Can Will Campbell Prove the Doubters Wrong?

Read Time:3 Minute, 49 Second

Will Campbell was the talk of the NFL pre-season. He was projected to be one of the first few picks in the 2025 NFL Draft in the offshore betting odds – yet news from the NFL Combine has shifted the narrative somewhat. Or, to be very direct, his arm-length measurements have changed the narrative – as there is now a belief that the LSU All-American might not be able to perform in the NFL.

Arm length is the new metric for success in the NFL.

The NFL Combine is the data entry Super Bowl of American Football. It’s where various metrics are analyzed and subsequently shared with all the franchises, pundits, and every outlet under the sun. One such measurement is arms length. Will Campbell has a 32—and 5/8-inch arm length.

Unfortunately for him, after years of research and decades of data entry – the most successful OTs typically measure arms a little bit longer. The consensus is that a length of 34 inches is the minimum requirement. Offensive tackles use this length to catch the rushers and other opposition players.

However, this metric is not a standalone attribute for success as an offensive tackle in the NFL. If it was, we could give the Atlanta Falcons the Vincent Lombardi trophy now – owing to Zach Harrison’s long 36 and ¼ inch arms. Campbell has already proved successful with LSU and fulfills other criteria like an OT’s expected height and weight.

Joe Thomas already proved the arm-length stigma wrong

Who remembers Joe Thomas? The OT had a very similar story to the contemporary Will Campbell. Thomas had shorter arms; in fact, they were a little bit smaller than Campbell’s. Did that stop him from succeeding? Nope. He was selected third in the 2007 draft and spent 11 seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

Without this article becoming a biography for Thomas, he became the only offensive lineman to be selected for 10 consecutive Pro Bowls. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023. Needless to say, his shorter arms didn’t stop him from tackling many opposition players, and he accrued these achievements on the field.

Bryce Young: the Diminutive QB

The quarterback role is often associated with powerful, weighty, and tall players. Bryce Young bucked that trend as he won the Heisman Trophy in 2021 (the accolade given to the best player in the college football system. He was then the first-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, joining the Carolina Panthers. Time will tell how much success he has in the long term, but the franchise coaching team has said countless times they want to build the future of the Panthers around Young.

Should Antonio Brown have succeeded as a wide receiver?

Wide receivers must be quick to get to thrown balls before opposition players. In the same catching motion, it helps to have bigger hands – to wrap around the ball. Antonio Brown recorded a below-average 40-yard dash in his Combine appearance; 4.56 seconds is not the marker for elite WRs, while his hand size was a good nine inches smaller than others. Maybe too many franchises wrote him off on these statistics, as he ended up being drafted 195th overall in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Brown went on to have a stellar career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, becoming a seven-time Pro Bowl player, two-time receptions leader, and two-time receiving yards leader. Despite those accomplishments coming from his Steelers tenure, only in his autumn years did he win the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 season.

Very poor Combine: Tom Brady

This is an example that shows that combined statistics can mean nothing at all: Tom Brady, potentially the NFL G.O.A.T. The legendary quarterback only won seven Super Bowl titles across his career with the New England Patriots and his later stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Yet, his combined performance was rather poor. His 5.28-second 40-yard dash is considered horrendous for a quarterback, and his vertical jump was uninspiring, too, at just 24.5 inches. Of course, we all know that these readings ended up meaning next to nothing in terms of career success.

His poor day at the Combine could have initially put a few franchises off Brady, as he was only selected as the 199th pick in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. New England ended up with the player and made great history with Brady.