Patriots offensive lineman Michael Onwenu listed among most egregious 2022 Pro Bowl snubs

The NFL announced its Pro Bowl rosters on Wednesday, and three members of the New England Patriots have made the cut. Not among them is offensive lineman Michael Onwenu, who started the year at left guard, later moved to right tackle, and has been a backup at both positions early November.

Despite his status, the second-year man has been named among the most egregious Pro Bowl snubs by Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar:

Michael Onwenu, OT, New England Patriots

Why he belongs: The second-year lineman will never be the Patriots’ best sixth-round pick from Michigan for obvious reasons, but he’s got a good wrap on second place. Through his career, Onwenu has been an ideal Bill Belichick player in that he excels in multiple roles — this season alone, he’s played left tackle, right guard, and right tackle. He’s a key part of the Patriots’ dominant run game, and he’s allowed just one sack and nine total pressures in 310 pass-blocking snaps this season. No matter the position, Onwenu hasn’t allowed a single quarterback pressure of any kind since Week 8 against the Chargers.

Onwenu is replacing Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins in this scenario considering that he has allowed four sacks so far this season. Onwenu, meanwhile, has given up only one all year albeit in significantly fewer snaps.

The Michigan product has played some solid football whenever on the field, but the Patriots have used him only sparingly since Week 10.

Onwenu started the season as New England’s left guard but was moved over to right tackle to help replace an injured Trent Brown. When Brown returned, however, he did not move back to the interior; Ted Karras has taken over his position and the coaching staff was apparently happy with this new configuration. As a result, Onwenu has played only 69 offensive snaps over the last five games.