New England Patriots - NESN.com
Chances are you won’t be able to guess the Patriots’ highest-graded offensive player from their AFC Wild Card win over the Chargers.
It wasn’t running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who totaled 128 yards of offense on 13 touches. It wasn’t quarterback Drake Maye, who performed admirably in the second half with a clutch touchdown to Hunter Henry sealing New England’s victory.
So, who was it? It was rookie left tackle Will Campbell, who earned a 75.6 offensive grade on Pro Football Focus. That’s not to say PFF grades should be taken as gospel, but it nevertheless indicates Campbell performed better than some might’ve believed in real time.
Speaking to reporters at Gillette Stadium on Monday, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel weighed in on Campbell and rookie left guard Jared Wilson after their playoff debuts.
“Had some good plays, had some plays they’d like to have back,” Vrabel said, per a team-provided transcript. “So, we can evaluate everybody and say that they had some good plays in the run game, had some good pass protections, gave up a sack”
Campbell allowed five pressures and one sack on 40 pass-blocking reps, per PFF.
Wilson didn’t grade as well as Campbell (58.2 on PFF), but was not the lowest-graded offensive linemen (Garrett Bradbury). Wilson allowed six pressures and two sacks on Maye. Wilson also recovered a crunch-time fumble by Maye, and though it was initially viewed as a strike against Campbell, Vrabel confirmed it was on the quarterback.
Campbell, as well as right tackle Morgan Moses, went to the ground while chipping their assignments.
“We can’t get pushed back in, and then if we’re cutting a guy, we’re trying to get rid of the ball. So, we’ve got to get rid of the ball, and Drake knows that,” Vrabel said. “So, that’s how it goes.
“We just put 65, 70 plays out there. There’s going to be some good ones. There’s going to be some bad ones, and hopefully there’s not too many of them that get you beat.”
Campbell, specifically, will face arguably his toughest task yet with the Houston Texans traveling to Gillette Stadium for a divisional round contest on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. Houston bolsters two of the league’s best edge rushers in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
