An offensive line is never truly complete. Even if a team has a relatively young core of linemen, the realities of the salary cap and free agency can make long-term continuity difficult to mantain. That means a team should probably be drafting an offensive lineman every year.
Fortunately, teams absolutely can find good linemen later in the draft, particularly at the guard positions.
Texas right guard DJ Campbell is an intriguing option on the offensive interior with plenty of strength to go with an intriguing frame.
He’s also unlikely to be a high pick, which could make him an incredible value for a team like the New York Giants who are in need of a right guard.
Prospect: DJ Campbell (52)
Games Watched: vs. Ohio State (2025), vs. Oklahoma (2025), vs. Mississippi State (2025)
Red Flags: none
Measurables
Height: 6-foot 2 1/2
Weight: 325
Arm length: 34 1/8 inches
Hand size: 10 1/4 inches
Strengths
Best traits
- Size
- Mass
- Play strength
- Arm length
- Run blocking
DJ Campbell is a stocky, stout, and powerful guard prospect. He has great thickness throughout his frame and blocks with the kind of strength and power you’d expect from a guard with his frame.
Campbell is a natural knee bender who’s able to drop his hips and play with great pad level, as well as with a wide base, to maximize his already great play strength. He’s able to anchor against bull rushes as a pass protector as well as distort the line of scrimmage as a run blocker. He does an excellent job of getting under defenders’ pads, uncoiling his hips and driving them off the ball when blocking down hill. He has enough linear athleticism to get ahead of the play as a pulling guard or work up to the second level when run blocking.
He is a reliable pass protector who uses his long arms to deliver good strikes to defenders, consistently landing his punch on their chest plate. He has big, powerful hands which allow him to control defenders with inside leverage. Likewise, he has enough strength in his upper body to battle and stalemate defenders if initially beaten.
Campbell plays with a mean streak and offers great effort throughout the game. He consistently looks for work and is willing to block multiple defenders on a given play. He plays with a brawler’s mentality on the interior, battling to sustain his blocks, re-anchor if initially beaten, and finish his blocks whenever he gets the chance.
Weaknesses
Worst traits
- Agility
- Range
- Foot speed
- Redirection
The biggest weakness in Campbell’s game is a lack of foot speed, which shows up in a couple areas of his game.
Most notably, he labors in his kick-slide and can struggle to mirror athletic interior defenders or blitzers. Not only could that make him potentially vulnerable to athletic 3-techniques, he can also struggle to redirect to pick up delayed blitzes through the A or B-gap if he’s blocking the other gap.
That can also lead to Campbell lunging at defenders if he’s forced to redirect quickly or block on the move. And while he has good initial leverage, he can lose his leverage on extended reps, as well as simply play upright if he isn’t initially engaged with a defender.
Campbell is effective in zone blocks and as a pulling blocker at the collegiate level, however his foot speed could also reduce his effectiveness against more athletic and skilled defenders at the NFL level.
Game Tape
(Campbell is the Texas right guard wearing number 52)
Projection
DJ Campbell projects as a starting guard at the NFL level, though his athletic limitations could similarly limit his league-wide appeal.
Teams that run schemes that prioritize athletic blockers could move him down their draft boards, if not look elsewhere entirely. Offenses that use a higher rate of man-gap runs feature more downhill blocking, on the other hand, could find a lot to like in Campbell’s game.
He’s a reliable-enough pass protector to start for most NFL teams, though they’ll want to account for his athletic limitations when designing their blocking schemes. Overall, his athletic profile could make him an early Day 3 pick, but he definitely has the upside to stick and start in the right situation.
Does he fit the Giants? Probably, depending on the blocking scheme they want to run
Final Word: An early Day 3 pick
