INDIANAPOLIS — Would you agree that Rashawn Slater, Jason Peters, Bryan Bulaga, Penei Sewell, Jake Matthews, Mitchell Schwartz, Taylor Lewan, and Terron Armstead are making the most, or have made the most, of their attributes as NFL offensive tackles?
And would you agree that they did so despite the seemingly "crushing" handicap of arm lengths and/or wingspans that were below the NFL average?
Because whether you are all in on every one of those names (and if you're not, you should be), the data is undisputable. Every single one of those players did their things in the NFL with arms and/or wingspans shorter than the mean for draftable tackles since 1999. Per Mockdraftable.com, the mean arm length for tackles in that time is 34.127 inches, and the mean wingspan is 82.101 inches.
There's always talk about how the shorter-armed tackles will fare in the NFL, and that process has accelerated for one unfortunate reason of late — the fact that New England Patriots left tackle Will Campbell, the fourth overall pick in the 2025 draft out of LSU, struggled mightily in the postseason, allowing four sacks and 19 total pressures from the wild-card round through Super Bowl LX.
Campbell's travails were blamed on everything from injury issues to bad technique, but the primary culprits in the court of public opinion were Campbell's arms (32 5/8 inches, 21st percentile for offensive tackles since 1999) and his wingspan (77 3/8 inches, seventh percentile since 1999).
With that, and all the groundless hypothesizing that the Patriots were going to select another tackle in the 2026 draft and move Campbell inside to guard (something that head coach Mike Vrabel has repeatedly refuted), arm length and wingspan have become the end-all and be-all for those who have an alleged degree in offensive line play without any proof.
The offensive tackles and other offensive linemen coming into the 2026 scouting combine are more than ready for the barbs if they apply, and even if they don't. I asked Utah left tackle Caleb Lomu, whose 33 3/8-inch arms are below the mean, and whose 82 3/4-inch wingspan is just above it, what he thinks of the discussion.
"Yeah, so there's a lot of talk about the short arm length, and it does help to have length, you know, but if you can play, you can play," he said. "And I have some good lengths. I'm able to use that to my advantage and really lock out on people. So it helps me when I'm playing against someone that has good length, too. It's a little bit harder to defend because they have that good length and they can use that in a lot of ways, you know, power or finesse, however they prefer.
"It does help, but I don't think it's a killing factor of if someone can play or not."
I then asked Lomu what his Plan B is when he's clearly facing a guy with longer arms than he has.
"When I have to use it, if someone comes at me with a move that's pretty hard to defend, I feel like I'm very good at recovering with my athletic ability. These players I play against are really good players, and at the next level they're even better. They're going to make some plays, but when I defend, I don't like them to touch my quarterback, and I don't like to lose.
"And so, you know, I'll do anything to defend my quarterback."
Last season, Lomu allowed no sacks, two quarterback hits, and six quarterback hurries in 383 pass-blocking reps, so I'd say he did pretty well for himself.
Alabama left tackle Kadyn Proctor, who measured in with 33 3/8-inch arms and an 82 3/4-inch wingspan, was even more definitive about the idea that it's an overcooked story, and he had no personal stake in the subject.
"It really matters on first significant contact," Proctor said of arm length in general. "But, like, all the Will Campbell talk and the Rueben Bain talk and everything like that — turn on the tape, they play ballat the end of the day. So it really, really doesn't matter."
Auburn center Connor Lew, whose 32 3/8-inch arms are just fine for his position, had his own thoughts on the matter.
"I mean, I think at the end of the day, it comes down to your playing style. Some guys rely on their length. Some guys, I mean, there's, there's plenty of examples in the NFL right now who have shorter arms, but they find ways to work around it with their playing style.
"So, I wouldn't look too much into it."
And in the end, that's where we should leave it. There are more than enough short-armed offensive tackles who have thrown off the talk to be great NFL players, and there are more than enough guys who were built in a football factory who couldn't block a social media troll when all was said and done. Like any other attribute or deficiency in football, it's really about how things are managed person-to-person, and who's good enough to overcome what they need to overcome.
A bit like life, really.