Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
2025 NFL Draft: Biggest steals of Round 1, including CB Jahdae Barron to the Denver Broncos – PFFNo. 31. Philadelphia Eagles: LB Jihaad Campbell, Alabama (Big Board Rank: 13). Campbell oozes athleticism with incredible first-step quickness and speed to cover in space. He needs to develop his anticipation and awareness in coverage, but he lands in the perfect spot to learn alongside Zack Baun. Campbell is an excellent tackler with just a 5.9% missed tackle rate while totaling 30 coverage stops.
2025 NFL Draft: Browns’ Mason Graham, Colts’ Tyler Warren among best value picks on Day 1 – NFL.com4) Jihaad Campbell. A torn labrum that may delay his offseason availability likely contributed to Campbell’s slide to the end of Round 1. Still, GM Howie Roseman capitalized once again, landing one of the draft’s most explosive off-ball linebackers at No. 31 overall. At just under 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Campbell clocked a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and reached a top speed of 22.62 mph — second-fastest among all linebackers in this year’s class. This marks the third consecutive year Roseman has drafted a Day 1 steal (Quinyon Mitchell in 2024; Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith in 2023). Campbell, who earned an 82 overall score in the NGS draft model, brings rare size-speed traits and could form a dynamic pairing with do-it-all All-Pro Zack Baun. The rich just keep getting richer.
NFL Draft Results: Eagles trade up one spot to pick Jihaad Campbell at No. 31! – BGNWith Nakobe Dean likely to miss time during the 2025 season due to a January torn patellar tendon, the Eagles had a need at linebacker. If healthy, Campbell now figures to start next to reigning All-Pro Zack Baun. That duo has potential to be quite the combination! Especially with both players having pass rush ability as well. If Vic likes this guy, so do I. I’m excited about this pick! Campbell — a South Jersey native (Gloucester Township) — also had a good message on the NFL Draft stage after being selected.
Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell drafted 31st overall by the Philadelphia Eagles – Roll Bama RollCampbell’s speed, playmaking, and versatility to play the run, rush the passer, or drop into coverage make him the ultimate modern NFL linebacker. The Eagles are about as stacked of a team as you can build in the NFL, so Campbell’s “moveable weapon” is just a cherry on top and a luxury pick for an already great team.
A LB??? – Iggles BlitzHowie got asked whether Campbell should be viewed as a LB or edge rusher. Howie gave a long, complex answer that wasn’t definitive at all. But I think I understood what he meant. Howie talked about the Penn State guys and their ability to play off-ball and rush (Parsons and Carter). He then said the NFL is a “speed game” and talked about the need to have your best players on the field to try to stop offenses. He mentioned the teams the Eagles have to go against to get where they want to be. I felt like that comment was about Patrick Mahomes and Jayden Daniels (my apologies to Jaxson Dart). Think about how Dallas has played Parsons. He has played WLB in the base and edge rusher in nickel/dime sets. They move him around, even lining him up over OGs in some sets. Think about Frankie Luvu and how Washington used him last year. He moved around and did different things. Both guys are outstanding playmakers. Zack Baun was mentioned a few times, as you would imagine. The Eagles didn’t rush him a lot, but the DL was good enough that they didn’t have to blitz too much. If Fangio wants to blitz and be more creative, he needs versatile weapons. Baun is obviously one. Now Campbell can be one also.
Eagles draft Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell: 5 thoughts on 1st-round pick who was ‘top 10’ player, including why he might be more pass rusher than off-ball LB – PHLY2. The position is a key part of this pick. Edge rusher is more of a premium position than off-ball linebacker, of course, and Roseman touted Campbell’s ability to rush the quarterback. This might be the reverse Zack Baun switch — Baun went from edge rusher to inside linebacker. Campbell could follow a Micah Parsons-like path from inside linebacker to edge rusher. The multi-positional ability is valuable, and the Eagles will lean on the versatility. But the best-case scenario is if he’s an edge rusher who can play in space as a linebacker instead of a linebacker who can rush the quarterback. “This is a guy who was recruited from IMG at Alabama as an edge rusher — hand-in-the-dirt edge rusher,” Roseman said. “They had some injuries at Alabama. They played him off the ball. You see his explosiveness and his speed, and really, it’s kind of interesting, and we talked about this a lot. You see Penn State give them a lot of credit for what they’ve done. They’ve had guys off the ball move to edge rushers. Obviously, their last two guys who’ve been drafted really high, they started off the ball and they moved to edge rushers.”
