How Alex Anzalone Has Mentored Derrick Barnes

Alex Anzalone has been preparing rookie linebacker Derrick Barnes to one day make the defensive calls for the Detroit Lions.

There weren't many positives to take away from the Lions' 34-11 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6. 

But, one of the few was the play of rookie linebacker Derrick Barnes. 

He logged a career-high 32 snaps, recorded his first ever pass defensed and produced a career-best nine total tackles. 

Barnes has seemingly gained a bigger and bigger role in Detroit's defensive gameplan each week, and along the way, has made it a focus of his to glean as much info as possible from the team's veteran players about playing the linebacker position. 

One of those aforementioned players has been Alex Anzalone, whom Barnes called a "huge role model" for him in his press conference with Detroit reporters Friday. 

"Sometimes I get so quiet, because I'm used to Alex making the calls, and he has to remind me, 'Derrick, you're going to be doing this one day. Make the calls with me,'" Barnes said. "So, I've been trying to get better at that. And not that I don't know what the call is, but it's just like, when you get used to hearing one person, it's just like, he's going to call it. But, now he's on me like, 'when I make the call, you make the call with me.' And then, we'll go into the virtual room, and he'll be like, 'Derrick, you get up there. You make the call.'" 

Anzalone, a fifth-year pro, spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with Detroit head man Dan Campbell and the New Orleans Saints. 

In his first season in Honolulu Blue, the 27-year-old has become a mentor for Barnes. 

"He's (Anzalone's) been kind of teaching me like, 'Look, this is what a linebacker, this is what it takes to be a middle linebacker. So, you'll have to do all these things in the future. Prepare yourself now, so when the time comes, you'll have confidence in yourself,'" Barnes said. 

Through six games (three starts), Barnes, a Purdue product, has amassed 26 total tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a pass defensed. 

© Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports