Now Would Be Good a Time as Any for the Doubters to Admit How Wrong They Were About Will Campbell

Gus Stark/LSU. Getty Images.

I've always been a true believer that it takes a big man to admit when he's wrong. That shows character, grace, and integrity. 

But it takes an even bigger man to be right, then demand everybody who was wrong acknowledge his rightness and their wrongness. Which is precisely why I've called this meeting. Lights please? Thank you.

First slide:

Here's part of what I said in April:

Campbell's arms aren't 32 5/8 inches long like the NFL measured at the Combine. But are, in fact, 33 inches exactly, like the NFL measured at LSU's Pro Day. Which is likely the case since there's a pattern here suggesting the tape measure used at the Lucas Oil Olympics was as accurate as the pressure gauges the league used to measure Tom Brady's footballs. …

[H]e positively passes every other metric. At the Indianapolis Kennel Club, he was graded with the third best Production Score, the third best Athleticism Score, and the second highest Overall grade. More to the point is his production at LSU. Despite being just 21 years old, he's already played 38 games. In just shy of 1,600 snaps, he gave up a career total of 32 pressures and only four sacks. None them in 2023 when he was blocking for Jayden Daniels. All while facing the best competition in the country in the SEC.

He does it with a combination of speed, agility, and a powerful punch that knocks edge rushers off balance so he can reset and stay in front of them. He's got the lateral quickness to slide outside and push rushers deep beyond the pocket, and the straight ahead speed to bounce outside on run plays and screens, which is a requirement in Josh McDaniels' system. But despite being light on his cleats, Campbell has the density to anchor in place and hold up against bigger D-linemen, like stunting DTs. If there's an area he needs to improve on, it's picking up rushers slanting inside off the edge. But again, he just turned 21. And one of the things you hear in every assessment of him his how high his Football IQ is. He's a huge film study guy. So with coaching and time, he'll Ace that question on the SATs.

On a related note, another thing that makes Campbell a perfect fit in New England is he plays with a Logan Mankins-level mean streak. Perpetually surly and ready to take it out on anyone who lines up across from him or ends up in his field of vision. And by everything we've seen of him since this process began, this whole Arm controversy has put a giant hair across his ass. 

Next slide:

And the next:

And yet, throughout the spring and summer, the haters did what they do, which is - as you'd assume - hate. The Size Queens in the arm-measuring community wouldn't shut up about Campbell. They maligned him. Disparaged him. Insisted he was a future guard waiting to get Drake Maye put into an Assisted Living facility before he finally slides inside. Which was going to come sooner rather than later once his stubby little doll arms start facing the likes of Maxx Crosby, Bradley Chubb and TJ Watt in the first month. 

Well now that the month is over, it seems like the optimal time to get a look at how it's been going. I mean, beyond the fact that the Patriots are Top 10 in the league in points and Maye seems to not only be in one piece, but doing just dandy:

No, let's do a deeper dive. By every available measurement besides the one the tailor does when designing your suit, Will Campbell is a very good NFL left tackle.

Statistically:

Analytically:

When compared to all rookie offensive linemen:

Against his veteran offensive tackle peers:

And really, against all his classmates in the Class of '25 at every position other than QB:

In a league with presumably 64 starting tackles, Pro Football Focus has him graded 20th in pass protection, and tied with teammate RT Morgan Moses for 19th in efficiency rate, with eight pressures and one sack in 159 passing snaps. He's 25th in run blocking grade in McDaniel's power run scheme, which is fifth highest in the league with 52.8% gap runs. Which doesn't make him Orlando Pace. But it certainly doesn't make him a future guard by any stretch of the imagination. There's room for improvement, given he's still only 21. And he's playing exactly where Mike Vrabel drafted him to play.

And with Campbell filling the left tackle spot, which has been a massive hole in the entire roster since the last Super Bowl year of 2018, the rising tide has clearly lifted all the offensive line boats:

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The consensus worst pass protection O-line in football in 2023-24 is current Top 4 a quarter of a way into the season. And it all starts on the left.

But the most fun way to measure Campbell is also the easiest: With your eyeballs. Feast them on these highlights. You're gonna need a bigger bottle of syrup:

OK. That'll do. Lights on, please. 

I don't want to belabor the point. Instead, let's all act like adults and admit that I and everyone else who wanted the Pats to draft Campbell and finally solve this perennial problem once and for all were right. All the crackpots in the Arm Measurement Industrial Complex were wrong. I know how to evaluate offensive line talent and you don't. And you can kiss Will Campbell's ass as well as mine. 

There. I'm glad we were able to settle this like mature, reasonable people. Just put respect in the man's name from now on.