The New England Patriots suffered a drubbing in Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks. Their flaws were exposed by a better team. In that game, the Patriots' Drake Maye was sacked 6 times, and those, along with three related offensive turnovers, sealed the deal for the Seahawks.
The Patriots recognized the need to strengthen their offensive line depth and made efforts to do so this offseason.
Among those taking heat for the loss was left tackle Will Campbell, who's now been listed by Bleacher Report's Brent Sobleski as one of seven NFL players who need a "reboot" in 2026. Also taking heat was quarterback Drake Maye, who had a rough Super Bowl.
Criticisms of both are foolish and unfair. Each suffered a significant injury that substantially impacted their play. That should have been obvious to anyone who had watched the team throughout the season.
Maye struggled with a right-throwing shoulder injury that significantly affected his passing performance. Similarly, Campbell missed four regular games on injured reserve due to a knee injury and continued to be affected by it at the end of the season and throughout the playoffs.
Interestingly, Sobleski points this out in his "reboot" article, effectively debunking commonly held but misguided arguments about Campbell's arm length.
Will Campbell's late season struggles were nothing more than the result of an injury
Left tackle Will Campbell had his ups and downs during the earlier part of the 2025 season (his rough showing against the NFL's best pass rusher, Myles Garrett, being a case in point). Yet, he still performed well enough as a rookie to help advance the Patriots all the way to 2025's final game.
Even so, Sobleski is calling Campbell on the carpet. He's suggested seven NFL players who he thinks need a 2026 "reboot," and Campbell is one of them.
"This inclusion may come across as harsh, because Will Campbell is a talented left tackle prospect whose play helped the New England Patriots make a run to Super Bowl LX. At the same time, last year's fourth overall draft pick was clearly exploited by better edge-rushers during the Pats' postseason run. His struggles ignited a heated online discourse over the importance of arm length...
The discussion lacked the nuance, specifically the point that Campbell battled through injuries...For Campbell, improved health will go a long way...he can work on his craft to improve his footwork and timing. To the Patriots' credit, the organization hasn't wavered on moving the left tackle, because the coaching staff understood that he was battling through a lot in the team's biggest moments and shouldn't be criticized for playing through adversity."
Sobleski cited commentary by Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas on Campbell's problems in the Super Bowl. Thomas trashed the idea that arm length had anything whatsoever to do with Campbell's struggles against the Seahawks.
Rather, footwork and timing as a result of his injury were cited by Thomas as Campbell's issues.
By including Campbell in his "reboot" list and, in the same article, essentially confirming that it was his injury, as Thomas pointed out, that had caused his play to suffer, Sobleski essentially debunked his own argument. Campbell was clearly still nursing the knee injury that cost him four games in his rookie season late in the year.
The only "reboot" he needs is to get his knee healthy for 2026, and any thoughts to the contrary are simply way off base.
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