Eagles Select Jihaad Campbell With 31st Pick In NFL Draft
Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
The Eagles have drafted a linebacker in the first round for the first time since 1979.
With the 31st selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles have selected Jihaad Campbell, out of the University of Alabama.
Philadelphia moved up one spot in the draft, trading their 32nd pick and a fifth-round pick, pick 164, to the Kansas City Chiefs for pick 31.
Standing at 6’3, 235 lbs, Campbell is a fantastic off-the-ball linebacker who excels as a spy in coverage and as an edge rusher when needed. He is super fast, and he showed it at the scoring combine, running a 4.52 40-yard dash, the fourth fastest time for a linebacker.
The talent is there for Campbell, and in a perfect scenario, he would’ve been a top 10 pick, but he comes with baggage. Campbell had to have shoulder surgery this past offseason, which caused his stock to fall quite a bit. He’ll likely have to have another shoulder surgery before the season starts, but when he gets fully healthy, he will be an animal.
When he gets healthy, Campbell will line up alongside Zack Baun to create one of the best linebacker duos in all of football. However, this selection becomes unfortunate for Nakobe Dean and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Dean is coming off a Patellar tendon tear in the playoffs and is going into a contract year. When he returns, he’ll likely remain a starter, but Campbell will be looming in his shadow and may be the guy to steal his job.
For Trotter, he was seen as someone who could earn his spot during training camp. While that may still be true due to the injuries to Campbell and Dean, it’s going to take a lot for Trotter to see any serious playing time after those players return from injury.
Overall, this is a really solid pick for the Eagles. Linebacker is a position that the Eagles hardly address, and in Vic Fangio’s defense, they require good ones. Philadelphia now has a chance to have the best linebacker room in all of football.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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