Vic Fangio notes: The safety battle, Riq Woolen's potential and more

Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio broke down the safety battle, talked about the newcomers and more on Thursday.

By Dave Zangaro • Published May 23, 2026

Not only did Vic Fangio say he wasn’t close to retiring this offseason, but he also said he’s "good for two years, at least.”

That’s great news for Eagles fans.

And it’s honestly great news for Eagles reporters too, because no one is more honest than Fangio in a press conference setting. And as the Eagles prepare for OTAs next week, Fangio hit on a bunch of topics Thursday.

Here are some takeaways: 

1. The safety battle

We know Drew Mukuba is going to be one of the Eagles’ starting safeties in 2026. As for the other starting job now that Reed Blankenship is gone?

"It’s open,” Fangio said.

The Eagles veteran defensive coordinator did reveal that Cooper DeJean will play safety in the Eagles’ base package, but will slide to nickel corner in sub packages. But that other safety job when the Eagles are in nickel is a competition that starts with veteran Marcus Epps, but also includes plenty of other players like Michael Carter II, Andre’ Sam, J.T. Gray, Cole Wisniewski and more.

But Fangio certainly made it seem like Epps is the front-runner for the job.

"When he had to play last year, he came in and showed his experience, showed his instincts that he has for the game,” Fangio said. "I was pleased with the way he played last year. I wasn't considering him an old player at this point, but he's obviously a veteran. I think he'll do fine. I'm not sure what his injury history has been, but I think if he stays injury-free and if he wins the job, we'll be fine.”

While Carter has mostly played nickel corner in the NFL, the Eagles are planning on trying him at safety this spring and summer. Fangio pointed out Carter’s instincts and said he didn’t think he’d had a hard to learning the position from a mental aspect.

As for Mukuba, he’s entering Year 2 after fracturing his ankle last November.

"Started off the season up and down, had some shaky plays,” Fangio said. "But I felt like the last five or six games prior to him getting hurt, he was coming on and hopefully he'll be able to pick up from there. He's had a rehab-dominated offseason, but he's been out there with us these last couple of weeks. He's not 100% yet, but he will be soon.”

2. The big new additions

The Eagles top defensive additions this offseason were edge rusher Jonathan Greenard and cornerback Riq Woolen. Fangio was asked about both on Thursday.

Greenard, 28, is expected to be the Eagles’ top edge rusher in 2026.

"He's been productive in the rush,” Fangio said. "He's had years where he's had good numbers sack-wise, but like we always discuss, pressure on the quarterback is also important and he's been able to do that throughout his career. I think he's strong on the edge vs. the run game. We're excited to have him, but I think there's a lot of good there.”

As for the 27-year-old Woolen, Fangio revealed that the Eagles took a long look at him during the 2025 season because they thought Seattle might be interested in trading him.

While Fangio didn’t get too deep into the evaluation during the season, he got a chance to really watch Woolen this offseason and came away impressed. In fact, Fangio was surprised Woolen didn’t get a long term deal and said he was "thrilled” the Eagles got him.

What does Fangio like about Woolen?

"Well, he's a rare guy in that you don't see many corners in the league that are 6-4,” Fangio said. "You don't see many that are 6-2 or even 6-1 and there's a reason for that. It's hard to find guys at those heights that can move and mirror receivers that are hard to cover. He can do that for a guy his height. He can get in and out of breaks. He obviously has good downfield speed and his length is more of an asset than a detriment in his case. I'm excited to have him. He's been here since we started the offseason. Seems to be a great guy. He's into being here and really looking forward to working with him.”

When asked about Woolen’s reputation for letting his emotions get the best of him, Fangio said he’s confident Woolen will overcome that.

3. Back for training camp

It was Fangio earlier this offseason who revealed that linebacker Jihaad Campbell is getting over a shoulder injury this offseason.

