Dominant Dozen: Leadership, Playmaking Lands Linebacker At No. 9

Nakobe Dean deserved to be on the field in the playoffs, doing what he had done all season long for the Eagles – leading, tackling, and making plays. A torn patellar in his knee during a Wild Card Weekend win over the Green bay Packers - the Eagles’ first step on their way to winning Super Bowl LIX – prevented that.

It didn’t prevent the third-year linebacker from landing in the No. 9 spot for the 12 most impactful players from the Eagles 2024 season. Maybe it stopped it from being higher on the list, but No. 9 is how it shook out when Eagles on SI beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen ranked their dominant dozen.

The lists were compiled independent of each other, with No. 1 being awarded 12 points, down to the 12th man earning one point.

Receiver DeVonta Smith kicked off the countdown at No. 12, collecting three points, and Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens came in at No. 11 with four points.

Mailata received seven points, all from McMullen, who had Mailata No. 6 on his list while Kracz left Mailata off his list.

Kracz had Dean at No. 8 on his list; McMullen at No. 9 for a total of nine points, which was tied with another player but that other player, who will be revealed on Saturday, won the tiebreaker, which will be explained when he is revealed.

As for Dean, he finished second on the team in tackles with 128, 80 of which were solo, nine tackles for loss, three sacks, six quarterback hits, one interception, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries.

Before suffering his injury against the Packers, he had already made six tackles, three solo, and two tackles for loss. Dean recorded double-digit tackles in the 15 starts he made in the regular season and reached 12 in three of those games.

His end zone interception to prevent a major upset loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9 was one of the Eagles’ top 10 plays in a Super Bowl-winning season.