Shortly after 7 p.m. Thursday night, Kayvon Thibodeaux could hear his name called by the Lions with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft. And critics will immediately wonder if he's cut out for the next level, if he has the passion for the game and the hunger for winning that Dan Campbell is looking for in Detroit.
And Thibodeaux will probably laugh.
"It’s comical," Thibodeaux told NFL Network this week about the narrative that he's not all-in on football. "For me, it’s always funny because my grandmother used to always say, 'You give people a pass that weren’t taught any better.' Anybody who says something when they don’t know me, they just don’t know any better, so I just let it run. And I don’t really even try to correct it. But for the people who I’m blessed to meet, for the people who come into my circle, I’m able to really articulate who I am. And once that happens, then we’re able to build a relationship."
Throughout the draft process, nobody has called Thibodeaux's talent into question. He's a freakishly athletic pass rusher who has the tools to be a star in the NFL. His ceiling is that of a perennial All-Pro. It's his floor that has draft pundits concerned, mostly because his drive isn't as evident as that of, say, Aidan Hutchinson. It's almost universally agreed that Hutchinson has a higher 'motor' than Thibodeaux, that he plays harder from snap to snap, that his love for football runs deeper.
In response, Thibodeaux points to game in which he didn't even play last season. Ruled out with an ankle injury for Oregon's clash with Ohio State in September, Thibodeaux, wearing his No. 5 jersey on the sidelines, spent all afternoon hyping up his teammates and helping them across the finish line of Oregon's biggest win in recent memory.
"You know what’s funny, and this also goes back to that whole motor thing," Thibodeaux said. "Somebody brought the Ohio State game to my attention. I was like, 'Go watch that TV copy.' Forget all the noise, just go watch the TV copy. I didn’t play, I wasn’t suited up, but if you see how bought in I was to that game, just watch the interactions when it’s a timeout, when nothing’s going on. Go find it. I was in a deep dive into the game and I was there for my team.
"So all the hearsay and everything, you gotta go inside and really get that information. And when you do, you’ll see that it’s good."
Oregon running back CJ Verdell already has that information. He spent three seasons on the inside as Thibodeaux's teammate. And to the outsiders who question Thibodeaux's competitive fire, his appetite for football or any other intangible that might dictate his success in the NFL, here's what Verdell would say:
"Anyone who doubts his work ethic, they need to go back and watch some tape. You guys aren't there at practice, but he takes practice very seriously. He's always looking to get better and competes in every rep. His work ethic, to me, is unmatched. A force to be reckoned with. He gets in the backfield a lot. In practice, he's physically dominant. That's probably the best way to describe him."
Campbell and the Lions are looking for relentless, selfless players in Detroit. They're also looking for a "game-changer" with the No. 2 pick, said GM Brad Holmes, especially on a defense that's sorely lacking talent. Thibodeaux could check both boxes, plus a third that might be the biggest of all: he gets after the quarterback. The Lions were 30th in the NFL in sacks last season and have been among the bottom five teams the past three seasons in QB pressures.
Asked what his next team is getting when they draft him, Thibodeaux kept it simple: "The best player off the board."
"I’m a guy who is very prideful in being the best. And I’m very strategic and very intentional with everything I do, from practice to taking care of my body to being with the team and building that camaraderie. So for me, I’m going to come into a locker room and buy into the culture. I’m going to be a guy who upholds the culture and we’re going to bring guys with us and try to go to that promised land," he said.
The Lions haven't been to the promised land since 1957. In the Super Bowl era, they haven't even been close. One player alone won't change that -- see: Stafford, Matthew -- but Thibodeaux has the talent and the traits to help pave the way. If he didn't love football, why did he return after his injury last season when he could have protected his draft status by sitting out? If he didn't care about winning, why was he doing everything he could for his teammates that day at Ohio State?
If he wasn't a 'Dan Campbell guy,' as reports would have you believe, why might the Lions draft him second overall Thursday night?
"I feel like people misconstrue what the message is," Thibodeaux said. "I feel like for the people outside the locker room, if you can see the bonds that are created with the energy and the gregariousness of my personality, I mean, it’s unbeatable. It’s unmatchable. The people who care for me will love me to the end and that’s that person I am, but you gotta know me to really know me."