Caedan Wallace was selected by the New England Patriots in the third round (68th overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft. To explore this selection in detail, join CLNS Media's Taylor Kyles and Mike Kadlick as they assess and grade the pick on CLNS Media's Draft Central. They will analyze Wallace's fit within the Patriots' system, his potential contributions to the offensive line, and how his versatility might enhance New England's O-Line.
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Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
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00:00 the- the- the- the- the- the-
00:20 the 2024 NFL draft here on CLNS medias draft central and on Patriots press pass. Uh, we
00:27 are powered by prize picks the exclusive daily fantasy partner of the CLNS media network.
00:32 Make sure to download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match of up
00:37 to $100. So Taylor Patriots go Jalen Polk round two 37 overall. They then wait, uh,
00:45 just about 31 picks 37 to 68 stick and pick and land Penn state offensive tackle, uh,
00:54 Caden Wallace, uh, Caden Wallace, a, uh, a right tackle prospect, uh, throughout the
01:00 sort of pre-draft stuff, six foot five, three 41 started 40 games over five years with Penn
01:06 state all at right tackle. So, uh, if you are just tuning in to draft central and you
01:11 didn't watch our live show, you didn't see me and Taylor Kyle's react to the fact that
01:16 we're react to this pick and see that we were a little disappointed.
01:19 We were a little confused. Patriots just re-signed Mike on windows who a three year $57 million
01:25 contract. It was reported that his plan is to stay on the right side, um, and stick at
01:29 right tackle. So we didn't know what the plan was. We didn't know if it was an indictment
01:33 on the interior offensive line, if they were going to make some moves elsewhere, uh, to
01:36 go more core for looks to be at least right now, the, the shoe in fill in, um, at left
01:42 tackle, but he's only on a one year deal. So, um, to clear that up before we get your
01:47 reaction, Taylor, we then spoke to de facto general manager, Elliot Wolf, who told us
01:52 that they basically see, uh, Wallace as a left tackle.
01:56 They feel like he can make that transition. Okay. They trust his athleticism. They trust
02:00 his smarts, a guy who, like you said, uh, or like, you know, like we said, it's 25 years
02:04 old. So has plenty of experience. So once we cleared up what the plan is for Wallace
02:09 Taylor, um, what's your reaction to the Patriots, uh, selecting, selecting this guy with the
02:14 68th of all there, he continues a trend that we saw with Jalen Polk of one versatility.
02:21 This is a guy who can play all five offensive line spots. Now I'm not sure if he's like
02:25 a prototypical left tackle, cause he doesn't really have the arm length that you look for.
02:29 And he is an explosive athlete. I didn't really see that again, that prototypical just
02:34 really fluid, easy moving left tackle kind of profile. But the versatility for me made
02:40 sense for why he was a third round pick, because that's something they don't have right now.
02:44 They don't have anybody on the roster. You can play every spot on the offensive line,
02:48 extremely invaluable. He has a ton of experience, as you mentioned, which offensive linemen don't
02:53 get a whole lot of opportunities to actually get down dirty in practice.
02:56 So I think that that experience is even more important in this version of the game. And
03:01 Ellie will dead did say he thinks he is explosive enough to play left tackle. Now, one thing
03:06 I noticed while watching him, I saw his game against Ohio state. He's really balanced.
03:11 That was a good thing where you didn't really see him lunging very much or look like he
03:14 was in awkward positions, which is really big, especially left tackle, very patient.
03:19 Like you'd see, he'd get in his stance and he keeps his hands back. Even when guys shoot,
03:23 he's not usually the one who initiates contact unless he's trying to set really aggressively
03:28 and really be the aggressor, which again, that that's where the experience comes in,
03:32 where he's like, I know I don't really have to shoot my hands right now.
03:35 That plays into the balance as well. You did see some mobility. They use them as a polar
03:40 at times, which as we know, with tackles and Alex van pelts or yeah, with tackles and Alex
03:44 van pelts system, they don't pull a ton, but they'll do it every once in a while, especially
03:48 on the left side where you do expect those guys to be a little more athletic.
03:52 Reading scouting reports. I didn't see a ton of this just in the game. I watched against
03:54 Ohio state. They say that he does have power in the run game. He doesn't always sustain
03:59 it. A pad level did seem like it was a bit of an issue with him. Another thing, kind
04:03 of similar to Cole strange on tape. I didn't see a lot of independent hand usage where
04:08 a lot of the time he's shooting both of his hands and it gets more experienced rushers.
