This article is part of our IDP Analysis series.
Now six weeks into the season, we continue to see the landscape of defensive units change. Unfortunately, much of that has come because of injury, though roles have also increased as teams begin to trust their young players more. We'll use that as the starting point of this week's edition of the IDP column, highlighting several rookies who have impressed generally or seen a recent uptick in role.
Risers
JuJu Brents, CB 
Brents lit up the combine and saw his stock rise to the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft. A hamstring injury sidelined him for much of training camp and early in the season, but he's immediately taken over a starting role in the Indianapolis secondary. Tackles have consistently been there (24 across four games), but he's recently shown some of his playmaking ability. In Week 5, he broke up one pass, and then built on that against Jacksonville while matching up often with Calvin Ridley and picking off his first career pass. There may be some inconsistency in his performance – that's reflected in his PFF grades—but he's an athletic young corner showing promise.
Jack Campbell, LB 
The Lions have among the best defensive units in the league, and now they're starting to unleash their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Campbell recorded a career-high seven tackles in Sunday's win over the Buccaneers, but more importantly, he has played over 50 percent of defensive snaps in three of his last four games after posting
Now six weeks into the season, we continue to see the landscape of defensive units change. Unfortunately, much of that has come because of injury, though roles have also increased as teams begin to trust their young players more. We'll use that as the starting point of this week's edition of the IDP column, highlighting several rookies who have impressed generally or seen a recent uptick in role.
Risers
JuJu Brents, CB
Brents lit up the combine and saw his stock rise to the second round in the 2023 NFL Draft. A hamstring injury sidelined him for much of training camp and early in the season, but he's immediately taken over a starting role in the Indianapolis secondary. Tackles have consistently been there (24 across four games), but he's recently shown some of his playmaking ability. In Week 5, he broke up one pass, and then built on that against Jacksonville while matching up often with Calvin Ridley and picking off his first career pass. There may be some inconsistency in his performance – that's reflected in his PFF grades—but he's an athletic young corner showing promise.
Jack Campbell, LB
The Lions have among the best defensive units in the league, and now they're starting to unleash their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Campbell recorded a career-high seven tackles in Sunday's win over the Buccaneers, but more importantly, he has played over 50 percent of defensive snaps in three of his last four games after posting 37 and 33 percent snap rates in Week 1 and 2. Campbell has proven to be a strong run-stopper, and hopefully he starts to get more pass-rushing responsibilities soon. An increased snap rate is the first step in that direction.
Byron Young, LB 
In contrast to the Lions, the Rams had a lot of holes on the defensive side of the ball. Young, a third-round rookie, has proven capable of filling one of those voids, playing at least 70 percent of defensive snaps in every game this season. He's been a strong pass-rushing presence, tallying at least one quarterback hit and hurry in each contest to go along with three total sacks.
For our last rookie of the week, we can turn to Seattle. Witherspoon was the fifth overall pick in the draft, so his role was never in doubt. His talent really wasn't either, but he deserves to be recognized after drawing Ja'Marr Chase for much of Sunday's 17-13 loss to the Bengals and largely holding him in check. The highlight of Witherspoon's season was a pick-six of Daniel Jones and the Giants in Week 4, but he managed a season-best three pass breakups Sunday and has at least one in every game in his young career. He's been as advertised.
Darious Williams, CB 
Williams has been on the watch list for this column the last couple of weeks, but he's been passed over due to the fact that he's been an impact player for the last several years. However, his performance has become too much to ignore, as he's posted picks in each of his last three games and is already only one interception away from his career high. A significant role in the secondary is nothing new for Williams, as he managed 16 pass breakups last season, but he didn't convert any into turnovers.
Taron Johnson, CB 
Johnson's performance was most notable for a pass interference penalty that wasn't called on the final play of Sunday Night Football, but he should be noted for making 15 tackles. It's an outlier performance, but he deserves recognition nevertheless.
Fallers
Williams played a significant role in Baltimore's defense in his first year with the team in 2022, and he was set to occupy a heavy workload again in 2023. However, since suffering a pectoral injury in Week 1, he has appeared in only two games and played 94 defensive snaps. He exited Sunday's game against Tennessee with a hamstring injury, only adding to his misfortune. It's possible Williams can return quickly, but it's beginning to look like it could be a lost season.
Jalen Pitre, S 
Pitre had an incredibly productive rookie season, racking up 147 tackles in 17 games. Like Williams, he's dealt with an injury (chest) that has sidelined him for a few games, but even in three contests since, and with a full snap count, he's managed a combined 16 total tackles. There's a decent chance he simply isn't playing at full strength, but he's well off pace from last year's excellent campaign.
