Based on the five Eagles practices open to reporters this spring, Nakobe Dean shouldn’t even be on this list.
In those practices, it was Zack Baun playing next to Devin White as the two off-ball linebackers on the first-team defense. Dean was relegated to second team, at least an indication that he won’t be handed a starting gig under new defensive coordinator Vic Fango.
But it would be a real shame is Dean isn’t able to wrestle away that starting job. After all, he’s still just 23 and a few years ago was considered to be one of the biggest steals of the 2022 draft after captaining the Georgia Bulldogs to a National Championship.
As a rookie in 2022, Dean basically had a redshirt season on defense as the Eagles played T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White ahead of him. Last season was supposed to be Dean’s year but he played in just five games during an injury-plagued season and was just coming back from those injuries at spring practices.
It was clear at the Eagles’ year-end press conference that Dean was still in their plans, at least according to general manager Howie Roseman.
“I have a lot of belief, and I know Coach (Nick Sirianni) does, as well, in Nakobe Dean,” Roseman said in January. “I believe in the player. I believe in the person.
“We lost two linebackers at that spot, two good players from our Super Bowl team and we had Nakobe waiting in the wings. We drafted him for that role. Obviously, it didn’t work out perfectly for him this year. That doesn’t change the belief we have in the player.”
While the Eagles signed White to a one-year contract, it’s not like their other moves suggested that they’re writing off Dean. They signed Baun as a hybrid off-ball/edge rusher and then used a fifth-round pick on Jeremiah Trotter Jr. Perhaps one of those players could bump Dean but he should get the first crack at a starting job in Year 3 of his career.
