The second of the Detroit Lions' fourth-round picks in the 2021 draft, after Amon-Ra St. Brown, Derrick Barnes might be easy to set aside. A college defensive end before his last season at Purdue, he also made the transition to off-ball linebacker in the NFL.
Last season was a season of growth for Barnes. He carried a strong offseason right into a season where he started 13 games and set a clear career-high with 81 total tackles. He put a nice moment on top of that regular season showing with the game-clinching interception of Baker Mayfield in the Divisional Round win over the Buccaneers.
The Lions have three, if not four, starting-caliber off the ball linebackers. Jack Campbell is lined up to take a bigger role, seemingly settling into being the "MIKE" linebacker based on OTAs. Alex Anzalone is not going anywhere.
Barnes has done nothing to deserve losing snaps this season. Finding a way to get him on the field is something that appears to be on the Lions' radar.
Derrick Barnes lined up for "hybrid" role in Lions' defense?
In his review of the Lions' linebacker situation heading into training camp, Tim Twentyman of Lions.com of course talked about the expectation Campbell has an increased role/workload. But a nugget about Barnes was interesting.
"Barnes played in the middle last year too, but also moved around and played a significant number of snaps at outside linebacker. It will be interesting to see how the Lions deploy him this season. He worked this spring both inside and outside. He's becoming a really versatile player who can play a lot of different roles in that room."
Counting the playoffs last year, according to Pro Football Focus, Barnes played 195 snaps at outside linebacker. Over his sophomore and junior seasons at Purdue, 2018 and 2019, he totaled 10.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. While he has transitioned to playing off the ball in the NFL, that ability to get after it off the edge probably isn't totally gone.
The issues the Lions had at the edge rusher spot opposite Aidan Hutchinson last year are well-known, and it's uncertain they've fixed that. Barnes can probably help the situation, if only as a way to get him on the field a little more.
