Examining Detroit Lions Linebackers Unit Heading Into 2026 Season
Exploring how Detroit Lions linebackers can aid the defense during 2026 season.
Video Transcript
So I do think that the linebacking cop has a chance to be productive.
Sure against the run.
The question mark is gonna be.
Can they, the combination of Jack Campbell.
Derek Barnes.
Malcolm Rodriguez, Jimmy Roller, Trevor Nawazki.
Can they Handle what's gonna be thrown in front of them in coverage.
Can they battle consistently against opposing tight ends?
Can they read, recognize, not get torched sideline to sideline?
Do they have enough speed, athleticism, to be able to handle the craziness that is the 1213 personnel?
What do you guys think?
Now, Jack Campbell, the mic, the green dot leader, his, his task now, and what I liked about hearing about Jack Campbell was over time, over the last couple of years, the coaching staff steadily gave him added responsibility.
Let him look at the defense, and was that he was able to make adjustments on the fly, made some mistakes, but was able to make adjustments based on what he was reading, what he was seeing, why he was seeing it, and able to make checks and calls to the defense.
Now, this year, the goal and expectation is to have the defense in ready position to be able to thrive more often than not, because last year, injuries took over and you had issues in the secondary, you had a whole new secondary.
And and a defense can only do so much.
So you hope that the defense can stay as healthy as possible, the defensive line can help out, but the middle linebackers might be tasked with a different set of responsibilities this year.
Uh, Derrick Barnes might be tasked with a little bit even more playing on the edge, the same linebacker spot.
Now there's gonna be argument regarding what success the Lions have had with Derrick Barnes, and he'll be a different subject.
But I do think that for the Lions to have success, you, you wanna see a little bit more pressure from the linebackers in terms of getting into the backfield when needed, closing in, maybe forcing a little bit more disruption than they have in the past.
