De'Vondre Campbell will not enter the 2015 NFL draft

Donate To GopherHole
D

die hard gopher

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2013
Messages
9,273
Reaction score
818
Points
113
Unlike a lot of posters on here, De'Vondre is one of my favorite players and I believe he had a very good year and will be even better next year but I got a kick out of tweet. Why he even considered declaring and needed to announce this is beyond me.

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 

I wasn't really worried, but that's good news I guess.
 

Lol. Thanks De'Vondre. We were all waiting biting our nails.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gvRQ7PDTS24" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

Good. He'll be one of our standout players next year. His draft stock has PLENTY of room for improvement.
 

I was at that game and it happened right in front of my section. I still have no clue WTF Campbell was doing/thinking there.
 


he needs at least one more year to grow. he was out of position many times this season and I hope he will continue to improve and become that stud that is waiting to get out o him.

I actually feel bad that i didn't even think this was getting considered. But seeing him just come up short on several plays this season made me think he was gearing up for a big Senior season. We could really use him to step up like Wilson did this past season. be that guy that is a magnet for the ball carrier.
 

afurry91 said:
Lol. Thanks De'Vondre. We were all waiting biting our nails.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/gvRQ7PDTS24" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Click to expand...

4th and 3 woudl have been a game changer if we could have stopped them there.
 

DoubleB said:
he needs at least one more year to grow. he was out of position many times this season and I hope he will continue to improve and become that stud that is waiting to get out o him.

I actually feel bad that i didn't even think this was getting considered. But seeing him just come up short on several plays this season made me think he was gearing up for a big Senior season. We could really use him to step up like Wilson did this past season. be that guy that is a magnet for the ball carrier.
Click to expand...

Hopefully he does, we will need him to be. If he would have left, I couldn't see him getting drafted this year. Much better chance next year after refining some more of his game.
 

I'm not entering the 2015 NFL draft either, was there really concern this was going to happen? I thought he was a pretty solid college linebacker this year (not withstanding his temporary lobotomy right before that fake punt), but I didn't even have him on the radar as an NFL prospect at this point in time.
 




He is a decent player, but he also had some head-scratchers for bad angles/decisions. He did improve as the year went on though. He has a lot of potential if he can learn to take the right angles and make the right decisions.
 





I thought he was a senior, so it is a pleasant surprise for me to see he will be back next year lol. Did we get him after just one year of juco?
 

Cayman said:
I thought he was a senior, so it is a pleasant surprise for me to see he will be back next year lol. Did we get him after just one year of juco?
Click to expand...

Yep, he was a sophomore when he transferred.
 

Might just impact my decision to not renew my season tickets.
 

DoubleB said:
he needs at least one more year to grow. he was out of position many times this season and I hope he will continue to improve and become that stud that is waiting to get out o him.

I actually feel bad that i didn't even think this was getting considered. But seeing him just come up short on several plays this season made me think he was gearing up for a big Senior season. We could really use him to step up like Wilson did this past season. be that guy that is a magnet for the ball carrier.
Click to expand...

Don't feel bad because he wasn't being considered. If anyone was in his ear telling him to go pro thank goodness he made the decision not to listen and come back because he is not NFL ready yet and I have a hard time believe he would have been anything more then a free agent look had he come out this year.

He has some potential and I am glad he will be back again next season.
 



DoubleB said:
he needs at least one more year to grow. he was out of position many times this season and I hope he will continue to improve and become that stud that is waiting to get out o him.

I actually feel bad that i didn't even think this was getting considered. But seeing him just come up short on several plays this season made me think he was gearing up for a big Senior season. We could really use him to step up like Wilson did this past season. be that guy that is a magnet for the ball carrier.
Click to expand...

Wilson showed a lot more flash his junior year. Expecting Campbell to be anywhere close to that level this year will set you up for disappointment.
 

Campbell is frustrating because he plays linebacker, but is not a physical player. He's frequently seen trailing running backs on 20+ yard gains as well since he's often out of position. That said, he has a unique skill set in that he has the speed to play sideline to sideline (see the play he chased down Mauk, where Mauk was injured.), the speed/athleticism to cover RB's and TE's in coverage and has great length. The NFL is league full of specialists and I could see him being a successful 3rd down LB in the NFL.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Campbell is frustrating because he plays linebacker, but is not a physical player. He's frequently seen trailing running backs on 20+ yard gains as well since he's often out of position. That said, he has a unique skill set in that he has the speed to play sideline to sideline (see the play he chased down Mauk, where Mauk was injured.), the speed/athleticism to cover RB's and TE's in coverage and has great length. The NFL is league full of specialists and I could see him being a successful 3rd down LB in the NFL.
Click to expand...

