PHILADELPHIA — The narrative will write itself when it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles‘ selection of Jihaad Campbell. The franchise selected an off-ball linebacker for the first time in 46 years, as Jerry Robinson in 1979 was the last one the organization drafted this early.
Good story for sure. But that’s not how the Eagles view Campbell in Vic Fangio’s defense.
General manager Howie Roseman admitted Campbell was a top-10 player on the Eagles’ draft board, a player they deemed valuable enough that the franchise even considered trading up 10 spots in the first round to get him. At the end of the day, Roseman and the Eagles got Campbell at No. 31 — trading one of their four fifth-round picks (along with No. 32) to move up one spot in the draft.
The Eagles got the edge rusher they coveted, the player they needed on a defensive line that lost two valuable pieces this offseason in free agency.
“This is a guy who was recruited from IMG at Alabama as an edge rusher. Hand in the dirt edge rusher,” Roseman said Friday morning after the Eagles selected Campbell. “You see his explosiveness and his speed, 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.”
Those players Roseman mentioned are Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter, both Pennsylvania players who started their college careers as off-ball linebackers and converted into dominant pass rushers. Parsons became a generational edge rusher at the NFL level, while Carter made the transition last season for the Nittany Lions — and why some scouts considered him as the best player in this draft class.
Last season, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio pursued linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel as that hybrid pass rusher who can play off-ball linebacker at times. The Eagles failed to sign Van Ginkel and pivoted to Zack Baun, envisioning him in that role.
Fangio even pivoted on Baun himself, deciding he would be a better fit as an off-ball linebacker. Baun became a first-team All-Pro and a Defensive Player of the Year finalist, a major piece in the Super Bowl championship defense. Van Ginkel didn’t turn out too bad, either, with the Minnesota Vikings, earning second-team All-Pro honors and 11.5 sacks in his first year there.
A player with Campbell’s athleticism was always a goal for Fangio, who thrived having Van Ginkel in is one year with the Miami Dolphins. The Eagles didn’t have a player who could move around the defense like Campbell, and now they do.
“Vic does a tremendous job with getting guys who have pass rush ability to be versatile players like that,” Roseman said. “I think what’s really fun is that those guys who have that versatility who can go out on the edge and get pressure as a rusher and 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. And so, it’s the things that you can do and keep all these players on the field.”
The Eagles knew they needed to boost their pass rush heading into this draft, a unit that lost Josh Sweat and Milton Williams in free agency. Philadelphia still has Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt, but that’s asking a lot from two players who have a combined 975 snaps in the league. Bryce Huff hasn’t panned out, while Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche are dart throws in terms of being contributors.
Depth at off-ball linebacker wasn’t pressing, but it was a concern. Baun and Nakobe Dean are the two starters, yet Dean is coming off a torn patellar tendon suffered in the playoffs. Roseman insisted drafting Campbell had nothing to do with Dean’s injury. They also have Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the fold at off-ball linebacker after losing Oren Burks in free agency.
Campbell is going to help the depth at both positions, but don’t be fooled by the position on his draft card. The Eagles have plans for him to have a significantly higher impact in Fangio’s defense.
“We always want to improve the front seven and we view him as a front seven player who’s got incredible versatility and a skillset to do both those things,” Roseman said. “And the appeal is that he’s got this rush skillset.
“He turned 21 on February 24th, so he’s got upside to grow and get bigger, and his frame is such that he can put on more weight and more strength. And so as you can tell, excited about the player.”
This news was originally published on this post .
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