The Chicago Bears clearly had a keen eye for a certain position group during the 2025 Scouting Combine, and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.
Last week, the Bears held formal or informal meetings with 11 different offensive line prospects, including multiple ones being pegged into the first-round of April’s draft.
The top name on that list was easily LSU’s Will Campbell, the expected first offensive lineman to come off the board.
Campbell was primarily a starter at left tackle, but many questioned his arm length (32 3/4) coming into the even wondering if the measurement would fit better as a guard. Placing his position at one or the other was a topic of debate surrounding his name, and definitely something that was brought up during his interview with the media.
Campbell answered all of those questions perfectly and stressed his ability to play at a high-level at either position at the next level.
“I think I’ve shown everything that I need to show that I can play tackle at an elite level,” Campbell said on Saturday. “You can go look at my tape, there’s not one play on there that when I get beat you say that’s because he has shorter arms… Obviously I don’t have stereotypical offensive tackle arms. I’m aware of that. People have to nitpick something. I’ve heard it all my career. When I was coming out of high school, the college coaches all said the same thing. I proved them wrong. It’s something I anticipate doing again.”
He’s got the right attitude about it, and as for his initial interview with the Bears, it seemed to go pretty good for him.
“It went well. Great staff, new coach and know what all he’s about,” Campbell said. “It was a great meeting.”
So great in fact, that the Bears are now expected to bring him into Halas Hall in the coming days as one of the team’s Top-30 visits, the second rumored one for Chicago.
As for the on-field drills at the Combine, Campbell continued to turn even more head posting numbers that led his position group during the week.
Here’s what our own A to Z Sports Ryan Roberts had to say about Campbell’s performance and how it helped in answering any athleticism concerns.
“The former LSU star was able to put together one of the more impressive athleticism showing for an offensive tackle over the last few years. At nearly 6-6 and 319 pounds, Campbell posted a tremendous time of 4.98 seconds in the forty-yard dash. He also had a 32-inch vertical jump and a 9’ 5” broad jump. Each of those tests were among the best of the offensive line group… With the workout, Campbell also managed to earn a place amongst an impressive group of past participants. He was one of only four players in Combine history to post a vertical jump over 30 inches, and run a sub 5-second forty-yard dash while being over 315 pounds.” – A to Z Sports’ Ryan Roberts
The interest from the Bears seems to be genuine and for good reason. No matter where you put this guy (LT or LG), he’s going to be an immediate difference-maker.
The Bears have long-term questions at both positions and if Campbell is still on the board by the time the Bears are on the clock, they shouldn’t hesitate to select him. I’d even go as far to say that if the Bears see Campbell slide out of the Top-5, the front office should consider moving up a few selections to make sure they land this guy.