When the New England Patriots drafted LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft, he won the team’s fans over pretty quickly.
“I’m super excited,” Campbell said. “He’s a heck of a player. A heck of a leader. He’s the commander of our offense, so I’m not only excited to play with him but the rest of the team. I’m excited for the future we have in Foxborough and I think we’ve got a special season coming.
“I’m gonna fight and die to protect (Maye) with everything I’ve got.”
Campbell’s comments even instantly fired Maye up.
“I listened to it live,” Maye said. “It gets you going, gets your juices going. I think it makes you want to go out there and play football now. Pumped that we picked Will. We got a chance to meet him when he flew in on Friday. Pumped to get things going. Obviously, he seems like a football player. That’s what you want around here.”
But fast forward 10 months, and Campbell just may be the most unpopular player among Patriots fans.
Will Campbell Roasted Over Super Bowl Struggles
GettyNew England Patriots OT Will Campbell and QB Drake Maye
Campbell had a decent rookie season, though he had his share of issues — 997 offensive snaps played, 38 pressures allowed, 23 hurries allowed, 9 sacks surrendered, 6 QB hits allowed.
And those struggles continued during Sunday’s Super Bowl matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, which prompted Patriots fans to vent their frustrations with the 22-year-old tackle on social media.
“Is there no replacement for Will Campbell? If Maye wasn’t getting sacked all the time, they’d be making moves on offense,” asked one fan.
“Will Campbell gets brutally frame mogged by every Seattle pass rusher,” another fan noted.
“Why they say Will Campbell might grab him a shift at Amazon tmrw 😭😭😭,” a third fan joked.
“Somebody tell Will Campbell he doesn’t actually have to die in order to protect Drake Maye,” one user mused.
“The whole world can see Will Campbell is a massive liability unfortunately… They’ll just keep going at him… it’s so painful to watch..” another user remarked.
“Will Campbell had been getting beat like a rented mule all playoffs. He ain’t the answer at LT,” proclaimed one fan.
“Move Will Campbell to guard,” pleaded another.
Campbell’s Dreadful Super Bowl Performance
Though New England’s defense kept the game close through the first two quarters — Seattle’s halftime lead was just 9-0 — the offense looked beyond lost.
Maye completed 6 of 13 passes for 48 yards, he was sacked 3 times, and he had a meager 55.9 passer rating. Maye and running backs Rhamondre Stevenson, and TreVeyon Henderson also combined for just 40 yards rushing on 12 carries.
With the 3 first-half sacks, Maye has taken 18 sacks during the playoffs — the second-most of any postseason in NFL history. Campbell is responsible for 4 of them.
In the first half, Campbell allowed a sack and a pressure on 28 offensive snaps. He struggled to contain Seattle’s pass-rush, and he was being bullied into the backfield more often than not — and if things don’t change, head coach Mike Vrabel may be forced to switch things up to protect his QB.
Patriots OT Will Campbell Roasted Over Dreadful Super Bowl Performance