One podcast and two wildly different opinions showed how polarizing New England Patriots’ left tackle Will Campbell remains, but a particular view of his overall ceiling contains a major warning for the team that made him the fourth-overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Campbell toiled through a tough rookie campaign, and his second-season prospects were contested by Check The Mic co-hosts Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson. While Palazzolo rates Campbell as a legitimate breakout candidate in 2026, Monson hit the Pats with an uncomfortable truth about the blindside protector for franchise quarterback Drake Maye.
Monson pointed out that while “the perception, I think is unfairly low on him at the moment,” Campbell also faces a “definitive ceiling on his game, which has been there really all the way along. And I think that’s why his college tape is what it was, which is you’re good, but every one of these top-tier NFL prospect defensive linemen have beaten you cleanly at some point, right? You can’t say that about a lot of other top tier offensive linemen prospects, right? the really really good ones in college tend not to lose really at all, and he did lose. Not a lot, but enough for it to be a point of differentiation.”
The implications for Campbell’s ultimate upside are not what the Patriots want to hear.
Will Campbell Facing Low Ceiling
Monson views Campbell as a “solid and average and whatever, but maybe he can’t be good there or if he’s good there he can’t be very good there. I there might just be a ceiling to his game and maybe they’ll maybe they’ll be okay with that and say look there there’s value to this guy just being solid or average or whatever or maybe if there’s another year and he doesn’t get to being good and he’s still just average maybe that’s when they kick him inside.”
The debate about whether short-armed Campbell makes it as a tackle or slides inside to guard will continue to rage, but Monson’s take is worrying on a deeper level. Notably, because a “solid and average, and whatever” player would represent a mediocre return for a top-five draft pick.
Yet, that’s the reality facing head coach Mike Vrabel and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf. Neither will be able to escape the narrative of Campbell being a draft bust if he puts more reps on tape like this lowlight against Derick Hall and the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.
Getting put on skates by Hall was just one entry in Campbell’s catalogue of errors during the postseason. Those mistakes have only intensified the focus on whether or not the former LSU stud can cut it as an elite tackle at the pro level.
The Patriots were surely at least mindful of that debate when they used another first-round pick to draft Campbell’s potential replacement.
Patriots Already Have Contingency Against Warning
While there’s a template for Campbell shifting to guard and becoming a repeat Pro Bowler, the switch would still create problems for the Pats. Problems 2026 31st-overall pick Caleb Lomu would be asked to solve.
He’s initially been tasked with learning the ropes at right tackle, but it’s not surprising some are already predicting Lomu returns to his natural spot at Campbell’s expense.
This move might spare a few blushes for Vrabel and Wolf. A left side made up of two first-rounders would look good on paper, but only if Lomu overcomes an underlying issue in his game.
Fortunately for Lomu, his path to getting better is clearer than the one head of Campbell, who admits he has multiple things to fix. The Patriots will soon have to face up to Monson’s warning if Campbell can’t tick every box.
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