Why the Jaguars swapped Tyson Campbell for Greg Newsome

Simply put, Tyson Campbell has been a liability.

The Jaguars have allowed 5 passes of 30+ yards this season (tied for ninth-most) and Campbell was responsible for 4 of them.

No cornerback has allowed more touchdowns than Campbell (22) since he entered the league in 2021. He's also allowed the third-most passing yards (2,411).

The former 33rd overall pick is a talented player. He's been the Jaguars' No. 1 cornerback, and one of their surest tacklers, his entire career. Yet he's always been plagued by big plays.

It's not as if he's a Marcus Peters type whose aggression can be used against him. Campbell consistently loses positioning in the final phase of routes. Even if he's hip-and-hip with a receiver, he'll lose sight of the football – or never find it in the first place. It's tough to play defense downfield when you don't know where the ball is located or when it will land.

Beyond that, Campbell doesn't look like his former self. He was one of the NFL's best zone defenders during a 2022 breakout season. According to Sports Info Solutions, he ranked top-10 among 120 qualifying cornerbacks in yards allowed per coverage snap (0.4), EPA per play allowed (-0.39), and success rate allowed (29.4%) on such coverages that year.

When he watched the quarterback's eyes the entire play, he could use his instincts and burst to cover a huge portion of grass. This permitted Jacksonville to shade coverages to the other side of the formation and leave Campbell on an island.

Check out the play below. From a press alignment, Campbell reroutes the receiver and deeps drop enough in his zone to force a checkdown, but not so deep that he can't react trigger downhill in a flash and make the targeted player hear footsteps.

Now watch this play against the same opponent three years later. Campbell hesitates as the ball is being thrown. You can see the same burst as old when he runs to tackle the targeted receiver, but that slight pause gave the targeted receiver enough time to not just catch the ball, but turn towards Campbell and dig his foot into the turf to set up a juke move.

There's been similar reps throughout the season of Campbell not playing as confidently as he once did. Is he hesitating due to a lack of trust in his body (he's had multiple injuries in the past calendar year), or due to a lack of certainty in the new defensive scheme?

It's hard to say, but the Jaguars had seen enough.