FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye’s life on the football field just got a lot safer.
As has been the consensus for a while now, the Patriots did in fact take LSU tackle Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick in the NFL Draft on Thursday night. While offensive line isn’t always the sexiest pick, protecting Maye was priority No. 1 in the draft process.
Campbell is ready to put his life on the line for No. 10. Legitimately.
“Nasty,” Campbell said when asked to describe his playing style. “‘m going to go out there and give everything I have every single play to protect my teammates, protect my quarterback, and just put the Patriots in the best position possible to help win games on Sundays.
“I’m super excited. He’s a heck of a player, a heck of a leader, and he’s the commander of our offense. I’m not only excited to play with him, but the rest of the team. I’m excited for the future that we have in Foxborough, and I think we’ve got a special season coming.”
Mike Vrabel spoke moments after the pick and explained how and when Campbell solidified himself as the Pats’ pick as long as the board played out the way it ultimately did.
“I think probably last week when Eliot and I, and Ryan [Cowden] and a few others, went down and spent time with him and worked him out, and then went and worked out a few more players the same day,” he explained. “We made a circuit, and I think when we came back and we slept on it and had the conversations about where it would be if he was on the board, I think probably then.
“I’ll just tell you this. When we went down there to work him out, he showed up with one purpose, and that was for us to pick him. From the time that we walked in the building to the time that we left and got on the plane, he had one objective, and that was to prove to us that he was the right player for us. I’ll say that, and I can speak for everybody else that was there.”
Campbell has known he wanted to be a Patriot since the middle of his final season with the Tigers.
“This is where I’ve wanted to be since the start. Eliot Wolf came to my practice probably about Week 5 of the season, and I told him this is where I wanted to be,” he added. “We’ve had great connections throughout this entire process. I told him and our area scout, Alex Brooks, that I wanted to be a Patriot, and that happened in the middle of the season. I’ve had great interactions with everybody throughout the process. A lot of them, private workouts, 30 visits, just being up there, getting to meet everybody.
“It’s just where I wanted to be, and I’m just super excited to get there.”