One of the many storylines Patriots fans were focused on heading into Sunday’s home opener at Gillett Stadium was how rookie left tackle Will Campbell was going to fare with potentially having to face a pass rush from All-World edge rusher Maxx Crosby, along with a slew of other talented players along the Raiders’ front seven.
On paper, you see a 20-13 final score in favor of Las Vegas, you see a second half box score that shows an offense that went stagnant, and you just assume a left side of an offensive line anchored by two rookies in Campbell and Jared Wilson had a rough day in their professional debuts.
And while Campbell did have a bad sequence in the fourth quarter that included allowing a sack-fumble as well as committing a false start that bumped the team back from going for it on 4th and 5, it was a quiet day overall for the No. 4 overall pick.
For offensive lineman, “quiet” means serviceable. It wasn’t dominant, and there’s still room to improve. But in a short sample size, it doesn’t look like Campbell is going to be a mess out there as a rookie.
“I thought it was steady,” head coach Mike Vrabel said of Campbell’s debut during his “Patriots Monday” appearance with The Greg Hill Show.
“I thought there were some good plays. I don't think there were any - you know, a couple movement times in a run game, him and Jared might have got disjointed. But I thought that they - you know, playing OK on the left side, I think it was a good place to start for two rookies playing their first game on the left side of the line. I didn't think it was -”
“Penalty [was] costly when you have that [4th and 5],” WEEI’s Greg Hill chimed in.
“Taking that out, I'm talking about the course of the game,” Vrabel responded. “A mistake in critical situational football, yes. But I'm just looking at the overall body of work, [and] it didn't look like they were overwhelmed with a 21 and a 22-year-old on the left side of the line.”
The full film breakdowns of Campbell’s debut at left tackle from the offensive line gurus of the internet will be forthcoming. They’re going to be able to point out some things that the average football fan isn't going to notice. It’s a highly specialized facet of the game, and unless you’re really paying attention to it, the O-line Xs and Os will mostly go unnoticed.
Unless, of course, the O-line play is bad. In which case, regardless of how many stat nerd websites you have subscriptions to, everyone and their mother will have an opinion.
But on Sunday, it wasn’t bad for Campbell.
It wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t bad.
For where this offensive line has been in recent years, that’s a small moral victory coming out of Sunday.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.