Posted May 22, 20241 yr How much can Eagles rely on Nakobe Dean in 2024? The Eagles are still high on Nakobe Dean but after an injury-riddled season, how much can they rely on him in 2024? By Dave Zangaro • Published May 22, 2024 Nakobe Dean is set to enter Year 3 of his NFL career in 2024 and we still haven’t seen very much of him. Dean, 23, barely played on defense as a rookie and then his first year as a starter last season was cut drastically short thanks to a couple of foot injuries. It wasn’t that long ago that Dean was considered by many to be the steal of the draft when the Eagles took him in the third round (No. 83 overall) out of Georgia back in 2022. Dean was the MIKE linebacker and defensive leader for the National Championship Bulldogs, after all. But it seems like all that excitement about Dean has seemingly worn thin as he enters Year 3. Have people forgotten about him? "I don’t know,” Dean said this spring. "I ain’t really been listening to them. If they have, then it is what it is. I know I’ve been out so sight, out of mind because of the injury. I’m here now.” Dean had surgery during last season but said he was out of his walking boot by early February and has been working toward a full recovery. Last month, Dean said he was getting close to being 100 percent healthy. And that’s obviously the biggest and most important step for the young linebacker. But how much can the Eagles rely on Dean in 2024? It’s a fair question. Because in 2023, it seemed like the Eagles were expecting Dean to be their top linebacker and things obviously didn’t work out like that. Perhaps, they put too many eggs in that basket. Thanks to Dean’s injury, the Eagles ended up playing Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow for most of the season. Morrow was the starting MIKE in Dean’s absence. The Eagles will have a new-look linebacker group for new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in 2024. Morrow left in free agency to join the Bills, while Cunningham remains unsigned. The Eagles signed Devin White and Oren Burks in free agency and then drafted Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in the fifth round. But before those moves this offseason, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman made sure to say publicly that the team still believes in Dean. "I have a lot of belief, and I know Coach (Nick Sirianni) does, as well, in Nakobe Dean,” Roseman said at his year-end press conference 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.” During the Super Bowl season, the Eagles started T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White and since both stayed healthy and the team was on a roll, there wasn’t much playing time left for Dean under Jonathan Gannon. But then last offseason, Edwards and White left as free agents, opening the door for Dean to become the team’s starting MIKE linebacker. He began the season with the green dot — he played in 5 games with 30 tackles, 2 TFLs and 1 QB hit — but it didn’t take long before he was dealing with the first really serious injury of his football career. Despite his smaller frame (5-11, 231) Dean was able to avoid major injury during his time with Georgia. So this was a new experience for him last season. "The mental side is always hard,” Dean said this spring. "We talk about having a dawg mentality all the time. I feel like it starts with being mentally strong. I’m an optimistic realist. I’m always real about my situation but I’m always optimistic. The only thing I gotta do is continue to work and it’ll take care of itself.” As the Eagles begin OTAs this week, there is going to be competition at the linebacker position. Dean, White, Trotter Jr., Burks and Ben VanSumeren, among others, will all be competing for roster spots and roles in the defense. During his five seasons in Tampa, White was the Buccaneers’ starting middle linebacker with the green dot on his helmet. The Eagles gave him a one-year, $4 million contract (worth up to $7.5 million) — a relatively significant investment at the linebacker position given the Eagles’ history. So if White is the starting MIKE, then Dean might have to move to the WILL in 2024. Dean said he’d be fine with that. "We don’t know,” Dean said. "We haven’t talked ball. But we’re open to anything. We’re open to play ball. The type of guys we go this year, I know Devin. We all dawgs. So whatever they put on our plate, we’re going to eat.” Dean has known White for several years. In fact, White tried to recruit Dean to LSU back in 2019. That was before Dean ended up at Georgia and before White was drafted in the first round. Both players had disappointing 2023 seasons and are hoping to turn things around in 2024. The Eagles are using their spring practices and workouts as a chance to build their team connection. But it’s also a chance to learn a new defense under Fangio, who is Dean’s third defensive coordinator in three seasons in the NFL. "I’m just excited to see how he plans on using us,” Dean said. And plenty of people are excited to see if Dean can finally live up to his potential. https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/how-much-can-eagles-rely-on-nakobe-dean-in-2024/585738/
May 22, 20241 yr Author I don't think you "count on" Dean ... but I also don't think you write him off either. I also don't think the FO is exactly counting on Dean as we added a few players that potentially could fill that MIKE role ... we drafted Trot Jr. and signed Baun in free agency (he was the first player Fangio mentioned when asked about ILB). It is good to have insurance policies ... similar to having brought back Maddox who I think is more of an insurance policy should some of the other additions not show well at nickel CB over the summer (they signed Tyler Hall in free agency, drafted DeJean who is reportedly focusing more on NCB initially, have McPhearson coming back from injury who was penciled in as the NCB last year ... but I've always felt he was more of an outside CB, recently signed Stephens who I believe is mostly a NCB, etc.).
