All eyes are on Trevor Lawrence ahead of the NFL season. The former Clemson Tiger is coming off an underwhelming season, and the Jacksonville Jaguars will need him to put it all together if they want to challenge the Houston Texans for the AFC South title. But as important as Lawrence is for the Jags' success in 2025, he wasn't Pro Football Focus' pick for their "make-or-break" player.
Dalton Wasserman of PFF compiled a list of every NFL team's make-or-break player for the 2025 season and chose Campbell for Jacksonville, noting his play most improve after a pair of underwhelming campaigns.
"Campbell is entering the first season of a four-year contract extension that pays him an annual average of more than $19 million," Wasserman wrote. "However, Campbell needs to return to 2022 form that led to an excellent 80.7 PFF coverage grade in order to justify it."
Wasserman continued, "Over the past two seasons, he has recorded a far more mediocre 60.4 PFF coverage grade. Campbell isn't leaving Jacksonville anytime soon, but the defense needs him to play like a star this year after ranking 25th in the NFL in team PFF coverage grade last season."
A second-round pick in 2021, Campbell struggled early as a rookie but was the Jags' best corner by the end of the season. He was even better the following year and even joined the top-10 discussion at the position.
Expected to be even better in 2023, Campbell was instead slowed down by a hamstring injury. Last season wasn't much better. But despite his struggles, Jacksonville gave him a four-year, $76.5 million extension. The deal raised eyebrows because it was the highest for a corner who had never earned a Pro Bowl designation or an All-Pro selection.
Tyson Campbell is in a position to come through for the Jaguars
Tyson Campbell's past performance, along with his annual salary of $19.5 certainly made him a worthy candidate for the "make or break" candidate. But if the Jaguars had to choose one player to bounce back in 2025, it would most definitely be Trevor Lawrence. Having said that, they'll also need the fifth-year cornerback to rebound.
Working in Campbell's favor is that he's been healthy through the offseason. If he manages to avoid the injury bug, he'll have trouble getting back in his 2022 shape. Moreover, the Plantation, Florida native should be a better fit for defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile's zone-based system.
When you add it all up, it's easy to see why Hays Carlyon of 1010 XL is bullish about the corner's chances of bouncing back next season.
"I'm going to say Tyson Campbell, I'm buying the hype on," Carlyon said when discussing what Jaguar's stock he's buying in 2025 (2:42 mark). "Now, part of that is he's got to stay healthy, but he looks good. To hear Liam Cohen talk about how more of an emphasis on zone is going to help Tyson. And look, he's going to have chances. Because I do think that Travis Hunter is going to play a fairly high amount of snaps opposite him, and quarterbacks are going to learn pretty early on that that's not where you want to throw the ball."
Carlyon continued, "So I think Tyson Campbell has a chance to have a really strong bounce back here. We've obviously seen him play at a high level when healthy and and he's still such a young guy. I mean, there were guys in this draft class that are older than Tyson Campbell. He's just, I want to say, barely 25, and so it feels like he's been here a really long time, but he came out of Georgia at such a young age that he hasn't even hit the prime of his career yet. So a little off the radar."
So yes, Campbell needs to prove that he's still the same player he was in 2022 but he's in a position to pull it off.