Spring break for college students is usually for spending time with family or friends before returning to school for the second half of the spring semester.

However, for Will Campbell, his first spring break on campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was a time to get to work. The then-true freshman spent his vacation week preparing to win the starting left tackle job against a four-year starter on LSU's offensive line. While his friends were off campus, Campbell was watching film and doing drill work to hit the ground running when the Tigers returned to practice as a team.

The 19-year-old went on to win the starting left tackle job from an upperclassman, a job he never relinquished in his three seasons at LSU. Forgoing his spring break to focus on football is one of many stories that encapsulate the fourth-overall pick's competitive drive, along with inserting himself into a high school despite an injury and delivering a blow to Mike Vrabel's chest during a pre-draft workout that put the Patriots head coach on the ground.

"You guys have had some unbelievable players come through your franchise. I mean, Hall of Famers. This kid has the makings to be another one of those legendary guys," LSU offensive line coach Brad Davis told Patriots.com. "He is as conscientious of a human being as I've been around. He doesn't want to let people down, and he has a level of pride in his work that is unmatched.

"He spent countless hours in our weight room and with our nutritionist enhancing and evolving his body. As impressive as he is physically, when you talk about his work ethic, the things that you guys would not see, getting in the building at 5 am and starting to work on his body. On Sundays, after games, he would drive down to New Orleans and work with a physical therapist who would help him stretch and get himself realigned. This kid put in hours upon hours and invested his own money from NIL. Those are the things you guys would not see," Davis said.

After focusing inward to win the starting left tackle job for a big-time college football program, Campbell was instrumental in rebuilding an offensive line that had hit tough times. In 2019, the Tigers offensive line won the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football. However, LSU's trenches took a step back for a few years until Campbell arrived on campus.

The Patriots are in a similar position where their offensive line has struggled over the last two seasons. In 2024, New England ranked last in run-blocking win rate and 31st in pass-blocking win rate while having a glaring need at left tackle, which is why Campbell was a no-brainer selection in the first round to protect second-year QB Drake Maye's blindside. As he did in Baton Rouge, Campbell will now hopefully set the tone for the Patriots offensive line.

"He changed the culture the day he walked in the room," Davis said. "It was his commitment and devotion to his craft, but also pouring into his teammates as well. When you see this kid out there on the practice field, he's your best player, but he's practicing and pushing himself harder than anybody else around him. He re-established the standard in the room.

"Your O-Line culture, I'm excited to see where it goes. If you surround him with other individuals who aren't afraid of putting work in and breathe life into him, he's going to be an All-Pro for a long time," Davis said.

Although the intangible qualities that Campbell brings to the football team are outstanding, he still needs to pull his weight as the Patriots projected starting left tackle. From a playing style perspective, the LSU product has the athleticism and finishing ability to be a high-end starter in the NFL. That said, pundits poke holes in Campbell's scouting profile by pointing to his lack of ideal arm length, with the 21-year-old measuring in with 32 ⅝-33 inch arms. To those detractors, Davis had a very matter-of-fact response.

"Will Anderson, Jared Verse, Dallas Turner, Dylan Stewart, Walter Nolan, Jalen Carter, Princely Umanmielen, Jared Ivy, Shamar Stewart," Davis said, listing the top defenders that Campbell has faced in his time at LSU. "He's played perhaps 15 first or second-round defensive ends. He's played the best players in America every Saturday, and he dominated.

"I understand the value of metrics and historical data. Those things matter, but you can't overlook or discount the amount of toughness and grit that this kid has to overcome what other people may consider a shortcoming. Any challenge that somebody places on this kid, he's gonna work his ass off to absolutely destroy it. There's nothing this kid can't do."

Pro Outlook with Duke Manyweather (Founder and CEO of OL Masterminds)

As his offensive line coach for the last three seasons, one would expect Davis to be highly complimentary of Campbell given the success the Patriots first-rounder had at LSU.

To project forward, Patriots.com also spoke to the Founder and CEO of OL Masterminds, Duke Manyweather. Manyweather is a leading offensive line expert with over a decade of experience training NFL athletes, including over 40 veterans several of whom have been named All-Pro and Pro Bowlers. OL Masterminds was created to solve a problem: a lack of "continuity with development in the offseason for offensive linemen." During the offseason, OL Masterminds hosts a summit where offensive linemen congregate to meet and exchange tricks of the trade.

