Bear Digest

Bears mock draft target wages uphill battle against limitation

LSU tackle Will Campbell is the most popular pick according to numbers on mock drafts at No. 10 to the Bears and says he can compensate for shorter arms. But can he?

Gene Chamberlain

LSU's Will Campell works in line drills at the combine. His technique is near flawless but his arm length a concern.
LSU's Will Campell works in line drills at the combine. His technique is near flawless but his arm length a concern. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
In this story:

Go through and track the progress of mock drafts and without question the one player who has come up the most often to the Bears at No. 10 overall has been LSU tackle Will Campbell.

It started this way back at the end of last season and has continued consistently throughout. Within the last week NFL.com's Daniel Jeremiah and Chicago Tribune Bears beat columnist Brad Biggs joined the Will Campbell movement for the Bears in mock drafts even after they addressed offensive line needs in free agency. NFL Mock Draft Data Base has Campbell going to the Bears in 22% of 1,095 mock drafts tracked through the internet and that is the highest percentage for any player taken by Chicago at No. 10 overall.

General managers can't think about only this year as they're building a team. The Bears could lose the left side of their line in free agency after the 2025 season, and now ranking 20th with $35.5 million left for the 2026 salary cap after their recent free agency spending spree does not bode well for getting all of their own free agents signed. So, having another offensive lineman on hand with a year's experience in the league would be an ideal option for 2026.

Always the Arm Length

The big problem with LSU's Campbell is well documented and it's his arm length at 32-5/8 inches.

This was beaten to death at the combine when they did measurements, and the thought Campbell could move to guard like Northwestern's Peter Skoronski did  with the Tennessee Titans after going through similar combine scrutiny with arms 32-1/4 inches.

"A lot of teams that I talk to they see me as a tackle," Campbell said. "But you know I feel like, you know, I've told all the teams that I feel like I've put the stuff on tape to show that I can play tackle at a very high level. But, you know, I'm willing to do whatever I can to help the team win.

"And, you know, if you told me that I was going to star at right guard vs. left tackle, being a backup, you know, I'm going to tell you to put me at right guard."

Proof Required

It doesn't mean he has settled in to thinking he's a guard now.

"I think that I've shown everything that you need to on tape to show, like, I've said, I can play tackle at an elite level," Campbell said. "You can go through and look at my tape. There's not one play on there that when I get beat you say, 'Oh, that's because he has shorter arms.'

"Yeah, you know, obviously I don't have stereotypical offensive tackle arms but you know I'm aware of that and that's something I use every week to my game plan in preparation of how to attack different defenders."

Campbell's arms in the bottom 7% for tackles measured at the combine. If he came to the NFL at left tackle and played there, Campbell wouldn't have the shortest arms in the league but it would be close. Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson has arms 32-1/2 inches and just got a contract extension after Pro Football Focus graded him 18th best tackle in 2024.

Based on ESPN's depth charts for all teams, the only other starting left tackle with arms shorter than 33 inches is Colts left tackle Bernhard Raimann, whose arm length is 32-7/8 inches. He was graded the eighth best tackle.

It hasn't hurt either of those players.

There are only seven other starting left tackles listed with arms shorter than 34 inches and these were Jacksonville's Walker Little, Kansas City's Jaylon Moore, L.A. Charger Rashawn Slater, Detroit's Taylor Decker, Green Bay's Rasheed Walker, Atlanta's Jake Matthews and New Orleans' Taliese Fuaga.

Of course, Bears coach Ben Johnson is familiar with Decker's success at the position with shorter 33 3/4-inch arms and Slater was graded the second-best tackle in the league with arms measuring 33 inches.

Wingspan counts

It's a double-edged sword facing Campbell, however. He also has a shorter total wingspan than almost all NFL tackles. His wingspan was just 77.18 inches.

There is only one tackle among those with shorter arms who has a comparable wingspan and that the one is one very familiar to Johnson—Decker. His wingspan is almost exactly the same as Campbell's at 77.2 inches.

In fact, Johnson is familiar with another short-armed tackle. That is All-Pro Penei Sewell, the Lions right tackle, whose arms measured 33-1/4 inches. He also has a smaller wingspan but not small as Decker's or Campbell's, at 80-7/8 inches.

Johnson's familiarity with players who have shorter arms at the position is extensive but Bears GM Ryan Poles has had a preference for tackles with longer arms. He drafted Kiran Amegadjie for that position and his arms are over 36 inches long.

Amegadjie could still play there as he hasn't had proper training or a fair shot at the position yet following a 2024 offseason, training camp and preseason missed due to rehab from injury.

What Campbell claims about being able to play at an elite level with shorter arms is definitely possible, though uncommon. While Little, Walker, Moore and Fuaga are starters with shorter arms, none ranked higher than 25th on NFL.com's tackle chart last year.

The Bears need to be certain he can be that exception who plays at an elite level because the 10th spot in the draft is too high of a spot to waste, and because their future at either tackle or guard could depend on it.

Starting Left Tackle Arm Length

Per combine measurement

(Starters from ESPN depth charts)

Dawand Jones, Browns, 36-3/8 inches

Andrew Thomas, Giants, 36-1/8

Paris Johnson, Cardinals, 36-1/8

Ronnie Stanley, Ravens, 35-5/8

Jordan Mailata, Eagles, 35-1/2

Cam Robinson, Texans, 35-1/2

Braxton Jones, BEARS, 35-3/8

Verdarian Lowe, Patriots, 35-3/8

Dion Dawkins, Bills, 35

Orlando Brown, Bengals, 35

Broderick Jones, Steelers, 34-3/4

Charles Cross, Seahawks, 34-1/2

Dan Moore, Titans, 34-1/2

Trent Williams, 49ers, 34-1/4

Christian Darrisaw, Vikings, 34-1/4

Laremy Tunsil, Commanders, 34-1/4

Kolton Miller, Raiders, 34-1/8

Tyler Guyton, Cowboys, 34-1/8

Garett Bolles, Broncos, 34

Ikem Ekwonu, Panthers, 34

Tristan Wirfs, Buccaneers, 34

Terron Armstead, Dolphins, 34

Olu Fashanu, Jets, 34

Walker Little, Jaguars, 33-3/4

Taylor Decker, Lions, 33-3/4

Rasheed Walker, Packers, 33-5/8

Jaylon Moore, Chiefs, 33-3/8

Jake Matthews, Falcons, 33-3/8

Taliese Fuaga, Saints, 33-1/8

Rashawn Slater, Chargers, 33

Bernhard Raimann, Colts, 32-7/8

Alaric Jackson, Rams, 32-1/2

More Chicago Bears News

X: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.