The NFL Draft kicks off with its opening round on Thursday in Kansas City, so Rivals is taking a look back at its projected first-round picks when they were high school prospects. We move on to our projected No. 27 – Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell, who was a three-star prospect in the 2019 class.
NFL DRAFT REWIND: No. 1 Bryce Young | No. 2 CJ Stroud | No. 3 Will Anderson | No. 4 Will Levis | No. 5 Tyree Wilson | No. 6 Jalen Carter | No. 7 Anthony Richardson | No. 8 Nolan Smith | No. 9 Peter Skoronski | No. 10 Christian Gonzalez | No. 11 Darnell Wright | No. 12 Jaxon Smith-NJigba | No. 13 Paris Johnson Jr. | No. 14 Broderick Jones | No. 15 Quentin Johnston | No. 16 Devon Witherspoon | No. 17 Joey Porter, Jr. | No. 18 Myles Murphy | No. 19 Anton Harrison | No. 20 Luka Van Ness | No. 21 Zay Flowers | No. 22 Deonte Banks | No. 23 Jordan Addison | No. 24 Cam Smith | No. 25 Brian Branch | No. 26 Bijan Robinson
No. 27: LB Jack Campbell, Iowa
Where they were ranked: The Cedar Falls, Iowa, standout was a three-star prospect who was ranked No. 39 at outside linebacker in the 2019 recruiting class and second in the Iowa state rankings that cycle behind TCU quarterback signee Max Duggan.
Recruitment: Iowa, Iowa State and Minnesota were Campbell’s only Power Five offers and all three programs were considered before his late March announcement where he picked the Hawkeyes.
Biggest question: Is Campbell sudden and reactionary enough to come down and make plays in the box against NFL-level offensive linemen and running backs?
Memories: One of the things NFL teams love about Campbell’s game is his frame. As an inside linebacker, he checked in at 6-foot-5 and 249 pounds at the NFL Combine and that kind of length is rare.
Campbell did not do any events as a high schooler, never attended a Rivals Camp Series event and was not invited to any of the postseason all-star games. But his senior film is really intriguing. He played inside linebacker and also rushed off the edge at about 215 pounds and because of his basketball background, looked more like a big receiver playing defense than anything else.
Over time in Iowa City, and with a lot of time in the weight room, Campbell added mass to his frame but he kept that athletic and playmaking ability as he learned the ropes from his linebacker position.
In his final two seasons with the Hawkeyes, Campbell totaled 265 tackles and was arguably the most-productive linebacker in the country.
Rivals Midwest recruiting analyst Josh Helmholdt at the time of Campbell being in high school targeted him as someone who could move higher in the rankings based off his senior film. It was really impressive because Campbell showed high-level production at that time but it would have to come with a lot of projection as well.
The Cedar Rapids standout had length and he hit harder than even on his junior film. But he still only weighed 215 or so pounds and was long and skinny. Could he fill out and be so elite in the Big Ten? That was a question without such an easy answer. Over time, Campbell did just that and now has all the prerequisite tools to be a first-round NFL Draft pick.
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