New England selected Campbell with their fourth overall pick.
The New England Patriots used the No. 4 overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft to land their future blindside protector in left tackle Will Campbell.
Here’s who the pick impacts for better, or worse, moving forward.
Winners
QB Drake Maye: Throughout his rookie season, Drake Maye played behind the worst offensive line in football in terms of pass block win rate which led to him being sacked 34 times in 13 games. That also included 37 pressures coming from his blindside. With Campbell now in the fold, New England believes they have a big time upgrade at left tackle to help settle things in front of their franchise quarterback.
“I’m going to fight and die to protect him with everything I got,” Campbell said after getting drafted.
OL Coach Doug Marrone: Coming to New England as the team’s new offensive line coach, Marrone now has a first-round pick to work with at left tackle and boost his unit.
Despite the concern with Campbell’s arm length, the long-time coach has worked with all sorts of types at the position and now gets a rare athlete whose 9.91 relative athletic score ranked 15 out of 1507 OTs dating back from 1987.
Locker room: In his first offseason in charge, Mike Vrabel has put an emphasis on high character individuals to help establish his culture. While the coach alluded to that adding talent is still the most important thing, there may not have been a better personality fit in the draft than Campbell, a two-time captain at LSU who plays with a nasty demeanor on the field.
“Adding Will to our football team is about a foundational piece, a young 21-year-old that’s mature beyond his years,” Vrabel said. “He’s a leader. He’s durable. He’s physical, dependable, accountable. He’s a quick study.”
Love this guy already LFG https://t.co/r5Y5dFdTCv
— Drake Maye (@DrakeMaye2) April 25, 2025
Losers
OT Vederian Lowe: After spending last season as the starting left tackle, Lowe entered the weekend still entrenched atop the depth chart. That now quickly changes with the Patriots selecting Campbell as they not only view him as a left tackle, but one that comes from a pro-style offense who could quickly adjust to the pro game.
“He’s coming out of a pro system,” Vrabel said of Campbell. “The terminology, he’s already been through it, I don’t know how many times with our guys and with me, and I think it’s going to be a quick learning curve as far as the scheme.”
OT Caedan Wallace: New England’s top tackle selected in the third-round of last year’s draft, Wallace was named a candidate to compete for the starting left tackle job by Vrabel back in the league meetings. With that job looking to now be Campbell’s and Morgan Moses brought in to handle the right tackle position, Wallace’s immediate outlook may fall back to being the team’s top reserve swing tackle.