On Thursday night, the New England Patriots selected Utah offensive tackle Caleb Lomu with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. New England traded up three spots from No. 31 by sending the Buffalo Bills pick No. 125, who originally held the selection.
After redshirting his freshman year in 2023, Lomu started all 24 games during his sophomore and junior seasons before declaring for the draft. The offensive tackle was named to the first team All-Big 12 last season and was a Freshman All-American
in 2024.
“[Lomu] has the athletic ability and talent and strength to kind of play anywhere on the [offensive] line,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said after the draft.
Lomu strictly played at left tackle for the Utes, but Wolf thinks the 21-year-old is capable of playing on the right side of the offensive line, he added in his post-draft press conference.
Here are four numbers that explain why the Patriots opted to select Lomu in the first round:
35: Morgan Moses’ age
Drafting the Gilbert, Ariz., native is a luxury pick, considering New England retained its Super Bowl starters at both offensive tackle spots last season: Will Campbell and Moses. However, at 35 years old, Moses may be reaching the tail-end of his tenured career.
Lomu is likely poised to take over the starting right tackle role when the veteran retires or the team moves on. Additionally, even though the veteran started all 17 games for the Patriots in 2025, Moses missed six games across the 2024 and 2023 NFL seasons due to injury. In the meantime, he can serve as the team’s top swing tackle and provide injury insurance in 2026, while he has the chance to sit and develop under Moses for a season.
9.78: Relative Athletic Score
The incoming rookie received a relative athletic score of 9.78 out of a possible 10 for his testing performance at the NFL Combine in February. Lomu recorded a 4.99 40-yard dash, a 2.92 20-yard split, a 1.74 10-yard split and a 9-foot-5-inch broad jump, earning himself “elite” status in the explosion and speed categories of the testing.
The 6-foot-6, 313-pound tackle possesses fluid lateral agility in the run game and pass protection, pairing those traits with his exceptional skills as a pass blocker. Lomu shows impressive body control and fluid hips that allow him to re-anchor if he loses leverage on his blocking assignment.
0: sacks allowed last season
During his final season at Utah, Lomu didn’t allow a single sack in his 2025 campaign, which highlights the kind of pass protector the Patriots drafted on Thursday. His ability to mirror pass rushers and recover encapsulates the team’s needs in a future right tackle. New England struggled to consistently protect Drake Maye in the pocket against the Seattle Seahawks’ four-man rush in Super Bowl LX.
3,462: rushing yards
Last season, Lomu blocked for a Utes offense that rushed for 3,462 yards and 41 touchdowns on the year — the most single-season yards and scoring totals for Utah in program history. Although his play strength in the run game needs improvement, Lomu’s range as a puller across the formation may have caught the Patriots’ eyes in the draft process.
New England ranked No. 20 in the NFL last season in rush EPA, which is a statistic that measures how much a team’s rushing plays improve its scoring potential on offensive drives. It was evident that the offense struggled to consistently rely on the run game last season.
