Instant analysis of Detroit Lions selecting Iowa LB Jack Campbell

The Detroit Lions continued to throw off draft consultants on the opening evening of the 2023 NFL Draft by choosing Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell with the 18th general decide. Campbell was the primary linebacker off the board, and plenty of analysts had him as the very best prospect at his place. Others argue that linebacker isn’t a high-value place and the Lions may have had an opportunity at Campbell later within the draft—maybe with the group’s newly-acquired thirty fourth general decide.

Let’s dig a bit of deeper into this decide with some instantaneous evaluation.

Brad Holmes doesn’t care about your mocks, nor your positional worth

Working again and linebacker weren’t excessive on the Lions’ wants board. These positions aren’t seen as very priceless by the analytics neighborhood. However Lions basic supervisor Brad Holmes made an announcement on Thursday evening: I don’t care.

In fact, this shouldn’t be an entire shock. Holmes stated final week that he wasn’t afraid to take the backlash simply because his decide doesn’t line up with among the mock drafts on the market.

“You’ve simply obtained to make the very best decide you could and be assured with it,” Holmes stated. “Publish-draft and rapid draft grades, when the decide didn’t line up with these mocks, you’ve obtained to be keen and comfy to take the beating as a result of they didn’t line up with the mock.”

Nonetheless, this can be a fairly large departure from earlier drafts. The Lions focused high-value positions at edge defender, offensive sort out, and large receiver with their earlier first-round picks. Now, they’ve taken two positions that many think about the lowest-value within the NFL, in need of particular groups.

Jack “Dan” Campbell

Kudos to MLive’s Ben Raven for pulling this quote from Jack Campbell on the NFL Mix:

There is probably not a extra Dan Campbell soccer character man than Jack Campbell. Not solely was he a two-time captain at Iowa, however he was clearly beloved by the teaching workers there, too. Watch Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz react to a query about Campbell:

For those who occurred to observe the most recent episode of “Contained in the Den,” you possibly can actually see how vital character is to this group.

Do-it-all linebacker

Lions followers have lamented on the group’s lack of a protection linebacker. Properly, they’ve a succesful participant there now. Campbell earned a 92.9 protection grade from PFF final yr—the very best within the nation—and tallied 11 passes defended and 4 interceptions prior to now two seasons.

However his worth doesn’t cease there. His 87.0 PFF run protection grade ranked ninth in school soccer, and with ridiculous dimension (6-foot-5, 249 kilos), he’ll be a troublesome second-level block for any offensive lineman.

In different phrases, the Lions obtained themselves a real three-down linebacker to pair with Alex Anzalone—one thing they had been doubtless lacking.

However what about Malcolm?

The Lions simply handed Alex Anzalone a three-year, $18.75 million contract. He isn’t going wherever and can doubtless begin alongside Campbell. It is going to be attention-grabbing to see if Campbell takes the inexperienced dot or if Anzalone will keep it. Linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard indicated that he plans to cross-train Campbell—as he does everybody in his room.

However with the Lions taking part in principally in two-linebacker units, it seems that Malcolm Rodriguez may see his taking part in time take a big nosedive in his second season. Rodriguez was a nice shock as a sixth-round decide final yr, however his dimension limitations (5-foot-11, 232) could cap his ceiling.