New England Patriots
Terron Armstead said Campbell’s technique could use some work and volunteered to help him.
Will Campbell had a rough outing during the Super Bowl. He gave up a bunch of pressures, and the offensive line as a whole was not very effective in terms of opening up the run game or protecting Drake Maye.
Campbell admitted that it wasn’t his best game. He was emotional after the game, and later apologized for not speaking to the media.
His performance has sparked a lot of online commentary from retired offensive linemen. Some say Campbell’s physical limitations, such as his short arms, held him back. Others, such as former Patriots center David Andrews, said that he had issues with his technique.
According to a report from NFL Media’s Cameron Wolfe, one retired Pro Bowl offensive lineman has offered to help Campbell during the offseason.
“Terron Armstead, who was Pro Bowl left tackle for many, many years, gave me this review. It has nothing to do with his arm length,” Wolfe said. “It was his set, he’s having issues with power, his timing with the punches. He actually volunteered to have Will Campbell work out with him in Dallas this summer.”
“He believes the issues are fixable as far as those particular power issues. He said a lot of times he’s walking backwards and not necessarily set as the defensive lineman comes about him. He thinks that’s just time that you need rep wise and he can certainly still be a good tackle in this league.”
Armstead was a third-round pick out of an historically black college, Arkansas Pine Bluff, in 2013. He played a decade in the NFL with the Dolphins and Saints, making five Pro Bowl appearances.
Another multi-time Pro Bowler, Andrew Whitworth, suggested that watching Armstead’s tape might be worth Campbell’s time during an episode of his podcast Fitz and Whit.
“I think Will Campbell needs to go watch Terron Armstead play football, and the reason is Terron Armstead was a guy who loved to use his left hand, he loved to get it in there, but he had great feet and was a crazy athlete. He would get aggressive and jump guys, because if you’re jumping you can do that a lot more, not when you’re backing up.”
“Will plays a little bit like me, and a little bit like Lane Johnson, but he doesn’t have that frame at all as far as how he tries to set. My point is that I would love to see him go get aggressive, learn how to jump guys and make it kind of a fight and go play an aggressive style at tackle. I think that would be a little better for him.”
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