Sportsnaut
The Patriots added a ton of talented players during the course of the 2025 NFL Draft. The team needed to add young talent, and that’s exactly what they did by selecting 11 players.
Several of these players have already shown out during camp and the preseason. It was expected that first-round pick Will Campbell and second-round pick TreVeyon Henderson would play large roles immediately, but there’s been another rookie who has really stood out lately.
Marcus Bryant is an offensive tackle who was selected in the seventh round out of Missouri. The expectation was that Bryant would compete with Demontrey Jacobs and others for the swing tackle spot this season. However, Bryant ended up starting at right tackle for the Patriots in the preseason opener, and he played well enough to earn praise from Mike Vrabel.
When asked about Bryant getting the start, Vrabel gushed over the rookie.
“I think he earned it,” Vrabel explained when speaking with reporters. “I think that when they switched over and he had some snaps on the left at the beginning of the training camp, I think moving him over to the right, I thought he did well, especially in the joint practices, earned that opportunity and continues to improve. He’ll have to play both sides for us.”
“I kind of liked Marcus. He’s kind of a happy, lucky-go kid, and I think there’s a lot of good football in front of him.”
Vrabel, like Bill Belichick before him, is not exactly known for handing out compliments, so it says alot that the coach felt the need to say this.
In the opener, Bryant played 44 snaps for the Patriots, with 30 at right tackle and 14 at left. The rookie didn’t allow a sack, and was credited with two pancake blocks. Jacobs, who at one point was looked at as the favorite to be the primary backup tackle, played his snaps in the second half, which likely doesn’t bode well for his standing on the roster.
While seventh-round picks are far from guaranteed to make the roster, Bryant certainly seems to be in a great position to do so.
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