Much was expected of Georgia’s Tyson Campbell when he was coming out of the American Heritage School in Plantation, Florida, in 2018. The junior cornerback was a five-star recruit—and his No. 25 overall Rivals ranking was the highest for a Georgia signee at his position since 2002, only recently surpassed by 2020 cornerback signee Kelee Ringo (No. 7 overall). Accordingly, Campbell was promptly thrown to the wolves, you could say, beginning his true freshman campaign as a starting cornerback for the Bulldogs, opposite of junior Deandre Baker, who, at year’s end, received the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back.

For the 2018 season, the young Campbell flashed talent at times, including forcing and recovering a fumble at Missouri, which he returned for a 64-yard touchdown. Notwithstanding, he often struggled in pass coverage, allowing 31 of 51 passes thrown his way to be completed for 411 yards and two touchdowns. Campbell especially faltered in road trips at South Carolina and LSU, allowing a combined 15 of 20 passes to hit their mark for a staggering 270 yards. By season’s end, he had been demoted to second-string behind fellow freshman Eric Stokes.

“I think everything happens for a reason. I’ve learned, and I think I’ve grown from it,” Campbell said to the media on Monday regarding his on-field experience as a true freshman. “I think it’s helped me become a better person and a better player.”

In 2019, Campbell began his second consecutive season as a starting cornerback for the Bulldogs. He was playing the best football of his collegiate career until he suffered turf toe in the third game of the year against Arkansas State. It would be nearly two months—the Missouri game on November 9—before Campbell returned from the injury.

“Last year was tough, but Mr. Ron (head athletic trainer Ron Courson) and his whole training staff have helped me and healed me,” Campbell said. “They made sure that if I was going to be on the field, I was 100 percent ready, and I thank them for that.”

Yet, when Campbell finally did return during the 2019 season, he found himself in similar circumstances as the year before—a starter-turned-reserve—playing behind JUCO-transfer D.J. Daniel. Still, for the season, he allowed only eight completions of the 20 times he was targeted for 94 yards and no touchdowns. Notably, Campbell’s 55.0 allowed-pass rating was the lowest of the 10 Bulldog defenders who were targeted at least 15 times last year.

Perhaps Campbell will enter his third season at Georgia in a different role than he began the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. With the likes of Stokes, Daniel, Ringo, sophomore Tyrique Stevenson, and true freshman Jalen Kimber also competing at the position, there’s far from a guarantee that Campbell will be one of Georgia’s starting cornerbacks for the Bulldogs’ opener at Arkansas on September 26.

Nonetheless, whether he’ll begin his junior year as a starter or not, when Campbell looks back on his first two adversity-filled seasons at Georgia, he's certain he has developed into a much better player than before—both physically and mentally.

“I think I’ve matured so much as a player from coming here being young, not really knowing the defense,” Campbell said. “As the coaches developed us on defense, especially with experience through the game, I’ve been able to develop mentally—as far as getting my IQ better in football—and also becoming stronger, faster, the whole nine yards of becoming a better athlete.”