It’s extremely rare for an offensive lineman to be the talk of the town at the Super Bowl. But everyone saw New England Patriots left tackle Will Campbell struggle against the Seattle Seahawks.
Campbell, the fourth overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, was attacked defensively by a Seahawks team that took too much pressure in the most important game of the season. Campbell struggled throughout the postseason, but he had an injury excuse. Campbell revealed days after the Super Bowl that he tore knee ligaments during the game.
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That’s a major reason the Patriots defended Campbell after a rough postseason.
“When he came back from the injury, I personally didn’t see the lower-body strength level he had before the injury, and I think the film will show that,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Elliott Wolf said Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine. “He probably had three of his four worst games in the playoffs. But before that, I thought Will was playing really well all year.”
Will Campbell started the game as a rookie left tackle for the AFC Champion Patriots. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
(Michael Owens via Getty Images)
There has been talk about Campbell transferring. Part of that is because his arms are typically shorter than left tackles. Earlier this offseason, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel insisted that Campbell would not change positions, and Wolfe said he was not concerned about Campbell at left tackle.
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“I think everyone talks about arm length, but he has a skill set that allows him to play with long arms,” Wolfe said. “He’s coming out of his position really quickly, his mechanics are sound and he’s adding more and more pass combinations to his tool kit that he can use against different rushes. He’s 22 years old and we expect him to improve as well.”
The Patriots became the first team in the Super Bowl to start two rookies on the offensive line, with Campbell at left tackle and Jared Wilson at left guard. The defensive line still appears to be an area of need for the Patriots after struggling to protect Derek Meyer in the playoffs, but Wolfe doesn’t sound too concerned.
“We win a lot of football games with our five best players,” Wolfe said. “Obviously the last game wasn’t very productive in a lot of areas offensively and we’re happy that Will and Jared are the right guys and we’re excited for what they’re going to do next.”