One number summed up the discussions about Will Campbell entering the NFL: 33.
The widely-referenced threshold supposedly used by offensive line coaches all over the league, an arm length of 33 inches is
meant to separate the safe tackle bets from the move-inside-to-guard candidates. Campbell, of course, did not reach the number.
Instead, his 32 5/8 ranked in the 21 percentile for OT prospects this century. To make matters worse, he also offered a 7-percentile wing span of just 77 3/8 inches.
And yet, the New England Patriots felt comfortable making him the first offensive lineman off the board in this year’s draft. At No. 4 overall, the tackle-needy team of first-year head coach Mike Vrabel brought the LSU prospect aboard. Seven games into his career, it looks like the decision has been a good one.
While not in the Offensive Rookie of the Year discussion — to a large extent a byproduct of his comparatively anonymous position — Campbell has provided quality play for the Patriots so far this season. Protecting sophomore quarterback Drake Maye’s blindside from the day he entered the building, he has surrendered 15 combined quarterback pressures and two sacks in seven games.
While there is natural room for improvement considering that Campbell is still a rookie and just 21 years old, the early signs have been encouraging. They also have very much put the arm length debate to rest: he is a capable offensive tackle in the NFL, just like the Patriots predicted when they drafted him.
That realization is nothing new for Campbell, nor something he is actively thinking about.
“I mean, if you want me to be completely honest with you, I was never trying to prove them right. I know that I was chosen here for a reason,” he explained at his Gillette Stadium locker on Thursday. “So, it was never really about proving anybody who said that my arms were too small. It was just coming here to try to help this team. Just want to keep continuing to do that each and every week in any way that I can. But I’m really not worried about what anybody else has to say.”
With Campbell at left tackle — one of four new starters along New England’s offensive line this season — the Patriots offense has operated at a high level, particularly in the passing game. Maye’s development under coordinator Josh McDaniels naturally plays a big role in that, but his success is closely tied to the upgraded protection he is provided up front.
Campbell, who did not just bring solid play but also a much-needed level of stability to the position, can take some credit for that. According to his coach, he can also take credit for rising to the challenge on a week-to-week basis.
“Each week especially for a young player, there are different challenges. There are so many different types of players and a lot of good players that he’s going against,” explained Patriots offensive line coach Doug Marrone recently.
“We just try to get a good plan for him every week. Talk about the details, the techniques and the fundamentals and keep working it, and just trying to attack each day and keep going forward. You look at a game or you look at a practice and you say, ‘Hey, this is what we can do better.’ The next day, you work on those things. I think that’s just the the normal process as you go through it. But, he’s been good. He’s locked into that.”
Focused on his preparation since the pre-draft process, Campbell has successfully managed to block out the noise. And even when it did directly reach him, he has been able not to let it bring him down.
That was the case when somebody sent him a T-Rex figure in the mail — a dinosaur famous for his proportionally short arms. Campbell said he found it funny, and that his ability to laugh it off was in itself proof of his approach to the whole discussion.
“I never really cared,” he said. “It just really wasn’t relevant for me and it wasn’t going to help me in any way possible do what I had to do.”
