The Patriots took a major step toward fortifying the trenches by selecting LSU OT Will Campbell with the fourth-overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
If you polled Patriots fans to ask them what was the biggest remaining need on the roster entering the draft, most would say securing a blindside protector for second-year QB Drake Maye. Over the last half-decade, New England has gone year-to-year at left tackle without a permanent solution at a premium position on the offensive line. Last season, the Patriots offensive line ranked last in pass-blocking win rate (51%) and second-to-last in run-blocking win rate (67%). This offseason, head coach Mike Vrabel and personnel chief Eliot Wolf have added three new starters to the O-Line: RT Morgan Moses, C Garrett Bradbury, and now Campbell.
Campbell was a three-year starter at left tackle and two-time team captain at an SEC powerhouse. He posted an elite 9.91 relative athletic score at the scouting combine, ranking 15th out of 1,507 tackles since 1987. He possesses elite foot speed and balance to mirror rushers on an island. However, he measured in with 32 5/8-33 inch arms, depending on which measurement you trust. There are examples of OTs around the 33-inch threshold who have succeeded. But his arm length and wingspan (77 3/8") raised pre-draft questions about him sticking at left tackle in the pros.
Arm length is important for tackles because it provides margin for error. By having longer arms, blockers can put more space between themselves and pass-rushers, allowing them more time to react to the rushers' movements, while widening the path around the edge and keeping them out of their chest on bull rushes. Wingspan, on the other hand, measures how wide a blocker's body is. In theory, the wider the body, the harder it is to get around that particular lineman.
Ultimately, the most important thing is tape. On tape, Campbell makes up for his lack of length by winning with excellent athleticism, technique, and core strength to recover and move bodies on the line of scrimmage. Campbell projects as a day-one starter at left tackle, while his exceptional football character also makes him future captain material by all accounts.
Below, we'll break down the film to show you the type of football player the Patriots are getting after selecting Campbell with the fourth-overall pick in the first round on Thursday night.
Pass Blocking
Before we get too deep into the arm length/wingspan discussion, there's some context about Campbell's film that separates his pass-blocking reps from others in this year's draft class.
At LSU, Campbell was in a pass-first offense that had him pass-blocking on NFL-style drop-backs. The Tigers offensive lineman's production wasn't fluffed up by wonky alignments or a high volume of quick throws and screens. Plus, Campbell faced a slew of pro-caliber pass rushers over the last three seasons going through the SEC gauntlet, including projected top-100 picks Shemar Stewart, Nic Scourton, and Kyle Kennard.
According to Pro Football Focus, Campbell ranks first among the top tackles in this year's class in true pass sets with 229 last season. True pass sets remove quick throws, screens, and play-action/RPOs. In other words, real offensive line play that translates to the league. Furthermore, Campbell allowed zero sacks and just 12 total pressures on those 229 reps.
Campbell might not have the ideal length for a franchise left tackle, but he wins in pass protection with excellent feet, balance, and leverage. We could show you cut-ups of Campbell mirroring pass-rushers on an island all day long, but the best way to make the case for or against him remaining at tackle is to break down a few individual reps.
For example, we typically try to stay away from still frame analysis, but this has a larger point that we'll get to when we show the whole play. Above, Stewart gets Campbell in a difficult position with an inside stutter as he sets up a crossover rush. Campbell's first meaningful contact with his punch is circled above, which is a strike down the middle of Stewart's chest. Typically, striking down the middle of pass rushers is not ideal because it creates a short corner for the rusher to run the arc.
As we roll the play, Campbell slides his feet to prevent Stewart from getting around his edge to keep the quarterback clean in the pocket. His quarterback helps him drive the car with a subtle slide up in the pocket, but Campbell covers up his lack of length with his smooth feet.
The other concern about Campbell's below-average length is that powerful bull-rushers will be able to get into his chest and push him back into the quarterback. Stewart has over 34-inch arms, giving him a significant reach advantage over Campbell. However, Campbell flashes good hand-fighting and leverage to drop a very stout anchor to fight off Stewart's bull rush attempt, maintaining the integrity of the pocket against a power-rushing specialist.
The length issues appear to show up on inside moves. Campbell will occasionally drift or overset against speed rushers, opening the inside pathway to the quarterback. One could surmise that he's trying to get out to the rusher to cut off the angle to the QB. Without the length to provide that margin of error, his body positioning becomes compromised.
