Former Patriot David Andrews Believes Lomu Will Push Campbell For Starting Role

[Huckleberry1]

Some folks have that sunk cost fallacy about him needing to be an LT or else, yes. Other folks seem to have a need for him to be the LG so their draft opinion can be “proven right”. Ultimately, I think as fans we shouldn’t pull the plug on him at LT prematurely but should also be open to him playing anywhere if that ends up being the best option for the team. So, he should definitely still be the LT now - but if Lomu looks very good in camp, it’s worth thinking on. Until such a time, however, it’s Campbell’s job.

I'm about as big of a Campbell supporter as there is here and I'm fine with Lomu playing Left Tackle if he beats out Campbell, I'm just surprised they ended up with a good left tackle prospect at 31 because almost all of the tackles in this class were either Right tackles or projected as Right tackles. Like Campbell he's a great athlete who is very coachable, and coaches should always play the best player at any position.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Some folks have that sunk cost fallacy about him needing to be an LT or else, yes. Other folks seem to have a need for him to be the LG so their draft opinion can be “proven right”. Ultimately, I think as fans we shouldn’t pull the plug on him at LT prematurely but should also be open to him playing anywhere if that ends up being the best option for the team. So, he should definitely still be the LT now - but if Lomu looks very good in camp, it’s worth thinking on. Until such a time, however, it’s Campbell’s job.

I'm about as big of a Campbell supporter as there is here and I'm fine with Lomu playing Left Tackle if he beats out Campbell, I'm just surprised they ended up with a good left tackle prospect at 31 because almost all of the tackles in this class were either Right tackles or projected as Right tackles. Like Campbell he's a great athlete who is very coachable, and coaches should always play the best player at any position. What I take issue with the people doing the short arms ********. Campbell disproved this completely before his injury, and HOF left tackle Joe Thomas and many others have refuted the concerns about arm length. Campbell needs to get stronger and continue working on his technique but arm length is not an issue. .

 

[p8ryts]

I'm about as big of a Campbell supporter as there is here and I'm fine with Lomu playing Left Tackle if he beats out Campbell, I'm just surprised they ended up with a good left tackle prospect at 31 because almost all of the tackles in this class were either Right tackles or projected as Right tackles. Like Campbell he's a great athlete who is very coachable, and coaches should always play the best player at any position. What I take issue with the people doing the short arms ********. Campbell disproved this completely before his injury, and HOF left tackle Joe Thomas and many others have refuted the concerns about arm length. Campbell needs to get stronger and continue working on his technique but arm length is not an issue. .

I don't know about arms, but I didn't like where he set up and how he took first contact.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I'm just surprised they ended up with a good left tackle prospect at 31 because almost all of the tackles in this class were either Right tackles or projected as Right tackles.

The Pats traded up and selected Lomu at #28 because they were convinced he would not be available at #31.

 

[Wozzy]

Competition pushes everyone.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Competition pushes everyone.

Right - and that's part of the reason I wanted a legit LT to be our swing tackle, which we needed both to back up LT and learn the ropes at RT.

For the most part Campbell answered my concerns before he got injured, though I'm not convinced he would have gone #4 if the Pats didn't have a strong need, but he was still the best LT last year.

The notion of #28 in the draft beating him out in the future isn't crazy, but not something anyone should expect in his rookie season.

The dominos that fall after that would (IMO) see Campbell shifting to be a strong LG, and leave us still looking for a RT, but it's easier to get a RT in the draft than LT so that's still not a bad thing.

I have my doubts about Wilson at C but let's hope he's an anchor there

Knowing that we've yet to see Lomu even play one game, having Maye's blindside protected by Lomu, Campbell and Wilson in the future - three quality young guys on cheap contracts for many years - doesn't strike me as awful

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Right - and that's part of the reason I wanted a legit LT to be our swing tackle, which we needed both to back up LT and learn the ropes at RT.

For the most part Campbell answered my concerns before he got injured, though I'm not convinced he would have gone #4 if the Pats didn't have a strong need, but he was still the best LT last year.

The notion of #28 in the draft beating him out in the future isn't crazy, but not something anyone should expect in his rookie season.

The dominos that fall after that would (IMO) see Campbell shifting to be a strong LG, and leave us still looking for a RT, but it's easier to get a RT in the draft than LT so that's still not a bad thing.

I have my doubts about Wilson at C but let's hope he's an anchor there

Knowing that we've yet to see Lomu even play one game, having Maye's blindside protected by Lomu, Campbell and Wilson in the future - three quality young guys on cheap contracts for many years - doesn't strike me as awful

Wilson will air mail a snap now and then…BUT it always looked worse at georgia because we had smurf QB’s…Maye will catch those.

