Jalyx Hunt

Jihaad Campbell Progressing, Working With Eagles’ First Team; Latest On OLB, S Situations

Viewed as an upper-crust talent in the first-round mix this year, Jihaad Campbell fell to No. 31 largely because of injury concerns. The rookie linebacker missed the Eagles’ offseason program, but his climb toward the expected starting role is underway.

Although Campbell was not expected to be at full speed yet, PHLY.com’s Zach Berman notes is already mixing into first-string work. The Eagles are listing the Alabama product as limited, but the Philly Voice’s Jimmy Kempski indicates little about his workload suggests a limited tag is necessary. That certainly represents good news for the Eagles, as Berman points to a Week 1 lineup configuration including Campbell alongside Zack Baun at linebacker.

[RELATED: Assessing Eagles’ 2025 Offseason Work]

Campbell having dealt with trouble involving both shoulders, undergoing surgery on one in March, scared some teams during the pre-draft process. But he avoided the active/NFI list to open Eagles camp. A dynamic player who only slid to linebacker (from the edge) due to the Crimson Tide being deeper there during his college career, Campbell has already come up as a player with an edge-rushing future.

For now, the Eagles have their top prospect stationed at off-ball linebacker. Campbell is competing with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. for the job alongside Baun, Kempski adds. While noting the second-generation Eagles LB has started off camp well, Campbell being ready to roll would seemingly make this a non-competition. Campbell’s rookie contract aligns with Baun’s $17MM-per-year deal, giving the Eagles good balance once they have the rookie up to speed.

Shifting to the edge, the Eagles have two experienced options as apparent insurance policies behind hopeful starter Jalyx Hunt. Josh Sweat‘s free agency defection and Brandon Graham‘s retirement leave the Eagles with OLB questions, and they took fliers on supplementary rushers Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche. Thus far, the two vets are working almost exclusively with the second team, the Philly Voice’s Geoff Mosher adds, while Hunt plays opposite locked-in starter Nolan Smith.

Padded work in practice, along with the defending Super Bowl champs’ preseason games, could change this equation. For now, though, the Eagles are not mixing their low-cost FAs into first-string work much — to the point Kempski indicates Ojulari has not shown much early in camp. The four-year Giants contributor drew extensive trade interest before last year’s deadline but only fetched a one-year, $3MM Eagles deal in free agency. Uche is on a one-year, $1.92MM pact. A 2024 third-rounder, Hunt played 241 defensive snaps as a rookie; he tallied 1.5 sacks and three QB hits before matching each total during Philadelphia’s playoff slate.

As expected, Sydney Brown represents second-round pick Andrew Mukuba‘s primary competition at safety. The two split reps early, per 94WIP.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks. Mukuba, who goes just 186 pounds, has missed early-camp time with a shoulder injury. The Eagles could also limit their non-Reed Blankenship safety’s usage by giving Cooper DeJean safety time in base sets, which was an offseason talking point. Brown lost his job to C.J. Gardner-Johnson last year, as the 2023 second-round pick was rehabbing an ACL tear sustained late in his rookie season. With Gardner-Johnson traded to Houston, Brown has another chance to start. Two years remain on Brown’s rookie contract.

Rounding out late-July Eagles matters, Jordan Davis said (via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane) he has dropped 26 pounds to weigh in at 330. The imposing D-tackle is now extension-eligible, but the 2022 first-rounder’s part-time usage (down to 37% in 2024) connected him to the bottom rung on the option ladder. Davis is now tied to a fully guaranteed $12.94MM in 2026; the substantial weight loss could help him stay on the field more en route as an extension case builds.

OLB Jalyx Hunt Expected To Start For Eagles

The Eagles are moving into a new era of edge rushers after the retirement of Brandon Graham and the departure of Josh Sweat in free agency.

Since 2018, Graham and Sweat has accounted for 209 appearances, 116 starts, and 7,050 snaps in Philadelphia, though Graham largely played a rotational role in the last three years. Still, the Eagles will have to replace both players’ snaps to maintain a pass rush that helped power their championship run.

Leading the edge room will be 2023 first-rounder Nolan Smith. He emerged as a starter partway through the 2024 season and Graham’s triceps injury in Week 12 only increased his role. Smith finished the regular season with 6.5 sacks and added 4.0 more in the playoffs while playing 76.8% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps.

The primary candidate to start opposite Smith is 2023 third-round pick Jalyx Hunt, per Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Hunt started his rookie year as a healthy scratch and finished it as a playoff hero with 1.5 sacks in the postseason. This offseason, he added weight and impressed Eagles All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson in spring practices. Graham also said on the Ross Tucker Podcast that Hunt had put on some “good weight,” adding that “the sky’s the limit for him.”

With a pair of 24-year-olds set to start this year, the Eagles added veteran edge depth this offseason by signing Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche to one-year deals. Both flashed as impact players earlier in their career – Ojulari with 8.0 sacks as a rookie in 2021 and Uche with 11.5 sacks in 2022 – but consistency has been lacking since. Ojulari missed 22 games in the last three years due to injury, while Uche only logged 5.0 sacks in the last two seasons, but both will have a rotational role right away with the potential to eat into Hunt’s snap share if he falters.

On the interior, the Eagles will be looking to Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo to replace Milton Williams alongside Jalen Carter on pass-rushing downs. Ojomo is leading the battle coming out of the spring, per Geoff Mosher of PhillyVoice, but Carter’s untapped physical potential will keep him in the running. Fourth-round rookie Ty Robinson was an impressive pass-rusher at Nebraska, but he will have to prove himself against his new teammates this summer before he gets a crack at the rest of the league.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/13/24

Front offices around the NFL continue to chip away at their draft pick signings. That was no exception today, as a number of teams inked players to rookie contracts:

Cincinnati Bengals

Indianapolis Colts

  • OT Matt Goncalves (third round, Pittsburgh)
  • C Tanor Bortolini (fourth round, Wisconsin)

Jacksonville Jaguars

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

  • EDGE Jalyx Hunt (third round, Houston Christian)
  • RB Will Shipley (fourth round, Clemson)
  • WR Ainias Smith (fourth round, Texas A&M)

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers