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The closer the NFL Draft gets, the more likely it seems the Patriots will land Will Campbell at No. 4 overall.
The LSU tackle is currently a heavy favorite (-200) to be taken fourth, and nobody else on the board has better than 5-to-1 odds at FanDuel. Campbell has proven to be a polarizing evaluation because of his arm length; he’s not seen as a sure thing.
However, NFL Draft expert Todd McShay believes Campbell is the best offensive line prospect on the board and a squeaky clean character evaluation helps.
“This offensive line group, more so than in most years, there’s question marks,” McShay said on the Ryen Russillo Show. “Whether it’s age and immaturity or a past incident or whatever it is — let’s throw a blanket over it — there are a handful of guys that we’re talking about in the first-round range with these offensive tackles that it’s like, ‘Yeah, but there’s a little concern.’ So the cleanest of the guys I would say, absolutely is Campbell. Campbell is one of the cleanest prospects in the entire draft.”
McShay added that Campbell checks multiple boxes for the Patriots, and believes Mike Vrabel would get a good night’s sleep after taking him with the fourth pick in next week’s NFL Draft.
“I think teams are looking at it — the Patriots specifically — trying to get some leadership in that offensive line room, with their star quarterback, trying to develop him, in Drake Maye," McShay said. “That like, ‘All right, maybe we don’t get a superstar here, but we’re going to sleep really well Thursday night going into Friday of the draft knowing that we got a guy that’s going to be ready to play and is going to bring a lot of leadership to this organization.’”
In his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Vrabel said high-character players are great to have, but added talent also is a prerequisite to win in the National Football League.
“We don’t want to take risks. We want to be aggressive,” Vrabel said. “There’s a difference between taking risks and being aggressive and adding quality players and people to the roster. That’ll happen throughout player acquisition. That’s something that’s important, but certainly the talent of the player has to be evaluated first. Then you go through a lot of different exercises and conversations and just try to figure out the type of person. You can’t win and you can’t do what we want to do with just a bunch of good dudes. That’s not going to get it done.”
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The LSU tackle is currently a heavy favorite (-200) to be taken fourth, and nobody else on the board has better than 5-to-1 odds at FanDuel. Campbell has proven to be a polarizing evaluation because of his arm length; he’s not seen as a sure thing.
However, NFL Draft expert Todd McShay believes Campbell is the best offensive line prospect on the board and a squeaky clean character evaluation helps.
“This offensive line group, more so than in most years, there’s question marks,” McShay said on the Ryen Russillo Show. “Whether it’s age and immaturity or a past incident or whatever it is — let’s throw a blanket over it — there are a handful of guys that we’re talking about in the first-round range with these offensive tackles that it’s like, ‘Yeah, but there’s a little concern.’ So the cleanest of the guys I would say, absolutely is Campbell. Campbell is one of the cleanest prospects in the entire draft.”
McShay added that Campbell checks multiple boxes for the Patriots, and believes Mike Vrabel would get a good night’s sleep after taking him with the fourth pick in next week’s NFL Draft.
“I think teams are looking at it — the Patriots specifically — trying to get some leadership in that offensive line room, with their star quarterback, trying to develop him, in Drake Maye," McShay said. “That like, ‘All right, maybe we don’t get a superstar here, but we’re going to sleep really well Thursday night going into Friday of the draft knowing that we got a guy that’s going to be ready to play and is going to bring a lot of leadership to this organization.’”
In his pre-draft press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Vrabel said high-character players are great to have, but added talent also is a prerequisite to win in the National Football League.
“We don’t want to take risks. We want to be aggressive,” Vrabel said. “There’s a difference between taking risks and being aggressive and adding quality players and people to the roster. That’ll happen throughout player acquisition. That’s something that’s important, but certainly the talent of the player has to be evaluated first. Then you go through a lot of different exercises and conversations and just try to figure out the type of person. You can’t win and you can’t do what we want to do with just a bunch of good dudes. That’s not going to get it done.”
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