Super Bowl Spotlight: Will Campbell’s Struggles Could Cast a Shadow Over Rueben Bain Jr.’s Draft Stock
The Super Bowl doesn’t just crown a champion - it often reshapes how the NFL thinks about building a roster. Every February, with over 100 million eyes locked in, teams across the league are watching more than just the scoreboard. They’re watching matchups, trends, and individual performances that could ripple into the offseason and beyond.
This year, one of those ripple effects might come from Patriots rookie left tackle Will Campbell - and it could land squarely in the lap of Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr.
Campbell, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, had a rough night in Super Bowl LX. Lined up against a relentless Seattle Seahawks front, he found himself overwhelmed in a 29-13 loss that saw New England quarterback Drake Maye under siege. Seattle racked up six sacks, and Campbell was responsible for a staggering 14 pressures - the highest single-game total by any player all season.
That kind of performance in the biggest game of the year doesn’t just get noticed - it gets dissected. And right now, scouts and front offices are revisiting the pre-draft concerns that followed Campbell into the league: namely, his arm length.
Campbell measured in at 32 5/8 inches at the NFL Combine and 33 inches at LSU’s pro day. That’s short by traditional standards for offensive tackles, where 34-inch arms have long been considered the gold standard. While plenty of tackles have succeeded without meeting that benchmark, the issue becomes more pronounced in matchups like the one Campbell just endured - where edge rushers get into your chest before you can strike, win the hand battle early, and collapse the pocket before you can recover.
And this is where Rueben Bain Jr. enters the conversation.
Bain was one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in college football in 2025, racking up 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. He’s explosive, productive, and projects as a high-end NFL talent.
But he comes with the same physical red flag: short arms. Bain’s arm length is expected to measure around 30 3/4 inches - well below the 10th percentile for NFL edge defenders.
That number was already on the radar for NFL evaluators. But now, with Campbell’s Super Bowl struggles fresh in everyone’s mind, it could become a louder talking point in draft rooms.
The concern isn’t about Bain’s motor or technique - those are strengths. It’s about whether his physical profile will limit his ability to win consistently on the edge at the next level. Some teams might start projecting him inside as a defensive tackle, where his build and leverage could be more advantageous against guards than tackles with elite reach.
To be clear, Campbell’s Super Bowl performance doesn’t define his career, and it shouldn’t define Bain’s draft future either. But in a league where small details can swing big decisions, the optics of a highly drafted tackle with short arms getting overwhelmed on the biggest stage might make teams think twice about similar profiles.
As the draft process unfolds, expect Bain’s tape to do most of the talking - and rightfully so. But don’t be surprised if the conversation keeps circling back to arm length, especially in the wake of what we just saw on Super Bowl Sunday.