2 Likes
Well, who could have thought a 1st rd LB in his third year would transform into one of the best LB in league? Many ppl on the Den, so we should laugh onto all the F Grade “analytic guys” from first draft night 2023.
6 Likes
Frankly I didn’t know enough about him to have any critique. I know some thought it was more the position drafted in the first round rather than the player. Personally, I don’t care what position is picked in the first round (sans kicker, punter, long snapper, etc) as long as the player can play. I’m happy with Jack. He’s becoming a force and I hope he’s here another decade.
As long as he controls his friendly fire. He has taken out too many teammates last season.
3 Likes
He needs to study Devin Lloyd fake blitz drop under neathe inside slant routes for INT and pick 6 game changers
5 Likes
Everyone thinks that Kelvin Sheppard’s defense is the exact same as AG’s. But they’re not. Similar yes…
Sheppard basically took AG’s defense and made a shift to less complexity and more gap control. He approached that simplicity from a LBers perspective and Campbell excelled as a result.
.
15 Likes
It is interesting in how one’s experience bias’s one’s decisions. It is hard to do real open minded decision matrix.
1 Like
I totally agree Air. Similar philosophy but different in key areas. I love the mobile QB spy for example. It feels like we are getting more out of our LBers because we are asking them to do less. I like it regardless. Jack is thriving and so is this defense.
2 Likes
I agree what we’re doing at LBer is smart LBer play. I personally feel how you use your LBers is the key to good defensive contain.
I want to point out this fact….
A true spy is when a linebacker or safety’s only job is to mirror the quarterback.
The Lions didn’t dedicate a player exclusively to Lamar. Instead, they used a zone match containment approach by blending gap control, delayed pressure, and disciplined zone principles.
If Lamar broke the pocket, the nearest LB would convert from his zone drop to pursuit of Lamar. It was a read and react play rather than a preccalled spy. Not really a true spy.
I understand this role very well because I played it in college and we called it the “monster”. In my case it was a hybrid, read and react, role and depending on the team I would react to the QB or RB while everyone else maintained their zones.
Detroit essentially used zone match and controlled rush lanes to simulate a spy effect but it really wasn’t a dedicated spy so to speak.
I really like what Sheppard is doing with the LBers and how he’s converted Aaron’s Glenn’s defense and eliminated some of the deficiencies we saw in what Glenn did. I honestly think Sheppards a better schemer than Glenn was.
Honestly… I thought Glenn’s defense drastically improved once Sheppard took over at LBer coach…. I’m not trying to knock on Glenn at all. I just think Sheppard is better with the front 7 design.
11 Likes
They were just butthurt because they know more than Brad and he won’t listen!
1 Like
I believe (I may be wrong) historically top NFL defenses had a linebacker led defense.
The Lions have historically been on the average to below average side when it came to their LBer corps.
It used to be that the top defenses all had a well above average LBer corp. That started to swing towards the DB side around the time SEA’s defense became all the rage..
The swing was directly contributed to teams abandoning the run game for a short passing game and DC’s running heavy sub packages to counter.
But the best defenses still had at least one stud LBer.
Now that we’re seeing more and more base defenses and teams like the Lions setting stage with a solid run game. The need for quality LBer play is only going to continue to increase.
2 Likes
They had a solid LB group in 2014, but some could argue the DL was elite and made those LBs much better than they were.
1 Like
During the playoff runs in the 90’s Sanders years, the Lions had a very solid group of LB’s led by Spielman. They played a 3-4 those years, but you had Tracy Scroggins, Mike Johnson, Broderick Thomas and Victor Jones who were all good players. Then of course you had Spindler, Porcher and Pritchett on the line.
The Lions LB play this year across the board is much better. A big reason of course is they are healthy. We finally see Anzalone, Campbell and Barnes all on the field together. I also think a big part of it is the addition of Tyliek Williams and playing him alongside DJ Reader. The DT’s primary job is to occupy the OL and let the LB’s come in and make plays. This year, we are doing that in spades. Williams and Reader have been absolutely solid in the middle. Watching old clips from 2023 and 2024, it’s sad how many times you see the middle of the DL open up and that’s where the scrambling QB’s killed us. This year, a huge reason why Lamar’s scrambling was so ineffective is because the middle of the line was a wall. Lamar tried to run through the middle once and DJ Reader got him, and Lamar wasn’t about to try that too many times. Last thing anyone wants is a 330lb lineman falling on him.
When I am watching Campbell play, there has been a few times that he looks almost like a clone to another large sized LB. Used to play in Chicago. 6’4, 258, wore number 54. Compare him to Campbell, and it’s crazy how close they are. Campbell is 6’5, 246. Urlacher ran a 4.57, Campbell ran a 4.65. When Campbell drops back to play zone, its uncanny how much his movements mimic Urlacher dropping back.
2 Likes
I was told that we just had our Dline rush recklessly. Interesting
great intel - healthy DL in front of him (especially Hutch) ain’t hurtin’ matters much for the Lbs either. Maaaaannnn…. our LBs are flying all over the place, this year.
2 Likes
In 1989-1990, the Lions had an embarrassment of riches at the LB position with Mike Cofer, Chris Spielman, Dennis Gibson, Jimmy Williams, George Jamison, Toby Caston, Niko Noga, Victor Jones, Keith Karpinski, Tracy Hayworth. Of course, they played a 3-4 defense back then, so there were more on the roster.
2 Likes
This is the kind of high quality post that has kept me coming here for decades
3 Likes
I agree and I would propose or suggest a key reason.
On defense the LBs glue the front and back ends together. So they tend to know what everyone is doing. If the Dline has a stunt on the LBs need to know so they can be ready for the weak spots to be exploited by the offense. Conversely they have to know what the DBs are doing so they can drop into the best zones for coverage.
There is a reason the best OCs tend to be former QBs. Because a QB is the one person on the field of play that has to know what everyone else is doing on a particular play. I love ARSB but I can guarantee you that he is not paying attention to the line calls or the protection packages when he is split out. Unless it directly involves him he is doing his own thing.
Conversely, I think a DB is the same. They are not that interested in the Dline stunts since it has little to do with their job.
So it would make sense that a former LB might have some insights into how to scheme the whole defense that someone who played DB or Dline. I do not know a single DC or OC off the top of my head that used to play the lines in college or the NFL. And I am sure I am missing one. Maybe Reid but he is also a HC. I guess Belichick played Dline I think in college.
1 Like
Andy Reid used to be an OL, and started as an OL coach in college. Here’s one for you. Bill Belichick coached special teams, then moved to linebackers under Bill Parcells for the Giants before being promoted to DC.