Jihaad Campbell Explains How Experience Is Helping Him In Year 2

Jihaad Campbell explains how experience is helping him in Year 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Jihaad Campbell arrived to training camp this year with a new jersey number — going from 30 to 11 — but he isn’t starting fresh.

The experience Campbell gained as a rookie is paying off as he begins Year 2. 

“I would say it shows up big time just trying to dissect different formations and understanding what the offense is running and what are they trying to get to?” Campbell said on Thursday. “Obviously, we have a new offense, so I’m seeing different things this year and it’s looking very great. 

“I think the biggest thing about experience, especially for a linebacker, is just knowing the mental part of the game. Knowing how to dissect, what routes you’re going to expect or what run schemes you’re going to expect and knowing what gap you have or gap exchange you have or knowing which man you have. I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Campbell, 22, had a solid rookie season. The Eagles drafted him in the first round at No. 31 overall and he began the 2025 season as a full-time starting linebacker next to Zack Baun in the middle of the Eagles defense.

Campbell wasn’t playing poorly last season, but halfway through the year he lost his full-time job when Nakobe Dean returned from injury and re-claimed his starting position. That sent Campbell to the bench and even though the Eagles experimented with Campbell playing off the edge, his playing time dwindled.

Throughout it all, Campbell seemed to have a great attitude.

And now that Dean is gone — he signed with the Raiders in free agency — Campbell is an unquestioned starter once again.

“I feel like just based on the meeting rooms, he has a full understanding of the defense,” Baun said. “He can play all the linebacker positions if you need him to and he’s versatile. He’s continuing to work on his body. He looks a lot bigger going into this training camp. That’s cool to see. I’m just glad he’s working hard and knows he’s got some room for improvement.”

In the offseason before his rookie year, Campbell had surgery on his left shoulder. And earlier this offseason, Campbell had surgery on his right shoulder — he called it a “little fix-up thing” — which kept him out for all of the spring workouts.

Campbell obviously had to rehab this offseason, but he also made an effort to get away a bit for “spiritual grounding” and to get his mind off football. Last year was a grind, going from Alabama to the pre-draft process and then right into his rookie training camp and season.

Some time away was needed.

“Having a full offseason where you can have a little reset, self-asses, figure out things you need to work on, not necessarily things that you are great at,” Campbell said. “That’s what I did in the offseason. Just really self-critiquing, trying to double-down on myself and really understand how can I be the best version of myself and be the best version of a team player as much as I can be.”

As a rookie, Campbell played in all 17 regular season games and started 10. He ended up with 80 tackles, 2 TFLs, 3 PBUs and a forced fumble. In total, Campbell played 710 defensive snaps but most of them came earlier in the season when Dean was still on the shelf.

The impact Dean made when he returned last season was undeniable. Even though Dean and Campbell are very different players, Campbell took a lot from Dean in their time together.

“First of all, Nakobe Dean is a smart player,” Campbell said. “I learned just the details from him. Especially him and the size that he had, he was a detailed guy but also smash mouth football. I loved this game a lot. I definitely learned a lot from him.”

Last season, after Dean was back at linebacker, the Eagles still wanted to get Campbell some playing time.

And because they needed help at edge rusher, the Eagles played Campbell as an outside linebacker a bit. While Vic Fangio on Friday said Campbell will still line up as an overhang player on occasion, his full-time days as an edge rusher are over. In fact, Fangio thinks Campbell’s time on the edge actually set him back a bit as an inside linebacker.

Does Campbell believe that?

“Whatever Vic says, right?” Campbell answered. “He’s the big dog. I believe in Vic, Coach Fangio. I believe in his process and how he wants things to look like for this defense. We put all our trust in him and just go out there and execute.”

Entering Year 2, Campbell will get to focus on being a full-time starting linebacker and his ceiling is still incredibly high. Campbell is big and athletic and now he has a bit of experience under his belt.

After missing all of the Eagles’ spring workouts, Campbell has been full-go to start training camp. He has lined up the first two days as the starting middle linebacker next to Baun in this defense. It’s a spot he’s expected to have going forward.

Aside from the added experience under his belt, the other big change for Campbell this training camp is on his back. He’s wearing No. 11 after wearing No. 30 as a rookie.

“I’ve been hearing it a lot — we can leave the A.J. [Brown] thing out of it,” Campbell said. “It’s nothing towards him at all. I wore it in high school and college and I just wanted to wear it in the NFL.”