The Patriots spent their fourth overall 2025 draft pick on LSU's left tackle, Will Campbell. Mike Vrabel brushed aside any stat-based smokescreens about his so-called "short arms" and went with what he saw in his play, dominance. He was the best tackle, left tackle, and offensive lineman in the 2025 draft.
That's called consensus drafting at its best. Coupled with the fact that Campbell was the best available player in the draft at the team's biggest position of need, it's the stuff that A+ draft grades are made of. Mike Vrabel used his first Patriots' pick exactly as a seasoned professional should.
In the Pats' rookie mini-camp, Campbell wastes no time making his presence felt. He'll be tabbed as the Patriots' starting left tackle. He's now out to prove that Vrabel's decision was spot on, and he'll be ready from Day One to assume that second-most-important position on the field. He's already getting rave reviews.
Will Campbell is already turning heads (in a good way) at Patriots rookie camp
While some rookies have made waves with talk (not a great idea), Campbell is making waves where it counts - on the field. He's already garnering the right kind of attention in rookie camp. And while the competition will ramp up dramatically when the veterans arrive on the scene, in rookie camp, you want your top pick to dominate. That's exactly what he's doing.
An X post by CLNS media shows Campbell at work in the earliest phase of his professional career, and it's a sight to behold. Dusting off the uber stat-based musings about lacking 3/8" in arm length (purportedly consigning him to the guard position), Campbell is showing that the apex predator, the T-Rex he was derisively compared to, is exactly what he intends to be.
That's someone whose path, in this case, if you're a defensive lineman or linebacker, you don't want to cross. If you do, you'll be watching things far away from the play and are just as likely to wind up flattened on the turf as upright.
Will Campbell has a lot to prove and he's aiming to do just that
The Patriots haven't had a left tackle of Campbell's ilk since 2018, when Trent Brown was at his New England best. That year, under Tom Brady, the Patriots won the Super Bowl. While those aspirations may be a bit ambitious for an almost totally reconstructed team, a run for the playoffs is not.
Additionally, one has to think pretty far back to remember a Patriots lineman who plays with the ferocity of a T Rex. In recent memory, it would be Logan Mankins. If you go back in Patriots' history, you'll latch onto the greatest offensive lineman in NFL history (sorry, Anthony Munoz), the Patriots' Hall of Fame legendary guard, John Hannah.
Hannah didn't just overwhelm ordinary defensive linemen; he demolished All-Pro defensive linemen as a matter of course. If Will Campbell wants a role model, he can't do better than Hannah. For Hannah, as it appears for Campbell, the only place a defensive player you block belongs is on the turf, and that's exactly where lots of them will wind up in 2025 and beyond - in pancake city.
The jocular NFL analysts who mocked Campbell's arm measurements, even referring to him as a T-Rex, may have just hit on something. The prediction here is he'll terrorize NFL defenses like the T-Rex did his fellow dinosaurs. He'll help level the playing field with the AFC East and the entire AFC. He'll make the All-Rookie team and likely be a Patriots' captain by year two if not this year.
The scoffing NFL pundits who latched onto the arm length stat and joked about it probably didn't realize the T-Rex's limbs were just for grasping. Its defining characteristics were its overall size, bite, strength, power, and an unparalleled ferocity that helped it dominate planet Earth for millions of years. Say hello to Will Campbell, NFL, the Patriots' next apex predator left tackle. He'll be coming to dominate your team's defense soon.