Jack Campbell Just Got Disrespected By ESPN And I Am Not Having It
The Detroit Lions handed Jack Campbell a four-year, $81 million extension in May. Brad Holmes does not hand out that kind of money to linebackers unless he knows what he has. ESPN responded by ranking Campbell fifth among off-ball linebackers in the NFL. Fifth. Behind three guys with demonstrably worse numbers. Based on conversations with executives, scouts, and coaches around the league, ESPN says. Well, those executives, scouts, and coaches either did not watch Campbell play or they are giving him the Lions discount we have seen applied to this franchise for decades.
Campbell was the second-highest-graded linebacker in the NFL with a 90.2 Pro Football Focus grade. He was a first-team All-Pro. And somehow three guys with worse numbers landed ahead of him. Let’s talk about it.
Fred Warner At Number One Is Fine
San Francisco 49ers linebacker Fred Warner came in at number one. No argument here. Warner is the best off-ball linebacker in football and has been for years. He earned that spot. Moving on.
The Rest Of This List Is Insulting
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith landed at number two. Smith has been that good in the past. His reputation carries weight. But his 2025 season was not Jack Campbell’s 2025 season. This feels like a legacy ranking, not a performance-based one.
Number three is where it gets absurd. Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger, after one year in the league, is ranked ahead of a first-team All-Pro. Schwesinger had a solid rookie season. A 74.4 PFF grade, 18 pressures, three sacks, 106 tackles, two interceptions, a pass breakup, and a 98.7 passer rating allowed. That is a good year. But a personnel executive in ESPN’s own piece compared him to Luke Kuechly after one season. We are losing our minds here.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun came in at number four with an 80.9 PFF grade, 18 pressures, four sacks, 88 tackles, two interceptions, four pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a 73.2 passer rating allowed. Baun is a good player. He is not Jack Campbell.
Campbell’s Numbers Are Not Debatable
Jack Campbell finished with a 90.2 PFF grade. He had 110 solo tackles, fourth in the league and more than anyone ranked above him. He recorded 17 pressures and five sacks, more than all three guys ahead of him. He forced three fumbles and added two pass breakups. He did not have an interception. Fine. Everything else he did was number two across the board and number one in several categories.
ESPN’s own article acknowledged Campbell’s rise. It noted his 176 combined tackles were the most for a Lions player since Chris Spielman in 1994. It highlighted his 40% run-stop win rate, which ranked fifth among linebackers. The Lions drafted Campbell 18th overall in 2023 and he has gotten better every single year since. A veteran AFC assistant coach quoted in the same article called him an excellent football IQ player, tough, physical, plays downhill, instinctive, aware leader, throwback football player.
That quote is from the same article that ranked him fifth. You can understand why that feels contradictory.
Campbell Should Be Number Two And It Is Not Close
I am going to say it plainly. Jack Campbell should have been number two on this list. Smith was not Campbell-good last season. Baun was not Campbell-good. And ranking Schwesinger at three over a first-team All-Pro after one rookie season is projecting what Schwesinger might become rather than evaluating what he is right now.
If the thought process is that Campbell capped out last season, that is the wrong way to evaluate him. He has improved every year since entering the league. Schwesinger might turn into something special. He might be great. But that does not mean Campbell just stops being good. That does not mean you rank a rookie with a 74.4 grade ahead of a guy with a 90.2 grade and a first-team All-Pro nod.
When this ranking gets revisited next year, Campbell looks like a strong candidate for number two. Depending on how next season goes, maybe even number one. Brad Holmes knew what he was doing when he locked Campbell up. The national media will catch up eventually. They always do when it comes to Detroit.
Is ESPN just incapable of properly ranking Lions players or is this the same old disrespect we have been dealing with for decades? Drop your take below.
