It’s finally the time of the year that fans, analysts, and prospective NFL Draft prospects all dread.
With a month before April’s selection, teams like the New York Jets have begun their start in making final preparations to find the next collection of stars for their team. Along the way, their scouting process takes some interesting turns.
Concerns over height, weight, arm span, and how they answered questions regarding things that didn’t relate to football all end up diluting and complicating the whole draft process.
That is precisely what has happened with one of the top incoming prospects in the current class, although those concerns may be somewhat diminished after Wednesday.
Top NFL Draft Prospect Tests Well At Pro Day
Depending on the scout, site, or analyst, LSU tackle Will Campbell is the best offensive line prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. While the group as a whole pales in comparison to the previous year’s group, Campbell is a three-year starter in the toughest conference in college.
A key concern surrounding him, though, was his small hands and short wingspan.
Tackles, as many scouts say, need strong hands and a long wingspan to deal with the every-changing array of moves and attributes modern day edge rushers have at their disposal. The fact that Campbell had his tests at the Scouting Combine so poor in both, it had mock drafts completely ignoring the All-American from the Jets perspective.
Turns out, the Combine may have been wrong.
Campbell’s arms lengthened out to 33 inches Wednesday at LSU’s Pro Day. It’s a jump from the Combine results and puts him closer to the length some teams look for in a tackle.
“For two years, nobody had any measurements on me and nobody said anything about my play,” Campbell told reporters. “So now, all of a sudden, an arm length decides if I’m a good player or not? I think it’s BS.
“But 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.”
Campbell’s words were strong, but fair at this time. Too many people look for the smallest reasons to drop an NFL Draft prospect who otherwise was highly successful in their career.
Should Jets Draft Campbell?
Campbell and Missouri’s Armand Membou remain the top tackles of the current draft class and would be no-brainer picks for the right tackle-needy Jets with the seventh overall pick.
Membou is younger than Campbell and is more of a natural right tackle. The LSU product, though, has plenty of tape on himself but would need some added help to transition over to the right side of the line.
The short answer of whether the Jets should take Campbell or not in the NFL Draft is short and sweet.
Yes.
Even with smaller than average arms, there are players who have starred at key positions despite not having the best god-given tools. That shouldn’t deter New York from a prospect like Campbell.
