The three most important positions in football, in order, are as follows: quarterback, edge rusher, and left tackle. The ideation behind that ranking is simple. The quarterback is the most important decision -maker in the sport, possibly any team sport, and everything revolves around him, threatening his effectiveness, and protecting him.
And as of 2025, the Patriots have officially retooled at least two out of those three positions for the future. Drake Maye finished his rookie year with enough flash to encourage New England's front office (66.6% CMP, 421 rushing yards, 15:10 TD:INT, Pro Bowl alternate), and the team put its money where its mouth was by taking LT Will Campbell with the 4th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft.
And then Week 1 happened. Or, more specifically, the fourth quarter of New England's season opener against the Raiders happened. To put it briefly, Campbell allowed a bad sack through, and committed a couple of important false start penalties in a game that was decided by a single score.
But before panicking, it is worthy and pertinent to note several things about Campbell's debut. First and foremost is that he's a rookie that took full ownership of his mistakes, including the fourth quarter sack that, turns out, wasn't entirely on him. Next is the fact that the Raiders, while not a notable team in their own right, feature two of the best edge rushers in football: Maxx Crosby and Malcolm Koonce. And finally, until time was starting to expire, Will Campbell held his own against the Raiders' line. His draft profile cited his strengths as a run blocker, and he left the game with the highest run blocking score among both teams. Hell, Crosby himself co-signed the guy.
So, no, Will Campbell is not, nor will he be a problem for the New England Patriots. But they do have their issues to sort out. These are two that come to mind before any conversation about Will Campbell should be started.
1. What to do about Rhamondre
It will now be the third season since Rhamondre Stevenson's 1000 yard sophomore campaign. And while his opportunities have gone up, virtually every meaningful counting stat has gone down for him.
New England recognized the problem by spending their 2025 second rounder on TreVeyon Henderson, who, despite his best efforts, is already knocking on the door labelled "Rhamondre Stevenson's job". Week 1 saw him double Stevenson's rush yards on two less attempts, and then catch all six of his targets. And despite being New England's $36 million man, Stevenson is finding himself on the outside looking in.
What do they do with this backfield? Henderson is good enough to hold a three down workload right now, but getting value for Stevenson, as much as he's underperformed since 2022, is going to be difficult.
2. Is Kyle Boutte for real?
The Patriots haven't had a true primary QB/WR connection since Tom Brady and Julian Edelman. And not coincidentally, they have also had one of the worst offenses in the NFL for two years running. Going into 2025, there was little faith that anything would be different, even with Stefon Diggs. In fact, most folks would have pointed out that New England's most exciting receiver for the year was going to be rookie Kyle Williams.
But neither was the case. Instead, it was third-year receiver Kayshon Boutte that seemed to have the strongest connection with Maye. And that was by a long shot, as Boutte's 103 total yards were more almost double all of New England's other receivers put together. And while Diggs attempted to talk a big leadership game following their Week 1 loss, all eyes will be on former sixth-rounder Boutte instead.
And if he can live up to the expectations he drew from his Week 1 performance, the Patriots will have found their duo of the future.