Will Campbell is turning heads during training camp

Last season, Dre’Mont Jones lined up against Will Campbell as a member of the Tennessee Titans, beating the rookie left tackle for a sack.

Now teammates in New England, Jones and Campbell are matching up almost every day during 11-on-11 team drills and one-on-one work. From what Jones has seen, Campbell has already made significant strides since last season.

“Will’s a heck of a player. He’s making me better, and I hope I’m making him better,” Jones said. “Will has definitely gotten better from the last time I played him last year during the game. He’s definitely watched a lot of film and honed in his technique even more. It’s fun to watch, and it’s fun to compete against him every day.”

Before the playoffs, Campbell put together a strong rookie campaign. According to Pro Football Focus, the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft allowed five sacks, five quarterback hits, 26 pressures and 16 hurries across 782 snaps in 13 starts.

The 22-year-old suffered an MCL injury in Week 12 against the Bengals and missed four games while on injured reserve. Including the bye week, Campbell had five weeks to recover before returning for the Patriots’ regular-season finale.

After coming off the injured reserve, Campbell wasn’t 100% during the Patriots’ playoff run, which contributed to him allowing four sacks, two quarterback hits and 19 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Eight of those pressures came in the Super Bowl.

Now healthy and motivated, Campbell has already shown noticeable improvement this summer.

“He’s definitely a lot more stout. He’s not as easy to push back,” Jones said. “Not to say, like, he was easy before. I still had to put in a lot of effort, but he’s definitely come smarter, more patient with his hands. He stays square a lot more. Will’s so young, and I feel like he has a lot of pressure to be the greatest tackle of all time right now. I think he’s a really good tackle for going into year two. He’s not even into year two yet.”

Jones isn’t the only new teammate who has noticed Campbell’s growth. Alijah Vera-Tucker, who signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Patriots in March and has been lining up next to Campbell at left guard, has also been impressed with the second-year tackle.

“He makes my job really easy,” Vera-Tucker said. “He’s very smart. I can see him making that very big two-year jump. I only say that because he is a competitor and I know what kind of talent he has.”

Training camp numbers only mean so much. The real evaluation won’t start until Week 1 against Seattle. But early on, the returns on Campbell have been as positive as the Patriots could have hoped.

“At the end of the day, Will is a hell of a player. Him being out there every day competing against him, it makes me better. I hope I’m making him better. It’s fun,” Jones said. “Will wants to be one of the greatest. I see it day in and day out in how he works. The sky is the limit for Will.”