The New England Patriots might have found their left tackle of the future in the 2025 NFL Draft, selecting Will Campbell with the fourth overall pick. While the question of whether Campbell will fulfill that promise remains to be answered, they have someone who can take down Mike Vrabel.

Shortly after getting selected by the Patriots, Campbell shared how his recent workout with the team went – and what he did to the Patriots' head coach.

“It was amazing. [Vrabel] and some of the other staff came in, and we had a great workout, got some good work in,” the LSU offensive tackle told reporters of his workout with the Patriots. “They taught me some new stuff, and yeah, I mean, I got him. I'm not going to lie; I got him on the ground. I know we had a great lunch after, a bunch of great guys. I'm just super excited for this opportunity.”

Vrabel didn't talk about the workout when he met with reporters shortly after the Patriots drafted Campbell on Thursday, but ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Campbell hit Vrabel square in the chest and knocked him over. It turned out that the hit from Campbell was just him sending a message on how badly he wanted to join the Patriots.

“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. 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.”

What Mike Vrabel said of Patriots first-round pick Will Campbell

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, left, talks with Patriots owner Robert Kraft courtside during the second half of game two of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs between the Boston Celtics and the Orlando Magic at TD Garden.
Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
Related New England Patriots NewsArticle continues below
New England Patriots wide receiver Kyle Williams (18) runs with the ball during rookie camp at Gillette Stadium.
Pro Bowl snub impressed by Patriots rookie WR Kyle Williams
New England Patriots offensive tackle Will Campbell (66) speaks to the media after rookie camp at Gillette Stadium.
Patriots’ Will Campbell reveals shocking pregame ritual he’s been doing since high school
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye (10) walks to the field to warm up before the start of the game against the Buffalo Bills.
Patriots’ Drake Maye earns major praise from NFL insider on team’s new outlook

In recent days, it became evident that the Patriots would select Campbell with the fourth overall pick. The fact that they met with him on multiple occasions ahead of the draft was certainly a tell-tale sign that they were heavily interested in him, and Vrabel admitted that selecting Campbell wasn't a hard decision.

“I think that's certainly the easiest way to look at it,” Vrabel said when asked if the Patriots' selection of Campbell was them drafting the best player available and filling a need. “That's how the board fell, and that's how we anticipated it going for quite a while, and that's where we targeted. We had some conversations to make sure that we were prepared. Those situations that we talked about a few weeks ago prior to the draft that we went through on Monday, and this was a very, very easy pick for us.”

Campbell was widely regarded as the top offensive tackle in the 2025 NFL Draft, earning that honor as he was a consensus All-American this past season. There have been some concerns about his arm length, which has led to questions over whether he'll move to guard in the NFL. Vrabel doesn't believe that will be the case.

“He's a left tackle. That's what he's played, that's what he's done,” Vrabel said. “He'll come in here and he'll compete to be the left tackle just like everybody else is going to compete for their spots. That's what we're trying to create here, somewhere that there's competition at every position and that our players believe that the best players are going to play.”

Now, it's time for Campbell to prove that he's the Patriots' left tackle of the future.