The No. 7 jersey at LSU goes to the top playmaker. For the last two years, it was left tackle Will Campbell. - The Boston Globe (2025)

“The list goes on, and it always had been that way,” head coach Brian Kelly said.

Kelly, who arrived in 2022, had a crazy thought for the 2023 season: Why couldn’t No. 7 go to then-sophomore left tackle and Monroe, La., native Will Campbell? He doesn’t score touchdowns, but Kelly thought Campbell was a baller.

“I’m a bit of an outsider, talked to a few people about this, but I said, ‘He is our best player. All he does is make plays for us so we can win,’ ” Kelly said. “I’ve been doing this 35 years. Playmakers help other players make plays, too. And so when we really looked at it and dug down, we said, ‘This is our playmaker.’ ”

Kelly made Campbell the first offensive lineman to wear No. 7, and Campbell earned it again for his junior year in 2024. Offensive linemen can’t wear No. 7 during games, but Campbell wore the number in practice, and wore a No. 7 patch on his game uniform. Campbell also wore No. 7 on his hoodie at LSU’s pro day.

“The premier guys at that school wear it, so for me to be able to wear it is an honor,” Campbell said. “My school pictures from when I was in fourth grade are me doing the Heisman Trophy pose in the LSU No. 7 jersey. It means everything.”

It’s rare for a player to wear the number in two consecutive seasons ― not since Fournette in 2014-16. Even rarer for it to be an underclassman.

“Maybe you get it your senior year and that’s it,” Kelly said.

And of course, it was unprecedented for a lineman.

“He upheld the legacy of 7, that’s for sure,” said Jordan Arcement, LSU’s director of player development. “He’s a real athlete. Will played AAU basketball. When Coach kind of wanted to revamp 7, it was more playmaking ability, but also just best overall player. Clearly we saw him as our best player.”

With the blessing of his players past and present, Kelly changed the meaning of No. 7 to be not just the best playmaker, but the player who best exemplifies the program Kelly is trying to build. In 2024, Kelly awarded No. 7s on both sides of the ball ― Campbell on offense, linebacker Harold Perkins on defense.

“It was well received by our alums,” Kelly said. “They loved the fact that we took 7, and it didn’t have to be in such a narrow category that you had to catch or throw the ball. It could be anybody that impacts the team that is from the state of Louisiana. And that means a lot here. They’re very prideful of coming from the state, playing for their flagship university. It was a big day when Will was awarded that.”

Campbell and Kelly both arrived at LSU in 2022 and formed an instant bond. Campbell earned the starting left tackle job in August of his true freshman season, and started all 38 games over the next three seasons before opting out of LSU’s bowl game this year and turning pro.

“He allowed me to feel comfortable here,” said Kelly, a Boston native who spent most of his coaching career in the Midwest. “Because we came in together at the same time, and we kind of rode this thing out together, every step of the way.”

Arcement called Campbell “our backbone.” In addition to wearing No. 7 his sophomore and junior years, Campbell was voted a captain both times.

“He was the person in the locker room who would get other guys back on track. Guys who are slipping,” Arcement said. “He took the captain stuff seriously. I think when he came in as a freshman and started, it really gave him the foresight to see that he could do it at this level. And he took it so seriously to try to be the first pick of the draft.”

Campbell, a two-time All-SEC pick and a 2024 consensus All-American, rarely, if ever, missed a practice.

“He doesn’t miss anything ― early morning workouts, whatever it is,” Kelly said. “He’s a guy you can count on. He’s a bedrock. He’s a foundational piece.”

Campbell didn’t handle the ball at LSU, but he’s such a good athlete that Kelly said he never considered moving him off left tackle despite his oft-mentioned arm length.

“His athletic ability, his economy of movement is one of the things that probably doesn’t get talked about a lot,” Kelly said. “He’s so efficient in his movement that it just doesn’t make sense to move him. Look, he’s blocked everybody in the SEC the last three years that he’s going to have to go against anyway in the NFL.”

The Patriots solidified their trenches with Campbell at No. 4. They also may have picked up a real playmaker.

“A left tackle at No. 4, it’s not a sexy pick. But he’s a foundational piece that allows football teams to build championship programs,” Kelly said. “That’s what he’s done for me in turning this program around.”

Ben Volin can be reached at ben.volin@globe.com.