Patriots Wolf Attributes Injury to Will Campbell’s Playoff Struggles
Eliot Wolf: Will Campbell's Playoff Struggles Linked to Injury, Expects Stronger Sophomore Season
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When it comes to an area the New England Patriots will be targeting this offseason, it sounds like Eliot Wolf is pretty comfortable with who they have at left tackle.
The Patriots’ Executive Vice President of Player Personnel spoke to reporters on Tuesday, with Wolf being asked about the pressure his quarterback was under during their Super Bowl loss earlier this month.
The question was essentially regarding the two rookies playing in front of Maye, specifically the performances of both left tackle Will Campbell and left guard Jared Wilson. Wolf was asked about balancing protecting their quarterback while also building confidence with someone like Campbell, as well as keeping continuity up front.
Campbell has been the biggest subject since that game ended, and Wolf seems to have heard the chatter. He admitted that there is a balance, but if there was any doubt in the confidence Wolf has in his rookie tackle, Wolf definitely didn’t express it.
Having watched Campbell all year, Wolf instead felt that the former LSU standout just wasn’t back to where he was physically, and it clearly hampered him.
“Will, specifically, when he came back from that injury, I personally didn’t see the same level of lower-body strength that you saw before the injury,” said Wolf. “I think the film would attest to that. He probably had three of his four worst games in the playoffs. But before that, I thought Will played really well all year.”
One of the things that had made Campbell able to overcome his arm length was both his footspeed and his power, the latter of which came from how strong his lower body was. Looking back at the film throughout those first twelve weeks prior to when he got hurt, Campbell was no stranger to being spotted completely leveling guys and leaving them on the ground, which was something he was fequently touted for, particularly in the ground game.
Having sat out over a month with his knee injury, it was obvious when he came back, he wasn’t quite the same player. But with a full offseason to both get healthy and get stronger heading into his sophomore season, Wolf believes that Campbell’s best football is still in front of him.
“I know everyone talks about the arm length, but he has a set of skills that enable him to play with that arm length,” said Wolf. “He’s really quick out of his stance. He’s technically sound. He’s adding more and more different pass sets to his tool bag that he can use to combat different rushes.”
“Again, he’s 22 years old, and we expect some improvement out of him as well.”
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