On Thursday, Fangio said Campbell is coming along "good.” He couldn’t say if Campbell would be back in time for any spring practices but did offer that Campbell will "be ready for training camp.” That’s good news for the second-year linebacker and the Eagles’ defense. Campbell is expected to be a full-time starter next to Zack Baun in 2026.

4. The need for patience

There’s plenty of excitement about Eagles’ seventh-round pick Uar Bernard. But the Nigerian freak-show athlete has never played football, so patience will be important.

"Yeah, it's really different,” Fangio said. "The guy's never played high school football, college football. I had a similar experience when I was with the Niners. We had a guy by the name of Lawrence Okoye who was an Olympic discus thrower for England. Looked a lot like Uar looks now and we kept him for a couple years. Other teams tried. It never worked for him, but patience will need to be a virtue both on his part and ours.”

Okoye has represented Great Britain in three different Olympics and is the British record holder in the discus. He actually broke his own record last month in Oklahoma with a throw of 71.88 meters.

But football never worked out for Okoye, who signed with the 49ers in 2013 when Fangio was their defensive coordinator. Okoye also spent time with the Cardinals, Jets, Cowboys, Bears and Dolphins but never played in an NFL game before going to the CFL and then the AAF before returning to the discus.

5. Hangin’ with Mr. Kuper

After 13 years with Jeff Stoutland, the Eagles will have a new offensive line coach in 2026. They hired Chris Kuper because of his familiarity with new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, but Fangio knows Kuper well too.

Kuper was the assistant offensive line coach in Denver for three seasons when Fangio was the Broncos’ head coach. So when the Eagles got close to hiring Kuper this offseason, they reached out to Fangio to pick his brain.

"I think Kup's an excellent coach,” Fangio said. "He did a great job for us in Denver. Worked under Mike Munchak there for a good three years. Went on to Minnesota as the head line coach. I thought did a good job there. I have the utmost confidence in Kup that he'll do a great job here, and I think the players will like and respect him. I don't see any issue there.”

The biggest issue for Kuper is that he’s replacing a legend. Fangio and Stoutland became friends in recent years and even though Fangio hasn’t seen Stout in a few weeks, he has played golf with him a couple times this offseason.

"He seems to be enjoying himself,” Fangio said. "I know he's playing a lot of golf. I don't know that he's gotten any better, but he's trying.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/vic-fangio-notes-safety-battle-marcus-epps-riq-woolen/734311/

I’m excited to see what Woolen can do. If he plays at the level we know he can (or in fact anywhere even near it) then that’s a huge upgrade on last year. Adoree grew in to the year but he still had some struggles and limitations. He has real upside and I do think he’s going to be an upgrade on what we had last year. How much of an upgrade? That remains to be seen.

As for Safety… The fact Epps is favourite right now to win the starting job is a problem. He’s a solid guy but he’s a back up. So hopefully our starting Safety is not on the roster right now. Hopefully Howie can work a trade or a decent player gets released.

The eagles are loaded on defense.......They're going to be a top 1-3 defense this year barring injuries.

A lot of concern for the O-line and Kuper. Stoutland worked magic with rookies and veterans alike. Probably the best Oline coach in the NFL.......big shoes to fill for Kuper. Kuper has to get young backups developed due the injury histories of Dickerson, Jurgens and Johnson. The offense has the skill players.....but success of the offense will hinge on the offensive line.

4 hours ago, birdman#12 said:

The eagles are loaded on defense.......They're going to be a top 1-3 defense this year barring injuries.

A lot of concern for the O-line and Kuper. Stoutland worked magic with rookies and veterans alike. Probably the best Oline coach in the NFL.......big shoes to fill for Kuper. Kuper has to get young backups developed due the injury histories of Dickerson, Jurgens and Johnson. The offense has the skill players.....but success of the offense will hinge on the offensive line.

Truer words have never been spoken. Ultimately the success of the offense will hinge on the health/play of the OL. Kuper may not be Stout but hopefully the vets are able to help fill the void by coaching the young guys up.