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By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
As I have after every season of full coverage before, LSUOdyssey presents our Top 10 LSU Tigers of 2024 countdown for your Christmas enjoyment.
OUR PAST TOP 10s HERE
TOP 10 OF 2024
8. WILL CAMPBELL
866 SNAPS
16 QB PRESSURES
9 PENALTIES
4 QB HITS ALLOWED
2 SACKS ALLOWED
98.3 PASS BLOCKING EFFICIENCY
In his most trying campaign as a Tiger, All-American left tackle Will Campbell battled against adversity he'd never faced during his 2 previous years at LSU:
Not only guiding an inexperienced young offensive line interior following a key injury to veteran starting left guard Garrett Dellinger, the highly decorated Will Campbell actually made a few rare errors of his own due to the lineup shuffling & lack of an upfront push:
Allowing his first sack since his freshman year.....2 in total this past fall, including a rare sack given up in what would be his final outing as a Tiger (vs Oklahoma), Campbell was shockingly out-maneuvered for just the second time in his career when he allowed a free hit on QB Garrett Nussmeier. More astonishing to LSU media & fans would be the (mostly pre-snap) flags charged Will's way throughout a tooth-pulling tough but ultimately successful junior year....a whopping 9 penalties.
Regardless of the high numbers in flags and sacks allowed (concerning Campbell's stunning standards), LSU's #7 O-line captain still delivered the goods on and off the field, holding up like a "final level boss" against the SEC's best pass rushers.
Proving to be a brick wall for the majority of 2024, Campbell's brilliant pass blocking skills were put to the test against South Carolina, Ole Miss, and A&M, all intense games against premier pass rushers.
Campbell responded to the challenge by holding all three opponents' NFL-grade pass rushing prospects to a combined 0 sacks and 1 QB hit.....across 12 quarters of action where LSU couldn't run the football & experienced a nightmarish offensive stretch, Big Will remained a 2024 squad cornerstone.
After a lot of film study regarding where Campbell's season dipped in form, concerning excessive penalties or the fact he recorded 1 pressure shy of his career high in pressures allowed (16, only starting right guard Miles Frazier allowed fewer), plus the pair of sacks against his QB, close friend Garrett Nussmeier, an obvious fact hit me like a ton of bricks:
On a couple of these pre-snap penalties, Will was surely at fault, however for the majority of his 9 total flags, Will was flagged while checking with confused, inexperienced offensive linemen; Also, one of his 2 sacks was clearly initiated by Campbell taking a step too far inside to assist overpowered red shirt freshman guard Paul Mubenga.
While LSU failed to maintain any form of consistent running game (outside of Caden Durham's historic, renegade contributions & a late season spree by super senior Josh Williams), the superstar left tackle's preseason vows about LSU possessing a physically dominant offensive line went right out the window....his willing, intensified leadership becoming twisted by a "knives out" media turning against a young man growing up on the biggest stage.
But Will was playing for a much higher purpose in 2024 than merely aiming for a title or improving NFL Draft stock....
Will was playing for Tarver.....the cousin he'd lost to a tragic hunting fire only months earlier that offseason.
Driven beyond measure to grow, give something back, and play his ultimate season in Tarver's honor, the football-first mania that once held sway over the future 1st round pick began to mature, with Will starting a foundation in Tarver's name before publicly showcasing his cerebral brand of leadership & stone cold confidence as a media spokesman.
Little did he realize, Campbell would need those lessons learned from Tarver to fall back on over the course of what turned into a tumultuous season.
Behind closed doors at LSU, Campbell's fiery, example-laden leadership kept an injury ravaged, inexperienced, much criticized, underperforming offensive line together during their most embattled stretch of LSU's hot or cold 2024 season; Building upon his #1 nationally recognized left tackle pedigree, the Tigers' three year starter pulled double duty, dragging a red shirt freshman guard and a red shirt freshman center along for the bumpy ride, elevating the young pair in the process.
Despite any minor flaws the inhuman perfectionist displayed for the first time in his 3 year LSU career, Campbell is the greatest left tackle to ever wear purple and gold, which is why he's placed high on our Top 10 lists for 2022 & 2023. Now in 2024, he's made the Top 10 yet again for obvious reasons:
While 2024 may arguably stand as his roughest season film and stat-wise, 99.9% of left tackles would join a nude Jim McElwain in a jacuzzi just to get their hands on Campbell's 3rd year numbers.
His ultimate, intrinsic greatness was nearly always on the money.....to the point that when he wasn't perfect and just human for once, it shook the entire LSU fanbase.
At the same time, Will's most lasting work from this fall may lie away from the lights of Tiger Stadium.....in the form of his priceless wisdom and guidance imparted upon a burgeoning offensive line room full of highly ranked & athletically supreme specimen.
A final salute to the 🐐 on his way to NFL immortality....starting 38 of 39 possible games, appearing in 2,553 snaps (all as a starter), from freshman 5 star prodigy to a season anchoring the 2nd greatest collegiate offense in history, protecting the blindside of a Heisman winning QB for 2 full seasons, ushering in a new era under Garrett Nussmeier as a junior who held the rope (despite a tidal wave of bad luck & disjointed offensive operations).......
....Will Campbell is destined to become a 1st Round pick.......and it's not even remotely hard to see the reasons why.
By LONN PHILLIPS SULLIVAN
©️ 2024 Uninterrupted Writings Inc
Big Will gave us so much confidence. It will take us awhile to get used to somebody else at that spot. We will have to be patient, and not measure that person against him at the get go.