So many great athletes have been motivated by doubters, whether they’re real, imagined or entirely conjured up for the purposes of inspiration.
If doubt stokes Will Campbell’s fire, the Patriots’ first-round pick won’t have to do any imagining. He’s got lots of doubters.
Experts who say his arms are too short, experts who say he’ll eventually play guard.
Mike Vrabel, who said the Patriots would have listened if they’d gotten an offer to trade down, fielded multiple questions about all of those Campbell concerns on Thursday.
“He hasn’t even shown up here in Foxborough, and we’re not going to talk about where he’s going to play or what he’s going to do,” Vrabel said. “I’m going to let everything really speak for itself, and let his play, what he does in the community and most importantly on the field, before we start talking about that. I just think that’s not fair. I’ve never thought about that one time. We’ve watched every game that he’s played, put a lot of work into this, and we’re all excited and happy that he’s here.”
That’s the right attitude for the coach to take publicly. But Vrabel, Campbell and the Patriots’ embattled scouting staff gambled and should be optimistically keeping their receipts. A year from now, somebody will be saying, “Told you so.” They better hope it’s them.
By then, the NFL will have a good indication of whether Campbell was:
- worthy of being selected as a tackle at No. 4 overall.
- good enough to stay at tackle long term
- moved inside to guard.
Moving a tackle to guard isn’t a disaster for a second or third-round pick. But at No. 4, Campbell is either a good left tackle or a bad pick.
Campbell’s arm length will either be a punch line about the futility of overanalysis or a cautionary tale about not ignoring the measurements.
Either way, he’ll be under the microscope all season. Maybe that won’t faze him. Perhaps Campbell is wise enough to ignore snarky columnists and avoid talk radio so he can just focus on winning and competing.
“I’m just excited to get any opportunity that presents itself to help the team in any way that I can, wherever that might be,” he said at the end of his whirlwind day on Thursday. “I’m just excited to be a Patriot.”
Excitement is a good start. But his honeymoon will be short. The Patriots need him to be good. Last year was a weekly reminder of how tough life is with an incompetent line. For quarterback Drake Maye to take the step New England needs him to take, the offensive line has to be better and Campbell has to be a giant piece of that.
Keep Tatum on the bench
Jayson Tatum better not play in Game 3.
In fact, unless the Magic somehow get to two wins in this series, there’s no need to play him at all.
Joe Mazzulla values toughness, sometimes to the point of lunacy. After the fall that gave Tatum the bone bruise that has him on the shelf, Mazzulla was yelling at him to “Get up.”
Tatum might be tough enough to get up and get back out there sooner. He might be willing to play through pain, but in this series, that would be misplaced bravado.
The Celtics will need their superstar against New York, Detroit, Cleveland or Indiana. Risking him against the Magic would be idiotic.
Orlando isn’t good enough to beat the Celtics. But they’ve proven plenty willing to cross the line of legal physicality. They might not target Tatum’s wrist if he returns, but they’re not certainly not go easy on it either.
It’s fine to say they’re approaching all of this one game at a time, but in reality, they need to see the big picture and keep Tatum on the bench.
Real Jeopardy! Clue
Sports clues from actual editions of America’s favorite quiz show. As always, mind the date:
CATEGORY: No. 1 in the NFL Draft $1000: – July. 10, 2012 (name the team selecting the player)
1974: Ed “Too Tall” Jones
— Answer below
Shedeur Sanders is going to be a steal
There are going to be quite a few teams who regret passing on Shedeur Sanders.
I think Sanders is a classic example of teams overanalyzing quarterbacks in the months between their last college game and the draft. He’s been extremely accurate. A smart coach will build a system around him that makes the most of that.
Unless he goes to the Browns of course.
The Top 5
Top 5 Players Selected No. 4 overall in the NFL Draft
5 – Jonathan Ogden
4 – Joe Greene
3 – Dan Hampton
2 – John Hannah
1 – Walter Payton
Today in Boston Sports History
April 25
Seventy-five years ago, the Celtics selected Duquesne’s Chuck Cooper, making him the first Black player ever picked in the NBA Draft.
Fifteen years later, the Celtics drubbed the Lakers, 129-96 in Game 5 to win the 1965 NBA Championship, their seventh consecutive title.
Real Jeopardy! Question:
Who are the Dallas Cowboys
Headline Crystal Ball:
Monday:
The Celtics certainly appear to be headed for a sweep in Florida.Fake Headlines Inc
A sweep is coming.
Finally…
If you need me, I’ll be watching the Stars vs. Avalanche. The winner of that first-round series will win the Stanley Cup.
