The future remains bright for the Patriots’ top draft pick from last spring, in the eyes of New England’s front office.
Executive Vice President Eliot Wolf praised offensive tackle Will Campbell, whom the Patriots selected fourth-overall in the 2025 draft, ahead of this year’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis
Campbell’s overall body of work in his rookie season impressed Wolf, despite allowing a historically-bad 14 pressures in Super Bowl 60, according to Next Gen Stats.
Campbell suffered a Grade 3 MCL sprain in Week 12 and sat out for four games before returning to action in January.
“Will, specifically, when he came back from that injury, I personally didn’t see that same level of lower-body strength that you saw before the injury. I think the film would attest to that. He probably had three of his four worst games in the playoffs. But before that, I thought Will played really well all year,” Wolf said.
The biggest knock against Campbell last year was his arm length, which measures up short compared to other NFL starting tackles.
“We’re not moving him to guard,” Wolf told the Ringer’s Todd McShay just hours before his press conference.
That sentiment echoes what Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters in the days following Campbell’s Super Bowl performance.
“I know everybody talks about the arm length, but he has a set of skills that enable him to play with that arm length,” Wolf said. “He’s really quick out of his stance. He’s technically sound. He’s adding more and more different pass sets to his tool bag that he can use to combat different rushes.”
NFL insider Jason La Canfora, however, has heard from at least one NFL executive who isn’t buying that message from New England. La Canfora said he’s heard the Patriots are interested in Packers left tackle Rasheed Walker, 26, who’s considered the top possible free agent at the position this offseason.
“[A] GM noted the Patriots, off a surprising Super Bowl run, as a potential suitor for Walker as well, with rookie Will Campbell struggling in the second half of his rookie season and perhaps being a better fit on the right side,” La Canfora wrote on Sportsboom.com Monday.
“’I know what (head coach Mike) Vrabel said about keeping Campbell on the blindside,’ the GM noted, ‘but what did you expect him to say?’”
“I saw that report, and it’s not true,” Wolf told MassLive’s Karen Guregian during a sit-down following his press conference. Wolf noted that Walker is under contract with the Packers, which is true for another month.
Technically, if the Patriots moved Campbell to the right side, (currently occupied by nearly-35-year-old Morgan Moses), they wouldn’t be speaking untruthfully when they say they’re not moving him to guard.
Another aspect worth noting is that Wolf may have a lot tied to Campbell’s success, depending on how much power he wielded in determining last year’s pick. The Patriots’ 2025 free agency was a roaring success, but many of those players, (Robert Spillane, Harold Landry, and Jack Gibbens, for example), already had direct ties to Vrabel.
Comparatively, the Patriots have moved on from at least a dozen of their signings and extensions from 2024 free agency, including then-additions K.J. Osborne, Antonio Gibson, Chukwuma Okorafor, Jacoby Brissett, and Sione Takitaki. Jaylinn Hawkins and Austin Hooper are both free agents this spring.
Meanwhile, Drake Maye is the only starter from the 2024 draft class, and the Patriots have already parted ways with Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, and Joe Milton III.