First-round status won’t give Lions’ Jack Campbell automatic starting role

Detroit News

Allen Park — Being a first-round pick in the NFL gets you a lot of guaranteed money.

It does not, however, get you an automatic starting job — at least these days, not on the Detroit Lions.

Lions linebackers coach Kelvin Sheppard said former Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell, selected No. 18 by Detroit in the NFL Draft, won’t be be named an instant starter just because of his draft spot — the same way Malcolm Rodriguez wasn’t held back just because he was a late-round pick a year ago. If Campbell’s a starter, it’s because he earned it.

“Guys, it does not matter if he went first round. It doesn’t matter,” Sheppard said. “Malcolm went sixth round. That has no tell on the progression of the rookie development. Each guy … literally is different.”

Of course, this is not a knock on Campbell’s potential, or a way of tempering expectations for a rookie that’s underwhelmed. It’s just that linebacker — particularly in the NFL — is a complicated position to play, and each guy has different elements to improve on once they reach the next level. Rodriguez was instinctive and played fast, thus, he was an instant fit for a run defense that sorely needed a player like him.

“You could get a free agent that you never thought would be anything, guy who you just took a flier on, come in here and pick up the system in two weeks. Each guys is different,” Sheppard said. “And then you’ve got guys that go top 10, and that progression may take longer.”

It’s also, in some ways, a compliment to the team’s new depth at linebacker: With the return of defensive captain Alex Anzalone, Rodriguez, plus Derrick Barnes — suspected to be an early favorite for most improved player on that side of the ball — the Lions don’t have an automatic need for Campbell to take snaps if he’s not ready.

“It’s no knock on the kid, and thankfully we’re in a position where if Jack isn’t the opening-day starter, it’s no knock on him. If anything, it’s the other guys that stepped up to the challenge of having to overcome all the different nuances of, ‘18th pick, this guy, gotta do extra, gotta do this,’” Sheppard said.

He added, “The expectation (for Campbell) is continuing to progress as a rookie in our system…personally taking the steps that he knows I need him to take.”

“One … as far as his athletic ability, fixing his technique. Things they asked him to do at Iowa are different from things we’re asking him to do here, which he’s taken on and run with full steam ahead. I’ve seen growth,” Sheppard said.

“And then from the neck up: He’s a very smart player, but at Iowa, they ran maybe five, six coverages, five, six calls. Here, it’s a broader landscape, so being able to transition, ‘Oh, this play, I’m doing this. Now, here we are, we’re on third-and-7, gotta be able to click to the third-down package’ without any hesitation.

“So just the natural rookie process.”

nbianchi@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @nolanbianchi

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