Patriots scouting report: Will Campbell is ripe for a rebound

Coming off a second straight 4-13 season, the New England Patriots under new head coach Mike Vrabel entered the 2025 NFL Draft with the fourth overall selection in hand. There were multiple avenues they could have explored, but ultimately the biggest issue on the roster needed to be addressed: the lack of a quality starting left tackle.

And so, Vrabel and his team went with the consensus top prospect available: Will Campbell out of LSU, who became a Day 1 starter for the Patriots.

Hard facts

Name: Will Campbell

Position: Offensive tackle

Jersey number: 66

Opening day age: 22 (1/6/2004)

Measurements: 6’5 7/8”, 319 lbs, 9 1/2” hand size, 32 5/8” arm length, 77 3/8” wingspan, 4.98s 40-yard dash, 32” vertical jump, 9’5” broad jump, 9.91 Relative Athletic Score

Experience

NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: LSU (2022-24)

As a freshman at Neville High School in his hometown of Monroe, LA, Campbell already played on the varsity team and never looked back. He led the school to four straight district titles and was an All-America selection as a senior. Eventually rated a four-star recruit, he decided to stay close to home and joined LSU over offers from several powerhouse programs such as Alabama, Georgia and Texas.

Campbell immediately was inserted into the Tigers’ starting lineup and over the next three years started all 38 games he appeared in. Before opting out of LSU’s bowl game to cap off his junior season and college career, he missed only one game due to an illness. He received All-SEC recognition in each of his three seasons in Baton Rouge and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy honoring the SEC’s best lineman in 2024.

By only his second season he was also already named a team captain, an honor he held in Year 3 as well. He furthermore became the first lineman in school history to be awarded the prestigious No. 7 given to the best playmaker on the team from the state of Louisiana (he wore it as a badge rather than his jersey number to comply with SEC number rules).

Campbell decided to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft in 2025, joining the Patriots as the fourth overall selection. He went on to start 17 combined regular season and playoff games as a rookie, including the Super Bowl.

Scouting report

Strengths: Outside of one much-discussed issue we will also talk about in a second, Campbell checks a lot of the boxes you want checked when looking for a starting offensive tackle. He has proper height and carries his 319 pounds well, and combines his foundational frame with both an outstanding athletic skillset and some A-plus competitive toughness and leadership skills.

Campbell’s best attribute might be his movement skills. His agility and body control are top notch and allow him to stay balanced as a pull blocker in the run game or when going up against pass rushers. He is quick out of his stance and effectively disengages from double teams to climb to the second level, identifies his targets in the screen and zone blocking game, and positions himself well relative to his opposition. He attacks with good angles to make the most out of the build-up momentum he carries.

He combines those moving skills with a sharp processor, and despite not always being able to showcase it as a rookie has an adequate understanding of line games. He also plays the game with a blue-collar mentality and effective finish as a run blocker, in large parts due to his impressive grip strength and natural feel for hand placement. Besides his on-field abilities, Campbell also managed to quickly establish himself as a team leader at LSU and is well on his way to doing the same in New England.

Weaknesses: Campbell’s size remains a hot topic one season into his NFL career and he is a complete outlier when it comes to first-round tackles in terms of arm length (7th percentile) and wingspan (0 percentile). He managed to work around those shortcomings in the SEC, but NFL defenders are better suited to exploit this lack of reach and blocking radius. His margin of error is therefore slimmer than for other OTs, and his technique, anchor, footwork and pad level need to be on point in order for him to develop into a quality starter.

That was not always the case in 2025, though. At times, Campbell timed his punches badly, found himself out-leveraged, gave too much space to his inside shoulder, and was unable to get on the same page as left guard Jared Wilson to pass off blockers. His biggest problems as a rookie, however, might have been his anchor and footwork. As a result of a shaky base, which in turn comes from hectic feet that do not allow him to use his natural power properly, Campbell struggled to play to the athletic skills he definitely possesses.

2025 review

Stats: 17 games (17 starts) | 1,047 offensive snaps (77.1%), 18 special teams snaps (3.3%) | 45 QB pressures surrendered (9 sacks, 7 hits, 29 hurries), 3 FRs | 8 penalties (incl. 1 declined/offsetting)

Season recap: After relying on a mix of Vederian Lowe, Demontrey Jacobs and Chukwuma Okorafor to man their left tackle position in 2024, the Patriots entered their 2025 offseason with the desire for an upgrade. They found it in the form of Campbell, who was widely regarded as the top tackle prospect available in the draft and who impressed New England’s coaches and talent evaluators throughout the pre-draft process.

