Jack Campbell went home to Iowa this winter to get stronger. When he returned to Detroit for the start of spring workouts, his defensive coordinator told him, "The rookie tag is off of you right now, bro. It’s time to go."
"And I’m not saying that because he had a bad season last year at all," Aaron Glenn said Wednesday. "I thought he had a really good season, to be honest with you."
"I’m putting a lot on Jack this year just because I know he can handle it," he said.
The Lions drafted Campbell 18th overall because they saw him as their defensive anchor for years to come. He can take the first real step in that direction this season. Alex Anzalone remains the captain of the defense at WILL linebacker, but Campbell is on the cusp of breaking out at the MIKE. He's starting to command the huddle like he did at Iowa when he won the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in the country.
"Listen, we know Alex is the leader of this defense," said Glenn, "but Jack has those leadership skills to be that guy at some point."
Every player in the NFL wants to get better. Some are obsessed with it. This is Campbell. His world revolves football, family and faith, in no particular order. (And fishing and hunting.) To hear him talk is to understand his drive. Asked Thursday on 97.1 The Ticket where he sees himself improving in his second season, Campbell dove into an answer and didn't come up for air until he had listed off every aspect of playing linebacker:
"This offseason I’ve worked a lot on getting on and off blocks, instead of trying to press out, play two gaps. I came from the University of Iowa, our identity was go hit someone, play two gaps. Here, and in the NFL, if you try to do that, the offensive linemen are so good they’re just going to hold you off. So getting on and off blocks is something I’ve been trying to improve on. Also, just seeing route concepts as they happen in zone coverage, I’ve been trying to progress in that. But also, rushing the passer, one on one with the backs, I’ve been trying to get better at that. Also, man to man coverage on tight ends and running backs, I feel like that’s an area that I needed to improve on.
"And it’s slowly but surely. There’s no big step to success in any of those areas. I’m just going to keep working toward what I need to do to be a good all-around player."
Ideally, several small steps will equal a big one. Campbell was exploited and exposed last season in coverage. He has the length and athleticism to be much better in this regard. At practice Wednesday, Campbell dropped into zone coverage and picked off Jared Goff on a crossing route to Amon-Ra St. Brown. Goff may not have seen him; the fact that Campbell sensed the play is what counts.
"I will tell you," Glenn said that morning, "his ability to drop in coverage has improved tremendously, and that's one thing we’re going to ask of him. His ability to match guys has improved tremendously, and that’s going to help us be a better defense."
Campbell is also gaining a better feel for playing alongside Anzalone and Derrick Barnes. That should help all of them in reading and reacting to the offense. (So should playing in front of an improved secondary). Campbell has frequently come downhill to snuff out run plays in training camp, without a second thought. We like to call this playing fast. That's the result of knowing exactly where he's supposed to be.
"Last year I was just kind of flying around trying to memorize everything, instead of learning how to do things, especially as the on-ball type player," said Campbell. "But this year I’ve tried to figure out what everyone’s doing, and I feel that’s where you can understand where you fit in the puzzle. ... I feel like that was big during OTA’s, to be able to just sit on and look at how all the defenses fit together and which players do what, and why."
This is especially important for a player with as many duties as Campbell. In a single series, he might go from covering the tight end to plugging the run to rushing the passer. He's learning how to move in concert with his teammates in each of these roles.
"When I’m out on the field with Anzo and D-Barnes, every day, every practice I’m starting to figure out how they see things," he said. "Like, 'If this guy releases this way, I’m gonna take him. If he releases this way then that way, you’re gonna take him.' Just trying to know who I’m playing with and how they’re going to react to things. I feel like that’s been good, to come into camp and to be able to play fast and make mistakes but then learn from them on the backend and not let that happen again."
On a different team last year, Campbell might have garnered more attention for the way he jumped into the NFL. He just so happened to play on a team with two Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates in Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs and a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate in Brian Branch. Thing is, Campbell quietly factored into Defensive Rookie of the Year voting himself. He looks ready to be this year's breakout player in Detroit.
"For my sake, I hope you guys are right," Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard said with a laugh. "He’s a breakout guy and makes me look like a good coach."
Sheppard, along with Dan Campbell and Glenn, loved Campbell from the moment the Lions met with him at last year's combine. They all agreed he was the best linebacker in the draft. Sheppard went on to say that Campbell holds himself to such a high standard -- "higher than even I do, and that's pretty high" -- that he "makes coaching easy." He makes it fun.
"Because each day you have to (ask yourself)," Sheppard said, "how am I going to challenge this player? Because he wants to be great. Make no bones about it, Jack wants to be great. He’s not going to accept average coaching, average teammates, average anything. He allows me to elevate not only my coaching, but the culture in the room. The way he runs to the ball, the way he finishes, the way he works out, everything about this guy, if he’s going, it’s balls to the wall. And it bleeds into the room and into his teammates. He is taking that leap. It’s not only with production, but with his leadership as well."
Campbell might never take that leap, by his own standards. He'll just keep pushing the bar higher.