Heading into the 2025 NFL Draft, left tackle remains the biggest need for the New England Patriots. With Tyron Smith’s retirement on Wednesday afternoon, if the Patriots are going to add a starting left tackle to their roster for the upcoming season that player is almost assuredly going to have to be added through the draft.

The good news? According to Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, there are multiple players in this year’s draft that could fill that void.

“I think there’s some starting tackles that certainly will come in and start in the NFL,” Vrabel explained during his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday, when asked specifically if he thinks there are any tackles worthy of being taken fourth overall in this year’s draft. “And I think that that’s really what you start to look for, right – is impact players. When you start picking that high – what they’re gonna do for you, what’s the impact, what’s the position? You talk about premium position – and so then that’s where you kind of weigh all the circumstances and end up making that pick.”

“So do I think that they’re starters in this draft at left tackle? Yes, I do,” he concluded.

Still, that doesn’t answer the full question. There are certainly starting caliber left tackles in this draft – but does Vrabel think they are worth taking with the fourth overall pick?

During the NFL Owners’ Meetings last month, Vrabel was complimentary of both tackles expected to go within the range of the fourth overall pick – Will Campbell from LSU and Armand Membou from Missouri. If Vrabel’s answer is a long way of saying that he believes the fourth overall pick needs to be an immediate starter regardless of position, and there are in fact tackles that check that box.

At the same time, that answer could also mean that – because they believe there are multiple starting tackles available, some will have to fall and the Patriots can address the position later. That would allow them more flexibility at the fourth overall pick, whether that be taking Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter if he falls or selecting Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker, who they’ve been tied to in recent weeks.

If the Patriots are going to wait though, they may not be able to wait long. The left tackle talent in this draft drops off quick.

After Campbell and Membou the next player on the board is Kelvin Banks from Texas. Banks is a bit of a draft tweener for the Patriots – there will be better options on the board if they want a tackle at four, but he’ll still likely go too high for them to trade up and get him. Pending a trade down, he doesn’t seem like a realistic option.

That leaves three more players projected to go late in the first round or early in the second – Josh Conerly from Oregon, Aireontae Ersery from Minnesota, and Josh Simmons from Ohio State. While one of the three could fall to the Patriots at Pick 38 as we saw last year tackles are in demand and runs can happen, and the team may need to trade up to make sure they address the position properly.

Of those three players, Simmons is the toughest projection. He transferred to Ohio State from San Diego State in 2023, moving from right to left tackle in the process. After a solid 2023 season he was a projected top 100 pick going into 2024 and showed significant growth.

However, that was against the weaker part of Ohio State’s schedule. Six weeks into the season as conference play was beginning, he suffered a torn patellar tendon (the same injury that kept Cole Strange off the field for a calendar year) in his left knee. A big part of his evaluation as an NFL prospect will involve both how soon he can return to play as a rookie, and if there are long-term concerns about durability with how his knee healed structurally.

Vrabel actually discussed evaluating players with injuries during Tuesday’s press conference. He brought the topic up somewhat unprompted, when asked what lessons he learned from some of his top draft picks during his time with the Titans.

“We took a couple guys with injuries that we thought were talented,” he recalled. “Maybe what injuries – as they fell, and that value got to the point where we were comfortable taking it. I think that’s something that’s critical. What’s the ability for players to recover from one injury versus another injury I think is something that I learned.”

Injuries are the toughest part of the draft to project from the outside looking in. If Simmons’ medicals clear, he could be that value pick the Patriots are looking for a tackle. If not, it would really put the pressure on the team to address the position if they go elsewhere with the fourth overall pick.

These are all things the Patriots are working through internally with just over a week to go until the draft. Vrabel noted on Tuesday the team is running “simulations” of different situations they could see at the fourth overall pick. How many of those include taking a left tackle? That’s arguably the biggest question around the Patriots’ draft strategy right now.