It’s not encouraging for the Philadelphia Eagles that not only could 2025 1st-round pick and off-ball linebacker Jihaad Campbell not hold onto his starting spot with a 7-game head start on linebacker Nakobe Dean, but that Campbell also proceeded to miss the entire offseason due to shoulder surgery.
With Dean off to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency, the Eagles now find themselves in the unenviable position of handing the starting spot back to Campbell in 2026.
The Athletic’s Zach Berman predicts that won’t be the disaster it seems like on the surface and that Campbell will end up being the “breakout” star for the Eagles in his 2nd season.
“Campbell’s hard-to-find physical tools stand out in the middle of the defense, where his 6-3, 235-pound frame and 4.52-second 40-yard dash offer a different flavor than Dean,” Berman wrote. “Campbell has the length and range to be a force in coverage, and the Eagles think there’s a burgeoning pass-rush skill set. Campbell started 10 games last season and played 63 percent of the defensive snaps, but the defense was clearly better with Dean on the field. With a full year in the scheme and adjusting to the NFL, Campbell could make strides in Year 2 next to Zack Baun. He missed offseason workouts while recovering from shoulder surgery, but he’ll return in time for the season. The opportunity is present for a breakout.”
Nakobe Dean’s Mysterious Absence With New Team
The writing was on the wall for Dean that 2025 would be his last season with the Eagles when his team, fresh off the best season of his career and a Super Bowl win, spent its 1st-round pick (No. 31 overall) on someone who played his same position when they took Campbell.
Dean, to his credit, played like someone unburdened of anyone else’s expectations when he returned from a torn patellar tendon suffered in the playoffs for the final 10 games of the regular season, quickly displacing Campbell in the starting lineup to the point the rookie only saw 1 defensive snap in Philly’s NFC Wild Card loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
In free agency, Dean cashed out with a 3-year, $36 million contract from the Raiders, where he’ll be at the heart of a new-look defense — although for some reason Dean hasn’t been a part of any OTAs or mandatory minicamp with his new team.
The mystery of Dean’s absence only deepened when 1st-year Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak couldn’t — or wouldn’t — give a clear answer on why he’s been missing.
“Nakobe’s been here every day in practice,” Kubiak told The Athletic’s Sam Warren on June 12. “But all injuries and things like that, I don’t want to talk about at this time of year. We just want to get all of our guys healthy to training camp. That’s really the most important thing.”
Injury May Have Impacted Jihaad Campbell’s Play
It’s not clear when he suffered the shoulder injury, but what is clear is that Campbell was a different player in the beginning of the season than at the end.
In October, with Dean still sidelined, Campbell even seemed dominant at times, and 1 month into the season he received the only “A+” grade for 2025 1st-round picks from Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon.
“Incredibly, Campbell has already become one of the best linebackers in the game,” Gagnon wrote on October 1. “He’s stood out in pretty much every facet as an every-down guy from Day 1, and he’s flashed his playmaking ability with two critical takeaways already. ”
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