What the NFL is saying about Eagles adding a 'Swiss army knife' to Vic Fangio's defense

[ASFN Admin]

The Eagles moved up one pick on Thursday night to land Jihaad Campbell, a player many had expected to be drafted in the first 10-15 picks. The NFL world has been buzzing about Philadelphia's ability to patiently wait and land a talented off-ball linebacker who also possesses a dynamic trait for rushing the passer.

Howie Roseman had this to say about the pick:

"We felt this was one of the best players in the draft," Roseman said. "This is a guy who was recruited from IMG (Academy in Florida, where Campbell played in his senior year of high school) by Alabama as a hand-in-the-dirt edge rusher, they had some injuries at Alabama, they played him off the ball. You see his explosiveness and his speed. He's got speed, he's got power as an edge rusher. He was trained as an edge rusher. And he's got the versatility to play off the ball and blitz from depth and play in space and impact pass coverage as an off-ball linebacker."

With night two of the draft set to get underway, we're looking at expert and analyst reactions to the Eagles landing another All-SEC performer.

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You really did it, NFL. You let Howie Roseman give Vic Fangio a Swiss Army knife from Hell who can destroy SEC tackles, teleport to the quarterback on second-level blitzes, and legitimately cover in hook/curl.

You have nobody to blame but yourselves.

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) April 25, 2025

One of my strongest beliefs about this draft: If Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell falls, some team is going to get an absolute steal. Extremely high upside prospect. pic.twitter.com/yJhIe1ZoRg

— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) April 23, 2025

I think I’m all in on Jihaad Campbell strictly based off of this tunnel run. pic.twitter.com/uGf7Rt6Ruj

— Luke Arcaini (@ArcainiLuke) April 25, 2025

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told Jihaad Campbell on the phone call when they drafted him, they were trying to trade up and get him for the last hour before they got to 31
@Eagles
pic.twitter.com/A71v5sFRLo

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 25, 2025

For those curious what Jihaad Campbell looked like rushing the passer as an EDGE last season, I found his handful of pass-rushing opportunities against Will Campbell (the No. 4 overall pick) to be instructive.

There's flashes, mostly down to Campbell's explosiveness and bend: pic.twitter.com/UapoRwheVD

— EJ Smith (@EJSmith94) April 25, 2025

The Eagles got a STEAL in Jihaad Campbell pic.twitter.com/K6sZpNsJne

— PFF (@PFF) April 25, 2025

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: NFL experts and analyst react to Eagles landing Jihaad Campbell

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