Will Campbell Watch

[PP2]

The future of the franchise with these two. For all the talk about how young Drake is, WC is friggin 21 years old, doesn't turn 22 till January. Kid is going to be a monster for 15 years health permitting.

He hasn't even finished growing.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

He hasn't even finished growing.

Gee, maybe his arms/fingers will grow 3/8" so he can become a Real Boy!

 

[Huckleberry1]

My thing all along was that even if you bought into Campbell as a prospect, whatever level you saw him eventually reaching I felt you'd have to dial it back for expectations as a rookie. How many guys are at their career peak as rookies? I felt there were enough good traits and intangibles that he could stick at LT and give you enough to get by. But I never thought he'd be a true additive piece for you there and that if he was ever going to be a high end player it'd be inside. So discounting that back, I was still expecting below average LT play this year, but still improvement over last year. Not only is he outplaying my career expectations, he's doing it from day 1. Going from my expectation of below average LT play to really high level is an absolutely massive swing.

It's still just 5 games. The concern with him was always going to be counters to attack how he compensates for his lack of length and that's the type of thing that teams will go to more with more film. For as much as we obsessed all offseason about his arm length, defensive coordinators didn't spend all offseason panicking about how they were going to stop this offense. It might sound obvious, but as this team establishes itself more seriously there are still wrinkles coordinators will scout out and throw at us. Also, Moses might be solid but he also isn't exactly Lane Johnson over there at RT and Maye is so excellent at rolling to his right that teams are definitely incentivized to bring their pressures off the right side vs. Campbell and if they do attack the left side there's a rookie LG with less pedigree and a C who isn't traditionally great in pass pro backing him on the other side of him. Not to discredit Campbell, but I do think there's an element of him just not being the guy to exploit or target on this OL even if he plays the traditionally toughest position. But the fact you can even say that is reflective of a very good level of play so far.

Not to highjack this thread which is for Campbell, but that's happened in a few other very important areas too. Diggs, at his age and recovery timeline, I expected to be a very weak #1 WR but his recovery timeline has been way more accelerated than I think anyone could realistically expect. Landry had a lot of troubling sings in TEN last year as a paper tiger with the sack total who wasn't actually good, but I'd say he's turned the clock back. Chaisson not only has matched last year's play, but seems to have continued to improve further as a player. And then Maye... I think most of us viewed him as a QB worth building around but growth's not always linear so it was tough to forecast exactly how he'd look this year. I'd say he's pretty far exceeding my expectations with regards to avoiding bad/losing players. Last year I saw someone who can make amazing plays but also prone to bad ones and bad plays at the QB position to more to hurt you than great plays do to help you in most cases because you still get another down if you don't turn the ball over or effectively kill a drive with negative yardage.

QB/#1 WR/LT/EDGE are the 4 most important positions in football by most measures and on paper I thought we were below average in all of them due to a combo of young guys still developing or age/injury related decline/recovery timeline. But so far this season I'd say it's swing to at least average or better at all 4 spots and it goes without saying how big of a swing that is. I'd have to do a thorough assessment to really rank but if you just did a quick power rankings I'd have had them 25th-32nd tier to start the year and now anecdotally it feels like probably 15th-20th. I still thought they could push for playoffs because the schedule is so bad but from what I'm seeing now they absolutely SHOULD push for the playoffs.

Left tackle is not a need.

 

[Triumph]

Doug Marrone deserves props.

It always begins and ends with solid coaching.

Onwenu ranked 7th in Interior OL pass block win rate.
Bradbury ranked 7th in Interior OL run block win rate.
Moses ranked 10th in OT run block win rate.

2025 NFL pass rush, run stop, blocking win rate rankings

Our win rate metrics stack the NFL's best teams and players in run blocking, run stopping, pass protection and pass rushing.

www.espn.com

 

[40yrpatsfan]

The thing I didn’t like is that so many posters were SO sure that Campbell would fail at tackle due to length or wingspan, and claimed almost as fact that he’d become a guard. You were so f*ckn wrong.

