Why Detroit Lions believe Jack Campbell was ‘no-brainer’ with 18th pick

IOWA CITY — Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell was a “no-brainer” for the Detroit Lions with the No. 18 pick in the NFL Draft, as the Lions’ front office saw it.

“When we selected Jack, he was our highest-rated player that was left on the board,” Detroit general manager Brad Holmes said. “It was actually by a good margin.”

The Campbell pick was one of the most glaring examples of an NFL front office valuing a prospect much differently from draft experts in the media.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper ranked Campbell as the 58th-best prospect in the 2023 class, yet the Lions picked him with the 18th pick. He was Kiper’s third-best inside linebacker.

The few mock drafts that had Campbell in the first round largely expected him to go in the late 20s instead of 18th.

“Those same people that are putting together those mock drafts, they’re often not privy to some information,” Holmes said. “There’s no disrespect, but I would guarantee you that we’ve put in a lot more work into that.”

The selection of Campbell was partly the result of what Detroit specifically needed from this year’s draft. The Lions’ belief has been to “take the best players for us,” Holmes said.

“We find players that fit us and what we’re about — what we’re about from a character standpoint, from an intangible standpoint, from an intelligence standpoint,” Holmes said.

Critics of the Lions’ pick have suggested that they could have traded back and taken Campbell later while gaining future draft picks.

Holmes said the Lions “didn’t get much” trade interest for the 18th pick, but “we didn’t really even think of trying to get out either.”

“Yeah, we could have got cute and try to trade back and all that stuff,” Holmes said. “But no. There was a different level that was going to start if you were going to pass on him.”

Holmes called Campbell “extremely instinctive, extremely smart, extremely physical, very versatile.”

“First time looking at Jack, I kind of thought, ‘OK, I’ve seen these kind of linebackers before,’” Holmes said. “He’s big, and he’s a plugger. But actually, no, he’s not. The more you look at him, the more athletic his traits came out.”

NFL’s Next Gen Stats gave Campbell the highest “athleticism score” for his combine performance out of any linebacker in Indianapolis.

Part of the reason Campbell was not projected to go as high as he went was perceived positional value.

Even if Kiper rated Campbell as the best inside linebacker, the longtime ESPN analyst did not have any inside linebackers projected to go in the first round in his final mock draft.

NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah and several others also did not project any inside linebackers to be first-round picks, and Campbell turned out to be the only inside linebacker drafted in Thursday’s first round.

The Lions did not put much weight into positional value, though.

“They’re football players,” Holmes said. “If you believe that they can have an impact for you on the football field, then you just go ahead and take them.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com