In this clip, Campbell gives up his inside-out leverage to Scourton when he threatens with speed off the snap. Once he's overextended in his punch to get out to Scourton, the Aggies pass-rusher goes to an inside spin move that Campbell can't match, leading to a hurry.
Good coaching will help Campbell. If the Patriots have Campbell play left tackle, there are ways for the staff to help him maintain his leverage more consistently.
Run Blocking/Screen Game
Campbell's athleticism and upper-body strength make him an excellent run blocker at the point of attack on down blocks, second-level climbs, kick-outs, and frontside reach blocks.
You can see Campbell's athleticism in his pass-blocking, but it also allows him to block on the move with plus-body control to sustain blocks. Along with great movement skills, Campbell has great core and grip strength to move defenders where he wants them to go. From this vantage point, Campbell is at his best down blocking in inside zone or gap schemes where his upper-body strength shines.
For example, LSU is blocking inside zone here on a read-option concept. Campbell takes Scourton, who weighs nearly 260 pounds, and ragdolls him out of the gap, lifting the talented A&M edge rusher completely off the ground to open a gap on the line of scrimmage – that's what it's supposed to look like when a top-10 pick run blocks.
Campbell's range in the run game is also displayed on fold or down blocks in gap schemes. This time, the Tigers are a GF counter scheme, with Campbell folding the defensive front for the backside pullers. Kennard tries to shoot the gap to beat Campbell to the landmark, but the LSU product has the explosiveness out of his stance to wash Kennard down to create a rushing lane.
Next, Campbell is a highly effective frontside kick-out blocker. He has sound footwork on kick-out blocks and the upper-body torque to wall off the inside from edge setters. As you can see, Campbell kicks out the play-side edge here to spring his running back for a big gain.
Lastly, Campbell is an asset in the screen game, where his athleticism and body control allow him to connect with moving targets in space. In this clip, Campbell gets out to the play-side edge rusher who tries to defend the screen and gets the ball carrier going for a big gain.
Campbell is a consistent run blocker with incredibly strong hands, upper-body strength, and excellent finishing to create lanes for ball carriers.
Bottom Line
The Patriots went into the draft with a glaring need along their offensive line, but there are questions about whether or not this class will produce a franchise left tackle.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was wary of drafting Campbell following his combine weigh-in. However, we were presented with new information about inconsistencies with the combined measurements. Campbell re-measured at his Pro Day, hitting the 33-inch threshold. From this perspective, Campbell can succeed at tackle in a similar mold as Falcons LT Jake Matthews (33 ⅜" arms, 79.5" wingspan) or Colts LT Bernhard Raimann (32 ⅞" arms, 80 ⅛" wingspan).
Despite some of the experts' projections, Campbell has the work ethic and competitive toughness to break through his projected ceiling. Rushers seldom go through or around Campbell's outside edge. Instead, the vast majority of his losses are against inside moves. For those unfamiliar with the nuances of offensive line play, the objective of every pass-blocking rep is to force the rusher to take the longest path possible to the quarterback. Like on a race track, the shortest path to the quarterback is the inside lane, so blockers are taught to set inside out.
Campbell appears to sacrifice his leverage to avoid playing with a short corner. If there's one piece of evidence against Campbell playing tackle at the next level, that's it. That said, the debate about Campbell's lack of length borders on nitpicking. Again, we are talking about a tackle who allowed two sacks over his last 25 games protecting Jayden Daniels and Garrett Nussmeier's blindside vs. NFL-caliber competition.
When you look at spider charts and spreadsheets, Campbell is an outlier, which will give some people doubts. But he has all the other tools to be a good pro. Furthermore, the Patriots biggest hole on their depth chart heading into the draft was at left tackle, making this pick an obvious marriage between need and best player available. New England has been searching for a long-term starter at left tackle, so it was critical for them to come out of this draft with a clear solution to their left tackle problem.
In recent seasons, Maye and other Patriots quarterbacks have been under too much pressure from opposing defenses to consistently operate at a high level. Yet, once the draft rolls around, some fans and pundits don't want to invest in the trenches because the offensive line isn't as compelling as other positions. By selecting Campbell, New England is protecting its most important asset, QB Drake Maye, while setting the team up for long-term success by building from the inside out.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
