Wynn makes way around
Rookie left tackle shows progress
FOXBORO — Isaiah Wynn was a need-based first-round pick out of Georgia in April’s NFL draft.
The Patriots faced a huge vacancy at left tackle when veteran Nate Solder, the crucial protection on quarterback Tom Brady’s blindside, signed a four-year, $62 million contract with the New York Giants.
Now, the 6-foot-2, 310-pound Wynn is behind veteran Trent Brown on the depth chart.
“Every position has its own negatives and positives but with left tackle you are out there on an island,” said Wynn after Sunday’s practice. “Playing inside, you have the bigger guys that are going to bull rush you and at tackle you get the faster guys so it’s a kind of pick your poison.”
As a junior at Georgia, Wynn started 12 games at left guard and said the conversion to left tackle in his senior year went smooth. He started 15 games and was a second team AllAmerican. Wynn is confident in his ability to play both positions in the NFL
“I’ll be anywhere the coaches want me to play,” he said. “I take pride in my technique.”
Wynn said he received exceptional coaching at Georgia and got a lot of exposure in the Southeastern Conference title game and two FBS playoff matches. He anticipates his game will grow more refined under the Pats’ Dante Scarnecchia, the dean of NFL offensive line coaches.
“Our relationship is going good and it’s just like a normal coach and player relationship,” said Wynn. “Off the field he loves you just as hard as he coaches you on the field, and he’s great.”
Wynn is the product of the SEC, the strongest of the Power 5 conferences. He competed against some of the best edge rushers at the collegiate level, but after four days in the Pats training camp, Wynn knows he’s not in Athens, Ga., anymore.
“This is a whole other breed out here,” said Wynn. “The length of the season may be similar but the competitiveness and the demands on a player are nothing like college.”
The challenges facing a rookie are one part physical, two parts mental. College players are schooled in the fundamentals and the playbooks tend to be compartmentalized.
“The playbooks aren’t more difficult but there is a lot more to it,” said Wynn. “There are a lot more moving pieces to it and every day I just come out here and try to do my best and try to get better.”
Wynn is not alone in making the transition from Georgia to the Patriots. The team used its second firstround pick (31st overall) to select Bulldogs running back Sony Michel.
“Sony is a one of a kind running back and I mean he is electric,” said Wynn. “As rookies in the position we are in we are always looking forward to leaning some more.”