Eagles Top 25 For 2025: Defensive Leader Lands At 16

Lost in Zack Baun’s meteoric rise from overlooked in New Orleans to a first-team All-Pro off-ball linebacker for the Super Bowl LIX champion Philadelphia Eagles last season was a breakout for the guy lining up right next to Baun, middle linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Dean was nearly as impactful in his own way last season as the quarterback of Vic Fangio’s top-ranked defense until going down with a torn left patellar tendon during a Wild Card Weekend win over Green Bay in January. 

At just 24 and set to enter his fourth NFL season, uncertainty surrounds Dean, who is amid of a second difficult rehab after overcoming a Lisfranc injury that wiped out much of the 2023 season. Dean put together a career year last season, resulting in 128 tackles, including 9 for loss, 3 sacks, 6 quarterback hits, 13 pressures, an interception, and 4 pass breakups. 

That ranked Dean as the 11th best LB in the NFL last season, according to Pro Football Focus, and netted him the 16th spot on Eagles On SI’s annual Top 25 players on the roster heading toward training camp in July.

EOSI beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen each compiled their top 25 lists separately, and a point system determined the final list, with No. 1 receiving 25 points down to one point for No. 25.

The idea is to determine the best pure football players on perhaps the NFL’s most talented roster. Impact (the quarterback would also be No. 1 in any city) is not what the last is about. It’s basically Bill Belichick rules in determining who does their particular job the best.

Uncertainty surrounds Dean heading into the 2025 season, and he is not expected to participate in training camp and is likely to start the campaign on the PUP list.

However, Fangio was emphatic that Dean’s job will be there when the fourth-year veteran is ready to return, just another indication of how impressive the Georgia product’s breakout 2024 season was.

“Zack [Baun] can play either spot [Mike or Will],” Fangio said this spring. “... Wherever we need him the most, what's best for the team, which will be determined some by who the next guy is until Nakobe comes back, which he won't be back for a while. 

“That'll be TBD.”

Second-year player Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is penciled in to be the placeholder for Dean early in the season, and the Eagles drafted two LBs back in April, first-rounder Jihaad Campbell and fifth-rounder Smael Mondon Jr., who also starred at Georgia.

The preparation for life without Dean was a necessity for Eagles GM Howie Roseman because of the seriousness of Dean’s injury.

When healthy, though, it’s hard to argue with Dean’s impact both as a playmaker and leader. He finished No. 15 on McMullen’s list and a tad lower for Kracz at No. 17. The combined 20 points put Dean at 16th on the final list.