Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

PFF predicts big seasons for two Eagles defenders

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 7/16/23

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus has identified eight defensive NFL players primed for larger roles this year. Two of them play in Philadelphia and both are critical to the team’s success in 2023.

Some names on Monson’s list are easily recognizable like Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton, others are more obscure like Titans linebacker Arden Key. In Reed Blankenship and Nakobe Dean, the Eagles have a little bit of both.

Fans of college football surely know Dean, the unanimous All-American and Butkus Award-winning linebacker for Georgia’s 2021 championship team. Thanks mostly to his 5-foot-11, 231-pound frame, Dean lasted until the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft where Philadelphia took him with the 83rd pick.

The Eagles gave Dean just 34 snaps on defense last year, using him mostly on special teams. But after losing T.J. Edwards and Kyzir in free agency, Philadelphia needs to replace 269 tackles from the linebacker position.

Dean had just 13 tackles as a rookie, the most memorable being a one-armed takedown of Tennessee’s Derrick Henry. With more opportunity, fans are looking forward to more plays like this from their second-year linebacker.

Nakobe Dean tackling 250-pound Derrick Henry with one arm while being held pic.twitter.com/RJN10Pzxho
— Victor Williams (@ThePhillyPod) December 5, 2022

Blankenship is lesser known than Dean but played significantly more snaps in 2022. After joining the team as an undrafted free agent last season, he was forced into action when starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered a lacerated kidney.

The former Blue Raider out of Middle Tennessee played 348 snaps in 10 games last season. More importantly, he had 34 tackles and an interception. He earned a respectable 75.8 grade from PFF and enough confidence from the team to move on from Johnson.

Collectively, Johnson, Edwards and White will make almost $13M next season. Together, Blankenship and Dean will make just over $1.5M. If money weren’t an issue, the Eagles may have kept both players on the bench. But with starting positions on the line, both should earn every dollar in 2023.

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