By Blessing 
Is Jack Campbell Flying Under the Radar in Detroit?
As Jack Campbell gears up for his third season with the Detroit Lions, the buzz around his name still doesn’t quite match the level of his performance on the field.
Recently, NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice released a list highlighting each team’s most underappreciated player—and Campbell earned the nod for Detroit. Despite being a standout, the young linebacker has yet to receive the recognition many believe he deserves.
“Brad Holmes has been a wildly successful drafter in Detroit,” Filice pointed out. “Just look at the general manager’s 2023 haul. You can reasonably argue that three of the Lions’ first four picks from that draft are now top-five players at their respective positions: running back Jahmyr Gibbs, tight end Sam LaPorta and safety Brian Branch. The unmentioned selection in that span of picks? Jack Campbell, who just led the team with 131 tackles.”
Campbell’s impact became even clearer after veteran linebacker Alex Anzalone went down with a broken forearm last season. Stepping up in a big way, Campbell showed growth not just on the stat sheet but in his overall play—evidenced by a jump in his Pro Football Focus grade from 52.1 in his rookie year to 78.7 last season.
He not only crossed the 100-tackle threshold but also showed he could be a long-term cornerstone in Kelvin Sheppard’s defensive system.
“While the linebacker hasn’t received Pro Bowl recognition like his draft classmates, he certainly has made an impact in Detroit—especially last season, when injuries ravaged the Lions’ linebacker group and defense as a whole,” Filice noted. “The former first-round pick started every game and left quite an impression on his old defensive coordinator.”