When the Philadelphia Eagles nabbed Jihaad Campbell with the 31st overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it got fans hyped.
Against all odds, Howie Roseman and company secured the services of a player many considered a top-15 player disregarding injuries and with needs at both inside linebacker and on the edge following the exits of Josh Sweat, Oren Burks, and Brandon Graham, Campbell would be able to make an impact on the field this fall when fully healthy from an offseason shoulder surgery.
But what do the Eagles like about Campbell that really made him stick out as a prospect? Well, as Roseman noted in his post-first-round presser with Nick Sirianni, the Alabama linebacker was simply too good to pass up, as he can do so many things so well.
“Excited to have him. Real excited to have him. Wasn't really something we anticipated. Understand some of the other teams may have reasons for taking other players, but for us, this was a real easy pick. Really explosive player. He can play inside, he can be an edge rusher, just really feel fortunate to bring him back home to Philly,” Roseman told Eagles reporters.
“This was a Top-10 player on our board; we do not have any long-term concerns with his health. We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team. We have a lot of confidence that this guy is going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time, and so when you're in a draft and you're picking at the end of the first round, you have an opportunity to get a Top-10 player on your board, a guy who can affect the quarterback, a guy who can affect the passing game, for us it was a no-brainer.”
Hmm, using the term “affect the passing game” when talking about an off-ball linebacker is curious, as for the most part, those players are used to slow down the run, with their coverage responsibilities often limited to zone between the edges and the occasional manning up of a tight end or running back.
“We felt this was one of the best players in the draft. This is a guy who was recruited from IMG by Alabama as a hand-in-the-dirt edge rusher; they had some injuries at Alabama, they played him off the ball,” Roseman said. “You see his explosiveness and his speed. He's got speed, he's got power as an edge rusher. He was trained as an edge rusher. And he's got the versatility to play off the ball and blitz from depth and play in space and impact pass coverage as an off-ball linebacker.”
Once again, that's an awful lot of talk about being an edge for a player many considered to be a full-time off-ball linebacker this fall, leading one to believe Campbell could be seeing the bulk of his work this fall as a 3-4 outside linebacker, where his versatility could make him a certified weapon that needs to be accounted for before every snap.
In 2024, the Eagles weren't able to fully unlock Vic Fangio's preferred defensive look because they simply didn't have edge rushers who could drop into coverage on occasion to optimize post-snap optionality. Sure, Zack Baun could do a little bit of everything, and many fans see Campbell doing the same thing. But don't be surprised if Fangio saw Alabama's tape in 2024 and ID'd the future first-round pick as an ideal outside linebacker for his scheme. Why? Because having a player who can drop into coverage, stunt, or straight-up rush on any given play could add an incredible wrinkle to the Eagles' base defensive package, regardless of whether you call Campbell an inside or outside linebacker before the ball gets snapped just like how Fangio used Andrew Van Ginkel back in Miami.
