Niners Nation
The veteran linebacker has seen a change in his play as of late.
The San Francisco 49ers have enjoyed a recent two-game winning streak, most recently beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 over the weekend to improve to 5-4 on the season.
It was a game filled with turns, as the 49ers had some missed opportunities leading to Tampa Bay coming back and even taking the lead at one point before San Francisco pulled off the victory at the end.
This win followed a 30-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys where the 49ers similarly had to hold off a fourth-quarter push to get the victory, but nonetheless; San Francisco is on a winning streak and is looking ahead as they hope to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
When it comes to why the 49ers have looked better, it’s easy to point to the team’s stars as the catalyst, but there have also been some players stepping up in key roles, even sometimes in unexpected ways.
One of those players is veteran linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who has looked better in each of the last two games, playing more aggressively and seemingly attacking the ball with more confidence opposite of Fred Warner.
Those improvements have caught the eye of head coach Kyle Shanahan, who even said that the linebacker has been one of the team’s best defenders as of late.
“Yeah, I think you’re accurate on [Campbell being one of the best defenders the last two games],” Shanahan said on Monday. “I thought Dallas was his best game of the year and I thought this game was maybe even better. De’Vondre’s a very good player. He’s done it. He did it in Atlanta. He did it in Arizona. He’s done it in Green Bay. And he has done some real good things here. It’s just getting used to our scheme and he gets better and better each week.”
“These last two games have been his best. He’s getting more confidence playing in it just our style and kind of how we do things. Everything’s a little bit different and playing next to all new guys and everything. But I couldn’t be more happy with him and his journey throughout this year.”
Campbell had six tackles and no missed tackles against the Cowboys back in Week 8, recording four stops as a factor near the line of scrimmage. Then, against the Buccaneers, the veteran linebacker had another six tackles and a team-high five stops. While he did have two missed tackles, the aggressiveness and confidence to go downhill were important and seen in the game.
After rotating in for a few weeks with Dee Winters, Campbell has played 100 percent of the defensive snaps in each of the last two weeks, and has been a pleasant surprise after going through rough patches to begin the season.
Now, the 49ers will very much welcome linebacker Dre Greenlaw into the fold when he’s set to return, but they could ease him back...
