Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BREAKING: New England Patriots Select Caleb Lomu 28th Overall | Pats PROTECTING Drake Maye

Episode Date: April 24, 2026

The New England Patriots selected Utah offensive lineman Caleb Lomu 28th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The pick is in. With the 28th pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the New England Patriots, select Caleb Lomu, the offensive lineman, and Locked on NFL draft is sponsored by Cal Shee. Trade draft picks in the line market with no house. Down to the app, use code Locked on, get 10 bucks when you trade 10.

Cal She trade on anything. I'm Kevin Austroaker, joined now by Nick Cattels from Locked on Patriots. And Nick the Patriots do a little trade-up maneuver. Take Caleb Lomu. How do you like this pick for the Patriots? And what does he bring to the table? Look, I like it. You know, the fact is you had seven offensive tackles in this first round that we're going to go.

I thought all seven would be gone by 31. And I feel like all seven would have been gone by 31 if the Pats did not make this move up to draft Caleb Lomu. You know, we all know they need a tackle long term. Morgan Moses, 35 years old. Can he get through this next season fully? That's a big question mark. So offensive tackle was a huge need. So it wasn't edge.

But when you look at it, Kevin, of course, edge is much deeper in this class than tackle. So it made a lot of sense. And it tells us everything we need to know that the Patriots moved up. They traded a fourth round pick to move up to 28 to land Caleb Lomu. Elliot Wolf said at his press conference tonight that the Patriots did not think Lomu would be there for them. They had a top 30 visit scheduled. They canceled that top 30 visit because they thought he was going to get picked earlier. So they're happy with the pick.

And the pick makes so much sense. Now, why Lomu? What does he bring to the Patriots in terms of his versatility, maybe, skill set, maybe? What did the Patriots see in him to make them their first round pick? Yeah, it's interesting. I wouldn't call him a Mike Vrable type player. When you think about Vrable, you think of like nastiness and a finisher and super physical. That's not really Lomu.

Lomu is a big time athlete. You know, his relative athletic score was through the roof. Very smart player. He talked about how hard he studies. And I think that's going to go a long way in that building. at Gillette for his future. But again, he's a big dude. He's got great size. Will Campbell, of course, last year.

The biggest question, Kevin, I talked way too much about arm length regarding Will Campbell a year ago. This year, not so much. I mean, when you look at Caleb Lomu, he's got the size. He's 6 foot 6, 3, and 3 quarters inch arms. So he's got the length as well. He is a little bit light, about 310 pounds. He said he played at like 305, I think, last year, or 300 pounds last year.

He's already up to 313, 314. So he's going to put some weight on. He's got to get some more polished to his game. He's got to get some more strength to his game. But the raw athleticism, the technique, it is there. Now, you mentioned Edge. Where are some positions the Patriots could look maybe outside of Edge in these next couple of days?

And how do you expect them to use their capital? Yeah, I think we're looking at tight end. Tight end is a need. They've been linked to Eli Stowers from Vanderbilt. I think he's probably going to go early to mid-second round. So if they want to grab him, they're going to have to move up again from 63. Will they do that? I don't know.

I don't know how aggressive they'll get. Of course, Mike Rable, we found out it is not going to be in the room on Saturday. So day three picks. Maybe they feel like we're going to trade some of those day three picks. That helps us bump up a little bit because the shot caller, so to speak, is not going to be in the room on Saturday. So I would look at tight end. I think interior offensive line is something they would be interested in as well. Michael Wenu walking into the final year of his contract,

Elijah Vera Tucker, his injury history. So I look at interior offensive line. I would look at tight end. I don't think wide receiver is as much on the radar right now, especially Kevin, since the Eagles decided to move up and draft McCoy Lemon tonight. Absolutely. And for more on the Patriots,

subscribe to Lockdown Patriots wherever you get your podcast.