Going up against two of the better defenses in the NFL in the first two playoff rounds, the New England Patriots offense has had its fair share of issues. Fairly or not, one player in particular has been chosen as the poster child for those, rookie left tackle Will Campbell.
The first-round draft pick was credited with three sacks and nine total pressures given up so far in the playoffs, the worst numbers among all offensive linemen in the tournament. Unsurprisingly, there is some ambivalence about
his outlook, as the results of the latest SB Nation Reacts survey show: 33% of participants are somewhat concerned about the youngster, while 32% are somewhat confident; 22% are fully confident, with 13% fully concerned.
That split is also visible in the comment section, although there is a more optimistic outlook.
PatsCaptain20
I love Will Campbell and everytime I think about this game I get a Patriots win 30-10 book it!CraftBeerDrinker
Long term I think Will is going to be a great LT. Currently, he’s injured and overmatched.ThunderMonkee
Campbell is fine. He’s been very good all year, especially for a rookie, when he is he’s impossibly athletic for an OL but he’s clearly not healthy and he’s in the middle of a worst case scenario stretch of DLs and EDGEs.
Does he need to play better? Of course. Does he know this? Better than anyone. These rubes who immediately start the “hEs A gUaRd” talk the second he has a down game or two need to go practice falling down.scenario
Am I worried about him long term? No. Am I worried about him next week? Somewhat. It was his 2nd week back from injury. Maybe he was a little rusty. Maybe he was only 90% recovered. Maybe, they were really great defenses who had a year of tape on him to watch. Maybe a little of each.
I’m not overly worried but they’d better plan to give him some help.SlotMachinePlayer
I think in this game you’ll find his arms will grow three sizes that day.Concerned citizen1
Name another Left Tackle that has had to face the gauntlet of Great defensive players that Campbell has had to face as a Rookie with another Rookie next to him. He is doing waaaaay better than expected.RBroPF
I agree with not panicking over the past two games and that he may be much better than what he’s shown. I also think there has to be some concern over what level he’ll wind up at long-term. It’s possible he may always be overmatched against the best EDs. Until we see him match up better against the best in the game, there’s no basis for believing he’ll be a great left tackle. He’s obviously good, but he hasn’t yet shown more than that.AlecinBerlin
Super confident.
Young player, learning a lot playing against these top 5 defences.
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
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Speaking of optimism, Patriots fans are feeling good about their team’s outlook heading into the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos. A total of 92% of survey participants believe they will advance to the Super Bowl, with 52% seeing a win by more than one score.
Even non-Patriots supporters like the team’s chances. The national survey shows that 73% of NFL fans think that Mike Vrabel and company will win on Sunday, with 65% projecting that they will eventually go up against the Seattle Seahawks in two weeks.
The Patriots are entering the AFC title game as 3.5-point favorites.