04:11 They're going to predict that, wait for it. And like we see a lot of times with Cole,
04:14 they'll knock those hands down. But again, because you didn't see him off balance, it
04:19 did show like, okay, so it's not a huge problem, but you do want to see it get better. And
04:23 there's some promise there because Eric Galco, we're actually going to have him on the show
04:27 next week to talk about Kate and Wallace because he went to the shrine bowl.
04:30 Galco is the director of the shrine bowl. You saw, there was a clip where he shot one
04:34 hand just to kind of bait the defender and then went into attack mode. So that's the
04:39 kind of thing you want to see people. According to reports, he made a huge jump as a senior
04:44 where when you're a 24 year old prospect, the fear is that you're not really going to
04:47 be able to develop. You kind of already reached your ceiling. You're more floor. If he made
04:52 a big jump last season that shows that, okay, he can continue to grow with Scott Peters,
04:58 you know, Brian Callahan disciple, one of the best offensive line coaches in history,
05:01 a guy who literally has a side hustle dedicated to teaching offensive lineman technique and
05:05 who has experienced playing the position himself.
05:08 And you got a coogler on the staff as well, who has experienced both playing and coaching
05:12 really came highly regarded when he was signed by the Patriots. So again, initially it was
05:17 confusing and I didn't know how to feel about it. This is a guy who has a lot of traits
05:22 reading scouting reports. There's not a lot of negatives about him. It really seems more
05:25 like, you know, his pad level needs to improve. He's got to get better using his independent
05:29 hands and it's really just technique based. But, uh, and then I talked about the versatility,
05:34 but also character where it carries over with Jalen Polk, where we talked to him.
05:39 Seems like a really chill guy. And Ellie was like, yeah, he's a laid back guy. He was,
05:42 comes from a great family. Uh, but when he gets on that field, you know, he flips the
05:46 switch, which you love in your offensive lineman. And in this rebuild character is huge. That's
05:51 why I've been talking about AD Mitchell, where if there were questions and I will say
05:54 that he was drafted by the Colts and Chris Ballard pushed very hard against all the kind
06:00 of, he was kind of pissed that that was going around, but you know, there were things like
06:04 that where we're saying, okay, it is a question Mark, if those are legitimate concerns, but
06:10 they're getting guys who they think are high character guys, clearly they have experience
06:15 and they're battle tested. So I'm really coming around to it. And, uh, I I'm excited to see
06:19 him on the field and see how he kind of develops over the summer. And then through the preseason.
06:23 Yeah. You mentioned the, uh, the, you know, the analyst, uh, you know, quotes and sort
06:27 of thoughts and scouting reports on it. Notable from Lewis Riddick of ESPN, uh, on Caden Williams,
06:33 who are catering to Wallace rather, um, saying, quote, this is my guy. I like a whole lot
06:39 of things about this player. I'm going to struggle to say anything bad about him. I
06:42 thought his tape was as good. I thought his tape was as good. His much more heralded than
06:48 his much, excuse me, was as good as as much more Howard left tackle in Olaf.
06:53 Bushano, this guy is another solid pick. So, uh, coming from Riddick who has worked in
06:59 NFL front offices before has been a general manager candidate before, uh, it says a lot
07:03 about this guy and sort of what, you know, what he can bring to the table to be compared
07:06 to, to a guy like Olaf who Shana, who was a first round pick, you mentioned Blake Fisher,
07:10 Joe Alt, you know, that sort of thing. Um, where, you know, playing the bookend to the
07:15 dominant guy, it's even, even Roger Rosengarten and Troy Fitanu, right? Like they're, you
07:19 know, when you play opposite these guys, yeah, they're great, but you know, the guy on the
07:23 other end could be just as good. So, uh,
07:25 And Ellie, we'll mention the only reason that Wallace did play on the right side was because
07:30 Olu was on the left side. Now, again, we'll see how everything works out in camp and how
07:34 much are they? I'm not, I don't think he's lying or anything like they clearly took the
07:37 guy. They think he quite love tackle. There must've been traits. They know a lot more
07:40 than us. Uh, but yeah, I thought that was interesting that, uh, he did note that. And
07:43 the clarification, yeah, a nice way off my chest. Cause I was like, what the hell are
07:47 they doing? Drafting either a guard or a right tackle when you need left tackle, but they
07:51 address their three positions in need. That's what everybody was hoping they were going
07:54 to do. Didn't do it with players that everybody expected, but I feel like this is one where
07:59 the more we look on it. And again, if they continue to show us on the field that they
08:03 were worth these picks and that they can be quick contributors.
