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Rivals250 LB Jihaad Campbell picks Alabama

Jihaad Campbell
Jihaad Campbell (Rivals.com)

After beginning his career as a wide receiver at Sicklerville (N.J.) Timber Creek, Jihaad Campbell hit a growth spurt and took his talents to the defensive side of the ball. He was a budding star as a defensive end and outside linebacker and his recruitment took off after some impressive camp performances during the summer between his sophomore and junior years. After his sophomore season, Campbell transferred to IMG Academy to play out the rest of his high school career.

Campbell took an self-guided visit to Clemson during the 2020 season for the Boston College game and, when the extended dead period ended at the beginning of June, he took official visits to Florida, Ohio State, and Georgia along with an unofficial visit to Clemson. He ended up committing to the Tigers in June.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables took a lead role in Campbell's recruitment but after he took the head coaching job at Oklahoma, Campbell decided to reopen his recruitment. Alabama hosted Campbell for an unofficial visit the Friday before the Early Signing Period. He then left for Texas A&M to squeeze in an official visit before the NCAA mandated dead period started on Monday.

Largely due to their persistence, consistent contact, and help from their current commits, Alabama was able to snag Campbell's commitment at the end of the recruiting cycle.

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CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State | JUCO

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IN HIS OWN WORDS...

"The Crimson Tide have a great background and it's a program built on having success," Campbell said. "It's very similar to what my school is like. The way it is structured to help me become more successful and has the resources outside of football.

"The way Alabama has developed guys at my position has helped put them in position to win the championships that they have," he said. "They have a great background with linebackers.

"Coach Golding is a great guy that knows a lot about football," said Campbell. "I feel like him being my coach is going to help me maximize my potential as a football player.

"With Tyler Booker and Jaleel Skinner coming from IMG and committing to Alabama, I've had a lot of great conversations with them about the school," he said.

WHAT ALABAMA IS GETTING...

Campbell is a special pass rushing talent that rally benefitted from the step up in competition during his senior season. He's always possessed a natural athleticism and it was on full display this season. Campbell has a great motor and consistently chased down quarterbacks and ball carriers wherever they were on the field. Blockers had a very hard time neutralizing him because he has active hands and knows how to slip by them using a variety of techniques. Campbell is a sure tackler and still has room to add more solid mass, which will help him at the point of attack. His elite athleticism at the linebacker position is easy to see when he drops into coverage but he is at his best when getting after the quarterback.

WHY IT'S BIG FOR ALABAMA...

This Alabama recruiting class lacked an abundance of pass rushing talent along the defensive front and Campbell now fills that need. Even though Campbell won't line up as a defensive end, he'll most likely get lumped in with this group due to his elite pass rushing skills. Alabama will still be able to pressure the quarterback from every angle with the the weapons they have in Tuscaloosa and Campbell figures to be a key figure in that unit. The icing on top for Nick Saban and his staff is the fact that they won't have to play against Campbell. Two of his other top schools were Texas A&M and Georgia.

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