The Patriots drafted Penn State offensive tackle Caedan Wallace in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday night.
Wallace started 40 games at right tackle for the Nittany Lions during his college career.
At 6-4 7/8 315, Wallace has good size and length. He is a fundamentally sound pass blocker. He kick sets quick and can cut the edge off for speed rushers. He has long arms and uses that length to maintain separation between him and pass rushers who win with bend and lean.
Aside from his footwork and length, Wallace has terrific hands and he times his punches well, especially in pass protection. Combine his hand work with his foot work and you can see why I think he can play left tackle and so do the Patriots.
When asked about Wallace’s ability to play on the left side, director of scouting and defacto GM Eliot Wolf said the organization felt he could make the move over to the other side.
“Yeah, we feel like Caedan has the athleticism to play over on the left side. Really, his teammate, Olu Fashanu, that the Jets drafted was the reason that he played on the right. So athletically, there’s no reason why he couldn’t make the switch over there. He’s a really smart, dedicated kid that we feel like can handle that.”
Wallace thinks he can too.
“Super confident. I play every position on the line. I am just excited to get there and learn from some great coaches and get after it.”
Not only could Wallace play tackle, he could also kick inside and play guard. As he said, he plays every position on the line. He is part of this new generation of offensive lineman that are being cross trained to play multiple position. For years coaches have done it at the high level, now you are seeing it in the college level and the NFL.
The Green Bay Packers were among the first teams to do it in recent years. It is why they drafted guys like Elgton Jenkins and Zach Tom. Both of those guys can play all five positions along the offensive line. Wallace is a similar player.
Wallace has the college experience you want but more importantly, he is versatile. In this day in age where you can only carry seven or eight offensive lineman into a game, you need lineman who can rep and play all along the offensive line. Wallace has proven he can do that.
Now he needs to do it on Sundays.