Top left tackle officially declares for 2025 NFL Draft
LSU left tackle Will Campbell has officially declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. Campbell is projected to be among the top tackles and overall players in this year’s draft class.
With the 2024 College Football regular season coming to an end last weekend, attention for some players and programs now turns to next year. That includes those underclassmen looking to make the jump to the NFL early.
For players not taking part in the College Football Playoff, there is a soft deadline of Jan. 6 and a hard deadline of Jan. 15 to officially forego their remaining eligibility and declare for the 2025 NFL Draft (for players on teams that go deep into the CFP, the deadline is Jan. 24). Despite that deadline being over a month away, some players have already started declaring.
Among the first group of players to declare is LSU left tackle Will Campbell, who did so Tuesday morning. Already projected as the top offensive tackle and one of the top overall players in this year’s draft class, Campbell is among the most-discussed names for the New England Patriots in the draft at this point (he was at the top of our list of prospects to watch for the Patriots heading into the 2024 season).
Campbell was named LSU’s starting left tackle as a true freshman in 2022, and has started 37 games over the last three years for the Tigers. He was named second-team All-SEC as a true freshman then got first-team All-SEC recognition last year, and should be on track for another such nod this year.
Over Campbell’s 37 games with LSU, he allowed a total of just 45 pressures and only three sacks – with one coming in his first game and one coming in his last game. He was penalized just 15 times in 2,553 offensive snaps. Campbell was awarded LSU’s coveted No. 7 this year, which is given by the coaching staff each season to the player deemed to be the team’s best playmaker (because of NCAA rules, Campbell wore No. 66 with a No. 7 patch on his jersey).
At 6-foot-6, 323 pounds Campbell has the play strength, athleticism, and mean streak to be a high-level blocker as a pro. The only major question about his game is his arm length. Generally teams look for tackles with at least 34-inch arms, with below 33 inches usually being the cutoff.
Some project Campbell’s measurement – which will likely come at the NFL Combine at the end of February – to come in closer to or under the 33-inch mark. Players with shorter arms usually move inside to guard (the most notable recent example of this is Peter Skoronski, who went 11th overall to the Tennessee Titans in 2023).
Once that measurement is in, it will be up to teams to evaluate how Campbell’s natural abilities play with his arm length. Teams have made exceptions for players close to those benchmarks in the past. For instance, many thought Rashawn Slater may have to move inside coming out of Northwestern in 2021. The Chargers took him 13th overall and played him at tackle, where he’s become among the better players in the league at his position.
Assuming his arm length checks out, Campbell is projected to be among the top picks in the draft this year. His main competition for the top tackle spot is Kelvin Banks of Texas. Banks is also a true junior, but his official decision wouldn’t come for a few weeks with Texas in the SEC Championship Game this week and almost assuredly heading to the College Football Playoff after that.