May 23, 20241 yr 10 hours ago, time2rock said: I don't think you "count on" Dean ... but I also don't think you write him off either. At this point I think you have to almost go with the thought that he’s not going to play a lot because he can’t stay healthy. If he does then it’s a pleasant surprise but so far through 2 years he’s just not been able to. But I agree I don’t think you can write him off completely either. If he can stay healthy then he’s got a chance to play a role here because he is a good player.
May 23, 20241 yr He will start PUP at training camp and will probably remail that way thru final cuts so he won't count towards the final 53. Then they wait to activiate him until someone goes on IR
May 24, 20241 yr 16 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said: At this point I think you have to almost go with the thought that he’s not going to play a lot because he can’t stay healthy. If he does then it’s a pleasant surprise but so far through 2 years he’s just not been able to. He stayed healthy his entire rookie season. Zero injuries as a rookie. Practiced every practice, played special teams in every game. Regular Season Tackles Off. Snaps Def. Snaps ST Snaps Rk Date G# Week Age Tm Opp Result GS Sk Solo Ast Comb TFL QBHits Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct 17 Games 14-3-0 0.0 9 4 13 1 0 1 2022-09-11 1 1 21.272 PHI @ DET W 38-35 0 0% 3 4% 15 48% 2 2022-09-19 2 2 21.280 PHI MIN W 24-7 0 0% 0 0% 12 57% 3 2022-09-25 3 3 21.286 PHI @ WAS W 24-8 0 0% 0 0% 20 77% 4 2022-10-02 4 4 21.293 PHI JAX W 29-21 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 17 71% 5 2022-10-09 5 5 21.300 PHI @ ARI W 20-17 0 0% 0 0% 21 84% 6 2022-10-16 6 6 21.307 PHI DAL W 26-17 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 20 83% 7 2022-10-30 7 8 21.321 PHI PIT W 35-13 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 21 78% 8 2022-11-03 8 9 21.325 PHI @ HOU W 29-17 0 0% 1 2% 17 74% 9 2022-11-14 9 10 21.336 PHI WAS L 21-32 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 23 88% 10 2022-11-20 10 11 21.342 PHI @ IND W 17-16 0 0% 0 0% 21 84% 11 2022-11-27 11 12 21.349 PHI GNB W 40-33 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 23 74% 12 2022-12-04 12 13 21.356 PHI TEN W 35-10 0.0 5 1 6 1 0 0 0% 15 27% 23 79% 13 2022-12-11 13 14 21.363 PHI @ NYG W 48-22 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 12 19% 21 68% 14 2022-12-18 14 15 22.005 PHI @ CHI W 25-20 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 19 76% 15 2022-12-24 15 16 22.011 PHI @ DAL L 34-40 0 0% 1 1% 25 81% 16 2023-01-01 16 17 22.019 PHI NOR L 10-20 0 0% 2 3% 22 85% 17 2023-01-08 17 18 22.026 PHI NYG W 22-16 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 20 71% Playoffs Tackles Off. Snaps Def. Snaps ST Snaps Rk Date G# Week Age Tm Opp Result GS Sk Solo Ast Comb TFL QBHits Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct 1 2023-01-21 18 20 22.039 PHI NYG W 38-7 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 5 10% 16 67% 2 2023-01-29 19 21 22.047 PHI SFO W 31-7 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 4 9% 17 74% 3 2023-02-12 20 22 22.061 PHI N KAN L 35-38 0 0% 0 0% 24 83%
May 24, 20241 yr Author 14 hours ago, brkmsn said: He stayed healthy his entire rookie season. Zero injuries as a rookie. Practiced every practice, played special teams in every game. Regular Season Tackles Off. Snaps Def. Snaps ST Snaps Rk Date G# Week Age Tm Opp Result GS Sk Solo Ast Comb TFL QBHits Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct 17 Games 14-3-0 0.0 9 4 13 1 0 1 2022-09-11 1 1 21.272 PHI @ DET W 38-35 0 0% 3 4% 15 48% 2 2022-09-19 2 2 21.280 PHI MIN W 24-7 0 0% 0 0% 12 57% 3 2022-09-25 3 3 21.286 PHI @ WAS W 24-8 0 0% 0 0% 20 77% 4 2022-10-02 4 4 21.293 PHI JAX W 29-21 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 17 71% 5 2022-10-09 5 5 21.300 PHI @ ARI W 20-17 0 0% 0 0% 21 84% 6 2022-10-16 6 6 21.307 PHI DAL W 26-17 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 20 83% 7 2022-10-30 7 8 21.321 PHI PIT W 35-13 