Mel Kiper Jr. picks apart Will Campbell’s ability to become NFL left tackle

Once in contention as a potential Top 5 pick, Will Campbell‘s draft stock appeared to take a bit of a hit after his arm length was measured at 32 and 5/8 inches at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Some like ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. immediately took aim at that number, suggesting sub-33 inch arms could be a detriment to being a reliable left tackle in the NFL.

But even after Campbell’s arm length was remeasured at exactly 33 inches during LSU’s Pro Day last week, Kiper remains unmoved about the massive 6-foot-5, 320-pound LSU left tackle, believing a move inside to guard could be in his NFL future and thus no longer qualifying him as a Top 5 pick. It’s because of that belief that Kiper ripped into fellow ESPN draft analyst Field Yates‘ latest Top 50 player ranking list that had Campbell as the draft’s No. 5 overall player.

“I don’t think you can know for sure that Will Campbell is going to be an elite left tackle because he’s an outlier with that arm length that barely makes 33 (inches) if it really does,” Kiper said during Monday’s First Draft episode on YouTube. “I think at (picks) 9-10, I’m OK (with Campbell), and I guess we’re nitpicking a little bit, I just thought five was awful high.”

Despite Kiper’s nitpicking, Campbell remains a consensus Top 2-ranked offensive lineman in this year’s draft class alongside Missouri‘s Armand Membou, who thoroughly impressed scouts in Indianapolis and skyrocketing up draft boards ever since. Nevertheless, Kiper’s latest Big Board Top 25 ranking still lists Campbell as his No. 9 overall prospect, just behind the 6-foot-3, 330-pound Membou, who measured out with 33 1/2-inch arms at the Combine.

Mel Kiper Jr. calls ranking LSU’s Will Campbell at No. 5 overall ‘a little rich’

“Some of the (Top 5) guys are givens, like we know what we’re getting with Tyler Warren, we know what we’re getting with him. I think you look at an Armand Membou, you know what you’re getting now – a tackle,” Kiper continued. “When you look at a guy like Will Campbell, yes, he could be a left tackle, maybe he’ll be an elite left tackle, you never know because he had a heck of a career (at LSU), no question about it. But if you’re talking about projecting him inside, moving him to right tackle, fifth is a little high for me. It’s a little rich.

“If the arm length had been 33 and change, I would’ve said, ‘OK, I can live with that.’ But you have to have perimeters, … and you have to be disciplined enough in your approach to be able to say, ‘Hey, he just didn’t make the cut here,’ in terms of what those perimeters are, what that range is,” Kiper concluded. “And because of that, I think five for me is high, you obviously don’t, and we’ll see what happens. It’s going to be fun to see if Will Campbell can get the job done at that left tackle spot.”

Yates defended his Campbell projection by pointing out he does know what NFL teams are getting with the talented LSU tackle, who surrendered just two sacks over the last two seasons in Baton Rouge.

“I think I know who Will Campbell is,” Yates said. “Starting off as a true freshman left tackle at LSU, a school that has had no shortage of (elite) offensive linemen wind up in the NFL.”