During last season’s Super Bowl matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, offensive tackle Will Campbell’s struggles were on display as the team gave up 6 sacks in the big game.
Campbell’s struggles have been attributed to his short arm length, but instead, Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas blames the young lineman’s technique.
Why Technique, Not Arm Length, Caused Will Campbell’s Super Bowl Struggles
In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected Campbell out of LSU with the fourth overall pick. He was expected to provide a boost for a team that needed offensive line help.
However, he struggled at the worst time and was embarrassed by Seahawks defenders during the Super Bowl. On most plays, he was simply overpowered by opposing defensive linemen.
In addition to the Patriots giving up 6 sacks, they also gave up 8 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hits.
Many have pointed to his lack of arm length as a reason for his struggles, and understandably so. According to his draft measurables, his arms measured 32.625 inches, which ranks in the 22nd percentile for offensive linemen.
This means his arms are longer than 22% of other linemen but shorter than 78% of linemen. Additionally, his wingspan ranked in the 7th percentile, and his hand size was in the 18th percentile.
However, longtime Cleveland Browns offensive tackle Thomas doesn’t blame these struggles on subpar measurables, specifically arm length, but rather on mistakes in his technique.
During a podcast appearance, Thomas said the following:
“The problems he was having in the Super Bowl have nothing to do with arm length; it was the timing of his kick set and the timing of his feet as it relates to the player he was trying to block, it was off. I think part of that was because of the injury he sustained during the year, but it is totally a ghost that people chase about arm length, when really the problem is elsewhere like it was with Will Campbell. It’s a timing, it’s a footwork, it’s a technique thing that can be easily corrected.”
“The problems he was having in the Super Bowl had NOTHING to do with arm length…”@JoeThomas73 breaks down what happened with Patriots LT Will Campbell in Super Bowl LX: pic.twitter.com/zxzaPMzEzt
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) March 23, 2026
In PFSN’s NFL Player Offensive Line Impact Metric (OLi), Campbell ranked as the 102nd-best lineman in the league with an impact score of 75.1 and a letter grade of C.
Despite the initial alarms about Campbell’s measurables, Patriots fans can relax knowing that it’s just a technique issue, which is good to hear from a Hall of Fame lineman like Thomas.
