Pats Pulpit
Coming off a second straight 4-13 season, the New England Patriots under new head coach Mike Vrabel entered the 2025 NFL Draft with the fourth overall selection in hand. There were multiple avenues they could have explored, but ultimately the biggest issue on the roster needed to be addressed: the lack of a quality starting left tackle.
And so, Vrabel and his team went with the consensus top prospect available: Will Campbell out of LSU, who became a Day 1 starter for the Patriots.
Name: Will Campbell
Position: Offensive tackle
Jersey number: 66
Opening day age: 22 (1/6/2004)
Measurements: 6’5 7/8”, 319 lbs, 9 1/2” hand size, 32 5/8” arm length, 77 3/8” wingspan, 4.98s 40-yard dash, 32” vertical jump, 9’5” broad jump, 9.91 Relative Athletic Score
NFL: New England Patriots (2025-) | College: LSU (2022-24)
As a freshman at Neville High School in his hometown of Monroe, LA, Campbell already played on the varsity team and never looked back. He led the school to four straight district titles and was an All-America selection as a senior. Eventually rated a four-star recruit, he decided to stay close to home and joined LSU over offers from several powerhouse programs such as Alabama, Georgia and Texas.
Campbell immediately was inserted into the Tigers’ starting lineup and over the next three years started all 38 games he appeared in. Before opting out of LSU’s bowl game to cap off his junior season and college career, he missed only one game due to an illness. He received All-SEC recognition in each of his three seasons in Baton Rouge and won the Jacobs Blocking Trophy honoring the SEC’s best lineman in 2024.
By only his second season he was also already named a team captain, an honor he held in Year 3 as well. He furthermore became the first lineman in school history to be awarded the prestigious No. 7 given to the best playmaker on the team from the state of Louisiana (he wore it as a badge rather than his jersey number to comply with SEC number rules).
Campbell decided to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft in 2025, joining the Patriots as the fourth overall selection. He went on to start 17 combined regular season and playoff games as a rookie, including the Super Bowl.
Strengths: Outside of one much-discussed issue we will also talk about in a second, Campbell checks a lot of the boxes you want checked when looking for a starting offensive tackle. He has proper height and carries his 319 pounds well, and combines his foundational frame with both an outstanding athletic skillset and some A-plus competitive toughness and leadership skills.
Campbell’s best attribute might be his movement skills. His agility and body control are top notch and allow him to stay balanced as a pull blocker in the run game or when going up against pass rushers. He is quick out of his stance...
