Plenty of people may be worried about Will Campbell’s arm length, but Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas isn’t one of them, believing the top pick in this year’s draft class for the New England Patriots could one day join him at Canton.
Thomas, a 10-time Pro Bowler as a left tackle for the Cleveland Browns, is a fan of the Pats’ decision to select Campbell fourth overall in the 2025 NFL draft. The question marks about physical profile don’t apply for Thomas.
He told 98.5 The Sports Hub, “I think Will Campbell’s going to be an awesome pro. He shows it on the football field, he’s got a ton of experience in the SEC. He’s got great technique, he’s got tenacity. As you heard in the draft, he’s ready to die for his quarterback.”
Thomas expanded his initial praise for Campbell to include some telling remarks about the importance of arm length in the pros.
Hall of Famer Explains Why Will Campbell’s Arm Length Won’t Matter
As the 40-year-old put it, “It’s not that I don’t think arm length matters at all. It’s just that they measure everything, and some of the stuff is sort of insignificant. As an offensive lineman, your job is to connect the person you’re blocking to your feet, and to be able to do that, you’re kind of grabbing, you’re kind of striking, but you’re really not trying to punch them all that hard. And so it really doesn’t matter to have an inch or half an inch or two-inch longer arms, especially because the way they measure it, they’re measuring how long are your fingers and how long are your hands, which is not part of the strike and the contact that you have to make.”
Those words are a fascinating insight into the technique of playing tackle in the NFL from a leading authority on the subject. As a six-time first-team All-Pro, Thomas knows what it takes to become and remain a leader at arguably the second-most important position in football.
He knows play strength isn’t always told in the tale of the tape. Instead, the ability to put defenders on their heels shows up in close contact, like when Campbell put Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel through his paces before the draft.
Thomas also knows what it’s like to be doubted because of arm length.
Joe Thomas an Ideal Template for Will Campbell
The man inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023 thinks Campbell will be just fine, explaining, “the arm length is going to be something that he’ll never have to talk about again, unless when he retires and he’s in the Hall of Fame, they get to ask him, ‘hey, this new prospect has short arms, according to the NFL Combine. Will that matter, because everyone thought you had short arms,’ which is exactly the stuff that I had to talk about when I was coming out of the draft. That was the knock on me, that I had short arms, supposedly.”
Similarities to Thomas, even supposedly negative comparisons, are good news for Campbell. If the latter wants a template for his career in the NFL, he won’t find a better one than the work Thomas put onto pro fields for 11 seasons.
As Bleacher Report’s Brandon Thorn put it, Thomas excelled as “a technical savant with a unique stance and a mastery of the vertical set, strike timing, hand placement and leverage that led to incredible balance.”
Matching this pedigree is a lofty ambition for Campbell, but one worth aiming to achieve for a player expected to be a foundational piece of the Patriots’ rebuild. Vrabel wanted to set a different tone, one based on a nastier, more physical brand of football, something that only begins up front.
Campbell can be the tone-setter along an offensive line undergoing its own necessary transition. That process could also involve a fellow member of this year’s draft class who’s capable of expanding the playbook for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
No matter how many rookie starters the Patriots deploy, Campbell will be the main focus. Those prepared to look beyond any concerns about his arm length will see a “compact force” in the player who wore No. 66 at LSU, according to Pro Football & Sports Network’s Ian Cummings.
If he translates the same force to the next level, the way Thomas believes he can, Campbell will anchor a new and overpowering O-line. Just like a $104 million free agent is expected to underpin a more marauding defensive front.
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