Meet the 249-pound linebacker in the NFL Draft who won't flinch covering Tyreek Hill

INDIANAPOLIS — Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill made a living in 2022 making cornerbacks and safeties look slow. Of course, Hill makes everybody look slow.

But a linebacker? More specifically, a 6-foot-5, 249-pound linebacker?

Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell, a possible Day 2 draft pick this season, spoke at the NFL Combine and didn’t flinch at the possibility of dropping into coverage against Hill.

In fact, he was the one who brought it up.

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The context: Campbell was talking about his versatility as a linebacker.

“You’ve got to be amphibious,” he said.

Amphibious?

“When I think of amphibious, I think of a frog,” he said. “You can go in the water, you can go on the land. At linebacker you've got to play the run, take on blocks, you've got to be able to use your hands. You've got to be violent back there.

“But also you've got to drop back into coverage. I'm going to use this guy as an example: Tyreek Hill. I'm going to have Tyreek Hill in the slot, so I have to be able to take on 330-pound guys and defeat them and then go tackle a Nick Chubb. The next play I'm going to have to cover Tyreek Hill. That's the context I'm talking about.”

Campbell said he wanted to keep his meetings with NFL teams at the Combine private out of respect for them. It's not known if he’s meeting the Dolphins, whose defense is now run by Vic Fangio, who, coincidentally, shares a birthday (Aug. 22) with Campbell.

Over the course of his career with the Hawkeyes, Campbell put together a resume worthy of attention. He won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker and received the William V. Campbell Trophy, also known as the Academic Heisman.

“I’m not the smartest dude in the room academically but somehow I wound up with that award,” he said.

Don’t be fooled. Campbell graduated in December after posting a 3.49 grade-point average. He majored in enterprise management — a tipoff he won’t be easily fooled out of position on the football field.

“It teaches you how to start and run and operate your own small business,” Campbell said of his major. “I hope someday to get into that sector.”

Campbell’s study habits carry into his soon-to-be profession. He prides himself in film study, which helped him pile up 118 tackles this past season, second in the Big Ten and tied for 13th nationally. He also had two interceptions, one recovered fumble and one forced fumble, along with 3.5 tackles for loss. He has 295 career tackles to rank 19th in program history.

NFL.com rates Campbell as a backup with potential to develop into a starter. Analyst Lance Zierlein wrote, “He scrapes and plugs his run fits with workmanlike dependability but lacks the short-area burst and reactive athleticism teams typically look for from NFL starters. He plays with above-average field awareness. He’s capable as a zone defender and in some matchups against in-line tight ends. What you see is what you get with Campbell, and teams will need to balance the consistency with the playmaking limitations in their evaluations.”

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Iowa LB Jack Campbell says he won't flinch covering Dolphins' Tyreek Hill