PATRIOTS HEAD COACH MIKE VRABEL
DRAFT PRESS CONFERENCE
April 24, 2025
MV: What's up, guys? How are you?
Reporter: Good, how are you?
MV: Great. Really good. Fantastic. I want to obviously, just on behalf of the organization, thank everybody from our team that went into this process to get us here. We're going to make a lot more picks and be excited about it and be convicted about it. Obviously, starting with Will [Campbell], the entire process of going through and going all the way back right around the Senior Bowl, with me getting hired here and learning about Eliot [Wolf] and his team and some of the people that I brought in. I want to thank them all. I want to thank the people that have been here for a long time, Brian Smith and Nancy Meier that have helped us through all this. I don't know how much more I'll talk to you here this weekend, but I want to thank them personally just for their hard work. This is an exciting time. The three weeks that we've had with our players, I don't want to undermine that, that have been very, very productive, more productive for me than probably them because I've gotten to know them, gotten to see them work and meet with them, talk with them, listen to them learn their coaches and get out on the field. For me, this is what it's about. It's about working with players and helping them believe in something and building a foundation and a program. Adding Will to our football team is about a foundational piece, a young 21-year-old that's mature beyond his years. He's a leader. He's durable. He's physical, dependable, accountable. He's a quick study. We spent a lot of time with him. Whatever mistakes that showed up, which they all do, he recovers quickly and can fix those mistakes. We spent a lot of time, and we looked at a lot of other players and worked a lot of other players out. He made a huge impact on us, and we're excited about adding him and look forward to seeing him and his family here tomorrow. So with that, what do you got, Karen [Guregian]?
Q: Mike, was it a situation where the need on one hand and the best player available collided?
MV: Yeah. I mean, I think that's certainly the easiest way to look at it. That's how the board fell, and that's how we anticipated it going for quite a while, and that's where we targeted. We had some conversations to make sure that we were prepared. Those situations that we talked about a few weeks ago prior to the draft that we went through on Monday, and this was a very, very easy pick for us.
Q: Mike, does Will, who you spoke with, remind you of a younger Mike Vrabel? How tough he is, aggressive?
MV: No. I mean, we stay out of the comparisons and that business. This is a young player who cares deeply about the team, is a leader in that room. To compare him to me or anybody else? No. We love his football character, his play demeanor, his play style, how coachable he is. A 21-year-old player that's started 38 of 40 games in the SEC is something that is impressive.
Q: Mike, when and how did Will cement himself as the pick for you guys in this process?
MV: I think probably last week when Eliot and I, and Ryan [Cowden] and a few others, went down and spent time with him and worked him out, and then went and worked out a few more players the same day. We made a circuit, and I think when we came back and we slept on it and had the conversations about where it would be if he was on the board, I think probably then.
Q: Mike, is he a left tackle?
MV: Yeah, I mean, that's where he started. He's a left tackle. That's what he's played, that's what he's done. He'll come in here and he'll compete to be the left tackle just like everybody else is going to compete for their spots. That's what we're trying to create here, somewhere that there's competition at every position and that our players believe that the best players are going to play.
Q: You said throughout this process that arm length wasn't a thing or wasn't a problem for you guys in terms of overall evaluation. When you met with Will, how comfortable have you been with him over the course of a year, getting to know him and understanding who he is as a player?
MV: Everybody has a play style, everybody has a skill set, and it's what you do within that skill set and the tricks that you learn in this business and how you play and how you do your job. I think he's learned a lot of those, to play on the left side and to pass protect. For a taller player, he sinks his hips in the run game and is able to stay attached in the pass game, widen the pocket and create the width of the pocket and get out on the perimeter. It's a total package. If you drop back and you throw the ball 40 times in this league, it's tough sledding for anybody. Let me just tell you that. If it turns into a drop back passing game in the National Football League, it's going to be an issue for anybody. When you talk about play style, how is he going to be able to create that? For offensive linemen, it's so much about a reaction of resetting your hand, chopping the arm down, all these tricks of the trade that they use. They have to be able to make great decisions and split-second decisions. His body of work is out there on the left side against a lot of really good rushers. They're all going to get beat. We can watch every time that a left tackle gets beat. They all get beat. I've been in this league for 25 years. I'm confident in how quickly he is able to process, change, and have a lot of different pitches at such a young age.
Q: Mike, you brought in Morgan Moses. How important is it now to have such a veteran leader in the room at tackle bringing in a younger guy in Will Campbell?
MV: The more leadership that we can have, the better. I've appreciated Morgan [Moses] since the time that I've known him personally. There's a lot of people around here in our building that had a high affinity for him going through the free agency process. It became evident to me quickly that this was the type of person and player that we wanted on our football team. He is going to help not only Will, but everybody else in that room and anybody else that we'll add through the course of three days. I love everything that Morgan is about as a person, as a father, and he communicates with me. He's raising three boys, three young boys, and that's probably his most important job right now, and I would agree with that.
