When the Eagles made their pick that they traded up a spot for in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, they announced him as “linebacker” Jihaad Campbell, marking the first time the franchise used a first-round pick on the position in 46 years. Per Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer, though, Campbell may find himself playing more on the edge than off-ball in the NFL.
Four years ago, the Eagles watched Dallas take Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, whom they would eventually shift into a pass rusher. Philadelphia had needed to add to their pass rush but hadn’t evaluated Parsons as a pass rusher. If they had, they could have selected him two spots before the Cowboys ended up landing him, and according to McLane, they might have.
Parsons had started his career off-ball for the Nittany Lions, shifting to the edge for a season before moving back to linebacker and getting drafted. New Giants pass rusher Abdul Carter also played almost entirely off-ball for the Nittany Lions two years ago before moving exclusively to the edge in 2024.
Perhaps, seeing two such players in their division, the Eagles wanted to stay ahead of the curve and saw similar abilities in Campbell. When Campbell committed to Alabama out of IMG Academy (FL), he was a five-star edge prospect. Injuries to the Crimson Tide defense necessitated that Campbell fill in at linebacker, and he excelled at the position. After a season playing almost exclusively at linebacker in 2023, Campbell was utilized around the defense last year with a bit more versatility.
Philadelphia wasn’t going to make the same mistake they had with Parsons and made sure to evaluate his potential at both positions. In fact, they may have focused even more on his pass rushing potential, considering Campbell mentioned to the media that defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and outside linebackers/defensive end coach Jeremiah Washburn were the coaches most involved in his pre-draft process.
Looking at the roster, there’s room for Campbell at both positions. The Eagles already took an underutilized defender in free agency in Zack Baun and made him a productive off-ball linebacker last year. Baun, a former pass rusher at Wisconsin, also holds the versatility to play at both spots, so Campbell may fit in right alongside him as a second versatile weapon that can move across the front seven. Nakobe Dean is still working his way back from last year’s season-ending injury and may not be ready to open the season, and second-year backer Jeremiah Trotter and rookie Smael Mondon Jr. may not be ready to step up as starters just yet.
If the team does feel comfortable with the makeup of their off-ball group for 2025, then there’s no reason Campbell can’t work in immediately in the pass rush. With the offseason departures of Josh Sweat (free agency) and Brandon Graham (retirement), there are plenty of passing rushing snaps and a starting spot across from Nolan Smith up for grabs. Bryce Huff, Jalyx Hunt, Azeez Ojulari, and Josh Uche should all contribute and compete for the open starting job, but none of them have anything secured at the moment.
The Eagles claim that they have not decided where Campbell will work as a rookie, and though the team has cross-trained players before, they seem to be under the impression that Campbell will need to stick with a single position group to start his career. Campbell is currently recovering from an in-season shoulder injury from last year after getting surgery in March. Additional medical red flags about his other shoulder and potentially his knee kept the Buccaneers and several other teams from taking a chance from him in the first round, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Without any prognosis on his full recovery, the Eagles should have some time before they need to make this call.
Smart; he’s got juice as a pass rusher.
Huh? According to this writer, the Eagles could’ve drafted Micah Parsons two picks ahead of the Cowboys …
The Cowboys were drafting ahead of the NYGs and Philly (10, 11, 12) and traded #10 to the Eagles so they could jump ahead of the NYGs to draft DeVonta Smith. Dallas moved down two spots and selected Micah Parsons.
Let’s not let the facts get in the way of a narrative.
You literally just proved the writers point? The Eagles could’ve selected Parsons at 10, but he was picked at 12. Two spots later. Are you high?
Yeah but we needed a WR more than we needed an edge rusher at the time.
That’s not the point. The argument was whether or not the Eagles had the ability to take him two picks ahead of the Cowboys, which they did.
But Dallas wouldn’t have traded with us if we were going after Parsons.
Now you could make the argument that had we not traded down from I believe it was 6 to begin with then we wouldn’t have had to make that trade if we wanted Parsons but the point remains that we only got into the position to draft at 10 because we didn’t want Parsons.
*will
THIS is Howie do it
The inaccuracy about draft position and Davonta has already been pointed out, but I’d like to know how you are getting ahead of division rivals when you are actually copying them.
I don’t think Howie Roseman spends many nights trying to be more like Dallas. Selecting Smith is definitely not one of Howie’s Draft Regrets. Yes, Cambell will likely be included in Rush Packages, but likely rarely as one of the two DEs on the Field.
The Eagles aren’t copying any of their division rivals. The Giants have built strong pass rushes for years, true. But neither they nor Dallas tend to draft high on corner for the most part, and neither of them spend the capital the Eagles have on guard, center, DT, DE, or even WR. The reason the Eagles finally became a true contender rather than a one and done fall off a cliff team is because they finally started drafting right and making smart decisions rather than trying to prove how much smarter they were than everybody else.
Parsons was a no brainer pick but the Eagles had other needs. Abdul Carter is a no brainer pick but the Eagles weren’t getting him. The Eagles are creating a blueprint right now that the rest of the league is following.
That’s exactly what outside linebackers do these days. Reddick wasn’t a DE. He was an outside linebacker.
Everybody already knew this was likely what the Eagles would do. The reason we’re excited about him is specifically because he’s shown real ability to be a true OLB though rather than just a pass rusher playing from the linebacker spot.
Also, both Carter and Parsons were rushing the passer from day one. I’m not sure that anybody didn’t see them as guys who could rush the passer.