He also poorly wraps up on quite a few tackles. Probably goes with the whole being physical thing.
 

To be honest while I do think he is a very good player right now and will be even better next year I just don't think Minnesota is the best fit with him. He just isn't a 4-3 LB in the Big Ten, he is a 3-4 LB in the Pac-12. It's hard to play that style of LB when you are 6-5. Of course that doesn't mean he can't do great things here and I am very thankful we have him but his potential would definitely be materialized better if he were somewhere else. That being said I am expecting him to be either second team all big ten or an honorable mention next year.
 

die hard gopher said:
To be honest while I do think he is a very good player right now and will be even better next year I just don't think Minnesota is the best fit with him. He just isn't a 4-3 LB in the Big Ten, he is a 3-4 LB in the Pac-12. It's hard to play that style of LB when you are 6-5. Of course that doesn't mean he can't do great things here and I am very thankful we have him but his potential would definitely be materialized better if he were somewhere else. That being said I am expecting him to be either second team all big ten or an honorable mention next year.
Click to expand...

It's really interesting how the staff targets body types for specific roles and watching how we replace outgoing players with. Notice that we're recruiring 2 LBs right now and both have Campbell's build at 6'4" 200lbs.
 

Campbell may very well step up as a senior. I really like us at LB next year. A strong 2 deep.
 

I'm not comfortable laughing at the kid for considering entering the draft. He might have gotten lucky and gotten drafted in the late rounds or he might have signed with someone as an undrafted free agent. Either way, whether he's making the rookie minimum or getting paid to play on the practice squad, he makes more money than most 18-22 kids will ever make in a year. It's seductive - so seductive that it could persuade him to make a decision that isn't in his best long-term interest.

I'm glad Campbell decided to come. He's definitely worthy of his spot on the roster, even if he won't be the best LB on the team next year.
 

Costa Rican Gopher said:
Campbell is frustrating because he plays linebacker, but is not a physical player. He's frequently seen trailing running backs on 20+ yard gains as well since he's often out of position. That said, he has a unique skill set in that he has the speed to play sideline to sideline (see the play he chased down Mauk, where Mauk was injured.), the speed/athleticism to cover RB's and TE's in coverage and has great length. The NFL is league full of specialists and I could see him being a successful 3rd down LB in the NFL.
Click to expand...

Good synopsis. He's a very special athlete and he's one of those guys who could blow up in workouts and get drafted on that alone.
 


Campbell has his limitations but those were known. go back and watch his JUCO highlight film; he was a drag down tackler even then, rarely squaring up and hitting someone. Remember the guy is 6'5" and was about 200lbs up until last year. That means most of his playing career he was loosing the leverage and power battle against ball carriers so squaring up would get him run over. He's just now at the point where he has the physical strength to even think about playing downhill. Not only that but he was specifically brought here to play a role. Wilson and Lynn were our in the box LBs and Campbell's job was to play in space. His athleticism also allowed us to be versatile in some of our packages as he could be used as an edge rusher, in man or in zone. He was much better this year than last year and if he continues to get more comfortable at LB and being physical then he could certainly be an NFL draft pick. Nate Tripplet barely saw the field until his senior year and got drafted and Campbell is the best athlete we've had at LB in a long time.
 

everybody knows my name said:
I'm not comfortable laughing at the kid for considering entering the draft. He might have gotten lucky and gotten drafted in the late rounds or he might have signed with someone as an undrafted free agent. Either way, whether he's making the rookie minimum or getting paid to play on the practice squad, he makes more money than most 18-22 kids will ever make in a year. It's seductive - so seductive that it could persuade him to make a decision that isn't in his best long-term interest.

I'm glad Campbell decided to come. He's definitely worthy of his spot on the roster, even if he won't be the best LB on the team next year.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure I make more money than a players on the practice squad. So that's not tough to do. On the other hand, I'll likely never make more than the league minimum for the active roster out here in the real world.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom