FOXBOROUGH — Dante Scarnecchia wanted to make one thing very clear.

“I really like the guys we have here right now,’’ he said Friday afternoon at Gillette Stadium. “I mean, I really like the guys we have here right now.’’

Perhaps that felt important to mention because of who isn’t here. The Patriots lost their longtime left tackle, Nate Solder, in free agency, and one of Scarnecchia’s top tasks ahead of the 2018 season is to figure out how to replace him.

It’s an interesting task. Two of the leading candidates couldn’t appear more different.

There’s Trent Brown, acquired via trade with San Francisco, who is 6 feet 8 inches tall, wide as an aircraft carrier, and the biggest tackle the 17-year offensive line coach has ever worked with. Then there’s Isaiah Wynn, drafted No. 23 overall, who was one of the best left tackles in college football last year but, at 6-3, is considered short for a professional tackle.

“Somebody tell me what the mold looks like? And if you only draft to that mold, I’m not sure that’s the smartest thing to do,’’ Scarnecchia said.

The Patriots will “take a look’’ at both Brown and Wynn at left tackle, Scarnecchia said. They would like to keep Marcus Cannon starting on the right side, and last year’s starting interior group of left guard Joe Thuney, center David Andrews, and right guard Shaq Mason will start out in those spots as well. Challengers are welcomed everywhere, of course, but left tackle is up in the air. And even in this day of top pass rushers coming from all over the line, Scarnecchia believes the left side is still most important.

“I think you’d better have your best tackle on the left side if your quarterback is a righthander. I think that hasn’t changed anything,’’ Scarnecchia said. “They can take their best pass rusher and move him over there, and, if that’s what they do, your right tackle has got to hold up or you’ve got to give him help.’’

Brown has played both sides but was playing right tackle in San Francisco. He’ll still get some reps on the right side as well as the left. Wynn played guard and left tackle in college, and will cross-train at both positions in New England. The Patriots place a heavy premium on versatility, so they’re used to trying players in different spots, and seeing how it works out. Scarnecchia said you can have a hunch, based on a player’s physical profile or how he played in college, if a switch will take but, eventually, you have to test it out.

“You’ll never know unless you do it, so why don’t you do it?’’ Scarnecchia said.

Tom Brady, for instance, wasn’t thrilled that Thuney, who had no game experience at center, was starting there during the 2016 preseason game against the Giants in which Brady played the first half.

“But we had to find out,’’ Scarnecchia said.

They’ll have a lot of finding out to do during this offseason, training camp, and preseason.

As far as offensive line coaches go, Scarnecchia is a master craftsman. But building a line isn’t exactly like Michelangelo sculpting David. You don’t just get a lump of clay to work with. Not every player is perfectly malleable. Scarnecchia’s been given some finished — or at least partially finished — works, and they’re going to look better hung up in certain arrangements.

The wildly different physical profiles of Brown and Wynn, who will also compete with tackle LaAdrian Waddle, mean there’s some mystery to how it’s all going to come together. Wynn weighed 313 pounds at the combine. Brown is listed at 355, but Scarnecchia referred to him weighing 380 Friday. Scarnecchia said he’s not caught up in the measurables, particularly arm length.

“I think that [expletive’s] way overrated,’’ he said.

Brown’s arms are 36 inches long; Wynn’s are 33⅜ inches, which could actually be a mitigating factor for questions about his size since they’re relatively long for his height. Not that Scarnecchia cares.

Scarnecchia mentioned Matt Light, who played left tackle for 11 years in New England before Solder took over in 2012. Light had 33-inch arms, 2½ inches shorter than Solder’s, something Scarnecchia said he never heard discussed as a problem because Light knew how to use what physical tools he had effectively.

“What’s the standard? I don’t know,’’ he said. “Can a guy play it or can he not play it?’’

Scarnecchia said the Patriots have baseline measurable requirements that both Brown and Wynn fit at their position. Beyond that, Scarnecchia just wants to see how they play. He did acknowledge that their different body types probably mean the Patriots could run certain plays with one player that they couldn’t with the other, and vice versa. Whoever’s playing, he’ll figure ways to maximize strengths and compensate for weaknesses.

“As an example, if a guy isn’t very good at cutting someone off from the backside because he’s in a three-point stance, well, put him in a two-point stance and maybe it’s a little easier that way,’’ Scarnecchia said. “And if a guy’s not particularly good at that then man-block the backside and put a back through to get the guy that he would normally get.’’

Scarnecchia will have a shorter than usual period of time to figure all that out. Wynn and Brown are recovering from shoulder surgeries (both had torn labrums repaired last year). Cannon will also miss the next month, Scarnecchia said, as he’s still recovering from the ankle injury that sent him to the injured reserve list in December. Thuney is having foot surgery, according to ESPN, and will miss OTAs.

Scarnecchia said he doesn’t set a deadline by which he wants to know his starting five. There’s always too much in flux for that. But the sooner he knows, the better.

“That’s what this is all for,’’ he said. “Find the five best and put them out there, man. Hopefully with enough continuity they’ll play pretty well together, because that’s what’s really important is that they all play good together and they all see the game through one set of eyes instead of five sets of eyes.’’

Nora Princiotti can be reached at nora.princiotti@globe.com.