Patriots Coach Makes Strong Admission About Top Lineman

When the New England Patriots signed Mike Ownenu to a lucrative three-year, $57 million contract this offseason, the plan was to have the versatile offensive lineman play right tackle.

The Patriots followed through with that, having Onwenu suit up at that spot despite the overall ineptitude of the offensive line this season.

But after four games, Patriots offensive line coach Scott Peters admitted that having the 6-foot-3, 350-pound Onwenu play right tackle is the wrong spot for him.

“In a perfect world, Mike is a guard — really physically,” Peters told reporters Friday, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “He can play tackle. He’s a rare athlete (the) way that (he) can move. But if you had your way, you’d like to see Mike at guard, just with the power inside and keeping the pocket firm there. He understands that and wears a lot of hats. But you want him to be able to really dig into something and in a perfect world you like to see him at guard.”

The admission from Peters reinforces that New England’s front office, led by Eliot Wolf, did a poor job in constructing the offensive line. And Jacoby Brissett has felt the impact of that.

Brissett has taken as much punishment as any other starting quarterback in the league. He has been sacked 11 times, including six times this past week against the San Francisco 49ers, and been hit over 30 times. Drake Maye was even sacked twice when he played a series against the New York Jets.

Onwenu, who saw time at guard during training camp, is thought of as a top-tier lineman, but even the Patriots feel they aren’t getting the most out of him playing tackle. With Onwenu at right tackle, the Patriots have gone with rookie Layden Robinson at right guard.

That alignment hasn’t worked for the Patriots, but with really no other option at tackle, or subpar ones at best, New England has no choice but to continue to play Onwenu out of position.