PALM BEACH, Fla. — The biggest takeaway from Mike Vrabel’s 34-minute session with reporters Monday morning at the NFL Annual Meeting is that the Patriots head coach views offensive line prospect Will Campbell as a left tackle.
After an active offseason that saw the Patriots fill the majority of their needs in free agency, left tackle remains the biggest glaring hole on the roster, and the easiest way to fill it would be through the draft.
But there has been some question of whether LSU’s Campbell has the requisite length to continue playing left tackle in the NFL.
Campbell has prototypical size and athleticism at 6-foot-6, 319 pounds with a relatively blazing-fast 4.98-second 40-yard dash, 32-inch vertical leap and 9-feet, 5-inch broad jump. But his arms measured in at just 32 5/8 inches at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. To complicate matters, they measured in at 33 inches, which is regarded as the minimum threshold for NFL offensive tackles, at his pro day earlier this month.
Typically, more length is better at tackle, since it allows players to overcome other deficiencies by keeping defenders at bay.
Offensive linemen can make up for a shorter wingspan with footwork and athleticism, however.
Campbell was a three-year starter at left tackle at LSU.
“Yeah, I think you have to,” Vrabel said. “I don’t understand how you can watch him play in the SEC — which is the best conference in college football, against guys that are going to get drafted at that position — so I don’t think you have to project it, you can just actually watch and say there’s the snaps at left tackle, evaluate it, and see what you think.”
The newly hired head coach said he sees Campbell and Armand Membou, who played right tackle at Missouri, as “great, young talented players that have great film.”
There are other contingencies at left tackle, however, if the Patriots decide to go in a different direction with the fourth overall pick.
Vrabel said Monday morning that he’s still unsure who the team will pick at No. 4 overall on April 24, the first day of the draft.
“You tell me who goes 1-2-3, and I’ll tell you who goes 4,” Vrabel said.
Miami quarterback Cam Ward, Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter are all expected to be selected high in the 2025 NFL Draft. If Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders are both selected in the top three, that means that one of Carter or Hunter will be available for New England.
The Titans, Browns and Giants all have needs at quarterback with the first, second and third overall picks, respectively.
His hope is that need coincides with taking the best player available with the fourth overall pick, and Campbell might not be the best player available, especially if Carter or Hunter are on the board.
“I just think you have to be careful. Hopefully, those two things can come together and align when you’re drafting,” Vrabel said. “But we certainly want to add premium players at the top of the draft and throughout the draft. That’s our goal.”
Vrabel mentioned two players on the Patriots’ current roster, Caedan Wallace and Vederian Lowe, as possible options at left tackle. Wallace, a college right tackle, was selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft out of Penn State but missed most of his rookie season with ankle injuries. Vederian Lowe spent most of last season as the team’s top left tackle but struggled in the role.
“The plan is to continue to evaluate our roster and see who’s there that we can continue to try to work there,” Vrabel said of the left tackle spot. “We’re going to bring the players in on April 7. I think that Caedan is certainly going to get an opportunity there, as the roster’s currently constructed. And Vederian’s going to be coming back — he had a little procedure.
“I think the draft’s going to be a good option for us. There’s a lot of guys in the draft that we like at a lot of different levels. I’m confident between now and the time that the season starts, we’re going to have something that we believe in and a plan that’s going to help us.”
Vrabel said Campbell and Membou are “good young players to talk about in that conversation but there’s others throughout the draft as well.”
Texas’s Kelvin Banks, Ohio State’s Josh Simmons, Oregon’s Josh Conerly and Minnesota’s Aireontae Ersery are considered the next-best offensive tackle prospects in the draft.
Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Penn State tight end Tyler Warren and Georgia edge defender Jalon Walker are among the highest ranked prospects on consensus boards.