Accordingly, the team selected him with the fourth overall pick and as the first offensive lineman of the board. Campbell. set the tone right on the stage on draft night, vowing that he would “fight and die” to protect quarterback Drake Maye’s blindside.

He did fight and actually came out of his rookie season alive, but Campbell did have to absorb his fair share of blows along the way. Playing one of the most demanding positions in the sport and regularly going up against some of the top pass rushers in the league, he went through serious stretches of rookie growing pains en route to giving up a team-worst 45 quarterback pressures and nine sacks; he also was penalized eight times, most among all Patriots offensive linemen.

That said, those numbers alone do not tell the full story of Campbell’s first NFL season. For starters, the list of players he was asked to block includes, among others, first-team All-Pro selections Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, Pro Bowlers Tuli Tuipulotu, Nik Bonitto and DeMarcus Lawrence, and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. A rookie struggling with consistency against this quality of players should not come as a surprise.

What did not help him, particularly down the stretch, was his knee. By his own admission, he suffered a ligament tear in a Week 12 game in Cincinnati that forced him to miss the subsequent four games and only allowed him to return to the lineup for the regular season finale versus the Dolphins.

His return from injury coincided with an uptick in competition: the Patriots’ four playoff opponents — Chargers, Texans, Broncos, Seahawks — all ranked in the top nine in dropback EPA, in large parts due to their pass rush capabilities. Campbell’s statistics reflected this: including his first game back against Miami, he surrendered 20 quarterback disruptions in five games after his injury, compared to 25 in his 12 healthy games.

Unfortunately, his worst performance, particularly considering the magnitude, came in the Super Bowl. Campbell was credited with eight quarterback pressures given up, including a sack.

Campbell was not the only Patriot to struggle in the 29-13 loss, but he became the poster child of the team’s issues. For him, just like for the rest of the AFC champions, the lights simply appeared to be too bright — something his actual on-field performance also seemed to reflect: still nursing his prior knee injury and coming off a challenging postseason gauntlet (although, to his credit, he did play well in the AFC title game in Denver), the 22-year-old showed some worrisome tendencies his opponent was able to exploit.

However, that performance also is not a fair representation of Campbell’s first year in the league. Especially before his injury, he played some quality football while also being left on an island for a significant portion of his snaps. Sure, he had a rough go against Myles Garrett, giving up two sacks, but then again, Garrett had his way with far more established players in 2025.

Long story short, Campbell proved himself the upgrade the Patriots were looking for when they drafted him. However, his rookie season also showed that he has some ways to go before entering the upper echelon of tackles — and that trying to get there while dealing with the fallout from an injury is not an easy task.

2026 preview

Position: Starting left tackle | Ability: Average starter | Contract: Signed through 2028 (2029 UFA)

What will be his role? Campbell was inserted into the Patriots’ starting lineup from the moment he arrived at Gillette Stadium, and kept that role all rookie season long. Heading into his sophomore campaign, nothing is expected to change: despite ongoing speculation among fans and media members about whether or not he would be better suited to play guard, the team is committed to him as its left tackle.

What is his growth potential? Despite his lack of length and rough end to the 2025 season, Campbell’s potential is still immense. He has skills that simply cannot be taught, and if he can fix those that can be, he very well should develop into a multi-year starting left tackle and possible Pro Bowler (although overcoming his first big-stage impression could prove to be difficult in a glorified popularity contest).

Does he have positional versatility? In theory, Campbell should be able to provide quality play both at tackle and guard. However, unless something goes wrong, he is going to play the former position exclusively. There is no need for him to be versatile beyond the concrete requirements of playing left tackle (i.e. being able to pass protect, run block, etc.).

What is his salary cap situation? Despite only being in his second season in the NFL, Campbell already carries the 10th largest cap hit on the Patriots’ roster at $9.92 million. That number is guaranteed in its entirety and consists of a $1.01 million base salary, $7.1 million signing bonus proration, and $1.82 million roster bonus.

How safe is his roster spot? As one of the team’s foundational players alongside the likes of Drake Maye and Christian Gonzalez, Campbell is a lock to make the Patriots’ roster. And not just that: unless disaster strikes, he is a lock to start every one of the team’s games at his left tackle position and rarely leave the field.

Summary: Campbell will need to mentally overcome a rookie season and especially Super Bowl that presented its challenges. However, there is nothing to suggest he won’t be able to do so. Add the natural second-year development and his return to full health following his knee injury, and you get a player who is ripe for a bounceback season.

What do you think about Will Campbell heading into the 2026 season? Will he bounce back from his Super Bowl performance? Will he make it through the season without any major injury setbacks? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.