Part 9, LB: Jihaad Campbell, Alabama's latest ass-kicker, leads class full of playmakers
But when should teams draft a linebacker? The position and the game have changed so much. Bob McGinn examines with full analysis from scouts across the NFL.
This is the 41st year, and the fourth at Go Long, that Bob McGinn has written a position-by-position series previewing the NFL draft. Previously, it appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1985-’91), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1992-2017), BobMcGinnFootball.com (2018-’19) and The Athletic (2020-’21). Until 2014, many personnel people were quoted by name. Reluctantly, the series adopted an all-anonymous format in 2015 at the request of most scouts.
Ninth of 12 parts: Linebackers.
Go Long is your forever home for unvarnished NFL coverage.
By Bob McGinn
No off-the-ball linebacker from the last four NFL drafts has been voted to the Pro Bowl, and now teams are hedging their bets on this class, too.
Last month, decision-makers for the Patriots, Titans and Broncos tipped their hands by filling needs at inside linebacker in free agency or, in the case of the Jets, re-signing one of their own.
None of the agreements broke the bank or made big headlines. All four teams looked at the draft class and opted instead to spend freely on proven if not impact-style veterans.
“The Jets paid (Jamien) Sherwood like $15 million a year,” an executive in personnel for an NFL team said. “That seemed to tell me that people didn’t have much faith in this class.”
Sherwood, a fifth-round draft choice in 2021, went back to the Jets on a three-year deal with $30 million guaranteed.
Also in mid-March, Robert Spillane moved from the Raiders to the Patriots for three years and $20.6 million guaranteed, Dre Greenlaw went from the 49ers to the Broncos for three years and $13.5 million guaranteed and Cody Barton went from the Broncos to the Titans for three years and $9 million guaranteed.
Greenlaw has the most starts (56) of the foursome but also has had a reported nine surgeries. The undrafted Spillane (50) will be with his fourth team in eight years. This also will be the fourth team for Barton (43), a third-round draft choice in 2019. Sherwood (23), a fifth-round choice in 2021, had been a special-teams player for three years before he made the most of his first chance to start after C.J. Mosley went down with toe and neck injuries early last season.
Alabama’s Jihaad Campbell seems to be the consensus choice to the first linebacker drafted this year.
“He could go in the top 20,” an AFC personnel man said. “The five after him, those guys are all probably second round to high fourth round.”
League-wide, there’s a distinct need for fresh blood at the position. Of the 20 berths appropriated in Pro Bowl voting from 2020-2024, ten players have been represented. Five of the 10 came from the 2018 draft: Roquan Smith (first round), Tremaine Edmunds (first round), Darius Leonard (second round), Fred Warner (third round) and Zaire Franklin (seventh round). Those five players from the Class of 2018 have gobbled up 13 of the 20 slots over the past five years.
Two of the recent Pro Bowlers, Bobby Wagner and DeMario Davis, remain starters for NFC teams but each will be entering his 14th season. Leonard’s career appears over.
With teams favoring pass rushers and cover guys on the defensive side of the draft, only four conventional linebackers have been first-round selections in the last four years, and none higher than the No. 18 pick.
Jamin Davis, the No. 19 pick in 2021, already is on his fourth team. From the 2022 draft, Devin Lloyd (No. 27) probably has been a shade better than Quay Walker (No. 22). Jack Campbell, the No. 18 choice in 2023, improved from a so-so rookie season.
Defensive coordinators can only hope this class of linebackers approaches 2018. Besides Smith, Warner, Edmunds, Leonard and Franklin, that group also included Leighton Vander Esch, Josey Jewell, Jerome Baker and Rashaan Evans.
An obvious plus for this year’s class is the number of candidates regarded as capable of wearing the green-dot helmet because they’re equipped to call and direct a defense.
“I have six or seven in the top 100,” one scout said. “Only one that isn’t capable of being a green dot is Campbell. (Smael) Mondon and all the others are. (Danny) Stutsman, (Carson) Schwesinger and (Demetrius) Knight are like high-level green dots.”
Links to date:
Part 2, TE: Is Tyler Warren the next Great American NFL Tight End?
Part 5, QB: Do NFL scouts view Cam Ward & Shedeur Sanders as franchise quarterbacks?
Part 6, RB: 'Rare human being and a rare player,' but when to draft Ashton Jeanty?
Learn more about the player and the person through a scouting lens below with Part 9 of McGinn’s series…
LINEBACKERS
1. JIHAAD CAMPBELL, Alabama (6-3, 235, 4.54, 1-2): Third-year junior. “He is all over the field,” one scout said. “Explosive, nasty. They do everything with this guy. He’s a former D-end. He has got bad intentions. He can blitz, cover. Love this guy. Mid-first round.”