08:05 And even in Wallace's scouting reports, people were saying he's going to be pretty much an
08:09 instant contributor, which probably means he can rotate in. He can be an extra alignment
08:13 and things like that with the prospect of becoming a starter down the road. So again,
08:17 you know, I think these are going to age pretty well. Yeah. So now that we clarified it, he's
08:22 likely going to play left tackle, uh, Taylor grade, the pick way too early grade for the
08:27 Patriots selecting a Caden wall as a pick number 68.
08:30 I initially gave the B minus and then I watched him and I was like, honestly, I don't really,
08:35 I can't explain why I would put the minus there. I'm just going to give it a B, you
08:38 know, I'm not blown away by the pick necessarily. And I'm, I'm, I don't pretend to be an offensive
08:42 line expert. There could be things in this game that I'm not picking up on that really
08:46 push him over the edge. But for me, I do think that even Lou said, I think it is a really
08:49 solid pick. And that's what I think of B warrants where there's not any glaring flaws in his
08:54 game necessarily. And again, it's tough because we didn't see him on the left side and against
08:58 that type of competition, but against Ohio state, like Eric Galko and Brandon Thorne,
09:02 two people I respect very highly both said that his Ohio state tape was good.
09:07 And that was a good front. I watched it again. There were the moments where the, uh, there
09:11 were, you know, times where I didn't necessarily love the lack of length. That's one thing.
09:16 Uh, I I've read that he does use his length. Well, there were times where I felt like it
09:20 stood out that other guys were making significant contact first. Uh, but for the most part,
09:25 you saw the flashes where it's like, okay, I see what they like. This is clearly a very
09:28 mature player who maybe just needs to learn more and, you know, didn't maybe have the
09:32 coaching to really unleash, uh, his maximum potential, even though he's 24 years old.
09:37 So, and I think he also, um, he's a red shirt who also had his season shortened by COVID
09:43 on his second season, I believe still very experienced, but you know, just gets to get
09:46 some NFL coaching. So I gave it a B once again, I think this super solid pick with a guy who
09:51 can at least be a good left tackle for you. Um, Olu or a Chukumo core four is only on
09:57 a one-year deal. So he gives you a long-term plan there.
10:00 Yep. So a B for the Patriots third offensive pick in the 2024 NFL draft, they have hit
10:07 on offense in three straight picks their first three picks for the first time since 2006,
10:12 a hat tip to Mike Reese there when they drafted Lords, Moroni, uh, Chad Jackson and David
10:17 Thomas with their first three picks again, 20s, 24, the first time they've done so with
10:21 Drake may Jalen Polk, uh, and Caden Wallace, but there is still one more day Taylor rounds
10:27 four through seven live tomorrow, starting at 12.
10:31 PM still on the board. They're still on the board. Patriots have the, I believe the second
10:36 or third pick, uh, in the fourth round tomorrow. So they get after it pretty much right away.
10:41 So obviously don't go anywhere. We'll have you covered here on draft central third pick
10:45 in a, in the fourth round. So Patriots getting right after it, 12 PM, uh, again, picks one
10:51 Oh three. Um, I'm pulling it up right here. It picks one Oh three, one 10, one 80, one
10:56 93 and two 31 Taylor. I was looking at this earlier. I have a feeling they're going to
11:00 trade up or back either up from one 80 or back from one 10. That 70 pick range feels
11:06 a little bit too big for me. Um, I think they, I think they might try and, you know, get
11:11 themselves in, in around that, uh, one way or another. So make sure you keep it here
11:16 on Twitter with Taylor at T Kyle's 39 with myself at Mike Cadillac and follow along at,
11:23 uh, at Patriot CLNS on Twitter and make sure you subscribe to the YouTube, uh, at Patriots
11:28 press pass. We'll be here again, 12 PM tomorrow back on draft central. So keep it locked in.
11:33 And until then, thanks for watching. And we'll see, we will see you next time.
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