It’s the summer, and football is finally, but not fully, back. That also means people are going to freak out over every little detail that they see, or hear about, at training camp.
For the New England Patriots, that microscope has been pointing squarely at fourth overall draft pick Will Campbell. The rookie left tackle had looked solid in the first two fully-padded practices on Monday and Tuesday, but he struggled on Wednesday.
Was I happy to see that? No, but I also am not panicking just yet. I wish
I could say the same for all Patriots fans.
There are a few things that we all need to realize.
First, offensive linemen are going to have bad days of practice, especially rookies. Part of getting acclimated to the league is making mistakes and learning from them. That doesn’t mean that every rep should be bad, but it does mean that you shouldn’t worry about a bad day here or there, as long as the guys are learning from them.
Second, people naturally have biases, and in some cases are just waiting for any small sign to confirm those, whether it makes sense or not. Plenty of Patriots fans and media members believed that Campbell was not fit to play tackle in the NFL, and that they should target someone else because of his lack of length. So, at the first sign of trouble, of course there are going to be those that will jump to him being bad, because they care more about their take than they do about being rational.
Third, almost all of sports media now is skewed to the negative. It’s better to talk about a guy being bad, or how much someone struggled than it is to talk about how good they are. There are a few main reasons for this, but the biggest is that it drives engagement. People will want to argue that you’re wrong, but it doesn’t matter, because the thing they’re after is the engagement; once that happens, it doesn’t matter whether or not you agree. Also, when you’re consistently negative, you can just say that you’re being realistic, or even playing devil’s advocate, to explain away your negativity if you end up being wrong.
At the end of the day, it’s simply too early to tell how good Will Campbell is going to be as an NFL left tackle.
One thing that has been abundantly clear though the first seven practices, though, is that he is better than anything the Patriots have had at left tackle in at least a few years. (That bar is in the basement, however, so that might not be saying much either.)
Whether you believe that Campbell is going to be an All-Pro, a good left tackle, or is going to have to move to guard after all, there is simply not enough evidence to declare anyone correct just yet. He has not even played a pretend game at this point in time, so for now it might be best to just pump the brakes on any projections in either direction.
Before I go, one quick note for people questioning Campbell’s arm length.
Three players who have what NFL scouts would consider “short” arms for the tackle position signed big extensions this offseason. Rashawn Slater became the highest-paid lineman in NFL history, Bernhard Raimann is now getting $25 million per year, and Zach Tom $22 million. All three of them have arms under 34 inches, with Raimann even checking in at just 32 7/8.
This isn’t to say that arm length doesn’t matter or that it makes a tackle’s job easier. However, three players with shorter arms all getting big contracts this offseason should prove that it’s not a natural disqualification either.
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