Karen Guregian: Solving the Will Campbell conundrum top priority for Patriots

Karen Guregian’s football analysis is sponsored by Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, a Leading Boston Personal Injury Firm.

The Patriots have some important decisions to make in the wake of getting smashed by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 60.

Sitting at the top of the list? The Will Campbell conundrum.

The rookie left tackle, taken with the fourth overall pick in the 2025 draft, was serviceable during the regular season. He brought a measure of stability to a position that lacked it for many years.

Then he became a liability during the postseason.

His Super Bowl performance was especially troubling.

Per Next Gen Stats, he allowed 14 pressures against the Seahawks, which was the most by any offensive lineman in a game this season. Overall, throughout the playoffs, Campbell was tagged with a whopping 29 pressures.

So now what?

Do the Patriots stay the course and hope, with another year, Campbell develops more, irons out some of his technique issues and improves his game enough where he’s not getting torched by the better pass rushers in the league?

Or does Eliot Wolf & Co. dip back into the draft and or free agency in hopes of landing a better left tackle, while bumping Campbell over to left guard?

While he’s never played the position, there are some who believe the former LSU product is more suited to play inside, and given his traits, be elite at that position.

On the surface, the latter option might seem like a great solution, only there’s one significant factor weighing against it.

Great left tackles aren’t a dime a dozen. Finding a top player at that position is the proverbial needle in the haystack proposition.

Moving Campbell doesn’t assure the Patriots of having better blindside protection. It just creates more of a gaping hole. So it’s not the simplest fix unless the Patriots can land a bona fide star left tackle.

Drake Maye, who was sacked six times and hit on 11 occasions during the Super Bowl loss, was running for his life during most of his drop-backs Sunday night. He can’t function in that setting. His talent is diminished amid a sea of opposing jerseys.

It was that way for much of the playoffs. Maye was sacked 21 times during the four postseason games. That set a new NFL record for a single playoff run.

Ahead of the draft, there was much ado about Campbell having short arms, which can hinder those playing the position.

Campbell, at times, overcompensates for his lesser-than-desired wingspan. On occasion, he has been caught leaning to the outside to protect from getting beaten around the edge by long-armed defensive ends. Doing that, however, leaves him more vulnerable to the inside.

Better technique should help. But to what degree? That’s what the Patriots have to decide. Because when Campbell is able to square up, he’s been more effective.

Perhaps it’s as simple as having him go through a more rigorous slate of offseason work aimed at shoring up his technique - something Dante Scarnecchia used to major in - and see what it looks like before flipping the first round pick over to guard.

The rookie lineman, who suffered an MCL injury in Week 12 before returning Week 17, wasn’t up for interviews following the game.

The issues, however, don’t stop with him. Campbell wasn’t the only member of the offensive line who had difficulties Sunday.

Rookie left guard Jared Wilson also struggled mightily against a talented Seattle front. Wilson, a center in college, seems destined to move over to that position at some point.

Beyond that, Morgan Moses is getting on in years. He has two years remaining on his existing contract. The Patriots need a replacement, or a decent backup at the very least at right tackle.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel wasn’t about to throw Campbell or his offensive line under the bus following a less-than-stellar performance in the Super Bowl.

“Nobody played good enough for us to win,” Vrabel said, before hitting his “sacks are a team number” soliloquy.

Ultimately, every member of the line was responsible for Maye going down. The Patriots were overmatched by the Seahawks four-man front.

“There were times where, throughout the season, that there were sacks, that it was on somebody got beat,” Vrabel said. “There was times where it was on the quarterback, and there was times where it was on the guys that we were throwing to. So I’m sure that one of those three things led to the six sacks that we had.”

The offensive line was a priority last season. And now, it’s crept back to the top of the list.

The Patriots need to figure out how to fix the left side, and that starts with Campbell.

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