. Vera-Tucker was the big free agent signing, but he's injury-prone and didn't play a snap in 2025 because of a torn tricep.
As mentioned, the four other starters return, though Wilson is moving over one slot to man the pivot. A lot is riding on the offensive line and protecting Drake Maye.
PFF's selecting Wilson as the next great NFL center is as audacious as it is surprising for a young player who's never even played the position in the NFL. To say these top analysts are going out on a limb is an understatement, but hopefully their analysis will be right.
"Even after the Patriots’ offensive line grew during New England’s run to the Super Bowl, it figures to be even steadier this year with Wilson up the middle. Wilson experienced growing pains in his first pro season...However, Wilson showed signs of progress later in the year with a 73.6 PFF pass-blocking grade from Week 11 through the Super Bowl.
Moving back to center should do wonders for Wilson, who compiled a 79.6 overall grade during his time there at Georgia in 2024. Adding veteran Alijah Vera-Tucker to man left guard and retaining the likes of Mike Onwenu, Will Campbell and Morgan Moses creates a relatively ideal situation for Wilson."
Without doubt, PFF is looking back to Wilson's days at Georgia, when he was highly touted as a center. The Patriots bought into that theory, using a third-round premium pick on him in the 2025 draft.
Necessity moved him over to guard in 2025 when all the incumbents flopped. But now, he's back where he was expected to ultimately play, and the pressure for him to immediately perform will be substantial.
The Patriots' prime objective every offseason should be to protect the quarterback. It all should start and end there. Returning four starters from a line that allowed a massive number of sacks is not exactly the best prescription for improvement there.
Should Vera-Tucker get injured, and Wilson not live up to PFF's lofty expectations, it could create a long, cold fall and winter, full of numerous sacks of Maye. That's not at all what Patriot Nation is looking for.
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