Patriots
It remains to be seen if either Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter will be available when the Patriots pick at No. 4.
It remains to be seen which prospect the Patriots will target with the No. 4 pick in the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
Given the number of holes present on New England’s rebuilding depth chart, the case can be made that the Patriots just have to take the best player available when they land on the clock.
But with the odds continuing to dwindle when it comes to a pair of blue-chip talents in Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter dropping to New England at No. 4, who could Eliot Wolf and the rest of the Patriots’ top brass turn to moving forward?
While there are several avenues that New England can take with their first-round pick, oddsmakers seem to have singled out one target for the Patriots at No. 4.
According to DraftKings, LSU left tackle Will Campbell is the leader (-100) to be drafted at No. 4 overall by New England — followed by Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou (+400), Carter (+500), and Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham (+1000).
While Hunter might be the most appealing first-round target for New England given his elite athleticism and potential as a top-flight wide receiver, DraftKings has him with the fifth-best odds (+1300) to land in Foxborough.
Even if both Hunter and Carter have been tabbed as the two best prospects in this draft class, Campbell would fill an immediate need in New England as a potential franchise left tackle.
But need aside, the Patriots will have to deal with several potential red flags when it comes to Campbell’s projected profile as a stalwart at the most important position on the offensive line.
Despite Campbell’s track record of negating some of the top pass-rushing talents in college football, the skilled offensive lineman’s ceiling as an NFL tackle is currently undetermined — due in large part to lackluster measurements taken at the NFL combine.
Campbell’s arms measured out to 32 5/8 inches during the combine, which is below usual projections for NFL tackles — and more suitable for offensive guards.
As noted by Boston.com’s Conor Roche last month:
There hasn’t been a Pro Bowl or an All-Pro offensive tackle with an arm length shorter than 33 inches over the last 25 years, via the data available from MockDraftable. Furthermore, eight of the 11 offensive tackles named an All-Pro since 2020 have had an arm length of at least 34 inches.
Even with those concerning measurements, Campbell brushed aside talk that his arm length would be the lone determinant as far as mapping out where he’ll end up on an NFL offensive line.
“For two years, nobody had any measurements on me and nobody said anything about my play,” Campbell said last month. “So now, all of a sudden, arm length decides if I’m a good player or not? I think it’s B.S. … Any decision makers in the NFL, they don’t really care. It’s all people who don’t coach, and they don’t coach for a reason.”
For all of the discourse surrounding arm length, Mike Vrabel noted during the NFL annual meetings last week in Florida that the Patriots still view Campbell as a left tackle at the next level.
“I think you have to,” Vrabel said of Campbell’s standing as a tackle. “I don’t understand how you can watch him play in the SEC — which is the best conference in college football, against guys that are going to get drafted at that position — so I don’t think you have to project it, you can just actually watch and say there’s the snaps at left tackle, evaluate it, and see what you think.”
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