Film room: Tackle or guard, Will Campbell can ball

Regardless of what position he plays at the next level, the LSU product is an impressive offensive line prospect

Recently, Silver and Black Pride has been exploring the Las Vegas Raiders’ options outside of quarterback with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. If the Raiders miss out on Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders or opt to go with the best player available approach, then LSU offensive lineman Will Campbell should be considered.

Campbell’s best position at the next level is a bit of a question. Some feel his lack of arm length will push him inside to guard, but the former Tiger had plenty of success at left tackle in college. Meanwhile, Las Vegas could use a starting guard immediately and Kolton Miller will be 30 years old and in a contract year next season.

With that, it would make sense for the Silver and Black to invest in Campbell. So, let’s dive into his game and see what he can bring to the table.

While Campbell’s arm length is below certain thresholds for NFL teams, one way he overcomes the physical limitation in pass protection is by having great timing with his punch. That allows him to make the first significant contact despite having a shorter reach and stop a pass-rusher’s move before it happens, as seen in the clips above.

Additionally, the LSU product has good hand placement to help gain control of the block and stay attached to rushers. To a certain degree, that lengthens his arms so to speak.

Where the area of concern comes in is Campbell’s margin for error is going to be much smaller in the NFL. He’ll need to be consistently on time with his punch to hold down the edge and long-armed pass rushers who have quick hands will give him trouble at the next level.

If Campbell slides inside, he’ll be asked to use more quick sets in pass protection rather than dropping vertically. Part of the reason why many feel he can successfully make the position switch is because he has shown a handful of quality reps using quick sets even when playing on the outside.

Campbell’s get-off stands out in the two reps above. He’s quick off the ball to reduce the space between himself and the defender and engage quickly. That makes it difficult for the defender to work a pass-rush move since there’s less space. Also, this is another good way to overcome having short arms.

As a side note, the first clip above also highlights the offensive lineman’s finishing mentality as a blocker. He punishes jumpers by getting physical and putting them on the ground, which any offensive line coach will love.

Ole Miss has several draft prospects on the defensive line, but they were having a tough time beating the All-American. He didn’t allow a single pressure on 56 snaps in pass protection, according to Pro Football Focus. So, the Rebels tried running stunts at the end of the game. However, that didn’t work either.

Campbell is pretty quick at recognizing line games and good at passing off edge rushers inside to help the interior offensive line. On top of that, he has the athleticism to get back outside and park himself in front of the looper.

In other words, he has the football IQ and movement skills to effectively negate twists from the defensive line.

Moving on to the running game, Campbell’s athleticism also stands out in his ability to climb to the second level. Whether it’s off a combo block where he secures the first level initially or a straight climb to linebackers, he gets to his landmarks quickly and can beat backers to the spot.

Additionally, his ability to redirect in space is impressive, which the last two clips above highlight. It might not always be the cleanest block, but his change-of-direction skills allow him to at least get a piece of linebackers and effectively create second-level rushing lanes.

When blocking on the first level, Campbell is really effective on down blocks to collapse defensive linemen inside and create rushing lanes in the C-gap. He uses good angles to take advantage of a pre-snap leverage advantage, which the first play above shows.

But the second play is even more impressive as he’s going against a 4-technique who is lined up head-up on him, meaning he doesn’t have the alignment advantage. However, Campbell uses his upper body strength to club the defender inside and win the rep.

What’s even more impressive is he’s going against Walter Nolen, one of the top defensive tackle prospects in this year’s draft class and a likely first-round pick.

Additionally, Campbell can be a “people mover” on zone runs.

In the first play above, LSU runs split zone where he’s responsible for drive-blocking the defensive end. He shows good patience after the snap to let the defender come to him while maintaining a wide base and keeping his feet moving to avoid losing ground on contact. Then, Campbell’s strength takes over as he takes the defender for a ride about five yards down the field, allowing the running back to bounce for a big gain.

The second play is an outside zone call with a wide standup outside linebacker on the edge. So, instead of trying to reach the backer, Campbell opts to widen the backer with a lateral drive block and does a great job of keeping his feet moving through contact to finish the block with a pancake.

While the sixth pick might be rich to draft a guard, if the Raiders think they can work around Campbell’s arm length and have him eventually replace Miller or like his potential on the inside, don’t be surprised if he ends up heading to Las Vegas. At the end of the day, no one is going to complain about where a Pro Bowl-caliber player in the trenches was selected.