With a little bit of distance now separating the NFL calendar from the 2025 NFL Draft, it’s hard to argue that the Philadelphia Eagles didn’t leave the weekend with one of the better hauls in the league.
Entering the weekend with eight selections, the Eagles ended up drafting ten players, including many of whom were considered much better prospects than where they were selected. Fans liked Andrew Mukuba as a CJ Gardner-Johnson replacement, appreciated Ty Robinson out of Nebraska, and believed that Antwaun Powell-Ryland might have been the best value pick of Day 3, as players who averaged the most sacks of any edge rusher in the NCAA over the past two years don’t usually go in the seventh round.
But who did Daniel Jeremiah believe was the best pick in this year’s class? Well, in an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, Jeremiah let it be known that he believes that the selection of Jihaad Campbell wasn’t just the Eagles’ biggest steal but the biggest steal period of the NFL Draft, regardless of team or draft position, as the value was simply good to ignore.
“We said it at the time, I had Jihaad Campbell falling to the Eagles with the 32nd pick, he was my 12th player. And it just continues to happen, every year they get a value, and someone just kind of lands in their lap. And not only is he a good player going to a great defense. Who is the one team that they are going to be battling for the next decade inside that division? It’s Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, and he’s like a Jayden Daniels defender,” Jeremiah declared.
“Now, it didn’t turn out great when he saw Jayde Daniels when he was at Alabama, and LSU torched them that year before, but I’m just fascinated to watch what these divisions are shaping up and what that battle’s going to be, watching teams build up players. Washington goes out and gets offensive linemen because they know they’ve got to block Philly, and Philly goes out and gets these second-level players because they know they need to chase Jayden Daniels around all the time. So that might be the rivalry, more than any other, that I can’t wait to watch over the next decade.”
Now granted, Howie Roseman did give up a fifth-round pick to move up and select Campbell 31st overall, which knocked their grade down from an A+ to an A in the eyes of some. But in the end, he got the player he wanted, who can be a weapon against both the pass and the run, while attacking a player like Jayden Daniels in the Commanders’ backfield. Considering many, like Jeremiah, thought Campbell would go off the board in the teens, landing him in the low 30s was simply too good a value to pass up.
