Bear Digest

Why potential Bears tackle prospect may need to buy new shirts

Analysis: The measurement from the LSU pro day saying Will Campbell's arms are now 3/8 of an inch longer must be taken with a grain of salt, like all pro day measurements.
Gene Chamberlain|
Possible top 10 pick Will Campbell blocks for LSU against the Texas A&M Aggies last season.
Possible top 10 pick Will Campbell blocks for LSU against the Texas A&M Aggies last season. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

It's a miracle.

Everyone remembers the combine anticipation over the arm measurements for LSU tackle Will Campbell, and how it led to great angst because it came in at 32 and 5/8 inches.

They measured him again on Wednesday at LSU's pro day, even though it had been officially done for the record in Indianapolis.

And guess what? Campbell, who has a 30 visit scheduled for Chicago, gained half an inch.

He should probably forget the NFL, bottle whatever he did for the increase and sell it, because there are ads all over the internet for guys to gain half an inch and it appears he actually delivered.

In all seriousness and with more proper decorum, Campbell's measurement actually was only 3/8 of an inch more and not half an inch more. And it doesn't matter, because his official NFL measurement comes at the combine.

He had an outstanding 4.98-second time at the combine for the 40-yard dash and didn't even try to run one at the pro day, because it's already posted. It's posted done.

Gaining 3/8 of an inch or running the old "39-yard" 40 are all longtime tricks of the trade at pro days.

Last year the pro day measurement for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams' height actually came in shorter by a quarter inch than his official measurement at the combine. It didn't matter, as his official measurement is what the combine said at 6-foot-1 1/8. But really, someone at USC needed to be told that's not how the pro day push is supposed to work.

Maybe Campbell had someone pulling his arms out of their sockets for a month or he's been hanging from still rings for hours on end or perhaps because it's only 3/8 of an inch, just his fingers were being stretched out day after day.

Voilà! I've got it. He grew his finger nails out 3/8 of an inch.

Who knows? It doesn't matter because the pro day measurement doesn't mean anything. He measured at the combine and it's official there.

“For two years nobody had any measurements on me and nobody said anything about my play," Campbell told reporters at the pro day. "Now, all of a sudden an arm length decides if I'm a good player or not? I think that's bull(stuff)."

Campbell, who could be a Bears option at No. 10, does not need the extra 3/8 of an inch to let anyone know he can block, anyway.

There will be teams who see the game film with brilliant technique and who have scouts who have watched him enough to get him in the top 10 somewhere for this draft.

At least the draft analysts say as much.

There were other strong, credible performances, or at least it would appear this way. One can't know at these pro days. They should have the attention of the Bears, who were represented, though not by Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson.

LSU tight end Taylor Mason had a strong pro day with a 4.65-second 40, 7.06 three-cone drill and 28 reps in the bench.

Running back Josh Williams put on the real show with what was said to be a 42-inch vertical leap and 4.45-second 40-yard dash. He also did 10-foot-2 in the broad jump and was timed at 7.03 seconds for the three-cone drill. In the bench press, he did an outstanding 23 reps.

Williams, a 5-9, 195-pound back, had 1,494 yards on 314 career carries with 17 TDs in a five-year LSU career.

Williams is not graded among the top 25 backs in this draft by Pro Football Focus and has never been higher than 337th among all prospects on the NFL Mock Draft Data Base big board. And a 4.45-second 40 with a 42-inch vertical.

Hmmm.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

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.