Patriots Have a Special Talent in Their $3.5 Million Rookie Offensive Lineman

The New England Patriots need every bit of talent they have on the roster, including the one coming from a rookie offensive lineman. New England had too many struggles in the 2020 season and players don’t really fit in the playoff picture. Of course, head coach Bill Belichick always has the perfect winning plan, and he will do his best to put the game under control.

One particular player stood out this season, and NFL analysts saw this coming. Rookie offensive lineman Michael Onwenu had excellent performance, and a lot of people took notice of his talent. From what we can see, he will finish his first season with success.

Patriots rely on the rookie offensive lineman

Onwenu attended Detroit Cass Technical High School. In his senior year in 2016, Onwenu took part in the US Army All-American Game. The offensive lineman was a four-star prospect and ranked eighth-best offensive guard prospect. Onwenu also ranked third-best prospect in Michigan. Brilliant Onwenu was a Div. 1-2 Associated Press all-state first-team selection. In his freshman year in Michigan, Onwenu played offense and defense. After his freshman year, the talent was right guard on the offensive line.

In the final two years, Onwenu was a full-time starter. In his junior year, he was an All-Big Ten honoree and joined the Pro Football Focus College’s All-Big Ten Team on offense as a senior.

The Patriots selected Onwenu in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He signed a four-year deal with the Patriots and will get $3.5 million.

Onwenu started his first game in Week 3, and it was a 36-20 win over the Raiders. He finished with 250 rushing yards in the game.

Coach Belichick has great words for his rookie. He praised his versatility and skillset.

“Mike’s shown a lot of versatility. He played right guard at Michigan, and that’s pretty much the only spot he played,” Belichick said media members after the Patriots win over the Raiders. “I think he’s done a really good job. He’s a smart kid, he’s got a lot of physical playing strength, he’s a good athlete, he’s got good football smarts and awareness and he’s done a good job for us, playing right tackle and then yesterday at guard he handled some good situations. He learned a lot and he’s still got a long way to go but did a lot of good things.”

Highest-graded offensive rookies:
1. Michael Onwenu – 91.0
2. Justin Jefferson – 90.2
3. Antonio Gibson – 80.5
4. Joe Burrow – 77.2 pic.twitter.com/ya0aYUyRyZ

— PFF (@PFF) November 14, 2020

The Patriots will definitely need Onwenu in Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.