ClutchPoints
Heading into the 2025 NFL calendar year, if there’s one position New England Patriots fans desperately want to see addressed, it’s left tackle.
All things considered, it makes sense, right? The Patriots’ offensive line was brutal in 2024, with Drake Maye producing at Pro Bowl replacement levels despite being constantly under pressure from opposing rushers. With the chances of selecting a certified “generational talent” in Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter a longshot heading into the draft, most fans have happily accepted that the Patriots will likely draft the top tackle in this year’s class, Will Campbell or Kelvin Banks Jr., who can grow with Maye on a cost-controlled long-term contract.
On paper, that strategy is sound: left tackle is a very expensive position in the modern NFL, and landing a good one who is just above drinking age could lead to a half-decade of cheap play at a position of value instead of the more short-term fix a free agent target presents.
The problem with that plan? The top two tackles in the 2025 NFL Draft are very good players, but far from the cornerstone building blocks a team like the Patriots needs to amass at this stage of their rebuilding process. No, with just a few legit cornerstone players on the roster, to put it kindly, the Patriots need to be in the unadulterated pursuit of talent at all costs, borderline, regardless of schematic fit.
Fortunately, even if Hunter and Carter are off the board at pick four, which feels 50-50 at this point, they could secure the next best prospect – literally – in Mason Graham, who could have a massive impact as the new face of Mike Vrabel’s defense.
In most NFL Drafts, like last year’s for instance, Mason Graham likely would have been the first defensive player and potentially even the first non-quarterback taken because of his do-it-all game built on exactly what teams want from a starting defensive tackle in 2025.
He’s a big, burly 6-foot-3, 314 pounds, with a strong frame, an athletic build, and a natural ability to break through offensive lines on a one-way trip to whichever player has the unfortunate responsibility to possess the ball on any given play.
Currently ranked fourth on Daniel Jeremiah’s big board behind Carter, Hunter, and Ashton Jeanty, Graham possesses all of the intangibles a talent evaluator could look for in a franchise defensive tackle, especially for a team like the Patriots with championship aspirations.
In Tennessee, Vrabel had Jeffery Simmons as his big-bodied three-technique who could eat up double teams, blow up zone-blocking systems, and ultimately set the tone for the Titans’ defense. While Graham might not immediately make that level of impact right out of the gates, as every player has a bit of a transitional period from the college ranks to the pros, if he could be that level of player for the Patriots moving forward, he could easily earn a similarly lucrative...
