Neglect of the offensive line is proving to be regrettable for the Patriots

Bill Belichick and his personnel team wrecked the 2023 season due to inattention to the offensive tackle position. The team's left tackle, Trent Brown, was in the last year of his contract. Additionally, the team signed washed-up veteran Riley Reiff, had several other 4A tackles, and traded for two flops, Vederian Lowe and Tyrone Wheatley Jr.

None of those tackles except Brown could play at all.

Adding to that debacle, Belichick and his team, including current Executive Vice President of Player Personnel Eliot Wolf, neglected to draft any offensive tackles. The result was a terrible offense and a last-place finish, which ended the Foxborough careers of both Bill Belichick and Mac Jones.

One would think that experience would have made a strong impression on Wolf, who was appointed the de facto GM by owner Robert Kraft despite his role in the 2023 debacle. Rather, Wolf learned little and repeated many of the same errors.

Let's examine how Wolf's faulty strategy led to the trainwreck of the Patriots' offense in 2024. Key offensive line omissions and other blunders have sent the team careening toward oblivion once more as history repeats itself.

Inattention to left tackle doomed the Patriots' 2024 season

Wolf had several key 2024 offseason objectives. The prime objective was to replace the ineffective and traded Mac Jones at quarterback. Kraft had made it abundantly clear he wanted a young quarterback around whom to build.

Having overpaid for backup free agent quarterback Jacoby Brissett, Wolf then did what he had to: He drafted a top-three quarterback, Drake Maye, with the third overall pick in the 2024 draft. His selection was lauded here and in many other places. It was a great start to the draft.

Unfortunately, he then made his first massive mistake by neglecting to fill the team's second greatest need, left tackle. He passed on two plug-and-play starting options for the Patriots, a team with no offensive left tackles, and chose a wide receiver.

Either Kingsley Suamataia from BYU or Patrick Paul from Houston (the choice here because of his tremendous length) would have been the choice. Wolf punted and shanked it. While receiver was another need, neglecting to select one of the top two left tackles on the board was a major blunder.

Eliot Wolf added to the Patriots' left tackle woes by assuming this

In addition to neglecting left tackle in the draft, Wolf proposed that veteran free-agent signee Chuks Okorafor, who was benched at right tackle in Pittsburgh in 2023, might play left. He didn't even last a couple of games before leaving the team. Additionally, he proposed that a right tackle he did draft, Caedan Wallace, could be an option at left tackle. He wasn't. He can't play the position.

With both tackle spots completely messed up, Mike Onwenu, the Pats' best guard, was moved back to right tackle. Then, the musical chairs of guards who either couldn't play were rookies or got hurt began.

Atonio Mafi, a 2023 fifth-round pick, didn't make the team. Cole Strange, a mediocre 2022 first-round guard pick, was still out injured. Sidy Sow, a decent option, got hurt. 2023 fourth-round pick, center/guard Jake Andrews is out for the season injured, and now, with starting center David Andrews out for the rest of the season, there's almost no one to play center.

Wolf can't be faulted for injuries. They happen. Yet, drafting for depth is supposed to meet those exigencies. Unfortunately, many players Wolf helped draft on the interior of the offensive line have flopped. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. The stats tell the tale.

The immobile Brissett has been pressured on nearly 50 percent of plays when dropping back to pass. Against the 49ers, it was almost 54 percent of his dropbacks. The result of all this is summed up well by one observer,

"The lack of stability from the offensive line impacts the rest of the offense's production, from the quarterback to the wide receivers and the running backs. It's making any sort of success difficult to achieve, which isn't going to bode well for the Patriots chances of winning any more games unless they make changes as soon as possible."

Mistakes in offensive line construction wrecked the 2024 season, essentially before it began. Wolf lacked comprehension that after the quarterback, your success rides first and foremost, on your left tackle and the rest of the offensive line.

Wolf drafted the young quarterback, but he sits on the bench. He has no left tackles by choice, and his interior O-line is a disaster, due to poor drafting and injuries. Absent starting Maye, and trading for or signing a capable left tackle and an interior offensive lineman, the 2024 season is toast.

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