New England Patriots - NESN.com
New England Patriots rookie offensive tackle Will Campbell recently earned a 79 in the “Madden NFL 26” rookie rankings, good for fifth-best among all incoming first-year pros.
After being selected with the fourth overall pick out of LSU during the 2025 NFL Draft, expectations are high for the 21-year-old.
Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi wrote on Saturday morning that through the first handful of training camp sessions this summer, Campbell was looking solid. Giardi added, however, that he’s seen some “concerning” signs over the last few days, including during Friday’s scrimmage.
“Up until Wednesday’s practice, Campbell had been fine. He’s shown to be an above-average run blocker during the padded practices we’ve seen, and while exposed at times as a pass blocker, it’s not anything I didn’t expect,” the veteran Patriots reporter wrote. “The two sacks allowed on Wednesday were concerning, and he was beaten on another play as well, but Drake Maye sidestepped the rush. Campbell had more issues on Friday and was beaten on back-to-back reps by Truman Jones. Welcome to life as an NFL left tackle.”
For what it’s worth, the 2024 consensus All-American seems to have the right approach and said he’s been taking advice from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on how to get better.
“Josh McDaniels told me a couple weeks ago, ‘You don’t lose. You learn or you win.’ I’m a rookie. I’m out here learning. Some things that I do in college don’t work out here. It’s a different league, so finding what works for me out there. Everything that you do that doesn’t go your way is something that you learn from. It doesn’t count as a loss,” Campbell said.
