Derrick Barnes was coming off a torn ACL. He hadn't played a game since September. And his performance over his first three seasons with the Lions was a bit of a mixed bag. None of that mattered to Kelvin Sheppard when he was promoted to defensive coordinator this offseason. He went right to Brad Holmes, the GM who pegged Barnes as a potential pillar of his first draft class in Detroit, and told him, "That’s a player I have to have."
"I told him, that is literally my little brother, on and off the field. I know he looks up to me and that means a lot to me. But outside of that, I believe this kid can play four, five spots on the football field and do it at a high level," said Sheppard.
"My main goal," Barnes said Thursday, "is to prove him right."
He's off to a good start. In the Lions' win over the Ravens Monday night, Barnes played all three linebacker spots, defensive end and a version of nickel in Detroit's front seven. He was one of several players the defense deployed at various times as a spy on Lamar Jackson. Playing that role on a key third down in the fourth quarter with the Lions leading by a touchdown, Barnes got his first sack of the season with a diving, shoestring tackle on Jackson just when he was about to scramble down field. It forced the Ravens into a field goal.
"When you have a player like that, it allows you the ability to present the same looks pre-snap and then post-snap be able to play a variety of coverages, a variety of pressure packages and things like that," said Sheppard, noting Trevor Nowaske offer similar value. "When you’re able to deploy four and five linebacker sets and formations and play any of your defenses, that’s a different ballgame."
When opposing teams roll out 11 personnel, for example, the Lions can stay in base defense given Barnes' improving cover skills in the slot. Brian Branch provides the defense the same advantage with his ability to come down from safety and match up with receivers. This is a big part of the Lions' stoutness against the run, as they're not forced into sub-packages when the offense goes light. They can dictate terms.
"It would be shameful to stand up here and say, 'That’s scheme," Sheppard said. "That’s players, because they’re the ones that have to understand conceptually, ‘When I’m at this spot, I do this. That spot, I do this.’ That takes man hours, it takes detail and it takes a level of dedication that these guys are all-in on.”
Through three games, Barnes is second on the Lions in tackles while playing a career-high 83 percent of the defensive snaps. Barnes was beginning to master Detroit's defense last season prior to tearing his ACL in Week 3 on a cut block by a tight end. Sheppard called the injury "a shame, because I believe that kid was about to have an unbelievable season last year."
"It’s all good. He's back and he's trending in the direction that we want him to right now," said Sheppard.
A year later, Barnes, 26, feels like he's picking up where he left off.
"100 percent. I feel like last year was when I started figuring things out, got a lot of confidence and the playbook was not a problem to me," he said. "I could go out there, violent, and have fun. And that’s what it’s starting to feel like this year. Still the same hunger and mentality I had last year, still same knowledge, and as you can see, it allows me to go out and make plays and put some stats on the board."
Sheppard's endorsement of Barnes is part of the reason the Lions signed him to a three-year, $24 million extension. It looked, to some, like an overpay for a player with modest production since being drafted in the fourth round in 2021, even in a league with a rising cap at a position where salaries are starting to spike.
"Everybody said, 'Well the stats are just average,'" said Sheppard.
To the Lions, the film said something else. And no one in the building knows Barnes better than Sheppard, who coached him in the linebackers room for their first four seasons in Detroit. Sheppard, 37, saw an ascending player who was just coming into his own. The Lions didn't invest all those years in his development just for Barnes to thrive somewhere else.
And the stats are starting to come. In addition to his sack on Monday night, Barnes had three defensive stops, per PFF, and seven tackles in a game where the Lions held Derrick Henry to just 14 yards on the ground after the Ravens' opening drive. His eight stops on the season are tied with Branch for third most on the team.
"When somebody has that much faith and confidence in you, you have to prove those people right," Barnes said. "Coming off a knee injury, especially, man, you never know what to expect and the fact that he was a guy that was sitting there banging the table for me meant a lot to me. And obviously felt good to be back here with everybody, with the organization, with my teammates.
"Man, it just makes you want to fight for these guys and gets you to buy in even more, to go out there and play with a purpose. My main goal was to prove him right."
Barnes still has room to grow. He and Sheppard are the first to say so. In the big picture, neither one has achieved much of anything yet in the NFL. But they've come a long way together, with Sheppard, well, shepherding Barnes through some early struggles in Detroit. Barnes' new contract came with a $6.2 million signing bonus. Asked if he's taken his defensive coordinator out to dinner yet, Barnes smiled and said, "I still owe him that!
"Because look, he always says, 'Y'all owe me nothin’,' but no, for sure, I’m still cooking something up."