When linebacker Alex Anzalone went down with a thumb injury two weeks ago, there were a lot of questions surrounding the player that was going to step up in his place. Some had thought it was going to be Derrick Barnes and others thought it was Jack Campbell. When Jack Campbell’s name was brought up, there was some hesitation with some fans.
Their reasoning was simple.
He was a rookie that was playing with hesitation and was missing tackles in previous games. But most importantly, he had big shoes to fill. Trying to replace Anzalone is tough to do in this Lions defense. He’s an experienced player that comes from this defensive system during his days with the New Orleans Saints. Meanwhile, Anzalone leads the Lions with 87 tackles this season.
Certainly, the pressure got put on the shoulders of the rookie linebacker from Iowa. But he thrived in the situation and stepped up to the plate in a big way for the Lions defense. Let’s review the tape of Jack Campbell’s performance against the New Orleans Saints.
Starting with the first play that really stood out on tape was the one above. The Saints come out with their 11 personnel (one running back and one tight end) and prior to the snap, they motion a receiver on a jet-motion. Faking the jet, the quarterback goes to hand the ball off to the running back.
For the Lions, they come out in their nickel package with their inside linebackers being Derrick Barnes (LB 55) and Jack Campbell (LB 46). Aligned in a ’30’ technique (B-gap) is Campbell. Despite sliding inside a gap to account for the motion, Campbell does a great job reading the quarterback.
Campbell knows the hand-off to the running back is about to happen and he immediately gets downhill and attacks the ballcarrier. It’s a tremendous fill and tackle by Campbell and as you can see, he was pretty fired up about it. This play just goes to show some of the instincts and overall ability that he has as a player.
The next play I want to focus on is the one above where Campbell does a great job reading QB power. Looking at that play, the Saints come out of a shotgun formation with their Swiss army knife, Taysom Hill (TE/QB 7).
As you can see, Jack Campbell and Malcolm Rodriguez are the inside linebackers as the Lions come out in their nickel package. Aligned in the A-gap (between the left guard and center) is Campbell. Prior to the snap, Hill motions a receiver out of the backfield and away from him.
Once the ball is snapped, Campbell appears to blitz but honestly, I think he’s reading Hill the entire way. He presses the line-of-scrimmage and takes away any potential cutback lane for Hill. In the process, he grabs ahold of the legs of Hill and doesn’t let go. This play perfectly sums up how Campbell played throughout much of this game. Scratching and clawing his way to every ball to find ways to make a play for the defense.
Lastly, I want to focus on some of the pass coverage from Jack Campbell in this game. Against the Saints, he was targeted four times and allowed three receptions for 46 yards. Throughout the season, he’s allowed 20 receptions for 199 yards and two touchdowns.
When watching Campbell throughout the season, he’s been doing well in coverage. Despite playing with hesitation in some of his drops, he’s right there every single week. With more time, Campbell will start transitioning his position from just good coverage to interceptions and pass breakups.
Looking at the play above, he’s covering one of the best pass catching backs in the league in Alvin Kamara. The Saints come out 2×2 with a condensed set to the right of their formation. Meanwhile, the Lions come out in their nickel package with Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Jack Campbell. As the routes develop downfield, the Lions are in good coverage and Carr quickly checks this down to Kamara.
While it appears that Kamara is juggling the football prior to catching it, Campbell was with him every step of the way. He closes any separation that is between him and the running back and he makes a good open field tackle. This was a good stop for the Lions and it setup 3rd down.
Overall, Jack Campbell has been progressing every single week. He looked comfortable “manning” the middle of the Lions defense and it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s something that happens a little bit more down the stretch. Especially if Anzalone isn’t going to be playing at 100% each week. Regardless, there’s been a lot of promising signs from Campbell throughout his rookie season but his performance against the Saints was his best by far.