These Two Draft Picks Best Fit Dan Campbell’s Team Identity

Assessing which two picks most embody Campbell's "gritty" style.

Nov 23, 2024; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Jimmy Rolder (30) pursues a play on defense against the Northwestern Wildcats at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

There’s no question that NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah loves himself some Derrick Moore and Jimmy Rolder, the pair of Michigan teammates that the Lions took in the 2026 NFL Draft. 

Jeremiah believes that Moore, Detroit’s second-round pick (No. 44 overall), and Rolder, the team’s fourth-round selection (No. 118 overall), perfectly fit Dan Campbell’s “gritty” style of play. 

Physicality is the name of the game for Rolder, who checks in at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds. He plays with a relentless motor and is a highly proficient run defender, exploding to the ball whenever a ball-carrier is in sight. 

Rolder compiled 57 total tackles, two sacks and 13 pressures in his final season in Ann Arbor, earning a 74.8 overall Pro Football Focus grade for his efforts. He also recorded a sterling run-defense mark of 80.1.

“When you’re writing comparisons down when I’m watching him, I wrote down Evel Knievel for how aggressive he took on blocks,” Jeremiah said of Rolder on “Path to the Draft” on NFL Network. 

Meanwhile, Moore – whom the Lions dealt two picks (No. 50 overall and No. 128 overall) to obtain at No. 44 – should provide Detroit with a reliable pass-rushing complement for Pro Bowl EDGE Aidan Hutchinson. 

The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder amassed a career-best 10-sacks, 30 total tackles, including 10.5 tackles for loss, three passes defensed and two forced fumbles in his final campaign with the Wolverines. 

And for his efforts in 2025, he earned first-team All-Big Ten honors and an 89.9 overall grade from PFF, good for 18th best among 852 qualified EDGE defenders.

Jeremiah was impressed with the physicality exuded by Moore at this year’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

“And then (there’s) his teammate here in Derrick Moore, how physical and violent he played, culminating in what we saw in the Senior Bowl,” Jeremiah expressed. “I mean, we watched him in that Senior Bowl and one of the most physical reps of the entire weekend (came) against ‘Big Mountain of (Markel) Bell’ there. But, he went up against the top tackles they had to offer down there, and it was physical, physical, physical, both to and through the whistle.”

Both Moore and Rolder have a chance to make an immediate impact in Detroit defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard’s unit. And the same can be said about offensive tackle Blake Miller, the Lions’ first selection in this year’s draft (No. 17 overall). 

As a result, Campbell’s squad certainly has a shot to be a more competitive bunch in 2026 than it was a season ago.