Building Up The Team
The Eagles are at the stage where it will become increasingly difficult for rookies to make immediate contributions, but that doesn’t mean the recent NFL draft won’t help them stay among the elite in the NFL.
Even last year, rookies showed they could contribute right away with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean starting in the secondary and playing vital roles for the Super Bowl champs.
This year’s prime catch is obviously first round pick linebacker Jihaad Campbell of Alabama, via Timber Creek High School.
Campbell attended Timber Creek his first three years before transferring to Florida’s IMG Academy his senior year.
At Alabama he was clearly one of the best linebackers in the country, totaling 117 tackles this past season, but there are some injury concerns.
In fact, Campbell was the 31st overall selection in the first round, but he was projected to go higher. He has dealt with shoulder and knee injuries and at this point it hasn’t been made public when he will be available.
The Eagles obviously thought enough of him to draft him, so no doubt, they have checked the medicals with a fine-tooth comb.
If healthy, whether it is for the beginning of the NFL season or sometime during the year, he offers tremendous value.
Nobody knows when Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean will return from injury, so there is definitely a spot potentially open at the positon for the Eagles. Dean is recovering from a torn patellar tendon suffered during the Eagles’ playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Campbell is 6-foot-3 and weighs 35 pounds and runs extremely well for somebody his size. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.52 seconds at the NFL combine.
The Eagles made him the team’s first, first-round linebacker since selecting Jerry Robinson in 1979 out of UCLA.
If healthy, Campbell certainly profiles as a future Pro Bowl player.
Campbell has the total package at linebacker. He is strong in the run game and has the speed to play in coverage against running backs and tight ends.
Second round safety Andrew Mukuba of Texas is a player who will at least be given a chance to get on the field immediately.
Not the biggest safety (5-11, 186), the Eagles love the athletic ability of Mukuba, who ran 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
Mukuba was a three-year starter at Clemson, before transferring to Texas and enjoying an impressive senior season, where he has five interceptions, 69 tackles and 7 pass breakups.
The Eagles over the years have shifted their drafting philosophy, going for players from the big Power 4 schools and this year it continued with two SEC powers Alabama and Texas in the first two rounds.
It would take a true draft-nik to determine if any of the other Eagles draft choices will be able to help the team either this year or in the future.
Obviously several of the rookies will make the team.
If the Eagles get any other contributions from this draft and they fully expect to, it will be even more of a success, but if Campbell and Mukuba live up to their draft status, then the Eagles should be thrilled with their 2025 draft class.
Photo: Courtesy of Philadelphia Eagles X/Twitter
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Author: Marc Narducci
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