Q: Do you talk to him at all during that process, about the tackle position and what to look for in terms of looking at young tackles?
MV: No, I mean, I have a pretty good idea. I think Eliot has a pretty good idea. I think Ryan and everybody else in our personnel department have a pretty good idea on what to look for when you're talking about offensive linemen. We value all our players' opinions on things, and they all have them. Some are better than others.
Q: There's been a lot of discussion about movement in the first round. Obviously, the Browns were able to find a deal at two. Did you guys receive any offers for the fourth pick?
MV: No. I think at this point in time, it was pretty quiet. I think we would have entertained anything that anybody offered us. It was pretty quiet. I mean, I think everybody was going up for two players, and one was already there and they didn't have to move, and the other team that wanted to get to two got there. We would have been open, but excited to be able to stay there and pick and get Will.
Q: With the chips you have of the extra third-round pick, do you anticipate any aggressive move to try to get back in here?
MV: I think if the right players are there, you know what I mean? Gives us something to do tonight so we're not just sitting there watching, but not to go up, to go up. If somebody is there that we have rated at a great spot and a great value, I think then we could go back up. We'll see as the draft goes on and who comes off the board and whether we just sit there and wait until tomorrow.
Q: Mike, if Will eventually has to move inside, is this a misevaluation, this high in the draft at fourth overall?
MV: I think that what we're focused on is where he's going to be tomorrow and the next day and not what the misevaluation is. We coveted this player. This was a very good football player. I think part of the draft is adding great pieces and great players to your roster, which is what we did. He hasn't even shown up here in Foxboro, and we're not going to talk about where he's going to play or what he's going to do. I'm going to let everything really speak for itself, and let his play, what he does in the community and most importantly on the field, before we start talking about that. I just think that's not fair. I've never thought about that one time. We've watched every game that he's played, put a lot of work into this, and we're all excited and happy that he's here.
Q: In terms of his character, how does he fit the role of what you're looking for?
MV: Well, there's a play style. There's a play demeanor. I'll just tell you this. When we went down there to work him out, he showed up with one purpose, and that was for us to pick him. From the time that we walked in the building to the time that we left and got on the plane, he had one objective, and that was to prove to us that he was the right player for us. I'll say that, and I can speak for everybody else that was there.
Q: Mike, what is the – I don't want to say what is the timeline for him, but with a young player in a premium position like that, how important is it to take your time in terms of his development to get him ready to eventually play left tackle?
MV: I mean, it's just block your guy. When you talk about coming from there, they threw the ball a ton. Let's not kid ourselves. He had more drop-back snaps than pretty much anybody else in college football. They threw the ball 50 times, and it wasn't RPOs like everybody else. He's pass-protected. He's run-blocked. He's coming out of a pro system. The terminology, he's already been through it, I don't know how many times with our guys and with me, and I think it's going to be a quick learning curve as far as the scheme. Again, there's going to be a learning curve and adjustment to everything that he does. He's coming from a great program, one that's built similar to pro football. Football is very important to him. We'll also, just like every other player, give him exactly what they can handle.
Q: There's a report that you were involved in the workout last week and threw a blocking pad on. Why is that important for you to be involved with that?
MV: Who made that report, and then I'll answer the question?
Reporter: Pete Thamel.
MV: Okay, well, Pete, Mr. College Football. Yeah, they all knock me around pretty good. I realize I'm close to 50, and if that tape ever gets out, people are going to have some problems. I hope that tape never sees the light of day. I think it was important for me to get out there, feel them and feel every player that we evaluated at the line of scrimmage.
Q: What, if anything, has surprised you about this process so far?
MV: Well, I mean, it's not like I just showed up here in January for the first time. I've been in the league a long time, so nothing surprises me in this league anymore. There's distractions that are going to happen throughout our team with our season. They're unavoidable. I hope no one ever says, 'Hey, we want to eliminate distractions' because I would say that's impossible. We just want to handle them the best that we can, be ready for them and be prepared for them.
Q: How important is it to have the vinegar he brings to the table for an offensive lineman?
MV: I think that's one of the only ways that you can survive as a player in this league at the line of scrimmage. The play demeanor, the finish, the effort. The guys on the other side are talented. It's how it goes. I think we can all see that. There's a lot to playing this game other than just looking good and having great technique. We valued that, and we're going to continue to value that, the ability to finish and to grind through when it gets tough is something that we're going to be excited about. We're going to give him every opportunity to develop and push him as fast as he'll let us go.
