A lot of Tennessee Titans players saw their stock rise against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, but the biggest standout of all might have been third-year linebacker Chance Campbell.
Campbell seemed like the perfect prospect to spend a sixth-round pick on in 2022 because he checked all of the boxes. He transferred from Maryland to Ole Miss for his final year of college. Not only did he win a starting job, but he led the team in tackles with 109 (top five in the SEC) and proceeded to post great testing numbers during the pre-draft process.
Unfortunately, his career has been derailed by recurring injuries and he got buried on the depth chart behind Jack Gibbens, who has a way of endearing himself to coaching staffs.
Campbell had splash plays here and there in the preseason over his first two seasons, but nothing like what he did on Saturday night when he finished with eight tackles, one sack, and one interception (the pick was on a Hail Mary attempt that ended the game).
After the game, Brian Callahan spoke about Campbell, saying, "He made plays kind of all night. He made a bunch of tackles. He made some hits on the quarterback. I think he sacked the quarterback once. Just to see him come alive a little bit was great because we're looking for guys to keep coming in that room for depth purposes. There's opportunities there and he did a nice job taking advantage of it."
If there was an entrenched starter ahead of him, it would be hard to argue that one preseason game should make a big difference, but the Titans' situation at linebacker is fluid. It seemed like Gibbens had the job locked down, but the defense was porous in the middle of the field while he was out there and that changed when Campbell stepped in to replace him.
When Campbell wasn't making the tackle, he was flying around and contributing to the play by occupying blockers.
We should also note that Campbell wasn't the only player flying around. Otis Reese IV also showed up and made his presence felt all over the field, but it just wasn't quite to the same extent that Campbell did.
Maybe it was just a bad game for Gibbens and a great game for Campbell, but the Titans owe it to the team to reward this kind of effort with a real chance to win a starting job. The good news is this is the perfect week to make a change like this.
The Titans are going to host the Seattle Seahawks this week for joint practices. That means the preseason game won't feature as many starters. If Campbell keeps making splash plays in practice, then he can start in the preseason game. With a few defensive starters around him, the coaching staff can get a better look at Campbell playing next to elevated talent.
Keep an eye on Campbell and Reese IV this week because this could be the first position where the Callahan-led Titans willingly change starters based on training camp/preseason game performances.