Speedy 2022 DE Jihaad Campbell Impressed By Michigan's Defense

After landing an offer from Michigan, 2022 defensive end Jihaad Campbell said U-M is on his short list of schools to visit.

Michigan has picked up four defensive end commits in the 2021 class, and the Wolverines are already surveying the country for '22 prospects along the defensive line. In particular, U-M linebackers coach Brian Luc Jean-Mary is assigned to recruit parts of New Jersey, and that's what brought him to Sicklerville (NJ) Timber Creek defensive end Jihaad Campbell.

After landing offers from Michigan, Texas, Florida, Clemson and Ole Miss in the last week, Campbell might be the fastest rising defensive end in the 2022 class. With those five scholarship offers, Campbell is now up to 13 total, and the 6-4, 220-pounder was he was “very excited” to hear from the U-M coaching staff.

“He was very excited to offer me a scholarship to the school,” Campbell told Wolverine Digest. “He thought I showed a good game.”

Campbell went on to say that he sees himself as a weak-side defensive end at the next level and how that fits into the current U-M defensive arrangement.

“Their defensive scheme is very nice,” Campbell said. “I like the program. I like the team organization. I like everything about it.”

After that positive review from the three-star 2022 prospect, Campbell mentioned that he'd like to take a trip to Ann Arbor once the recruiting dead period is lifted. Along with Michigan, Campbell is focused on checking out Clemson, Ole Miss, Florida and Texas, all schools that have entered his recruitment with offers in the past week.

“Clemson, that was big,” Campbell said. “That was like, wow. I was shocked about that one.”

In addition to that group, the New Jersey native holds offers from Boston College, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia and West Virginia, but his most recent activity is certainly more on the high-end Power Five side.

“I look at the school academically to see if it's a great school, then I look at the program and how they operate in the weight room, how they operate in the class and practices and game situations,” Campbell said. “Also, I look at if I can fit in their defensive scheme.”

Last season, Campbell had a successful sophomore campaign of 42 tackles and eight sacks despite battling an injury for much of the year. When on the field, Campbell showed good bend on the edge, a quick burst after the snap and used his length to force opposing quarterbacks into poor passing situations. Campbell batted down numerous passes at the line of scrimmage, and he looks like he could grow into a speedy edge rusher at the Power Five level.

“I'm very strong,” Campbell said. “I shoot my hands, and when I come off the ball I'm very explosive. I definitely like to make [blockers] fall down.”

Over the offseason, Campbell is working to camp back as a faster player on the edge for the 2020 campaign. In addition, the recent Michigan offer recipient is cleaning up his hand movement so that he can shuck opposing offensive lineman away at the point of attack.

So far, Campbell is only the 10th defensive end prospect in his class to land a Michigan offer.

What do you think of Michigan's decision to assign Coach Jean-Mary to recruit 2022 defensive end Jihaad Campbell? Will the Wolverines be successful in this pursuit? Let us know!