He’s a darned good blocker at C

 

[Wozzy]

Right - and that's part of the reason I wanted a legit LT to be our swing tackle, which we needed both to back up LT and learn the ropes at RT.

For the most part Campbell answered my concerns before he got injured, though I'm not convinced he would have gone #4 if the Pats didn't have a strong need, but he was still the best LT last year.

The notion of #28 in the draft beating him out in the future isn't crazy, but not something anyone should expect in his rookie season.

The dominos that fall after that would (IMO) see Campbell shifting to be a strong LG, and leave us still looking for a RT, but it's easier to get a RT in the draft than LT so that's still not a bad thing.

I have my doubts about Wilson at C but let's hope he's an anchor there

Knowing that we've yet to see Lomu even play one game, having Maye's blindside protected by Lomu, Campbell and Wilson in the future - three quality young guys on cheap contracts for many years - doesn't strike me as awful

Campbell was functionally strong leaving college, he was physically ready to start immediately… regardless of position. Lomu is younger, more inexperienced, not as strong… he needs some pro coaching.

That’s not to say Lomu couldn’t compete if he was thrown into the fire because we’ve seen guys do it, but ideally you’d ease him in. This is why IMO some other tackles like Blake Miller got drafted before Lomu, those teams needed a year one starter and Lomu looked raw.

Ideally Lomu will play some 6th lineman, he will get some snaps at both guard and tackle spots when someone gets dinged up. He’ll gain some experience and next season he’ll come back really strong.

But sometimes best laid plans go to sht and emergencies happen, in that case let’s hope he, Bryant or Crownover are ready to contribute. I’m not too worried about anything besides mass injuries, the offensive line group is young but really strong now.

 

[Ross12]

Wilson will air mail a snap now and then…BUT it always looked worse at georgia because we had smurf QB’s…Maye will catch those.

He’s a darned good blocker at C

Looking forward to how his power helps the run game. Snap the ball and blast forward straight ahead. They’ll start getting those 1 yard gains they need.

 

[Huckleberry1]

The Pats traded up and selected Lomu at #28 because they were convinced he would not be available at #31.

My mistake, I should just said that late in the first round.

 

[mgteich]

Wilson will air mail a snap now and then….

If this continues to be true, he won't be our center for long, certainly not in 2027.

This trait is simply NOT acceptable.

 

[Kasmir]

I discount what Eliot Wolf says about Campbell staying at LT because if he moves to G he needs to be the next John Hannah to justify having been the #4 pick, and it would be almost as bad if he ends up at RT.

The arm length thing is not the point; the 7% wingspan is the physical concern, and Campbell's historically bad performance in the playoffs has done nothing to remove doubts about his ability to stay at LT. We all know he was playing injured, but historically bad means worse than all past LT's also playing injured or at diminished capacity in the playoffs. It's a worry until he proves it's not.

Last year's investment in Campbell is sunk cost. I'm sure Vrabel will make the right decision for team without regard to Wolf's reputation. At this point both Campbell *and* Lomu are unknown quantities at LT. If Lomu is a better LT than Campbell, I have little doubt Campbell would do well at RT and no doubt he would do well at LG. If Lomu is starter quality at LT -- and is better than Campbell -- starting both of them might improve two positions on the line.

 

[mgteich]

I discount what Eliot Wolf says about Campbell staying at LT because if he moves to G he needs to be the next John Hannah to justify having been the #4 pick, and it would be almost as bad if he ends up at RT.

The arm length thing is not the point; the 7% wingspan is the physical concern, and Campbell's historically bad performance in the playoffs has done nothing to remove doubts about his ability to stay at LT. We all know he was playing injured, but historically bad means worse than all past LT's also playing injured or at diminished capacity in the playoffs. It's a worry until he proves it's not.

Last year's investment in Campbell is sunk cost. I'm sure Vrabel will make the right decision for team without regard to Wolf's reputation. At this point both Campbell *and* Lomu are unknown quantities at LT. If Lomu is a better LT than Campbell, I have little doubt Campbell would do well at RT and no doubt he would do well at LG. If Lomu is starter quality at LT -- and is better than Campbell -- starting both of them might improve two positions on the line.

If we get to another Maye SB with Lomu at LT and Campbell at LG, all will be well.

 

[DaBruinz]

Gotta love people making s**T up.

Campbell did NOT have a "historically bad performance" in the play-offs. Only people who have ZERO understanding of what knee injuries do to your abilities to balance, knee bend, side step, and explosion ability believe he was "historically bad".

Seriously. Even people who used to be sensible are regurgitating the garbage of the negative nancies as if it's gospel.

 

[Kasmir]

Nothing is made up. "Historical" is a bit of an exaggeration based on the limited history of NextGen stats:

In the Super Bowl loss, he allowed 14 pressures in a single game. That figure represented the highest total permitted by any player across the entire 2025 season, regular or postseason, and tied for the most in any playoff game since 2018.