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 21 78% 8 2022-11-03 8 9 21.325 PHI @ HOU W 29-17 0 0% 1 2% 17 74% 9 2022-11-14 9 10 21.336 PHI WAS L 21-32 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 23 88% 10 2022-11-20 10 11 21.342 PHI @ IND W 17-16 0 0% 0 0% 21 84% 11 2022-11-27 11 12 21.349 PHI GNB W 40-33 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 23 74% 12 2022-12-04 12 13 21.356 PHI TEN W 35-10 0.0 5 1 6 1 0 0 0% 15 27% 23 79% 13 2022-12-11 13 14 21.363 PHI @ NYG W 48-22 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 12 19% 21 68% 14 2022-12-18 14 15 22.005 PHI @ CHI W 25-20 0.0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 19 76% 15 2022-12-24 15 16 22.011 PHI @ DAL L 34-40 0 0% 1 1% 25 81% 16 2023-01-01 16 17 22.019 PHI NOR L 10-20 0 0% 2 3% 22 85% 17 2023-01-08 17 18 22.026 PHI NYG W 22-16 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0% 20 71% Playoffs Tackles Off. Snaps Def. Snaps ST Snaps Rk Date G# Week Age Tm Opp Result GS Sk Solo Ast Comb TFL QBHits Num Pct Num Pct Num Pct 1 2023-01-21 18 20 22.039 PHI NYG W 38-7 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 5 10% 16 67% 2 2023-01-29 19 21 22.047 PHI SFO W 31-7 0.0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0% 4 9% 17 74% 3 2023-02-12 20 22 22.061 PHI N KAN L 35-38 0 0% 0 0% 24 83% He wasn't going to beat out Edwards his rookie year. Edwards was a very good ILB (I often thought he was underrated by our fanbase). And then in year 2 he really only suffered that one foot injury (he just happened to reaggravate that same foot injury when he did hit the field - who knows maybe he came back too soon, maybe a few more weeks on the shelf would have helped to avoid the re-injury but obviously no way to know).
May 24, 20241 yr I wouldn't bank on him but I'd give him a fair chance to prove what he can do. Let the chips fall where they may.
May 24, 20241 yr 5 hours ago, time2rock said: He wasn't going to beat out Edwards his rookie year. Edwards was a very good ILB (I often thought he was underrated by our fanbase). And then in year 2 he really only suffered that one foot injury (he just happened to reaggravate that same foot injury when he did hit the field - who knows maybe he came back too soon, maybe a few more weeks on the shelf would have helped to avoid the re-injury but obviously no way to know). That was a perfect situation. Edwards was coming off a good season in 2021, was in a contract year and the Eagles drafted Dean who split 1st team reps with Edwards through much of training camp. Edwards responded with a great season that not all fans really appreciated. The Eagles still felt good about Dean replacing Edwards heading into 2023 based on how well the two competed for the starting role in 2022. It's fair to say that everybody is disappointed in how 2023 turned out. Dean is extremely intelligent and was a good leader in college. He's the best guy on the team suited for the green dot. But he's still relatively inexperienced at this level --- especially since he was only able to play in 5 games last season. Being hurt for the first time in his football life was a setback and it prevented him from gaining valuable starting experience to build off. He's already an excellent tackler and he'll likely lead the team in tackles this year, but he still has to experience some ups and downs in coverage in order to get better there. I expect every NFL player to get hurt every season. Most injuries can be played through or have a "day to day" recovery time. I'll be shocked if Dean misses any major time this season as he just doesn't have a history to be concerned about. As for Dean's foot last year, I believe it was one of those issues where you can choose to let it heal on it's own, return in less time and hope it holds up or get surgery and rehab through a lengthy recovery process that will fully fix the issue. Had he opted for surgery the first time, his season would have ended at that point. I think Dean gambled on his body's ability to heal, hoping to get through the season.
