Re: Packers releasing DeVondre Campbell
Posted: 17 Mar 2024 12:10
Also, worth noting that he's not going scorched earth.
We don't have to hate this guy
Look, here's my take on the LBs in general.
Campbell was an athletic marvel coming out of college. He did best in Atlanta when he was a complementary player who was given simple assignments to go execute. He was at his worst when asked to process and think and make the right read; the tape of him picking the wrong hole to fill was ample when he first signed with us.
When he came over to us, Krys Barnes was running the defense; he was the green dot. I remember how despite Barnes' limitations, it was his ability to process that allowed him to get on the field early and succeed to an extent. Campbell came in, was given simple assignments and told where to go--he excelled. And he talked about finally being "used right" again.
Barnes departed, Campbell was "promoted" to be more of the veteran green dot guy next to an athletic marvel in Quay Walker who needed direction.
Quay is young DeVondre. Similar to Patrick Queen in Baltimore, athletic players who struggle when asked to process and who excel when there is a heady leader next to them (Queen excelled once Roquan was next to him). Campbell is being "used wrong" when he's asked to process and direct traffic. Then, injuries started taking his toll and now his elite athleticism is also sapped. So he doesn't have a lot to offer if he's neither an athletic marvel or a processor.
To me, this means it is IMPERATIVE for Quay's development to have a real processor in the room--a lot to ask of a rookie, but it puts the emphasis on processing in our LB selections. We need someone who can run the show. I think there are a couple guys in this class who can do it.
But Campbell was never a processor and asking him to be one slowed him down. Walker has never been a processor and asking him to do it would slow his development(in my view). And Queen has never been a processor so chasing after him to pair with Quay would have been a mistake (I know Queen seems random, but given how much people liked him in the draft that year and given how many people brought him up as an option in free agency, and given how his career has mirrored these other two, it just seemed relevant).
This has been one of the things I've talked about importing football IQ this offseason. We've been lacking it in the middle of the field and I believe that it has cost us.
So that's my too-long analysis of what is going on here and what Campbell probably means even if he can't quite articulate "I play faster when I don't think so much" without making himself sound bad.
We don't have to hate this guy
Look, here's my take on the LBs in general.
Campbell was an athletic marvel coming out of college. He did best in Atlanta when he was a complementary player who was given simple assignments to go execute. He was at his worst when asked to process and think and make the right read; the tape of him picking the wrong hole to fill was ample when he first signed with us.
When he came over to us, Krys Barnes was running the defense; he was the green dot. I remember how despite Barnes' limitations, it was his ability to process that allowed him to get on the field early and succeed to an extent. Campbell came in, was given simple assignments and told where to go--he excelled. And he talked about finally being "used right" again.
Barnes departed, Campbell was "promoted" to be more of the veteran green dot guy next to an athletic marvel in Quay Walker who needed direction.
Quay is young DeVondre. Similar to Patrick Queen in Baltimore, athletic players who struggle when asked to process and who excel when there is a heady leader next to them (Queen excelled once Roquan was next to him). Campbell is being "used wrong" when he's asked to process and direct traffic. Then, injuries started taking his toll and now his elite athleticism is also sapped. So he doesn't have a lot to offer if he's neither an athletic marvel or a processor.
To me, this means it is IMPERATIVE for Quay's development to have a real processor in the room--a lot to ask of a rookie, but it puts the emphasis on processing in our LB selections. We need someone who can run the show. I think there are a couple guys in this class who can do it.
But Campbell was never a processor and asking him to be one slowed him down. Walker has never been a processor and asking him to do it would slow his development(in my view). And Queen has never been a processor so chasing after him to pair with Quay would have been a mistake (I know Queen seems random, but given how much people liked him in the draft that year and given how many people brought him up as an option in free agency, and given how his career has mirrored these other two, it just seemed relevant).
This has been one of the things I've talked about importing football IQ this offseason. We've been lacking it in the middle of the field and I believe that it has cost us.
So that's my too-long analysis of what is going on here and what Campbell probably means even if he can't quite articulate "I play faster when I don't think so much" without making himself sound bad.
