Vic Fangio is not ready to call Jihaad Campbell finished. The Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator said the first-round pick is still not where the team wants him to be as a final product, even after a rookie season that put Campbell on the field for 17 games and earned him a spot on the Pro Football Writers of America's All-Rookie team.
That matters now because Campbell is moving into a larger role after Nakobe Dean left in free agency for the Las Vegas Raiders. The Eagles do not have the luxury of treating Campbell as a long-term project anymore. He was pushed into the starting lineup early last season when Dean suffered an injury, and he responded with 80 tackles, three pass deflections, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. For a young linebacker, that is a real body of work. For Fangio, it is still only the start.
The coach’s standard helps explain why. Fangio said Campbell needed extra reps after missing the last two offseasons, and he said the linebacker is “getting better and better every day.” He also praised the traits that showed up on tape, saying Campbell is good in the open field, athletic and able to run. That is the profile the Eagles wanted when they drafted him, and it is the reason they leaned on him so quickly when the season turned early.
Still, Fangio’s comments carried the kind of edge that usually comes with a coach who sees more upside than certainty. Campbell was productive, but production and readiness are not the same thing. A rookie can make tackles and still need cleaner reads, sharper timing and more consistent execution before a coordinator trusts him without hesitation. Fangio even softened the assessment by saying he feels good about Campbell and did not want to give the wrong impression.
The linebacker picture around him adds another layer. Zack Baun is the top player at linebacker for the Eagles, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is also part of the mix, but the exact split of snaps has not been spelled out. That leaves Campbell in a useful but unfinished position: too important to sideline, too young to be handed the job without more proof.
Fangio’s point was simple. Campbell already played like a useful NFL linebacker as a rookie. The next step is to make sure he plays like the one the Eagles can trust every week.