May 25, 20241 yr Author 14 hours ago, brkmsn said: That was a perfect situation. Edwards was coming off a good season in 2021, was in a contract year and the Eagles drafted Dean who split 1st team reps with Edwards through much of training camp. Edwards responded with a great season that not all fans really appreciated. The Eagles still felt good about Dean replacing Edwards heading into 2023 based on how well the two competed for the starting role in 2022. It's fair to say that everybody is disappointed in how 2023 turned out. Dean is extremely intelligent and was a good leader in college. He's the best guy on the team suited for the green dot. But he's still relatively inexperienced at this level --- especially since he was only able to play in 5 games last season. Being hurt for the first time in his football life was a setback and it prevented him from gaining valuable starting experience to build off. He's already an excellent tackler and he'll likely lead the team in tackles this year, but he still has to experience some ups and downs in coverage in order to get better there. I expect every NFL player to get hurt every season. Most injuries can be played through or have a "day to day" recovery time. I'll be shocked if Dean misses any major time this season as he just doesn't have a history to be concerned about. As for Dean's foot last year, I believe it was one of those issues where you can choose to let it heal on it's own, return in less time and hope it holds up or get surgery and rehab through a lengthy recovery process that will fully fix the issue. Had he opted for surgery the first time, his season would have ended at that point. I think Dean gambled on his body's ability to heal, hoping to get through the season. I hope you knocked on wood as you were typing the bolded sentence. We've had players choose to avoid surgery before to see if they can heal on their own (hoping to return earlier) with mixed results ... it worked for Lane, not for DJax.
May 25, 20241 yr 2 hours ago, time2rock said: I hope you knocked on wood as you were typing the bolded sentence. We've had players choose to avoid surgery before to see if they can heal on their own (hoping to return earlier) with mixed results ... it worked for Lane, not for DJax. I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to make yourself available when choosing two different healing paths. But I'd say that the surgery option tends to produce the most predictable outcome. Lane, like Duce Staley was able to play through the hernia and have it taken care of after the season. But Lane, after he originally suffered his ankle injury opted to heal naturally and it never really did. He then decided to have a temporary surgical procedure to get him through the following season right before it started and it failed to deliver the results. Once he finally had the proper surgery, the injury was finally behind him. The DJax thing was a mess. He had never had surgery before and opted to heal naturally, but it never really got better. Kelce has managed to play through a few things and have them taken care of after the season. To me, if it's the type of injury that can be played through and the player is willing to play through the pain, I think it's a good idea. But if it's something a player can't really play through, just get the surgery so you can put it behind you. The timetable for healing naturally isn't nearly as predictable.
May 26, 20241 yr On 5/24/2024 at 1:07 AM, brkmsn said: He stayed healthy his entire rookie season. Zero injuries as a rookie. Practiced every practice, played special teams in every game. And barely played that year. I know injuries can happen at any time in any situation but with the way the eagles practice I’m sure that helps prevent injuries. I’m pretty sure he was injured when we drafted him?
