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

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 South Jersey native Jihaad Campbell 31st overall with the penultimate pick of the NFL draft’s first round Thursday night.

Campbell is the first off-ball linebacker the Eagles selected in the first round since Jerry Robinson in 1979. But Howie Roseman was quick to not put Campbell in a box when he met with reporters following the pick Thursday night.

“He can play inside, he can be an edge rusher, just really feel fortunate to bring him home back to Philly,” Roseman said.

Roseman said Campbell was a top-10 player on the Eagles’ draft board. The Eagles moved up a spot to take him, sending pick No. 164 (fifth round) to Kansas City. The Eagles tried to move up to the mid-20s — to take Campbell, Roseman said — but did not strike a deal.

Campbell, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 244 pounds, was arguably the top linebacker in the draft. He amassed 117 tackles, including five sacks, 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.

» READ MORE: Jihaad Campbell’s journey began at Timber Creek

Campbell grew up an Eagles fan and 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. The Eagles needed to add talent at linebacker alongside Baun. Nakobe Dean is recovering from a patellar tendon injury and is also in a contract year, 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 can fill a need there but also rush the quarterback from the edge is why the Eagles had him so high on their board.

“What’s really fun is those guys that have that versatility,” Roseman said, “who can go out on the edge and get pressure as a rusher. He’s got speed, he’s got power as an edge rusher, he was trained as an edge rusher, and then he’s got the versatility to play off the ball and blitz from depth and play in space, in pass coverage, as an off-ball linebacker. The things that you can do and keep all these players on the field. For us, we always want to improve the front seven and we view him as a front-seven player who’s got incredible versatility and a skill set to do both of those things.”

» READ MORE: Five things to know about the Eagles’ first-round draft pick

Roseman wouldn’t say which position coach Campbell would fall under, either concealing where the Eagles are projecting him or speaking to the reality that Campbell is a true hybrid. Campbell said he talked during the pre-draft process with Jeremiah Washburn, who coaches edge rushers.

Asked if he thought the Eagles envisioned him playing on the edge, Campbell said: “Being a dominant force for the defense. Putting me wherever and just finding different schemes for me to play and make an impact.”

Campbell just turned 21 in February.

“You know he has upside to grow and get bigger and his frame is such that he can put on more weight and more strength,” Roseman said.

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. He also dealt with a knee injury. Roseman said the Eagles “do not have any long-term concerns” with Campbell’s health.

“We look at the draft as a long-term opportunity for our team,” he said. “We have a lot of confidence this guy is going to be here and play at a really high level for a long time.”

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 Campbell has the ability to fill some of that need at edge rusher in the near- and long-term.

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 picks in this draft and the 2026 draft, 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.

It seemed as if many of their targets were gone, but the guy the Eagles apparently wanted all along was falling, and they moved up one spot to take Campbell, a player whose versatility they coveted. Why move up one pick? The Eagles, Roseman said, wanted to make sure another team didn’t jump in and take Campbell.

“When you’re in a draft and you’re picking at the end of the first round and you have the opportunity to get a top-10 player on your board, a guy who can affect the quarterback, a guy who can affect the passing game, for us it was a no-brainer,” Roseman said.