New England Patriots
A new re-draft has the Patriots choosing to take another left tackle over Will Campbell.
Will Campbell had a rocky end to his rookie year with the Patriots. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)
Just days after the Patriots’ 2025 season came to an end in Super Bowl LX, Mike Vrabel vouched for rookie left tackle Will Campbell and his long-term future in Foxborough.
“Will is 22 years old, he’s our left tackle, he’ll get better, he’ll get stronger,” Vrabel said in his season-ending news conference at Gillette Stadium. “There are moments he played well, moments he blocked the guy, there are plays he’d like to have back. We’re not moving Will to guard, or center or tight end or anywhere else.”
It was a vote of confidence in Campbell, who was selected fourth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft with the hope he’d develop into the franchise’s long-term stalwart at left tackle — protecting Drake Maye’s blind side for years to come.
But after a rough showing in the postseason, could the Patriots have some second-guesses about selecting Campbell so high in the draft order last year?
Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport seems to think so, given that he has New England selecting another offensive tackle in his 2025 NFL Re-Draft.
With the fourth-overall pick, Davenport had the Patriots selecting Kelvin Banks Jr. out of the University of Texas. Banks was selected ninth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints.
“Kelvin Banks was a top-10 selection in his own right last year, and the 6’4″ 320-pounder was most reliable and consistent first-year tackle in the league,” Davenport wrote. “Despite playing almost 300 more snaps than Campbell last year per Pro Football Focus, Banks allowed the same number of [sacks] and had higher PFF grades both overall and as a run blocker.
“Who knows? If Campbell hadn’t been such a turnstile in that lopsided loss to the Seattle Seahawks, maybe that Super Bowl would have turned out differently.”
For what it’s worth, Davenport only has Campbell dropping to sixth overall (Raiders) in his re-draft — with Campbell ranking 32nd overall out of 89 qualified tackles in overall PFF grade this past season.
Banks held the slight edge in overall grade (29th out of 89), but was also middle of the pack in terms of pass-blocking grade at No. 41 with a mark of 70.4.
Despite his poor ending to the 2025 season, Campbell was ranked 23rd out of those 89 tackles with a pass-blocking grade of 76.1.
Despite showcasing plenty of promise in his rookie season, the 22-year-old Campbell also had his fair share of expected growing pains — especially after returning from an MCL injury in the year.
Campbell was cleared to play in the playoffs, but labored in head-to-head matchups against elite pass rushers on the Chargers, Texans, Broncos, and Seahawks.
According to Next Gen Stats, Campbell accounted for 14 pressures against the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX — an ugly showing that stood as the most pressures allowed by any player in a game this past season, including the playoffs.
New England’s woes in pass protection played a key role in the team’s eventual 29-13 loss at Levi’s Stadium, with Maye sacked six times and hit on 11 other occasions by Seattle.
Campbell, who said last week that he did physical therapy five days a week during the offseason to build strength back in his injured knee, believes he still has more to give moving forward in 2026 and beyond.
“Nobody’s a finished product. It’s not one specific thing that I’m going to nail that,” Campbell said. “I’ve worked at everything every day … I’m a long way from where I’m going to be in the future.
“It’s not like I’m great at everything and here’s one little thing. I’m building everything, every day. And trying to make everything as a whole better.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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