The Ringer’s 2025 NFL Draft Guide – The RingerCampbell has a shredded, muscular frame with long arms. A two-year starter for the Crimson Tide, he’s a springy, flexible athlete with a knack for always ending up around the ball. He racked up 117 tackles in 2024, including 11.5 tackles for loss, and ranked third in the FBS with 65 stops, per PFF. A versatile playmaker, he lined up all over the field, seeing snaps off the ball at linebacker, up on the defensive line as a pass rusher, out in the slot in coverage, and even a handful ranging deep at safety. In his main role as linebacker, he showed good initial quickness downhill, decisively knifing through the line to blow up plays in the backfield. He brings excellent range and sideline-to-sideline speed to chase down a ballcarrier and his closing speed is elite. He uses his length to keep blockers off his frame to stack, shed, and make the tackle. He is comfortable dropping into zones and brings some anticipation skills in coverage; he’ll see routes develop and get to the spot where he can make a play on the ball. As a pass rusher, he flashes top-end burst and flexibility—and that’s a role he could be asked to play a lot more at the next level. He gets his hands up and uses his long frame to disrupt passing lanes and knock down balls. There are times when Campbell comes in too high as a tackler, allowing himself to get pushed back or run through. He needs to break down and play with better leverage and balance. He could improve his consistency on getting off blocks. He can be slow to diagnose a play, and too often he’ll take the cheese on ball fakes and end up out of position. He takes poor angles to the ball at times, and gets caught up in traffic or overruns the play.
2025 NFL draft live updates: Pros, cons for every first-round pick – ESPNWhy they picked him: The Eagles have had plenty of success drafting from top programs like Alabama and Georgia in recent seasons and they went to the well again by moving up to select the Tide’s Campbell. Philadelphia was the top-ranked defense last season but lost a number of players this offseason, including edge rushers Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and defensive tackle Milton Williams. Meanwhile, linebacker Nakobe Dean is recovering from a torn patellar tendon. Campbell, a first-team All-SEC selection last season, racked up 117 tackles in 2024 and has a chance to immediately contribute. […] Biggest question: Where will he play? Campbell has experience as an off-ball linebacker but can also rush the passer. The Eagles could use some help on the edge to bolster a group headed by Nolan Smith Jr. and second-year player Jalyx Hunt. They also need a starter at off-ball linebacker opposite Zack Baun as Dean recovers from his injury. Campbell is dealing with an injury of his own, as he underwent left shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum after the combine.
Spadaro: Jihaad Campbell pick a ‘no-brainer’ for the Eagles – PE.comThis was, Eagles Executive Vice President/General Manager Howie Roseman said over and over late on Thursday night, a “no-brainer.” The Eagles had Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell as a Top-10 player on their 2025 NFL Draft Board, so to see him still out there at 10, and then at 15, and then at 20, well, Roseman couldn’t resist. He tried moving up from No. 32 in the first round, to no avail. And then, with the Kansas City Chiefs on the clock at No. 31, the Eagles sent the 32nd pick and a fifth-round selection (No. 164 overall, one of four Eagles’ fifth-round draft picks on Saturday) to take Campbell, born in Southern New Jersey and a standout player with the Crimson Tide whom both Roseman and Head Coach Nick Sirianni raved about minutes after making the selection. “Excited to have him. Real excited to have him,” Roseman said of the Eagles’ first first-round draft pick on a linebacker since Jerry Robinson from UCLA in 1979. “Wasn’t really something we anticipated. Understand some of the other teams may have reasons for taking other players, but for us, this was a real easy pick. Really explosive player. He can play inside, he can be an edge rusher, just really feel fortunate to bring him back home to Philly.