 

[Triumph]

The thing I didn’t like is that so many posters were SO sure that Campbell would fail at tackle due to length or wingspan, and claimed almost as fact that he’d become a guard. You were so f*ckn wrong.

That never made any sense.

LT was clearly the biggest need and NE had first choice of LTs the way the draft unfolded.

 

[Clonamery]

The thing I didn’t like is that so many posters were SO sure that Campbell would fail at tackle due to length or wingspan, and claimed almost as fact that he’d become a guard. You were so f*ckn wrong.

They'll be just as right the next time. You wait and see, they haven't failed "as fans" yet.

 

[patfanken]

When Campbell goes back home to Louisiana to play the Saints, he's going to bring an extra dollop of nastiness. I'm really looking forward to that one.

Especially if Chase Young is on the field for the Saints. He has missed all the games thus far with a calf injury.

But he has elite physical traits even if he has been hampered by injuries his entire career.

A potential classic matchup. Campbell V. Young.

Interesting to note that of the 4 LT's rated higher than Campbell on this chart, 2 are fellow 2025 draftees, Banks and Simmons. IIRC I think the main reason most people had negative thoughts about picking Campbell was NOT about his ability, but that they had reservations about picking him so high at #4, so there was a significant group who wanted to trade down and take Simmonds, or Banks later.

So while there are a lot of Campbell supporters who want to pound their chests to say what good pick he is, this particular chart seems to confirm that those people who wanted to trade down for Banks or Simmons may have been on the right track too. As much as we would all like for these guys to suck, they don't seem to. In fact in this case they are even better than Campbell.

 

[TommyD4207]

The thing I didn’t like is that so many posters were SO sure that Campbell would fail at tackle due to length or wingspan, and claimed almost as fact that he’d become a guard. You were so f*ckn wrong.

Because the arm length thing is real. You need incredible technique to overcome it. So far Campbell has demonstrated that against real competition, and I'm glad he could.

The people claiming he'd be a guard are ******ed, because he struggles to get into a 3-point stance. It won't ever work for him at guard. He's a tackle or nothing.

Even the biggest Campbell fans never thought he could be a top-5 tackle in the league, he's destroying his projections so far.

 

[TommyD4207]

Interesting to note that of the 4 LT's rated higher than Campbell on this chart, 2 are fellow 2025 draftees, Banks and Simmons. IIRC I think the main reason most people had negative thoughts about picking Campbell was NOT about his ability, but that they had reservations about picking him so high at #4, so there was a significant group who wanted to trade down and take Simmonds, or Banks later.

So while there are a lot of Campbell supporters who want to pound their chests to say what good pick he is, this particular chart seems to confirm that those people who wanted to trade down for Banks or Simmons may have been on the right track too. As much as we would all like for these guys to suck, they don't seem to. In fact in this case they are even better than Campbell.

I thought there were like 5 who could play and start, I didn't really think any of them would be stars. Maybe that says more about what we thought about 'good left tackles' already in the league.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Because the arm length thing is real. You need incredible technique to overcome it. So far Campbell has demonstrated that against real competition, and I'm glad he could.

The people claiming he'd be a guard are ******ed, because he struggles to get into a 3-point stance. It won't ever work for him at guard. He's a tackle or nothing.

Even the biggest Campbell fans never thought he could be a top-5 tackle in the league, he's destroying his projections so far.

I'm not sure he's a top-5 anything nor do I care, but all evidence except a disputed arm-length test said he was a good LT, the best one in this draft, worthy of being a top 10 pick, at our most urgent need - i.e., a good solid pick. There was no evidence that he sucked cause of arm length. I blame both the media for exaggerating the issue in the first place, and the fans for buying it. How many freakin' questions did the kid have to answer in front of cameras about this, day after day? It pisses me off thinking about that.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Because the arm length thing is real. You need incredible technique to overcome it. So far Campbell has demonstrated that against real competition, and I'm glad he could.

