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Patriots T Mike Onwenu
The New England Patriots have a solid offensive line, and guard Mike Onwenu was one of the vital pieces of the puzzle last NFL season.
He rarely a missed assignment or a defender crashing through the pocket, but somehow, Onwenu did not make ESPN’s top 10 interior offensive linemen list, not even as one of the eight additional players who received votes.
NFL executives, coaches and scouts conducted this annual survey, ranking Tyler Smith first, followed by Quenton Nelson, Creed Humphrey and Quinn Meinerz.
Onwenu started every game, stabilized the interior of the New England Patriots’ offensive line and produced one of the strongest seasons of his career.
That survey result is a difficult one to square with the way he played in 2025.
Onwenu’s Production Belonged in the Conversation
ESPN’s rankings are designed to answer which players are the best at their positions right now rather than reward career accomplishments.
By that standard, Onwenu had a strong case.
Pro Football Focus gave Onwenu a 78.2 overall grade in 2025, seventh among 81 qualifying guards. His 78.2 pass-blocking grade ranked fifth, while his 74.2 run-blocking grade placed 10th.
Those numbers describe a guard without a glaring weakness.
He also played 1,080 offensive snaps during the regular season. Onwenu then helped New England reach the Super Bowl while starting all 21 of the team’s regular-season and playoff games.
The Patriots spent much of Onwenu’s first five NFL seasons moving him between right guard and right tackle. He finally remained at one position throughout 2025, and the stability brought out his best football.
PFF described the move back to guard as the driving force behind his bounce-back season. Onwenu had earned a career-low 65.2 grade in 2024 while splitting time between guard and tackle, and perhaps this is why he didn’t make the ESPN rankings today.
The issue comes farther down the list, as Onwenu’s PFF grade exceeded those of several guards who received recognition, yet voters found room for 22 interior linemen before reaching the Patriots’ most dependable blocker.
Top-ranked Tyler Smith finished at 73.5, while “also receiving votes” selections Steve Avila and Jonah Jackson earned grades of 75.0 and 72.3, respectively.
Patriots Already Showed How Much They Value Onwenu
New England’s offseason decision offered a clearer assessment.
Onwenu entered 2026 with a $25 million salary-cap charge in the final year of the three-year, $57 million contract he signed in 2024. The two sides agreed to revise the deal rather than move on from him.
The adjusted contract lowered his cap hit to $17.5 million and included $8.95 million in fully guaranteed money for 2026.
Onwenu accepted less immediate compensation, allowing the Patriots to created $7.5 million in cap space. Both sides preserved a partnership that has worked since New England selected him in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The move also reflected his importance to Drake Maye and the offense.
Onwenu may not attract the same attention as the most decorated guards in football, but his omission from the league’s best remains difficult to explain.
He may not deliver the violent highlight block that travels across social media despite much of his value comes from preventing bad plays before they ever begin.
The Patriots have spent years asking Onwenu to solve problems across their offensive line.
Once they stopped moving him, he became one of the best guards in the league again.
The rankings should have noticed.
Duncan Day is a sports contributor for Heavy. He has covered NFL, NBA, hockey and soccer for various outlets, including NBC Sports, Boston.com, USA TODAY, Forbes, Bleacher Report, The Dallas Morning News and more. More about Duncan Day
