Eagles Duo 'Shattered Expectations,' Claimed No. 1 Spot

The Philadelphia Eagles have superstars up and down the roster.

Philadelphia obviously won Super Bowl LIX and now has high expectations for the 2025 season. Last year, the Eagles were almost forgotten about after a rough end to the 2023 season. They stormed back in 2024 and now have high expectations. This is certainly shown through Pro Football Focus' rankings of the best duos at each position group.

The Eagles claimed three of the top spots, including Zack Baun and Nolan Smith at linebacker.

"Linebacker: Zack Baun & Nakobe Dean, Philadelphia Eagles," Pro Football Focus' Zoltán Buday said. "Not many people would have predicted the Eagles to have the best linebacker tandem in the league prior to the 2024 season, but Baun and Dean shattered expectations as the motor of the best defense in the NFL. Although Dean’s season was cut short by an injury in the wild-card round, up to that point, he was among the best players at the position. His 77.3 PFF overall grade ranked 12th, and his 82.5 PFF pass-rushing grade ranked third among 30 linebackers.

"Not much is left to be said about Baun, who was arguably the breakout player of the season and the league's best defensive player. His 90.2 PFF overall grade and 90.9 PFF coverage grade both led all linebackers, and he ranked in the top 20 in PFF pass-rushing and run-defense grades, as well."

Philadelphia hasn't been as aggressive at linebacker in recent years as some other spots. Who would've thought now they have the top duo in the game?