That much might have been apparent on draft night, when his first impression with Patriots fans came in the form of this video:
But he confirmed it on Thursday afternoon, when he received the official first-round draft pick treatment with an on-field jersey presentation from Robert and Jonathan Kraft.
Sporting a floral tie and a fresh Patriots hat, Lomu looked like he was donning a suit for the first time in his life — which is what you’d hope and expect from an offensive lineman taken in the first round of the draft. And though he presented himself well as a newlywed and a young man of faith, you couldn’t help but get the sense that there was at least a little bit of Tommy Boy lurking under the surface. (There was a hint of a Rob Gronkowski cadence to his speech.)
At the very least, Lomu appears to march to the beat of his own drum.
And while you can’t glean too much from an introductory press conference for a 21-year-old, here’s everything — both important and not-so-important — that we learned.
• Willing to play anywhere
The most pressing bit of information regarding Lomu is where he’s willing to play on the O-line, which presumably already has five starters in place at the moment.
The short answer? Anywhere.
Lomu played left tackle at Utah, but he expressed no expected issues with moving over to the right side. (This requires an assumption or two, but Will Campbell will presumably man the left side for the foreseeable future, while veteran Morgan Moses may be entering his final NFL season as the Patriots’ right tackle.)
“I just feel myself as a tackle, just in general, left or right side. I just happened to play left in college, and that’s kind of what I got comfortable to, just playing those three years at left tackle at Utah,” Lomu said. “My first year there, I was kind of a swing tackle. And so I feel comfortable at left, but also been working out at right these past couple months. So I feel just as good on the right side as well. So either tackle position, I’m happy to play and feel comfortable playing.”
And with that much established, the questions went a step further: Would Lomu be willing to play on the interior?
“Yeah, any position that they need me at, I’m willing to play and would love to play,” he said. “Any position that I can contribute to, to help the team, I’m going to do that.”
While a part of that response comes from a rookie having the right attitude, Lomu also admitted that it may be his best bet to actually get onto the field as a rookie.
“Just to get on the field and get some playing time, that’s the goal,” he said. “And whatever position that they need me to play to be able to get on the field and play I’m willing to do.”
Lomu also noted that he’s only played skill positions during his “glory days” as a flag football player, but has played some tight end in tackle football. That being said, the coaching staff might want to prepare for the rookie trying to showcase his throwing arm on the practice field.
“I can throw the ball pretty good. I’ll get out and show that on the field whenever I can if I get a ball,” he said. “I’m a big man, but I still think I can move pretty well. So any opportunity I get to do something else — my job’s to block, and I’ll do that every single time. But if they give me an opportunity to do something else, I’m always ready for that.”
As for his main job, Lomu said that he was quickly welcomed to the team by Campbell and some other teammates after being drafted and that he’s been a part of some O-line meetings on Zoom.
• How he plays his best
Lomu may have been the sixth offensive tackle taken in this year’s draft, but he was firmly in that top group of players at his position. (The seventh tackle wasn’t taken until the third round, 40 picks after Lomu went off the board.) As would be expected with any first-round tackle, Lomu’s got some great college tape.
Based on that tape, Lomu was asked how he was able to play the position at such a high level.