Across the Patriots' four-game playoff run, Campbell surrendered 29 pressures overall. This stands as the highest single-postseason total recorded in the Next Gen Stats era, which began in 2016.

But these numbers are extraordinarily bad by any proxy:

The Pressure Volume: A 14-pressure game (Super Bowl) and a 29-pressure postseason are extreme outliers. For context, in the pre-NGS era, an "exceptionally poor" performance by a tackle typically involved 6–8 pressures. Reaching double digits in a single game is a rarity that usually only occurs when a tackle is both physically compromised and facing an elite speed rusher.

It's certainly possible that Campbell's terrible performance was a "perfect storm", but he had about as bad as postseason as you can have as an LT. It could very well be a fluke; it could also be he's playing the wrong position for his talents. But he did nothing to address nagging physical concerns about his playing LT: "A 7th percentile [wingspan] among tackles measured at the combine over the prior 20 years and gave him the shortest wingspan of any tackle at that event since 2011."

Here's the best case for hope that it was a fluke:

The data suggests this wasn't a lack of fundamental talent, but a "perfect storm" of variables that aren't likely to repeat:

Variable	Impact on Performance	Outlier Status
Physical Health	The midseason MCL injury directly hampered his "anchor" (his ability to stop a bull rush).	Temporary
Rookie Fatigue	Moving from a 12-game college schedule to a 21-game NFL season often leads to "the wall."	One-time event
Opponent Quality	Facing back-to-back elite speed rushers (like Nik Bonitto) in high-leverage situations.

 

[Huckleberry1]

That's not the issue. The year we had Brian Winters at RG he was clearly the most talented player on the OL. At guard. Not tackle.

But length matters. Nothing will ever change that on Stubby.

Lomu is very talented and has the length. Can't have another disaster like last year's SB.

Stupidity matters too, and you have apparently majored in it. Joe Thomas is a HOF left tackle who studied Campbell's play and determined that length had nothing to do with it. You can keep pounding your agenda's but that simply makes you look like an idiot. You have been wrong about everything the last couple of years and seem bound and determined to keep that up.

 

[Kdo5]

Will Campbell had one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from an OT in the Super Bowl.

There are a lot of excuses: injured, dominant Seattle pass rush, rookie inexperience etc. Perhaps that explains it. But all I know is that he struggled badly all playoffs, culminating in the Super Bowl disaster.

I’m not saying write him off but the playoffs were a big red flag as to his ability to play the position against good defenses. He shouldn’t just have the job because he was the #4 pick. If Lomu is better he should have the job and they can try to kick Campbell inside.

 

[PatsFan2]

Will Campbell had one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from an OT in the Super Bowl.

There are a lot of excuses: injured, dominant Seattle pass rush, rookie inexperience etc. Perhaps that explains it. But all I know is that he struggled badly all playoffs, culminating in the Super Bowl disaster.

I’m not saying write him off but the playoffs were a big red flag as to his ability to play the position against good defenses. He shouldn’t just have the job because he was the #4 pick. If Lomu is better he should have the job and they can try to kick Campbell inside.

Did you miss the Jared Wilson SB Show?? He was Absolute @ss I am more worried about him than anybody else. I wish we had Drafted another Center just to make sure. Wilson is synonymous with being put on skates: boy is weak.

 

[varjao]

Campbell is widely overrated by many here, but there was a clear difference to his play pre and post injury. This isn’t Madden where they are 100% after returning from injury.

I’m quite shocked Vrabel didn’t shut him down after the Chargers and especially the Texans game.

That just shows how bad Lowe is.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I discount what Eliot Wolf says about Campbell staying at LT because if he moves to G he needs to be the next John Hannah to justify having been the #4 pick, and it would be almost as bad if he ends up at RT.

The arm length thing is not the point; the 7% wingspan is the physical concern, and Campbell's historically bad performance in the playoffs has done nothing to remove doubts about his ability to stay at LT. We all know he was playing injured, but historically bad means worse than all past LT's also playing injured or at diminished capacity in the playoffs. It's a worry until he proves it's not.

Last year's investment in Campbell is sunk cost. I'm sure Vrabel will make the right decision for team without regard to Wolf's reputation. At this point both Campbell *and* Lomu are unknown quantities at LT. If Lomu is a better LT than Campbell, I have little doubt Campbell would do well at RT and no doubt he would do well at LG. If Lomu is starter quality at LT -- and is better than Campbell -- starting both of them might improve two positions on the line.

Vrabel is the person who said it, Wolf reinforced it, yet the fans and media who didn't want Campbell pretend they have never heard it and just keep banging the drum like it hasn't been said.