The Super Bowl excitement will die down on February 9. All eyes will then turn to the 2025 NFL draft in April. Once again, it will be that time of the year when all the franchises will be looking to add the next big star to their roster. It will be time for the college football players to take one step ahead on their journey. Although many will face the disappointment of not being drafted, life doesn’t always serve you chicken nuggets. Fans and analysts will be busy figuring out who will go where and who will pick whom.

There are still three good months before the draft. But Dan Campbell’s defensive end already has his eye on a rising star. The Syracuse Orange player, Jackson Meeks, is making waves in the East-West Shrine Bowl. And Lions DE Za’Darius Smith is watching it all. Well, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be. After all, Smith is Meeks’ uncle. Yes, you heard that right. And Uncle Smith wants Meeks to join him on the Lions team, as he’ll be entering the draft this year. Reposting a video of Jackson, originally shared by @shrinebowl, the Lions DE captioned, “WE NEED YOU IN DETROIT NEPHEW @yeaimjack.“

Meeks is a WR who joined the Syracuse Orange in 2024. Before that, he played for the Georgia Bulldogs. The young WR got some solid experience there, playing in 36 games and grabbing ten receptions for 132 yards. Jackson’s got two ACC honors under his belt. Both from his standout 2024 season with the Syracuse Orange.

Now, whether or not the Lions will look to pick Smith’s nephew is still a matter of time. Dan Campbell’s team has Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams as their WRs. But other franchises are keen on adopting the Lions‘ strategy for next season.

Dan Campbell’s team inspires other teams to follow in their footsteps

The Lions could not get to the Super Bowl. But they have been roaring this season. Under coach Dan Campbell, they finished strong at the top of the NFC North with an impressive 15 wins in the regular season. And the real secret sauce was the backfield. Their star RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery took turns running wild, giving defenses nightmares all year long. Detroit ended up averaging a solid 146.4 rushing yards per game. Now, it looks like other NFL teams are paying attention. The whole ‘two RB1-quality players on the roster’ thing is becoming a hot trend.

When Detroit picked Gibbs as the 12th overall pick, most saw it as a ‘not so safe’ move. It didn’t take too long for the 22-year-old to put the doubters in their place. With 1,929 scrimmage yards and 20 touchdowns in 2024, he quickly put himself in the same conversation as Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry. The cherry on top is David’s 1,000 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns in just 14 games.

Now other franchises are eyeing if they can pull the same move. But not every time you might get lucky to find the perfect piece that fits your puzzle. So, it will be interesting to see which team tries to follow Dan Campbell’s Lions footsteps. And if they get success with it.