Vic Fangio: I’d love to keep everyone, but the salary cap is real and I trust Howie Roseman – PFTThe Eagles’ losses on defense this offseason have included defensive tackle Milton Williams, defensive end Josh Sweat, cornerback Darius Slay, safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, defensive end Brandon Graham, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers and linebacker Oren Burks. Fangio said on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shaprio’s podcast that it hurts to see good people leave. “It’s just part of the way it goes. I would have loved to keep all those guys, but in the NFL the salary cap is real,” Fangio said.
The Washington Commanders Select Josh Conerly Jr, OT, Oregon in the First Round of the 2025 NFL Draft – Hogs HavenConerly joins a Washington Commanders team that went to the NFC Championship game in the first year of the Adam Peters/Dan Quinn/Jayden Daniels era. The Commanders picked Daniels with the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, and he was nothing short of spectacular in his rookie season. He will be competing with last year’s starting LT Brandon Coleman for the starting RT tackle spot. Andrew Wylie started at RT last season, but is expected to either be a backup tackle or compete at guard.
Instant analysis: Cowboys draft Tyler Booker with 12th overall pick – Blogging The BoysStill, it’s fair to question if the Cowboys got the most bang for their buck here. His athletic profile leaves a lot to be desired, and there were several other big names still available, namely Penn State tight end Tyler Warren. The Cowboys also could have gone receiver, with both Matthew Golden and Emeka Egbuka available. Both would have been considered minor reaches, but certainly not as much as Booker is being labeled as such already. It’s also worth wondering how hard the Cowboys explored a trade down opportunity. Warren, in particular, had been heavily connected to the Colts while several edge rushers – Shemar Stewart, Jalon Walker, James Pearce, Mike Green and others – were still there with the Falcons looking intently at that spot. Instead, Dallas chose to trust their board and invest in the offensive line yet again. Booker certainly comes with an impressive track record, and the Crimson Tide have produced plenty of NFL offensive linemen over the years.
Round 1 ‘things I think’: New York Giants hit the draft home run they needed – Big Blue ViewAfter two horrible seasons that included a Saquon Barkley fiasco, a Daniel Jones implosion, a 9-25 record, nearly losing their jobs and having co-owner John Mara sound lukewarm about his decision to keep them, general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll needed to do something big this offseason. They managed just that in Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft. The Giants hit a home run, pulling off the double dip of getting a game-changing defender at No. 3 in Abdul Carter considered to be one of the two best prospects in the draft class, then sliding back into Round 1 to get the potential franchise quarterback of the future they have been trying to put in place for at least the last two offseasons by selecting Jaxson Dart at No. 25. That crazy, strange feeling you may be experiencing as a Giants fan? One that you may not have felt for a while and may only have distant memories of? That’s called hope.
Why the Giants traded up for Jaxson Dart in the 2025 NFL Draft, and what he needs to improve – SB NationThe biggest question facing Dart as he prepares for life in the NFL? Can he graduate from operating Lane Kiffin’s offense at Mississippi, for what life will put in front of him at the next level? One of the main jobs of any offensive play designer and/or play caller is to make life easier on your quarterback in the passing game. Give them an answer for any coverage they will see on a given play, and simplify how they get to that answer. A given route design might have two different “half-field” concepts, one that is designed to beat man coverage, and the other designed to beat zone coverage. Diagnose whether the defense is in man or zone, and you will get to your answer. Other play designs might have a progression read based on what specific coverage the defense is in. If it is Cover 3, read out one set of progressions, but if it is Cover 4, you read a different set. But what happens when the defense has your first few reads covered? Can you get to Plan C? That can be hard on Saturdays. It can be almost impossible on Sundays.
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