New Patriots Assistant Reveals Tie To Top NFL Draft Prospects
Doug Marrone had a brief stop as the offensive line coach with Alabama in 2021.
But that time spent with the college football juggernaut is serving him now that he’s in his first season as the New England Patriots offensive line coach.
While working under legendary head coach Nick Saban, Marrone was tasked with helping recruit some of the top high school offensive linemen in the country. Those same players, which included Will Campbell, Kelvin Banks and Josh Connerly Jr. among others, are now regarded as top prospects in the upcoming NFL draft.
So Marrone already has information on them — and even some of their phone numbers from his recruiting days — heading into the draft with the Patriots in desperate need to fill their gaping hole at left tackle.
“What’s funny and probably no one knows is that after Jacksonville, I went to Alabama for a year. What’s interesting is during that recruitment process, Will Campbell was a person we recruited,” Marrone told reporters Thursday from Gillette Stadium, per MassLive’s Mark Daniels. “Banks was a person that we recruited. Josh Connerly, Emery Jones, Tyler Booker — so for me, it’s been interesting that we recruited them, watched them since they were in high school and see how much they’ve progressed. They were the top players in high school when I watched them play and now they’re the top players playing now. That’s pretty cool.”
The Patriots have been linked to Campbell with the No. 4 overall pick really ever since their season ended. Campbell perhaps, is the most polarizing player in the draft class due to his arm length.
Campbell’s arms measured under the 33-inch benchmark for top left tackles at the NFL Scouting Combine — they came in at 32 5/8 inches. Strangely enough, Campbell’s arms were measured to be 33 inches at his pro day.
Seemingly everyone has an opinion on whether the LSU product can be successful at the tackle spot in the NFL or have to move inside. Mike Vrabel said this week he views Campbell as a tackle than as a guard.
Marrone weighed in on the debate surrounding Campbell and gave his outlook on the tackle prospect.
“For a long time having done it, you create these measurements or parameters, look at them and say, ‘Hey, listen, these are what we have. These are kind of standard. These are things you have to look at,'” Marrone said. “I always look at it as — do you play that way or do you play longer? Do you play to the max of what you have, or do you play under what you have? I’ve had guys in the past that have played for me that have 33,34 (inches) and haven’t played like that.
“I’ve had some guys that have had some shorter arms and have played like they had longer arms. I just think it’s something you bring up and want to make sure it’s something you evaluate and see if it effects the player in a positive way or negative way.”
Regardless of arm length, it looks like Campbell has a fan in Marrone.
“That dude, he’s obviously been productive,” Marrone said. “I haven’t noticed it’s an issue for him at the level that he’s at right now.”