Maybe there would have been no penalty for pass interference if Falcons rookie linebacker De’Vondre Campbell had turned his head and looked for the ball. At least Campbell was in position when Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston lofted a pass down the right sideline to tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins.
The Falcons have a recent history of giving up big games to opposing tight ends, due in part because they’ve lacked linebackers with the speed and athleticism to cover them. Campbell, a fourth-round pick out of Minnesota, is a raw linebacker but he can run and cover — maybe too fast sometimes, as it turned out during his NFL debut.
“I tripped a couple of times because I’m a lot faster than the dudes I’m guarding,” Campbell said. “I was stepping on their feet.”
There will be growing pains for Campbell, mistakes mixed in with flashes of potential. Two plays after that pass interference penalty, for example, Campbell made one of his best plays of the game.
Winston took a shotgun snap and handed off to Doug Martin on a play designed to go to the right, away from Campbell. Martin cut back to his left, darting towards space, but Campbell changed direction, pushed away a blocker and chased down Martin for a 6-yard loss.
On that play Campbell showed the benefits of his superlative length (6-feet-4 with 33 5/8-inch arms) and speed. The challenge for Campbell and the Falcons will be developing him. Campbell was named Academic All-Big Ten as a junior but he doesn’t yet have good NFL-level instincts.
“He’s been somebody that’s just answered the bell each time we’ve tried to rattle him or put him in a spot or try new things,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. “It’s the length and the speed that he’s able to play with. We matched him up with a good tight end (Sunday) and he answered that challenge with the exception of the pass interference that I saw. Even on that one, I thought he had good position, but the technique can get better, where he can go back and play the ball.
“Those were the things that you get encouraged about and say ‘I know this part we can get corrected.’”
Campbell came to the Falcons as a cover linebacker and pass rusher. According to Pro Football Focus, during Campbell’s final season at Minnesota, opposing quarterbacks had just a 56.1 passer rating when targeting him. Campbell also led the Gophers with four sacks.
There’s also little doubt about Campbell’s speed. He ran 40 yards in 4.58 seconds at the NFL scouting combine, which was among the best marks in his position group. Campbell said he ran 200 meters in 21.8 seconds during high school, when he was 30 to 40 pounds lighter.
“I don’t know if I can run that 21 but the speed is still there,” Campbell said.
That showed up during the Bucs game. So did Campbell’s rawness.
He was one of four defenders to miss a tackle on a 23-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Charles Sims III that gave the Bucs the lead for good with 14 seconds left in the first half. Pro Football Focus noted that Campbell often got blocked out of plays and docked him for two missed tackles and for allowing four catches for 52 yards and a touchdown.
“As the game went along, I started kind of taking bad angles to the ball,” Campbell said. “I guess that’s something for me, self-scouting, that I can work on throughout practice. Even as I get tired, continuing to focus on my fundamentals.”
If Campbell can figure out the finer details of playing his position, the Falcons will have the kind of speedy and athletic linebacker that Quinn wants for his defense.
“I just have to be really more consistent with it,” Campbell said. “But it’s that learning curve. I think every day I’m slowly but surely getting better.”
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