FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Mike Onwenu was one of the key in-house priorities of the New England Patriots this offseason. When they signed the 26-year-old to a three-year, $57 million contract in March, it came with the assumption that he'd remain as the club's starting right tackle. After all, he'd held that position to finish out the 2023 campaign and played it at a high level.
However, as the Patriots search for their top five linemen for 2024, there's been some jockeying around that has seen Onwenu kick inside to right guard. In the spring during OTAs, Onwenu had worked at right tackle but then switched to guard at times during mandatory minicamp. In the first practice of training camp, Onwenu remained at right guard throughout the session.
"It was essentially just practice in a few places," Onwenu said of playing both tackle and guard. "Days in and days out, we're going to be switching around, and it's going to be different lines, so just getting the best five out there and practicing, every guy practicing each position, and just knowing that you can play that position."
The Patriots selected Onwenu in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Michigan. As a rookie, he worked as a right tackle and then saw split work between the right and left tackle spots during his second year in the league. In 2022, he moved over to right guard for the entire year but then moved back to right tackle by the end of last year.
"It was a little surprising," he said of the recent switch back to guard. "Pretty much as a football player, I've done it in the past. I started as a guard, started as a jumbo tackle, and then I played tackle. It's just one of the positions that I play."
With Onwenu at right guard when Jacoby Brissett -- the presumptive Week 1 starter -- was taking his reps on Wednesday, Calvin Anderson was at right tackle. Meanwhile, Chukwuma Okorafor was the top left tackle during competitive drills with Sidy Sow at left guard and David Andrews at center.
"I've had this conversation with AVP [Alex Van Pelt]. I've also talked to Mike and the rest of those offensive linemen," head coach Jerod Mayo said Tuesday when asked about where he prefers Onwenu along the line. "Look, we're going to put the best five players out there on the field as an offensive line. If that means you've got to play guard or play tackle, I don't know. We'll see, it'll play itself out in camp. That's my mindset, it's about putting the best players on the field."
As Mayo indicated, the early days of camp are the time to experiment to better help sort out who are the best five linemen to start the year. That said, the sooner that is formulated, the quicker that group can form a rapport, which could be vital to the offense's success this year.
"It is very important," Onwenu said of knowing where he'll ultimately end up on the line. "It's early now so we had the OTAs, we had the spring, but we're getting into live football now. As the practices and the days go on, we'll see who fits where and how that fits with the best five."