Eagles LB Nakobe Dean among breakout candidates for 2024

The Philadelphia Eagles have enjoyed a brilliant offseason. Fans watched on as the team went from strength-to-strength in free agency, only to steal the show during the NFL Draft. But as has become par for the course with this franchise, a cloud of question marks still looms over the linebacker position, and more specifically now more than ever, Nakobe Dean.

While the Avengers were assembled over the course of the Spring, with the likes of Bryce Huff, Quinyon Mitchell, and Saquon Barkley headlining the crop, the linebacker position never felt like a priority. Devin White was brought onto the roster along with former Saints’ Special-teamer Zack Baun, before Jeremiah Trotter Jr. was added during the latter stages of the NFL Draft. But for a group that has been circled in red by opposing offenses for years now, many expected a little more from Howie Roseman.

The result of this chain of events leads us to believe one of two things – the team is either fully confident in the abilities of guys like Nakobe Dean, or they simply don’t mind leaving their vegetables here if it means they can feast on a juicy steak elsewhere. It’s likely a combination of the two, but no matter what the outcome is, the pressure is very much on for Nakobe Dean in 2024.

Dean’s time with the Eagles so far

The former Georgia Bulldog was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Fans were jubilant after watching the stud linebacker fall gracefully into Howie Roseman’s lap. The reason for that slip through the cracks was due to a ‘severe pec injury’ that narrowly avoided needing surgery. The Eagles were more than happy to take the risk on a player whose athletic upside far outweighed the pitfalls of injury setbacks.

Fast forward 2 seasons however and the picture is blurry. Nakobe Dean was largely a special teamer in his rookie year before taking a seismic leap in 2023 when it came to usage. He started the season strongly, combining for 7 tackles in week 1…before a Lisfranc injury forced him out of the game early and onto the IR.

Dean would then return in the loss to the Jets and play in the following 3 games, racking up a new career-high 13 tackles against the Commanders. But one game later, in Week 9 against the Cowboys, he suffered another foot injury and hit the IR for a second time in 9 weeks. This injury would keep him out for the remainder of the season.

What next for the former Bulldog?

With Training Camp on the horizon, there’s no question that this is a big year for Nakobe Dean. He has two years left on his rookie deal and outside of a few flashes, such as a strong Week 13 performance against the Titans in 2023, injuries have cost him crucial development time and inconsistent play when healthy was always going to be excepted when dealing with such setbacks.

The Eagles are far from set at linebacker, but the hopes were that Dean would finally develop into the player they could hang their hat on. He could well still be that guy, but with a proven vet now starting alongside him and some hungry underdogs nipping at his heels for an opportunity, the luxury of time is no longer there for Dean. He has to hit the ground running this Summer and carry that momentum into the regular season. A failure to do so is only going to further complicate things when it comes to building out the future of this linebacker position.

But if Dean can get it all together and perform at a level even moderately close to games like that stunning performance against the Titans, or even what we saw in Week 1 last year before his injury, then maybe, just maybe, he could grow into a pivotal cog in Fangio’s defense.