I'm not asking for a guard. I want a LT... You casting aspersions at Will Campbell trying to denigrate him as only a "mere guard" doesn't make him a "guard" ... If the only way you can make your point is to do that, well, that says a lot about the strength of your argument.
What does the tape show you? It shows that he gets the job done versus the best competition in College Football... At Left Tackle.
The idea of building the line through Free Agency, through mid round draft picks? I gotta ask... Have you been paying attention for the last 6 years? That is exactly what we have been doing... And the results? Well the culmination of that experiment were on full display this past year... The results? Our Line has been described as the "worst offensive line" in the NFL...
Whats the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results... You sure that is the position you want to advocate?
and I will add if the "Guard" is good enough, you do take him at 4....
Campbell has all the bullet points you'd want to push an offensive lineman to the top of the rankings -- A five-star high school recruit, started at OT for LSU as a freshman, 2023 AlI-SEC, 2024 Consensus All-American, 2x Team Captain, got his degree in three years, and has good blocking grades and didn't give up many sacks. It seems like a layup that he's a top OL prospect.
But for all that acclaim, what he demonstrates on tape was different. You don’t see this highly gifted, shutdown OT. You see a solid college OT that is probably going to have to move to guard -- because when you watch him against better, quicker/NFL-level pass rushers, he struggled to keep up. Sure, he walled off the weaker college pass rushers off the EDGE...but better pass rushers gave him fits. The one game that stands out, in my mind, was watching Campbell against Texas A&M 2024...against one of the better EDGE rusher prospects in this year's draft, Nic Scourton. There were so many pass protection snaps where Scourton was just too quick for Campbell...either just flat out whipped around the outside of him or Scourton went straight at him, moved him back then did a spin move and left Campbell stuck in molasses as Scourton darted into the backfield.Scourton did a spin move and left Campbell stuck in molasses as Scourton darted into the backfield.
Most of the great moves Scourton put on Campbell resulted in a near-miss sack, or the play went the other way, or the QB bailed the other direction or Campbell got in a late/desperate shove and held Scourton off that one more second...or Campbell just had to flat out 'hold' Scourton (and Campbell never seemed to get called for a penalty). If you watch the film, you’ll see some of the same issues with Campbell vs. South Carolina, and Alabama, and USC.
And it's not that Campbell was terrible and just constantly getting beaten on snaps. No, he has pretty good feet and when he gets into position and anticipates/dances with the EDGE, Campbell can hold his own. Campbell is well trained and has good feet...he'll do OK most snaps. But you don’t see any dominance...I did not see anything elite here. I just saw 'OK' or 'good'..and that's not a bad thing, it's just not a top 10 pick or anywhere close to it type of thing at 4th overall. Not bad in pass protection, but susceptible to speed rushers. Pretty good run blocker, but not amazing.
Honestly, between the tape and historically bad 32 5/8 inch arms (7th percentile) he's going to be better suited as a Guard in the NFL. And 'Good' Guards are not top 5 overall picks in a draft."
Yes, this is a position I want to advocate. Is this a position you still want to defend?
Thanks for the John Hannah photo…not sure what it means. He was drafted 50 years ago in a different NFL. Would you like me to post a picture of all the wide receivers who were drafted at 4th overall that became nfl hall of famers?