Will Campbell draft pick is already giving Patriots fans reason to panic

There was no question that the New England Patriots were taking a left tackle in the first round of this year’s NFL Draft. The only real debate was over which player they should pick.

One game into the 2025 season, Patriots fans are already worried that their team got the wrong guy.

Will Campbell, New England’s No. 4 overall draft pick, was far from perfect in his pro debut against the Las Vegas Raiders last week. But was the former LSU star a complete dud? Not even close.

According to Pro Football Focus, Campbell logged 54 pass-blocking snaps against the Raiders. They charged him with four pressures on QB Drake Maye, including one rough rep that ended in a strip sack; to Campbell’s credit, he was able to stick his nose in and recover the fumble.

That’s not a bad debut at all for a rookie, especially against a good Raiders front that features a pair of tough-to-handle EDGE rushers in Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce. Campbell’s strength throughout training camp and the preseason was his run blocking, and despite a rough day on the ground overall for the Patriots (3.3 yards per carry), Campbell was PFF’s highest-graded run blocker in the game with a score of 78.2.

So why are some Patriots fans already fearing the worst for their potential franchise cornerstone? Campbell wasn’t the best rookie offensive tackle in Week 1 (and it wasn’t even close).

Did the New England Patriots make a mistake by drafting Will Campbell over Missouri’s Armand Membou?

It’s one thing for fans to opine about a potential star in the making whom the Patriots passed on. It’s another if that player was selected by the New York Jets. 

Rookie Armand Membou, starting on the right side opposite fellow first-rounder Olu Fashanu, posted a blank slate in the Jets' wild Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Logging the bulk of his snaps vs. superstar EDGE T.J. Watt, Membou allowed zero pressures on 26 pass-blocking reps and was PFF’s highest-graded tackle in the entire NFL for Week 1.

The Jets made Membou the No. 7 overall pick in April’s draft, taking him three spots after Campbell came off the board to the Patriots. Now AFC East rivals, the two players will be judged against one another for years to come.

For New England at the fourth overall pick, the decision was complicated. Campbell was the presumed target all along as the top left tackle on the board, but concerns over his arm length measurements led to some pre-draft trepidation.

Membou, meanwhile, spent both the 2023 and 2024 seasons playing right tackle at Missouri, so selecting him over Campbell would have necessitated a switch to the left side; the Patriots had already signed Morgan Moses in free agency to play right tackle.

Membou could end up being the better player overall, but would he be a better left tackle than Will Campbell right out of the chute? That’s debatable (and highly unlikely). Membou might have been the sexier draft pick for New England, but whether fans like it or not, Campbell was the most practical.

Let's not sound the alarm bells just yet. We’re only one game into the 2025 season, and so far, Campbell has looked the part of a solid starter at the team's most glaring position of need.

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