Caleb Lomu didn’t just survive his first start for the Patriots. He made it look like he belonged there.
That mattered on a day when New England’s offensive line took another hit. The unit had already been battered early in the season, with Mike Onwenu going down in Week 2 with a broken ankle.
His replacement lasted only one game before landing on injured reserve, leaving the Patriots on their third right guard of the year. Then came another scare against the Raiders on Sunday, when Will Campbell exited in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return.
With Campbell out, the Patriots turned to Lomu, and the rookie handled the moment far better than anyone might have expected. For stretches, it was easy to forget Campbell was even missing.
Lomu was never projected to be an opening-day starter, even as a first-round pick. Since arriving in New England, he has bounced around the offensive line, with particular work on the right side. He played left tackle in college, but the Patriots want him to become their long-term right tackle, especially with Campbell drafted in 2025 and Morgan Moses eventually on the clock for retirement.
Sunday was a different test. Lomu was pressed into action with little warning, and he had never taken snaps as a starter before.
All he had done in games was appear as an extra lineman. None of that showed once he was on the field against Las Vegas.
The early read is encouraging. In Pro Football Focus’ in-game tracking and immediate grading, Lomu was credited with 29 pass-blocking snaps, gave up one hurry and one pressure, and earned a 98.0 pass-blocking grade.
That’s a strong debut by any measure, and it gives the Patriots a real reason to feel better about their draft investment.
The bigger picture is where this gets interesting. If Lomu can keep producing like this at right tackle, New England may have a future starter already in place. He doesn’t appear headed to left tackle as long as Campbell is around, but the Patriots clearly believe he can be Moses’s eventual replacement.
That would go a long way toward easing pressure on the front office. The team could still be staring at another important lineman decision after Mike Onwenu’s contract expires following the 2026 season. The ideal path would be to bring Onwenu back, let Lomu settle in at right tackle next year, and have the starting group sorted for 2027 and beyond.
From there, the Patriots could turn their attention to depth, which has become a necessity after the injuries they’ve already absorbed this season. Finding backups is one thing. Finding starters is the hard part.
If Lomu keeps giving them performances like the one he turned in Sunday - whether he’s filling in for Campbell or eventually lining up on the right side full-time - then the criticism around using a first-round pick on him will look a lot quieter than it does now.
In Other News...
Patriots May Have Just Telegraphged A Needed Boost At Receiver
The Patriots have spent most of training camp and the early part of the season patching together a roster hit hard by injuries, with 19 players already going on injured reserve and that total possibly climbing again. Even so, the offense found a way to function against the Raiders, a sign that New England has at least managed to stay afloat despite a depleted receiving room and all the shuffling that has come with it.
Now theres a clearer reason to watch the wide receiver picture over the next few days. A.J. Brown is eligible to return in Week 6 after missing the required four games with an ankle sprain, and a recent roster move has raised eyebrows as a possible setup for that activation. If the Patriots are, in fact, creating room for a needed boost at receiver, it would be a welcome bit of timing for a team that has had to survive far too much attrition already. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Tight End Finally Delivered A Breakthrough Years In The Making
Hayden Rucci finally got the kind of moment that can make the nomadic side of a young NFL career feel worth it, catching his first touchdown in Week 5 of the 2026 season for the Chargers. The tight end has been around the league enough already to know how fleeting roster spots can be, and his path has been shaped by a long football family tree as a third-generation pro, with roots that reach back through his father and grandfather.
For New England readers, the surname will ring a bell: his father, Todd Rucci, once lined up at guard for the Patriots in the 1990s, giving this latest milestone a faint but familiar local thread. Hayden Rucci landed in Los Angeles on September 22, 2026, after bouncing through several NFL stops, and he has now carved out a role with six appearances and two starts, the kind of foothold every fringe player spends years chasing while waiting for one clean break. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Loss In New England Got Uglier Than The Score
The Patriots had enough going on Sunday to fill more than one storyline, and the on-field result still ended up being the cleanest part of the afternoon. New England rolled past the Raiders 45-17, a win that pushed the team back above .500 for the first time in 2026 while Drake Maye kept the offense moving through a busy day that also included the celebration of the franchise's first Super Bowl team and Adam Vinatieri's Hall of Fame ring ceremony.
Even with the scoreboard tilting heavily in New England's favor, the game carried a more uneasy edge by the time it was over. Rhamondre Stevenson, Will Campbell and TreVeyon Henderson all left with injuries, and Henderson was later ruled out, leaving the Patriots to sort through the cost of a victory that was supposed to be about honoring the past but ended up adding another layer of concern for the present. [Read more 🡒]