The career of Tyson Campbell has been one filled with inconsistency and adversity. At times, Campbell looks to be one of the league’s premier cover corners. Other times, Campbell has struggled as injuries have kept him off the field for 11 games the last two seasons
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Last offseason, the Jaguars gave Campbell a huge 4-year, $76.5 million contract. Campbell’s annual average of $19.125 million ranks 10th among NFL cornerbacks. Among the 25 highest-paid corners, just two are 25 years or younger: Tyson Campbell and Patrick Surtain II.
Campbell’s impressive 2022 season is what gave the Jaguars the confidence to hand Campbell the franchise’s largest cornerback deal ever. Campbell snagged three interceptions and 15 pass deflections. His play was a huge reason for the team’s success that season.
Unfortunately, in his two seasons since, Campbell has totaled just 11 pass deflections and one interception. His injuries have no doubt slowed him down as he was noticeably hindered, especially in the back half of the 2023 season.
Staying healthy, in and of itself, would be huge for Campbell. Availability is the best ability. Even when he’s returned from injury, it’s been clear that Campbell just wasn’t the same player. With an offseason to recover, you’d expect the injuries to be behind him.
To add insult to injury, the Jaguars’ man-heavy scheme of 2024 also prevented Campbell from being the best version of himself. Over the course of his career, Campbell has performed much better in zone coverage as opposed to man.
According to Pro Football Focus, Campbell has an NFL Rating of 127.15 in man coverage, compared to his rather solid NFL Rating of 91.76 in zone coverage.
While neither figure is as low as you’d like to see from a corner as highly paid as Campbell, the numbers show a stark contrast between his success in man and zone.
During his impressive 2022 season, Campbell’s NFL Rating of 80.0 was much closer to where you’d expect to see a player of Camppbell’s talents. Since then, however, he’s seen NFL Ratings of 127.4 and 109.7 in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
It isn’t all doom and gloom, however, for Campbell. His play for much of 2024 was actually quite solid. A couple of tough games against the Lions and Jets made his season look a lot worse than it really was.
Campbell allowed just two touchdowns in coverage this past season, both coming against the Lions. According to NextGenStats, Campbell forced the second-most tight window throws (38.1%) of cornerbacks in 2024.
Campbell’s in the right spots, he just has to finish. With new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile at the helm, a shift away from the superman-heavy scheme of 2024 could do wonders for Campbell.
Only the Detroit Lions ran more man coverage than the Jaguars last season, something Tyson Campbell has struggled with over the course of his career. There’s something to be said for putting your players in advantageous positions to succeed.
Whether on offense or defense, the Jaguars staff failed to do that last season. This new staff, led by Liam Coen, could see a bounceback season from both Campbell and the rest of the Jaguars roster simply by letting the players be nothing more than themselves
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