Will Campbell
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Will Campbell struggled in the Super Bowl, but Hall of Famer Joe Thomas explaines why his arm length wasn't to blame.
Critics of New England Patriots tackle Will Campbell may have felt validated when the left tackle struggled in the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.
Yet, according to legendary NFL tackle Joe Thomas, Campbell’s disappointing performance in the championship game is just a sign of growth.
The Hall of Famer spoke about Campbell’s struggles and provided from perspective that is good news for Patriots fans while participating in NFL analyst Ross Tucker’s podcast last week.
The Patriots’ rookie left tackle struggled throughout the playoffs, and much was made about Campbell’s short arms in the lead-up to the Super Bowl against Seattle.
Campbell gave up 19 pressures in the playoffs and four sacks, each of which was the most of any tackle who played in the playoffs, while playing the most playoff snaps (264) of any tackle.
Joe Thomas: Will Campbell’s Struggles Were Due to Injury
Thomas has long been a proponent of Campbell’s, and for good reason. Campbell is 6-6, 319 pounds and kept second-year quarterback Drake Maye protected for the majority of snaps in his rookie season.
So Thomas cited Campbell’s inexperience and his sprained MCL, and not his arm length, as the culprits in his struggles against the Seahawks and all playoffs.
“The problem in the Super Bowl had nothing to do with arm length,” Thomas said on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast. “It was the timing of his kick set and and the timing of his feet as it relates to the player he was trying to block.
“It was off, and I think that was part of the injury he sustained during the year.”
Campbell, of course, went on injured reserve and missed the requisite four games due to a Grade 3 MCL sprain sustained against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11.
He returned for Week 17 and played in all three postseason games though later stated he wasn’t 100% in New England’s run through the AFC playoffs, where it defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos.
Joe Thomas Doesn’t Buy Into Arm-Length Critics
Campbell has been the most recent target of critics for his short arms, but he definitely isn’t the first. Thomas, who like Campbell was chosen in the top 5 (No. 3 by the Cleveland Browns in the 2007 NFL Draft) noted that he had been a target due to his shorter-than-average, 33 1/2 arm length, which only was about an inch longer than Campbell’s.
“The arm length discussion always frustrates me a little bit,” Thomas said. “That was a knock on me coming out, because I think I was 33 1/2 [inches] or 33 3/4 or whatever, but I don’t know what the baseline is for ‘you can play tackle if you’re at 34 but you can’t if you’re 33 7/8.”
Thomas noted that those conducting arm measurements do not note a player’s reach but the traditional length, which measures the shoulder to middle finger.
“It’s really just a figment of the imagination that this arm-length thing is a big deal,” Thomas said.
Yet, Thomas became a Hall of Famer despite his T-Rex-style, and he believes Campbell will have similar success and ultimately live up to that No. 4 pick potential.
“If he ever makes a mistake on the field or has a bad game, like he did in the Super Bowl, everyone’s like: he couldn’t do because he has short arms,” Thomas said. “It’s a timing, it’s a footwork thing that can easily be corrected, not something biological that he can’t change like arm length.”