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Maryland's Bruce Campbell an enigmatic prospect for Green Bay Packers
By Pete Dougherty • [email protected] • April 15, 2010
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...3/1058/Tackles-Campbell-an-enigmatic-prospect
There’s a player or two like Bruce Campbell in every NFL draft, a high draft pick whose performance in college didn’t nearly measure up to his elite athletic talent.
Every year, teams in the first round have to decide whether the player is worth the first-round risk. Will he become a strong performer and starter for eight to 10 years? Or is he missing some key quality that won’t change when he gets to the NFL and will consign him to mediocrity at best, or a bust at worst, wasting several million dollars of the team’s precious money?
That’s a question the Green Bay Packers have had to explore thoroughly with Campbell this offseason, because though there’s a chance the Maryland product will be a top 15 pick by a team enthralled with his talent, the odds are at least as good he’ll be available when the Packers select at No. 23 overall. He also plays a position, left tackle, that is a critical need for a Packers team that would have the additional luxury of developing him for a year as a backup before needing him to play.
So what’s the best read on Campbell? Are the odds of him panning out good enough for General Manager Ted Thompson to select him at No. 23? Perhaps one scout most accurately expressed the league-wide ambivalence toward Campbell when he first said he’d seriously consider taking him in the mid-to-late first round if he could use him as a backup for a season, but then backtracked when pressed.
“I think so, because I don’t think he’s a dumb guy, I don’t think he’s a bad guy,” the scout said. “He’s a guy that needs reps. They all need reps, but he may not get it as quickly, so if you’re going to put him in there, you’re going to put him in next to a smart left guard who can feed him along the way.”
But do you think there’s a decent chance he’ll bust?
“That worries the (crap) out of me,” he said.
There’s no denying that Campbell is an impressive athlete. At 6-foot-6 3/8 and 314 pounds, he has prototypical size along with the exceptional arm length teams covet in left tackles — at 36¼ inches, he had the longest arms at this year’s NFL scouting combine.
Among tackles at the combine, Campbell also ran the best 40-yard dash (4.75 seconds), did the second-most bench-press reps at 225 pounds (34) and had the fourth-best vertical jump (32 inches).
“You go to the combine and man, he passes the look test like he’s chiseled from granite,” one scout said. “He’s got a little attitude to him, a little swagger and whatnot. And then you plug in the tape and you keep wondering if you’re watching the right guy. I pulled up a roster to make sure I was looking at the right person. Sure enough, the numbers match up, that’s him, but it’s not the same guy.
“His combine is going to make him a lot of money, but at the end of the day, you have to plug in the tape and see what he does when he’s wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. Man, he breaks your heart.”
The Packers re-signed Chad Clifton to get them through another season at left tackle, but it’s a near given they’re going to draft his successor this year, and teams usually spend a high draft pick on that critical position. It appears at least four left tackles will be off the board by the Packers’ selection at No. 23: Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung and Oklahoma’s Trent Williams, who are likely top 10 picks; Iowa’s Bryan Bulaga; and Rutgers’ Anthony Davis.
Campbell figures to go next. Thompson’s history suggests he’s not inclined to take that kind of risk with his first-round pick if Campbell is available, but if Thompson doesn’t, some team probably will before the end of the round.
“Some of that will have to do with his coaching (in the NFL), if you have a really strong O-line coach who’s firm in his discipline, then Bruce has a chance for success,” another scout said. “I’d prefer to take him in the (second) round. I don’t know he’d be there. You’d like to wait it out a little bit.”
By Pete Dougherty • [email protected] • April 15, 2010
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...3/1058/Tackles-Campbell-an-enigmatic-prospect
There’s a player or two like Bruce Campbell in every NFL draft, a high draft pick whose performance in college didn’t nearly measure up to his elite athletic talent.
Every year, teams in the first round have to decide whether the player is worth the first-round risk. Will he become a strong performer and starter for eight to 10 years? Or is he missing some key quality that won’t change when he gets to the NFL and will consign him to mediocrity at best, or a bust at worst, wasting several million dollars of the team’s precious money?
That’s a question the Green Bay Packers have had to explore thoroughly with Campbell this offseason, because though there’s a chance the Maryland product will be a top 15 pick by a team enthralled with his talent, the odds are at least as good he’ll be available when the Packers select at No. 23 overall. He also plays a position, left tackle, that is a critical need for a Packers team that would have the additional luxury of developing him for a year as a backup before needing him to play.
So what’s the best read on Campbell? Are the odds of him panning out good enough for General Manager Ted Thompson to select him at No. 23? Perhaps one scout most accurately expressed the league-wide ambivalence toward Campbell when he first said he’d seriously consider taking him in the mid-to-late first round if he could use him as a backup for a season, but then backtracked when pressed.
“I think so, because I don’t think he’s a dumb guy, I don’t think he’s a bad guy,” the scout said. “He’s a guy that needs reps. They all need reps, but he may not get it as quickly, so if you’re going to put him in there, you’re going to put him in next to a smart left guard who can feed him along the way.”
But do you think there’s a decent chance he’ll bust?
“That worries the (crap) out of me,” he said.
There’s no denying that Campbell is an impressive athlete. At 6-foot-6 3/8 and 314 pounds, he has prototypical size along with the exceptional arm length teams covet in left tackles — at 36¼ inches, he had the longest arms at this year’s NFL scouting combine.
Among tackles at the combine, Campbell also ran the best 40-yard dash (4.75 seconds), did the second-most bench-press reps at 225 pounds (34) and had the fourth-best vertical jump (32 inches).
“You go to the combine and man, he passes the look test like he’s chiseled from granite,” one scout said. “He’s got a little attitude to him, a little swagger and whatnot. And then you plug in the tape and you keep wondering if you’re watching the right guy. I pulled up a roster to make sure I was looking at the right person. Sure enough, the numbers match up, that’s him, but it’s not the same guy.
“His combine is going to make him a lot of money, but at the end of the day, you have to plug in the tape and see what he does when he’s wearing a helmet and shoulder pads. Man, he breaks your heart.”
The Packers re-signed Chad Clifton to get them through another season at left tackle, but it’s a near given they’re going to draft his successor this year, and teams usually spend a high draft pick on that critical position. It appears at least four left tackles will be off the board by the Packers’ selection at No. 23: Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung and Oklahoma’s Trent Williams, who are likely top 10 picks; Iowa’s Bryan Bulaga; and Rutgers’ Anthony Davis.
Campbell figures to go next. Thompson’s history suggests he’s not inclined to take that kind of risk with his first-round pick if Campbell is available, but if Thompson doesn’t, some team probably will before the end of the round.
“Some of that will have to do with his coaching (in the NFL), if you have a really strong O-line coach who’s firm in his discipline, then Bruce has a chance for success,” another scout said. “I’d prefer to take him in the (second) round. I don’t know he’d be there. You’d like to wait it out a little bit.”
DAL @ GB
