Eagles draft Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell with 31st overall pick, bringing the South Jersey native home

Jeff Neiburg, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 25, 2025

Published in Football

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PHILADELPHIA — Who says the Eagles don’t value linebackers?

In a year where they watched Zack Baun go from unheralded edge rusher into an All-Pro off-ball linebacker and rewarded him with a $51 million deal, the Eagles drafted Alabama linebacker and New Jersey native Jihaad Campbell 31st overall with the penultimate pick of the NFL draft’s first round Thursday night.

Campbell is the first true linebacker the Eagles selected in the first round since Jerry Robinson in 1979.

The Eagles moved up a spot to take Campbell, sending pick No. 164 (fifth round) to Kansas City.

Campbell, who will still be 21 years old when the 2025 season starts, was arguably the top linebacker in the draft. He amassed 117 tackles with Alabama this past season and was a second-team All-American, a good enough season to end with Campbell electing to forgo his final year of eligibility to enter the draft.

Campbell starred at Timber Creek Regional High School as a hybrid edge rusher and off-ball linebacker. He transferred to national powerhouse IMG Academy in Florida for his senior season before heading off to Alabama and the SEC. He originally committed to Clemson before reopening his recruitment.

Campbell went to Alabama as an edge rusher and eventually moved off the ball, where he figures to be used with the Eagles, who needed to add talent alongside Baun. Nakobe Dean is recovering from a patellar tendon injury, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is still unproven, Ben VanSumeren is also recovering from a knee injury and listed as a fullback, and Oren Burks left in free agency.

That Campbell has edge-rushing skills is a plus.

Campbell was mocked much higher than No. 31 in the draft, but he had shoulder surgery in March after suffering an injury in a bowl game.

The Eagles ending up with Campbell, and a linebacker specifically, may come as somewhat of a surprise given their holes at edge rusher and interior defensive line.

But seven of the first 16 picks Thursday were players who line up on the defensive front. The Eagles have an obvious need there with their numerous departures, but one by one, players who would seemingly be a target for the Eagles went off the board.

The Eagles were obviously never going to be in play for Penn State’s Abdul Carter, a Philadelphia native, barring a major trade, but they were projected to be takers — either at 32 or via a trade up — for Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen, who ended up going 16th overall to Arizona and old friend Jonathan Gannon. Same with Texas A&M edge rusher Shemar Stewart, who went 17th to Cincinnati, and Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon.

The Eagles, who are loaded with draft picks in this draft and the 2026 draft, were trying to move up to pick in the mid-20s, according to NFL Network and Fox Sports. But they watched as Atlanta, which picked Georgia edge rusher Jalon Walker 15th, moved back into the first round to select Tennessee edge rusher James Pearce Jr. at pick No. 26.

The Ravens then selected Georgia safety Malaki Starks, another potential Eagles target, at No. 27. One pick later, Detroit selected Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams, the fifth defensive tackle to be taken in the first round, the most since six were picked in 2019.

That set up the Eagles to make a move up to take Campbell.