Bill Belichick flipped through his mental catalog Wednesday, pulling files on the offensive linemen who blazed the path Patriots rookie Michael Onwenu now walks.

Joe Thuney, Nate Solder and Logan Mankins, Belichick noted, all switched positions upon making the leap from college to New England and thrived, as Ownenu has. The fact Onwenu can surround himself with such company is a credit to his startling success. Yet the 350-pounder is slowly taking steps away from that path.

Because Onwenu is an unprecedented Patriot – already one of the team’s best.

Through Week 3, Onwenu is the Pats’ highest-graded player and the top-rated rookie in the NFL over at Pro Football Focus. When Belichick lost center David Andrews to a broken thumb last week, his staff not only determined Onwenu ranked among their top five remaining linemen, but it was worth reshuffling their line in order to field him. So last Sunday, “Big Mike” earned his first pro start at a position he hadn’t played since 2017.

His afternoon at left guard proved significant on several levels.

Onwenu first appeared in the NFL as a tight end in jumbo sets during the Patriots’ season opener. A week later, he played right tackle through the end of the Pats’ last-second defeat at Seattle. The staff trusted him to protect Cam Newton in a game-deciding 2-minute drill, and he delivered. Despite the positional hop scotching, Onwenu is dominating.

“Day after day, he’s just impressive. His consistency is impressive,” Belichick said Wednesday. “He’s a very strong player with good feet, good balance and likes football and understands football. Things come pretty easily to him in terms of instinctively on the field. Obviously, our system is not the easiest system to learn at any position, but … he just does a lot of little things well and does them right.”

Onwenu was one of the few college prospects to visit the Patriots last offseason before the spread of COVID-19 shut down all league-related travel. The only other team to host Onwenu, Miami, paid first for passing on him in the draft. The sixth-round rookie helped the Patriots go a perfect 5 for 5 in short yardage during the opener, repeatedly running behind jumbo sets that featured him at one end of the formation.

During the draft process, Onwenu never envisioned himself at offensive tackle, let alone tight end. He believed a team would draft him to play right guard, his primary position at Michigan, or perhaps center. Instead, the Pats deployed him almost everywhere this summer, including right tackle, where he’s forced a position battle with veteran Jermaine Eluemunor.

Onwenu farmed confidence from his preternatural grasp of the playbook, explaining Wednesday there was no additional learning necessary to play right tackle.

“The first few (practices) it was kind of a surprise to me, too, but I went out there head-on,” Onwenu said. “After you kind of look at things in terms of the tackle aspect, all the plays you already know. I’m just thinking the next guy over from me.”

Physically, what aided Onwenu’s transition was the fact he checks the most basic box of offensive line play: size. At 350 pounds, he’s hard to move. Yet weight was a minus on Onwenu’s scouting report for most of college, where he struggled to stay in shape and ballooned past 380 pounds.

That is until he committed to changing his body as a senior, revamped his diet and sent his body fat percentage sinking. For the past 18 months, Onwenu’s maintained his weight, while sharpening his quickness and foot speed, which has unlocked a new positional versatility. Opponents can’t go through him, and the lanes around him have narrowed.

Reflecting on his first start, Onwenu said he didn’t feel the joy of blocking for a 250-yard rushing attack until after the game. Snap to snap, he was focused, busy.

Busy mauling tacklers, erasing blitzers and surrendering only a single hurry all game; announcing himself to the league that once overlooked him and should now see big things may be in store for Big Mike.

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