Undersized and underestimated, Willie Lampkin ready to outplay his stature

Undersized and underestimated, Willie Lampkin ready to outplay his stature

Willie Lampkin can’t escape it. It’s the first thing everyone wants to talk about because there isn’t anyone else like Lampkin in the NFL. There’s just nothing the rookie offensive lineman can do about his 5-foot-11, 290-pound frame.

So, yeah, sometimes he gets a little tired talking about his size — or lack thereof.

“Yeah, kinda, yeah,” Lampkin said on Thursday. “I can’t change it. I’ll do my best and I’ll do what I have to do to stay here.”

Lampkin, 23, got to Philadelphia this week after the Eagles claimed him off waivers from the Rams. Lampkin initially signed with Los Angeles after going undrafted out of North Carolina but was released with an injury designation earlier this week. Had he cleared waivers, Lampkin would have reverted to the Rams’ Injured Reserve list.

But the Eagles didn’t let that happen.

The Eagles don’t seem too concerned about the leg injury Lampkin suffered in the preseason — he wore a brace on his left knee to watch practice on Thursday — nor do they seem too concerned about his smaller stature.

While the Eagles showed enough interest in Lampkin to claim him, even with an injury, the rookie lineman is used to being counted out.

“Yes, I would say yes, I have been definitely underestimated,” he said. “Because people see me and they think I’m just some regular guy. I feel like if I put the pads on, things can change.”

Despite being an All-ACC guard at North Carolina and despite an incredibly strong showing at the Senior Bowl, Lampkin still wasn’t invited to the NFL Combine and he still wasn’t drafted in April.

But there’s a lot to like about Lampkin’s game, and that includes the nastiness he shows on the field. That definitely translated into his first NFL preseason.

“For me, I just want to dominate, man,” Lampkin said. “I just want to have my hands on the defender every play. I just want to show my dominance. Even though I’m a smaller player, I just want to show that I can be in this league.”

The Eagles showed some interest in Lampkin during the pre-draft process, and it’s likely that his performance at the Senior Bowl got the attention of Eagles scouts and coaches. The Eagles have traditionally really valued that week in Mobile, Alabama, and Lampkin made the most of his time there.

It probably won’t surprise you to hear that Lampkin was a late invite to the Senior Bowl. And, keeping with the trend, he far exceeded expectations.

“A lot of teams didn’t think I could anchor down on the bullrush or anchor down against people that are bigger than me,” Lampkin said. “But I feel like I showed that I could.”

While plenty of people will see Lampkin’s height as a disadvantage, he sees the positives in being under 6 feet. To borrow a Jim Schwartz phrase, short guys have “natural leverage.”

And there’s a clear-cut benefit to having leverage when you have to block bigger defensive tackles. That is part of what allowed Jason Kelce to have a Hall of Fame career as an undersized center.

Aside from that, Lampkin’s background as a state champion high school wrestler helps too. Not only does Lampkin still use his wrestling underhook to block defensive lineman, but he still has the mentality he learned on the mat.

“It definitely helped me to get that dawg mentality to want to dominate every single play,” he said.

Lampkin wasn’t just a good wrestler; he was great. As a senior, he was a Florida Class 2A state champion after going 47-0. He was so good at wrestling that he nearly gave up football when he transferred to Lakeland High School as a junior.

Lampkin credits a former coach Caleb Pickrell (now an offensive assistant at North Carolina) for convincing him to continue playing football. Good thing he did.

Because after playing offensive line at Coastal Carolina and then at North Carolina, Lampkin is now trying to stick in the NFL. And he’s going to get to learn from legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland.

“I would say he’s one of the best to coach offensive line in the NFL,” Lampkin said. “He’s coached legends, he’s still coaching legends right now. You got (Jordan) Mailata, Lane Johnson, (Jason) Kelce, you got Cam (Jurgens). There’s a bunch of talent in the O-line room.”

Because Lampkin just arrived in Philly, he hasn’t met Kelce yet. But with how often Kelce is still around the building, he won’t have to wait very long. Lampkin is looking forward to that and said people have called him “a more unathletic Jason Kelce” for a while because of their similar play styles.

Kelce was undersized too. Just not to this extent.

Right guard Tyler Steen on Thursday was asked for his first impressions of his newest offensive line teammate.

“He’s a wide dude,” Steen said before a lengthy pause. “Yeah, he’s short, but he’s a pretty big dude. I don’t know that much information on him, but it looks like he plays football.”