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Why the 49ers Could be Targeting LSU OT Will Campbell in Round 1

If Campbell falls to the 49ers, expect them to run to the podium and pick him.

Grant Cohn

Sep 30, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; LSU Tigers offensive linemen Will Campbell (66) lines up before the snap during the second half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Sep 30, 2023; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; LSU Tigers offensive linemen Will Campbell (66) lines up before the snap during the second half against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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The 49ers have to draft an offensive tackle this year.

Jaylon Moore, their swing tackle, just signed with the Chiefs. Colton McKivitz, their right tackle, is subpar and will be a free agent in 2026. And Trent Williams, their left tackle, missed seven games last season and will turn 37 in July.

The 49ers could wait until Round 5 to draft an offensive tackle considering that's where they got Moore and McKivitz. But if they want a really good offensive tackle, one who could replace Williams at left tackle when he gets injured or retires, they almost certainly have to take that player with the 11th pick in Round 1.

And that player could be LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell.

Will Campbell is an elite prospect with outstanding film and terrific speed and quickness. Until the NFL Draft Combine, he was considered a top-five pick. But then we learned has 32 5/8-inch arms, which are short for offensive tackles. Suddenly, he could fall to the 49ers, and they absolutely could take him.

Other teams might be turned off by Campbell's short arms, but I doubt the 49ers will be. The run blocks in the outside-zone scheme require foot quickness far more than arm length.

Just look at the Rams. They run a similar scheme as the 49ers, and their left tackle, Alaric Jackson, who just got a three-year, $57 million extension, has 32 1/2-inch arms. And he's terrific.

If Campbell falls to the 49ers, expect them to run to the podium and pick him.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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