Dan Campbell Doubles Down On Levi Onwuzurike
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00When training camp began, Dan Campbell had said
00:04about Levi Anzarique that this guy is one of the best.
00:07And they were really excited about the progress
00:09that he had made, and to the point where
00:12when we were talking about it on the air,
00:13Doug was like, wait, wow, he said one of the best, wow.
00:17And Doug's buying in all in.
00:19He's all in on what Dan Campbell has to say.
00:22And it's hard not to be, right?
00:24Because Dan Campbell's been very upfront on us.
00:26He's called out players when it's necessary
00:28to try to motivate them.
00:30He's given praise to players when they're deserving of it.
00:33And here it is, Levi Anzarique.
00:35It gave me pause, though, because we haven't seen
00:39Levi Anzarique make an impact with the Detroit Lions
00:42to this point.
00:42He's been hurt a lot.
00:43When he has been healthy enough to play,
00:45it's just been, okay, you know, has he flashed?
00:49A little bit, maybe?
00:50Not as much as like a Josh Paschal, in my opinion.
00:54So when I hear that a few weeks ago
00:57he was very excited about Levi Anzarique
01:00and saying he's one of the best,
01:02I'm still a little skeptical.
01:04But today, he kind of doubled down on it.
01:27So saying that getting unbelievable reps against the ones,
01:52that kind of stands out to me.
01:53Like, okay, the little chuckle that he had
01:58is almost like, as if to say, you gotta see this.
02:00He's incredible.
02:02So have I moved off my stance where I gotta see it
02:05to believe it?
02:07Maybe a little bit.
02:08And, Kang, I know that you're kind of in the same boat
02:10as me, but maybe you've moved more than I have.
02:13But I have moved a little bit towards getting more
02:17to my 51 of absolutely positivity
02:19of believing Dan Campbell in this.
02:21Yeah, not only would Dan Campbell not stop praising Levi,
02:25but to break down exactly what he said there,
02:27and I'm with you, the laugh.
02:29The laugh was like a positive laugh.
02:31Like, he couldn't wait to say positive things about Levi.
02:33And then saying that he's working against the ones.
02:36This isn't against the backups.
02:37He said unbelievable reps against the ones.
02:40Hey, does anyone think our offensive line is good?
02:42Yeah, raise your hand, right?
02:43So he's going to get a good competition.
02:45So I was like you, Gator.
02:48I gotta see it to believe it,
02:49but I've definitely moved off of that a little bit
02:53where I'm like, all right, now I expect it.
02:55You know, like before I was like, ah, I believe what I see.
02:57Now I'm like, no, I think he's going to be good
02:59because they won't stop talking about how great he is.
03:01I mean, Stoney, he might start week one
03:04because we don't know DJ Reader's stats, right?
03:06Exactly, he probably will start week one.
03:08And wouldn't that be saying something for Levi?
03:10Like, I thought his career might be done,
03:13let alone, I was like at the point where,
03:15hey, if he's a rotational guy, it's a win at this point.
03:17You know, this is not what we drafted
03:19or envisioned when we drafted him,
03:20but at this point in his career, maybe a rotational guy.
03:23Maybe he is the guy that they thought they were getting
03:25when they took him in the second round.
03:27I mean, who else are you going to start besides him?
03:31Pecco?
03:32I don't think, I mean, he's fine, but yeah,
03:35Pecco or Project Martin, you know, or Makai Wingo.
03:40But look who they held out.
03:41Okay, look, they didn't play last week.
03:44All right, they didn't play with McNeil.
03:45They didn't play on Enzarique.
03:46Pecco didn't play last week, did he?
03:48I don't think so.
03:49I don't think he did.
03:51Martin did, okay, and Wingo did as well.
03:54And Wingo's a rookie, and he expected
03:55that he was going to get some time, and he did.
03:58But this week, it seems like a couple defensive players
04:02and defensive linemen could get some plays.
04:05And if, I imagine they get starting plays.
04:08So is this where we see Enzarique play?
04:12Might, are the two players he's talking about,
04:14is he talking about Enzarique and McNeil?
04:17Well, we haven't seen a Lee McNeil at camp in a while.
04:20Right, and the reason that you don't want to play Enzarique
04:23is because of a reader.
04:26I mean, if Enzarique goes down, then two of you
04:29are arguably top three defensive linemen are hurt.
04:32Yes, well, and they really, really like,
04:36apparently, Levi Enzarique right now.
04:38Yes.
04:39And knowing how much they loved the draft pick at the time,
04:43that Brad Holmes had to be talked out
04:44of moving back into the first round to get him.
04:47They had to be talked out of moving up
04:48in the second round to get him.
04:50Be patient, he's gonna fall to you.
04:52And he did.
04:53And then how ecstatic they were,
04:54the way they celebrated in the draft room
04:56after they got him was like,
04:58we got a future Pro Bowl player.
05:00Okay, great.
05:02Love to see it, but we haven't seen it.
05:03So I'm still a little skeptical,
05:05but I'm more on board with it now
05:07because it's two weeks after he made
05:08those initial comments, Dan Campbell, about Enzarique,
05:12where he's more than doubling down on it.
05:14He's giving more details about why he looks good
05:17and what they're expecting out of it.
05:19And I guess now I'm getting to the point where I'm excited.
05:22Now I wanna see, show me, I wanna see it.
05:26And as a Lions fan, I mean, this is a good area
05:30to be in, right?
05:30Because this was a definite, an area of need
05:33in the middle of the defensive line.
05:35Not, look, they did a decent job of,
05:38a better than decent job, they were very good
05:40against the run statistically,
05:41even though there were some games
05:42that things got away from them.
05:44This is a team that's gonna be tough to run against,
05:46but what they lacked was getting any kind of pressure
05:49up the middle from those guys.
05:52McNeil got some pressure, DJ Reader is known for it,
05:56and now it sounds like Levi Enzarique,
05:57who they drafted to be kind of this guy
05:59because he's like a, I mean, he's a 300 pounder,
06:02but he's also taller and he's muscular.
06:06I mean, this is a guy who's powerful, he's a force,
06:09that this is part of his game
06:11that we saw in college at Washington.
06:12He got pressure, he was a game wrecker
06:14in the middle of that defense.
06:16You had the game plan against him, and he won.
06:20So I'm very encouraged by this, but you're totally on.
06:23Oh yeah, absolutely.
06:24You're all in.
06:25And I believe what Dan Campbell said.
06:27The only question with Enzarique,
06:29I believe, is gonna be his health
06:31because of his injury history.