While understanding that playing along the offensive line is a technique-based position with limited in-season practice reps, Manyweather wanted to give offensive linemen expert training in the offseason so they could continue working on their craft, much like a private coach does for quarterbacks. Last offseason, Campbell began working with Manyweather to improve his game for his final collegiate season and has continued to train at OL Masterminds this offseason.

"When the season was over, [Campbell] got to work almost immediately. We started in early December and really identified some things that we want to work on," Manyweather said. "[Campbell is] very coachable. He is a guy who shows up every single day ready to work."

Starting with pass protection, Manyweather explained that Campbell excels due to his explosive movement skills and excellent hand usage. Although he might have shorter arms, Manyweather believes Campbell makes up for his arm length by using his hands and recovery talent.

"Just how explosive his set is, and the amount of range he plays with. There was a lot of talk about the arm length, but when he's so effective and almost surgical with his hands with the way he latches on the guys—the independent hand usage, and sometimes the double hand usage. When you get a guy that good with his hands, sometimes it mitigates having a lack of length," Manyweather stated. "I've seen a lot of guys that rely too much on their length. It gets them in trouble because they don't know how to use their hands. Will knows how to use his hands really well."

As a run blocker, Manyweather broke down several areas that stand out while evaluating Campbell's tape. Campbell, who registered a combine-best among tackles 9.91 relative athletic score at the NFL Scouting Combine, uses his elite athleticism and great play strength to be a high-impact run blocker.

"In the run game, he's able to do a lot of different things. He's able to physically come off the ball and close space on defenders, which gets them displaced. He's able to reach on the front side of any type of zone plays and really press defenders up the field. He has the agility and then also body control to cut off the backside, while also showing the athleticism and the tracking skills to climb up to the second level," said Manyweather. "Technique and consistency. That's really the model of his game that allowed him to be the fourth overall pick."

Although he believes in Campbell's talent, Manyweather pointed to one area of the first-round pick's game that they're working to improve. In pass protection, Campbell tends to drift or overset to the outside, allowing pass-rushers to beat the Pats rookie with inside moves to pressure the quarterback. Manyweather identified that area of improvement early on in his work with Campbell, and believes it can be corrected.

"When you see guys start to drift, they're trying to adjust to the rusher. I tell guys don't necessarily try to adjust to the rusher. Take your set, stay square as long as possible, and then you want to get him to move off his rush path, so start to expand him," Manyweather said. "As soon as you expand the set point and get him to even take one step off his rush path, you've done your job. That was the biggest area I wanted to work with Will on."

The follow-up to Manyweather's assertion is does Campbell drift outside in his pass set to compensate for his arm length? Some believe that Campbell is drifting out to rushers because he doesn't have the long reach to stay square, but Manyweather doesn't believe that's the case.

"Nah, nah, nah," Manyweather responded when asked if Campbell's drifting is related to his arm length. "It's just adjusting your relationship to understand when you need to widen a rusher. I've got All-Pro guys that come in that I'm still continuing to work on with them. It's just getting that timing of what we call readjusting your positional leverage against a defender."

Moving forward, Campbell will be working with the Patriots coaching staff beginning with rookie minicamp (May 9-11) through mandatory minicamp (June 9-11). Then, the plan is for Campbell to continue working on his craft with Manyweather in his time off between the offseason workout program and the start of Patriots training camp in July. Manyweather has also worked with Patriots third-rounder Jared Wilson this offseason.

"Both these guys are just really consistent players and tireless workers that I think are going to have a tremendous upside in New England," Manyweather said.

Between the two early draft selections and free-agent additions, New England has significantly upgraded the talent level of the offensive line this offseason. After where it ranked statistically last season, it was an obvious need that the Patriots addressed with two top-100 draft picks and notable veteran signings in OT Morgan Moses and C Garrett Bradbury.

Along with being an upgrade at left tackle on the field, Campbell projects as a potential future team captain, given his high football character. Head coach Mike Vrabel emphasized targeting players who will rebuild a winning culture in Foxboro. With Campbell, the Patriots are getting the complete package of high-end ability and excellent leadership.

DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer