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Jeff Legwold
INDIANAPOLIS — LSU Tigers tackle Will Campbell was a consensus All-America selection this past season, a two-time first-team All SEC pick in his career with the Tigers, won the SEC’s coveted Jacobs Blocking Trophy and is one of the most highly-rated players in the NFL draft.
But at the scouting combine this week, he has been formally welcomed into the critique-filled world of the draft run-up with the fact the length of his arms is suddenly a hot topic.
“I think I’ve shown everything that I need to, you know, show that I can play tackle at an elite level,” Campbell said Saturday. “You can go look at my tape, there’s not one play on there that when I get beat you say that’s because he has shorter arms. … Obviously I don’t have stereotypical offensive tackle arms. I’m aware of that. People have to nitpick something. I’ve heard it all my career. When I was coming out of high school, the college coaches all said the same thing. I proved them wrong; it’s something I anticipate doing again.”
Campbell, who is the top-rated tackle and No. 10 player overall on ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest Big Board, started all three of his seasons at LSU, 38 games overall. Saturday, he estimated he has blocked against “close to 15 guys who will go in the first or second round [of this draft]” in the powerhouse SEC.
But in the arduous process of draft analysis, as teams put together their draft boards, many NFL personnel executives want tackles to have enough reach to battle the league’s best pass rushers, often with a 34-inch arm length as the minimum benchmark. Campbell and the other offensive linemen at the combine will not be formally weighed and measured at the combine until Sunday, just before the group’s on-field workout at Lucas Oil Stadium.
But multiple scouting sources said Saturday that Campbell’s arm had been measured at 33⅞ inches in spring 2024 at LSU. And Campbell, who was listed at 6-foot-6, 323 pounds at LSU, said Saturday that teams have discussed in his formal interviews this week how he adjusted his technique in any way to accommodate his body type and if he would be willing to switch positions to guard if asked.
“If you told me I was going to start at right guard versus be a backup at left tackle, I’m going to tell you to put me at right guard,” Campbell said. “… I’ll play anything I need to, to get on the field, but I feel like I can play tackle … [but] I’ve been working on everything. I’m a versatile player, I can play wherever I need to play and do whatever I’ve got to do to get on the field.”
Campbell said his level of play in the nation’s most competitive football conference, as well as the conference that routinely has the most players selected in the NFL draft each year, should counter any questions about his arms. Campbell was part of an LSU offensive line that allowed the fewest sacks in the SEC this season: 14.
Kiper rated Campbell’s fellow LSU tackle, Emery Jones, as the No. 8 guard available in the draft.
“Being in the SEC is the best thing and the closest thing to the NFL,” Campbell said. “So I feel like the guys coming out of the SEC will have the closest grasp to [the NFL]. It’s going to be an adjustment … but being in the SEC I was fortunate to see some these guys that are now Pro Bowl rushers so I kind of know what to expect.”
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