Jihaad Campbell is a former 5-star recruit from Florida’s IMG Academy. He was a pass rushing outside linebacker and wide receiver in high school that converted to playing more off ball linebacker at Alabama.
He was named First-team All-SEC for this past season. Let’s dig into Campbell as a prospect and what he could bring to the Bengals' defense or any team that takes him in the 2025 NFL Draft:
Where He Excels
- Campbell’s prototypical movement ability gives him excellent range in the run and pass game.
- He plays with active hands to shock and shed blocks that come his way.
- Campbell does a great job of tackling the ball carrier in the open field.
- Flashed high end coverage ability in zone drops, match coverage, and man coverage.
- Very strong blitzer as a linebacker and was even lined up at the edge where he put together some wins against offensive tackles.
Areas of Concern
- At times he will have a bad run fit either overrunning the concept, trying to make a play outside of his role, or taking the eye candy of the offense.
- Not an overly experienced linebacker in coverage and there are instances where he takes the bait allowing a receiver to come open behind him.
- Takes on tackles too high at times giving up additional yardage
Overall Thoughts
Campbell looks the part of a high-end linebacker prospect.
In the run game, Campbell’s active hands, strong tackling, and athleticism give him the ability to be a weapon against opposing offenses. He does a great job of taking on blocks for a linebacker by punching into the offensive lineman to shock them and then shedding that block.
He also can slip blocks or come down quickly to fast fit or run through openings in the offensive line. His athleticism gives him range to make plays from sideline to sideline as well. He can be a tad overzealous at times with wanting to make the stop which leads to overrunning the concept, not staying on the track of the inside hip when in backside contain, or shedding to a secondary gap too early. He also needs to recognize short yardage situations and drop his pad level to not allow additional yardage. Even with those negatives considered, he does a lot right in the run game and it’s not easy to find guys in college who take on blocks like him.
Against the pass, Campbell’s athleticism shines. He can quickly drop to his spots in coverage, read out the quarterback’s intentions, and make plays on the ball. He does a good job when tasked with matching receivers as well using his understanding of angles and leverage to beat them to the spot they want to go.
Campbell’s lack of experience does show against the pass though as he occasionally takes the underneath bait giving up a window to the deeper route behind him in zone coverage. He also was not tasked with too much in coverage either.
Overall, he’s got high-end potential for this part of his game and could give a team value as a coverage player sooner than expected.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that Campbell is a weapon as a pass rusher. He does not have the chops to be a full time edge rusher but he could be a very valuable piece when blitzing. His experience as a pass rushing linebacker in high school translates when he is facing running backs and tight ends. Players who are not offensive linemen don’t stand a chance against him as a pass rusher. He occasionally beat offensive tackles off the edge.
Scheme Fit
Off-ball linebacker in a scheme that is willing to weaponize him as a blitzer. He can do everything for a team so it’s best that he is used to the full extent of his abilities.
