The Detroit Lions‘ 2023 Draft class has been widely praised as one of the best in the league, but first-rounder Jack Campbell is often left out of the picture when praising Brad Holmes’ picks. It’s not that Campbell had a bad rookie season, per se, but his performance was somewhat overshadowed by the emergence of third-year linebacker Derrick Barnes, who won the starting role over Campbell to start the season.
But if spring practices are any indication, Campbell is in the driver’s seat at MIKE’s starting linebacker position for 2024, and he’s already taking on the role well.
“Obviously, it’s hard to give a full picture physically of the linebacker position during this time of year because of the physical nature of how we play, especially here, but it exceeded my already high expectations,” linebackers coach Kelvin said. Sheppard. week. “He has returned later than I expected.”
With veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone absent during the voluntary portion of the OTAs, it was up to Campbell to act as the “green dot” linebacker, communicating the play with each line of the defense and making the necessary adjustments prior to the snap. That’s where Sheppard has already seen the most growth under Campbell.
“I’m telling you it’s on another level,” Sheppard said. “This guy here is operating like an eight-year veteran as far as making the calls, how he sets the standard for how we practice as a defense, and I think other guys are starting to look to him now.”
Don’t take that compliment lightly or as blind faith. Sheppard doesn’t waste time like that. He said something very similar about Malcolm Rodriguez two years ago before the sixth-round pick won the starting job and had a solid rookie season.
Campbell attributes much of that mental growth to his rookie season. Last year, the Lions moved him around a lot, playing the WILL, MIKE and SAM positions. While that’s a lot for a rookie, and there were certainly some mistakes along the way, Campbell noted that he gave him a full scope of the defensive scheme.
“They pushed me in different ways to play different positions. I feel like that helped me a lot, just understanding what the front seven is doing,” Campbell said. “This year, just understanding what the back end is doing. Where is my rotation? Where is my help? Things like that. I still have a lot to improve on, but I feel like any time you can spend time on a task and get reps in, it will help you.”
Sheppard believes Campbell’s growth is the result of more than just experience. You also have to be willing and active in the learning process, something that, according to him, Campbell has plenty of.
“Jack is one of the most coachable players I’ve ever met, whether I’m speaking as a player or as a coach,” Sheppard said. “I mean, you can literally tell him the sky is green right now and he’ll say, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘Jack, no, it’s not.’ Why did you just say that? He just has that level of respect for authority and it’s the way he lives his life, to be honest with you.
“So it’s easier when you take guys like that, like a coach trying to set standards, trying to show guys the way you do things. Taking a guy, first-round pick, a guy that people were already looking at because of the size of the player that he is, but it’s about the person that he is that I can coach him hard. ‘Hey, listen, tower, if I talk to Jack like that, you better get your ass in line,’ something like that. So it’s good to have a guy like that along with the others setting an example for the room and the team.”
Also working in Campbell’s favor is an improved secondary behind him and a DJ Reader-sized force in front of him. With cornerbacks more capable of playing stick, man coverage and a pair of defensive tackles who will eat up double teams, Campbell—and the entire linebacker team—should be able to do their jobs more freely.
“(If) you have to hold on to double teams against those guys, who’s blocking us?” Sheppard said. “You know what I mean? So it will be a pleasure to play behind them.”
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