The people claiming he'd be a guard are ******ed, because he struggles to get into a 3-point stance. It won't ever work for him at guard. He's a tackle or nothing.

Even the biggest Campbell fans never thought he could be a top-5 tackle in the league, he's destroying his projections so far.

Actually it's not real. That's the lesson from this.

 

[TommyD4207]

Actually it's not real. That's the lesson from this.

Tell that to the dozens of first round LTs with short arms that got kicked in to guard or out of the league completely.

Campbell, to this point, is an outlier. That's the lesson from this.

 

[WhatJustHappened]

People really need to look at measurements of LTS around the league, it will be a surprise.

 

[Wozzy]

The thing I didn’t like is that so many posters were SO sure that Campbell would fail at tackle due to length or wingspan, and claimed almost as fact that he’d become a guard. You were so f*ckn wrong.

Who? Make a list...

Far as I can see, people dissect draft prospects in every possible way. Everything is under a microscope. He has a short wingspan for an offensive tackle, that's not debatable.

Who said he would fail or be a bad prospect? Call those people out.

Otherwise all this hemming and hawing over people pointing out his short wingspan is a big nothing burger. He's a big strong exceptional athlete in every way, he has a short wingspan. Why does the truth frighten people so?

 

[40yrpatsfan]

Tell that to the dozens of first round LTs with short arms that got kicked in to guard or out of the league completely.

Campbell, to this point, is an outlier. That's the lesson from this.

I would say what it means is that arm length is just 1 factor of many, and when you have multiple years of SEC game film that show the guy can play, who gives a f* about 32 5/8 when some of the best LT's in the league are 33? It was always a bogus issue.

 

[Wozzy]

Tell that to the dozens of first round LTs with short arms that got kicked in to guard or out of the league completely.

Campbell, to this point, is an outlier. That's the lesson from this.

The opposite is also true. A young Joe Thuney played offensive tackle at the same Pro Bowl caliber level he played guard, the same way other Pro Bowl caliber guards kicked outside to play tackle when injuries occurred. Was it optimal? Not really, but a great offensive lineman can often play everywhere and anywhere.

The victory lap nonsense here is silly. Even the majority of people who wanted to go elsewhere with the first overall draft pick acknowledged Campbell was going to be a successful lineman... regardless of where he ended up.

 

[Steve102]

Tell that to the dozens of first round LTs with short arms that got kicked in to guard or out of the league completely.

Campbell, to this point, is an outlier. That's the lesson from this.

Really it comes down to the player as a whole. You can break down a guy and say well, his hands are too small, arms too short, feet are this, legs are that. How does the player play? You'd think we'd learned all this 25 years ago. Brady's measurables were horrible, but he figured out a way. Guys definitely get wrapped up in their position, many many dudes were kicking this kid inside before he took a snap IN PRACTICE. It looks like the kid's a keeper, and that's good. He's just going to get better.

The lesson on all of it really is that we shouldn't rush to judgement before players, you know, play.

One of my favorite stories from coaching is we had a kid that was undersized as a senior. Not super athletic, but worked hard, loved football. Before the season started, coaches on our staff said they didn't know how the kid was going to get on the field. He slowly worked his way into the line up. Starting center... LB... on all special teams... We got a big lead in a game late and I went to take the kid out of kickoff because he looked gassed. He refused.

"Coach, I've been out here on every snap. When am I gonna do that again?"

I left him in. The point is that we always rush to judge a player before they play. We all need to wait and see how it all plays out.

 

[manxman2601]

Will Campbell is the second best tackle in the league in the amount of time needed for him to allow a pressure. In other words, he's not giving up quick wins for the edge rusher. Second only to Lane Johnson.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Will Campbell is the second best tackle in the league in the amount of time needed for him to allow a pressure. In other words, he's not giving up quick wins for the edge rusher. Second only to right tackle Lane Johnson.