Pats Pulpit
One of Mike Vrabel’s first big goals as head coach of the New England Patriots was rebuilding the team from the trenches out. As a consequence, the team decided to invest some serious resources along the offensive line in 2025 — including three draft picks.
Will Campbell and Jared Wilson, who both earned starting spots as rookies, dominated the headlines among them. However, the third lineman selected also played a valuable role on the team, at least early on during his rookie campaign.
Name: Marcus Bryant
Position: Offensive tackle
Jersey number: 52
Opening day age: 24 (6/22/2002)
Measurements: 6’7 1/8”, 320 lbs, 8 7/8” hand size, 34 5/8” arm length, 83 1/8” wingspan, 4.97s 40-yard dash, 8.08s 3-cone drill, 5.03s short shuttle, 31 1/2” vertical jump, 9’3” broad jump, 26 bench press reps, 8.99 Relative Athletic Score
NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: SMU (2020-23), Missouri (2024)
A three-star offensive tackle prospect out of Cedar Ridge High School in Round Rock, TX, Bryant started his college career at SMU — one of two schools alongside Incarnate Word to offer him a scholarship. In four seasons with the Mustangs, he appeared in 42 games with 29 starts and was named first-team All-AAC in 2023.
Despite his success, Bryant opted to enter the transfer portal after his fourth season. He took his talents to Missouri, where he became an immediate starter at left tackle. Playing opposite future first-round draft pick Armand Membou, he started all 13 of the Tigers’ games in 2024 and played 975 total snaps between offense and special teams.
Bryant entered the NFL Draft in 2025, and was selected 220th overall in the seventh round by the Patriots. He appeared in 12 games as a rookie, but saw offensive action in only three of them.
Strengths: Standing at 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds with long arms and big hands, Bryant has prototypical size and length for an NFL offensive tackle. He complements his build with good power that works from his base up; he sets a firm anchor and has a powerful first punch to stun rushers upon initial contact. He also pairs up his power with some proper speed both out of his stance and when moving laterally; he can reset the line of scrimmage in the run game and has the reach, lower-body agility and effective kick-slide to force edges to run the loop to get to the quarterback.
Weaknesses: Bryant’s size is a plus, but he sometimes does not take full advantage of it. He has a tendency to struggle with leverage, and plays with too high a pad level. This leads to a leaning-forward in order to engage defenders which in turn can compromise his balance. As a run blocker, he is slow to disengage from double blocks and get to the second level. In general, he is not the quickest player which in turn can also become a problem on stunts or twists. While he is...
