Philadelphia Eagles land massive potential value in 2025 NFL Draft with Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell, but just how high is the risk?
After originally being pegged to select with the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles traded up one spot with the Kansas City Chiefs. The team wanted to make sure that nobody jumped in front of them to select Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. He was clearly a player […]
After originally being pegged to select with the 32nd overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles traded up one spot with the Kansas City Chiefs. The team wanted to make sure that nobody jumped in front of them to select Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell. He was clearly a player they valued heavily, and wanted to make sure they landed him for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
The first linebacker selected by the Eagles in the first round since the 1979 NFL Draft, there is a lot to love about Campbell. The 6-3, 235-pound defender was originally an EDGE recruit for the Crimson Tide, but he ended up being a star as an inside linebacker. Campbell finished the 2024 college football season with 117 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, five sacks, and one interception.
With that defensive end background, there are a lot of possibilities that Coach Fangio can utilize Campbell. He can, obviously, play at linebacker, showcasing impressive range to play to the perimeter. Campbell also brings huge rush potential to affect the quarterback, and is surprisingly smooth in pass coverage as well.
In terms of playing the linebacker position, Campbell does need to do a better job of using his hands and getting off blocks more effectively in the run game. Campbell can also be a little bit inconsistent processing as well, appearing to guess too often. If the game does slow down, and Campbell is able to stay healthy, he has Pro Bowl upside on the middle of a defense.
The biggest part of the equation for Campbell is that aforementioned health with the former Alabama star already recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. It’s been reported constantly about Campbell’s shoulder issues, and the worry that some NFL teams do have about it. Linebackers with shoulder issues is never a good thing. There is also a long-term issue potentially with a preexisting knee injury worth mentioning that will also need to be monitored.
For that knee, the word “degenerative” has been thrown out there. There is a reason that Campbell fell in the first round, some projection him as a potential top 15 selection during the draft process. In the end, you have to trust your team doctors and how they project Campbell staying healthy long term. It’s a guessing game to a degree, but clearly the Eagles were comfortable.
There is little questioning the talent that Campbell possesses. In a lot of ways, his game is eerily similar to former Tennessee Titans star Keith Bulluck. Campbell should be the perfect contract with Zack Baun inside. With the injury to Nakobe Dean and lack of progress for Jeremiah Trotter Jr., it’s understandable why general manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles staff had high interest in Campbell.
Campbell is now a part of a new trivia questions. Who was the linebacker that ended the 46-year first round draught at the position? We now have the answer. Taking linebackers early isn’t typically the Eagles style, but the reward clearly outweighed the risk for this selection.
Grading Eagles’ First Round Pick Jihaad Campbell: Vic Fangio gets another versatile stud to mold into a star
Howie Roseman knows how to draft.
