There are plenty of questions surrounding the Patriots less than a week before veterans return to Foxboro for training camp, and one of the more under-the-radar concerns remains the status of Will Campbell and how he will perform several months out from suffering a mid-season injury.
The 2025 first-round pick had long been considered the best left tackle of his class, and the Patriots were fortunate to have a selection at the perfect spot to draft their next franchise star.
The problem is that he didn't play up to that standard for the entire year. Although he looked the part for most of the regular season, there were lingering concerns about his overall fitness as an NFL left tackle, which came to a head after he returned from an injury in the postseason.
That's when we saw his worst performances of the season, culminating in a forgettable showing against the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. It earned Campbell a lot of scrutiny, to the point that many called for the Patriots to move him to left guard, believing he was better suited to that role in the NFL.
But the Patriots haven't budged on their assertion that he is a left tackle, and because of that, projections for the 22-year-old's upcoming season are not all that promising, with one of the latest predictions suggesting he will be their weakest link.
Will Campbell is already earning harsh labels ahead of what should be a bounce-back season
Jake Beckman of FanSided.com has declared that Campbell replicating the kind of performances we saw from him last year will be the reason the Patriots don't win the AFC East. He believes he will be their biggest weak link, and if that becomes a reality, their season will surely be derailed far sooner than anyone expected.
The hope is that enough time has passed for Campbell to have fully recovered from his injury, which was far worse than the team let on last year, and if that's the case, there is no reason for major concern.
However, as Beckman suggests, what we saw from him in the postseason might rear its ugly head again, and he would immediately put the offense in danger, just as he did in the Super Bowl.
That kind of performance would ensure that Drake Maye can't be the MVP runner-up that he was in 2025, and the rest of the offense would have little to no chance of being productive in the way that they'll need to be against a gauntlet of a schedule.
Campbell's job is one of the most important on the entire offense, so if he doesn't play up to par, then any hope of offensive success goes out the window, as Beckman implies.
It would be the worst-case scenario for a team that hopes to replicate the kind of season they had in 2025, highlighted by a Super Bowl appearance. Although it didn't end how anyone hoped, a chance at winning a Lombardi Trophy is never a bad thing, and the Patriots would, of course, like another shot at taking one home.
They will need Campbell to be at 100%, if not more, in order to get even close, and the hope is that he won't be the weak link again, especially when the games mean the most. Otherwise, the higher-ups are going to have to have a tough conversation about his future.
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