May 26, 20241 yr Author 2 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said: And barely played that year. I know injuries can happen at any time in any situation but with the way the eagles practice I’m sure that helps prevent injuries. I’m pretty sure he was injured when we drafted him? https://www.si.com/nfl/eagles/news/philadelphia-eagles-lb-nakobe-dean-bad-luck-or-injury-prone
May 26, 20241 yr 7 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said: And barely played that year. I know injuries can happen at any time in any situation but with the way the eagles practice I’m sure that helps prevent injuries. I’m pretty sure he was injured when we drafted him? 4 hours ago, time2rock said: https://www.si.com/nfl/eagles/news/philadelphia-eagles-lb-nakobe-dean-bad-luck-or-injury-prone As a rookie he went through all the practices and played on special teams (340 ST snaps) and had 34 defensive snaps in the regular season along with about another 60-70 combined snaps in the playoffs. He held up just fine. The pec strain (aka "the shoulder injury") was something he suffered lifting weights preparing for the combine. It was a grade 1 pec strain. The draft rumor circulated that he refused surgery for a pec injury and I suppose that affected teams that didn't do all their homework. But a grade 1 and even a grade 2 pec strain never require surgery and heal on their own in 2-4 weeks with exercise. TBH, the biggest reason for his slip in the draft was that teams devalue off-ball LBs and there were only a couple teams that had an immediate need for one in the draft and the ones that did had bigger team needs. As for that article, it suggests that wear and tear may be catching up with him. LOL. You mean like everybody that plays football? Injuries are going to happen. A player finally has one in a game after 5 years of college and pro football and all of a sudden it's a huge concern? I still don't get the "size and ability to hold up" narrative either. There are so many LBs that enter the NFL at or around that size. The only real size issue with Dean is his height which is just under 6 ft, but his weight is right in that 230 lb range which is common in today's NFL. If anything, being shorter at 230 lbs makes you "bulkier" than a 6-2, 230 lb guy. Heck, Mike Singletary was 6-0, 230 lbs. To me, it's just "alarmist writing." His size has nothing to do with why he hurt his foot last season. Goedert's size had nothing to do with why he broke his arm. Aaron Rodger's size had nothing to do with his torn Achilles.
May 26, 20241 yr Today, Roob had probably the best take I've read on Nakobe Dean: https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/roobs-observations-isaiah-rodgers-jalen-carter-nakobe-dean/586781/ Quote 6. Zach Baun may have been taking 1st-team reps at off-ball linebacker during last week’s open practice, but I just don’t see him as a viable off-ball linebacker in any role beyond just a few snaps here or there. Baun played 660 defensive snaps in four years with the Saints and according to Pro Football Focus, 170 were at linebacker. And over the last two years he played 320 snaps as an edge rusher and 39 at linebacker. He’s not the guy. The reality is Nakobe Dean remains the Eagles’ best hope for a viable starting off-ball linebacker opposite Devin White. Unfortunately, as of last week, Dean wasn’t fully cleared yet after dealing with two foot injuries last year and undergoing surgery in November. Dean told me on locker clean-out day he hoped to be cleared by now – "I can’t wait for OTAs, I can’t wait for training camp, I can’t wait till next year,” he said on Jan. 27. But here we are. Dean did some individual work last week but we haven’t seen him on the field for team drills yet. Hopefully, Dean is back either this week or next month for mandatory minicamp. This is a huge year for him and he’s got a lot to prove. We’ve all seen his potential and while I get why some people are down on him, it’s too early to give up on the former Georgia star. Dean has played significant snaps in five games in his life. He’s left two early with foot injuries, and he wasn’t 100 percent for the three others. Dean was never hurt at Georgia, so it’s not like he's injury prone. We just need to see him play healthy and find out who he is and what kind of player he can be. And it would be nice if that process began very soon.
May 29, 20241 yr I guess I'm a little old fashioned, but I don't trust lis franc injuries.....foot injuries. He apparently did it to both feet and one was surgically repaired. I like the potential of Nakobi Dean.....but his dependability hinges on those feet. The eagles can't assume that Dean will last the season with those issues.
May 29, 20241 yr Author 5 hours ago, birdman#12 said: I guess I'm a little old fashioned, but I don't trust lis franc injuries.....foot injuries. He apparently did it to both feet and one was surgically repaired. I like the potential of Nakobi Dean.....but his dependability hinges on those feet. The eagles can't assume that Dean will last the season with those issues. I don’t think the Eagles are assuming that. They drafted Trot Jr. and signed Baun in free agency (who Fangio specifically pointed out as an ILB) and White.
May 30, 20241 yr 10 hours ago, birdman#12 said: I guess I'm a little old fashioned, but I don't trust lis franc injuries.....foot injuries. He apparently did it to both feet and one was surgically repaired. I like the potential of Nakobi Dean.....but his dependability hinges on those feet. The eagles can't assume that Dean will last the season with those issues. It was the same foot twice. It was not both feet. The lisfranc injury does have such a wide return window that it's always a bit concerning. I don't worry that the player won't return to form, but just about how long that might take. So, yeah, I always hate to see players get those and wish there was some kind of shoe technology someone would invent that could lower the risk. I don't recall hearing of any player that had more than one in their playing career. It's really kind of a fluke injury.
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