Even for NFL players, confidence comes and goes. Alex Anzalone figures he was in college the last time he felt this sure of himself on the football field. The starting linebacker for the Lions is now anchoring a defense that ranks fourth in the NFL, first against the run.
"I think of so many guys over there that are playing at such a high level," Jared Goff said Wednesday when asked about Detroit's defense. "I think first of Alex Anzalone. Anzalone is playing at the highest level I’ve ever seen him play, and I’ve seen him through his whole career. He’s playing so dang well."
Goff and the Rams saw a lot of Anzalone when he was with the Saints, and they've been teammates for three seasons in Detroit. They are pillars of the Lions' rebuild on their respective sides of the ball. Once a poster boy for fan frustration in Aaron Glenn's defense, Anzalone is now one of the faces of the franchise above the entrance to Ford Field.
Goff said the defense, which ranked last in the NFL last season, has a "chip on their shoulder as big as anyone." It's well-earned in the case of Anzalone, who smiled this week when told the Lions have the No. 1 run defense and said, "Oh, do we?" Asked what fuels that success, he quipped, "Probably linebacker play. ("Just kidding.") And when asked about the Lions' sudden surge in sacks, Anzalone grinned and said, "We randomly have a really good pass rush, right?"
The Lions drew more questions than praise this offseason when they re-signed Anzalone to a three-year, $18.3 million deal. From the outside, it felt like a lot to pay for a linebacker who had been decent, at best, through his first two seasons in Detroit. Anzalone might not have been worth that much money to anyone else. He was worth it to the Lions because they saw an ascending player finding himself in their defense, and a leader in their locker room.
Anzalone is a seven-year vet, but "I was kind of an inexperienced linebacker when I got here," he says. A third-round pick of the Saints in 2017, he was an immediate starter before a dislocated shoulder ended his rookie season after four games. He played in a rotational role the next year "and played really well, up to my standard" and "was getting ready to be the guy" in year three before the same injury cost him all but two games. And recovering from his second surgery, he never "felt comfortable" in year four. All to say, Anzalone was able to start less than a third of the games over his tenure with the Saints.
He's started all but three games over his three years with the Lions, sidelined only by another shoulder injury late in the 2021 season. (He's dislocated his right shoulder at least three times in his career.) For the first time in the NFL, Anzalone has been "stringing years together as far confidence in my health and confidence in my play, because my rookie deal I really only played two years."
"I’ve always had the thought that I was starting caliber (in the NFL), I always knew I was starting caliber. It’s just about getting in the right situation at the right time to get a longer deal," he said.
Anzalone, 29, might never be a star in this league, but he's sure playing like a starter. He's coming off maybe his best game with the Lions in their dominant win over the Packers. He tackled cleanly (well, not according to the officials) and made one of the plays of the game when he dropped into coverage, read the eyes of Jordan Love and jumped to tip a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Jerry Jacobs. The Lions were in the end zone two plays later with a 24-3 lead.
Anzalone's long blonde hair has always made him hard to miss; it also makes his mistakes more glaring. The locks look better when he's firing to the ball. After being wedged into the middle linebacker spot the past two seasons and often chasing plays or arriving late and missing tackles, Anzalone has looked more natural playing the weak-side role. He's trusting his instincts rather than reading ... and reacting. The hair is less fork-in-a-socket and more uncaged-animal.
"I feel like if you ask any coaches or ask around the scouting department and Brad (Holmes) and them, that’s really my true position," Anzalone said. "I kind of just had to play (the MIKE) the past two years out of necessity. It feels a lot more comfortable playing a little more in space and in coverage, not as much A gap to B gap and striking linemen. I’m able to flow a little more, and that’s what complements my game."
There's an assumption that professional athletes are at their best in contract seasons, motivated by the bag. Maybe so. They're also playing under heavy pressure. There's a release that comes with getting paid. With a new deal at his natural position, Anzalone looks a little lighter on his feet. We often talk about linebackers "flying around." Anzalone said this is "definitely" the fastest he's flown in the NFL.
"It’s hard, you talk to guys on contract years or even guys on their rookie deals trying to earn spots, you can’t really play as free as you want to. Having that experience and that (assurance), it allows you to fly around and play free and make plays. And if you miss a tackle just flying around, F it, you know what I mean? You can jump a play if you want to jump a play, instead of being so textbook and to the playbook and 'I don’t wanna mess up.' As opposed to, 'I wanna make a play,'" Anzalone said.
He's made a lot of them through the Lions' first four games, in all facets of the defense. That's the caveat, of course: it's only four games. Anzalone still has a lot of work to do to fulfill his new contract, which is essentially a two-year deal with an out in 2025. But don't discount his leadership, either. Voted a captain by his teammates each of his three seasons in Detroit, Anzalone has been a mentor for third-year linebacker Derrick Barnes, whose emergence this season -- again, so far -- has partly allowed for Anzalone's new role.
"Alex, in my eyes, he's a star, man," Barnes said this week. "A guy that knows the game, knows where to be at the right time. Me and Alex always talk. We train together, he's really become my best friend. I always thank him, because I don't think I would be right here in this league without him, honestly. A guy who took me under his wing, showed me the ropes, explained to me a lot of things.
"When I was going through the situations I was going through my first and second years, he gave me some confidence, man, because he believed in me, and that was huge for for me. And ever since then our relationship has taken off."
When the Lions drafted linebacker Jack Campbell 18th overall this spring, Barnes obviously felt the heat. The first person he called was Anzalone, who told him to buckle up for training camp. Barnes came ready to play and keeps getting better, which is why he's getting most of the snaps next to Anzalone on gamedays.
"Credit to him," said Anzalone, "it's really impressive how he's handled all of it. I mean, to be the starting linebacker when you have a first-round draft pick, that's really hard to do. That's inspired me to see that."
For the PFF crowd, Anzalone has his highest defensive grade with the Lions and the second highest of his career. He ranks in the middle of the pack at his position, 29th out of 57 qualifying linebackers. This is growth: Anzalone ranked 40th out of 56 last season, and 56th out of 60 the season before that. Even then, Dan Campbell and Detroit's coaching staff emphasized their trust in Anzalone to run the defense and do his job. He's doing it better than ever in Detroit.
"He's a leader on the field," said Barnes. "He's a violent player, knows the game, knows what the offense wants to do, always in the right position to make plays. That's a guy you want on the field with you, playing beside you. I'm honored to have him play next to me."