Second-year linebacker Nakobe Dean finding his voice as the Eagles’ defensive play-caller

For inside linebacker Nakobe Dean, the offseason provided more than just an opportunity to improve his strength, speed, and endurance.

He focused on conditioning his vocal cords, too.

Between reps of any given summer workout, Dean would spit out a play call, mimicking the breathless scenarios that he expects to find himself in when he serves as the on-field play-caller for new Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai. The 22-year-old Dean will wear a radio in his helmet (distinguished with a green dot) to relay information from Desai to the defense.

“When you’re out there, you’re going full speed, you’re going to be tired,” Dean said. “You’ve got to make a play call.”

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In his second year with the Eagles, Dean is getting ready to assume a much bigger role in the defense. Selected in the third round, No. 83 overall in the 2022 draft out of Georgia, Dean sat further down the depth chart behind inside linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White last season. He played 17 games in 2022, almost exclusively in a special-teams role — he logged just 34 defensive snaps. But when Edwards and White departed this offseason as free agents, an opportunity emerged for Dean to become a starter.

Now, not only is Dean poised to jump into a starting role, but he also figures to serve as a defensive leader with his play-calling responsibilities. The mental aspect of the game has always been a priority for Dean. While playing his high school ball at Horn Lake in Mississippi, Dean understood that his intelligence on the field could separate him from bigger, faster, and stronger opponents.

“I love it,” Dean said. “Because people who don’t know much about football, outside looking in, might think that it’s just about running and hitting. You’re able to go tackle somebody and be tough and you’re big and you’re strong, [then] you can play football. It’s not always the case. There’s a lot of thinking that goes into it. There’s a lot of scheme stuff that goes into it. And I feel like that’s the beauty of the game, to me.”

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Dean’s confidence is evident in his voice in the huddle, which stems from his experience as an NCAA champion, according to safety Reed Blankenship. Defensive tackle Jordan Davis, a fellow Georgia Bulldog, knows exactly what the Eagles are getting in Dean.

“I know he’s more than capable to make those calls,” Davis said. “I love how he communicates with us, even just off the field about how he feels about his play call style, how he calls it, if it’s something that he needs to work on, if it’s something we need to work on, just to get better communication.”

What separates a strong play-caller from a poor one is his ability to get the calls off with conviction, according to Davis. Throughout training camp, Dean prioritized being “clear, loud, and fast,” and concise with his words. He relied on veterans, including defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, to share their opinions on how they like the huddle and how they prefer to receive certain details.

As Week 1 against the New England Patriots approaches, and with numerous training-camp reps under his belt, Dean somewhat jokingly said that he’s starting to hear Desai’s voice in his head.

“He is going to give me information,” Dean said. “He is going to give me everything that I want to know. He asked me what I like. And I like to hear what he’s seeing and how he feels in between play calls. So I love all the feedback he gives me.”

At the same time as he grows accustomed to wearing the green dot, Dean is also concentrating on playing his best ball. He flashed his sharp instincts in the preseason against the Cleveland Browns when he forced a red-zone fumble to prevent a rushing touchdown, the highlight of a preseason in which he played just 17 defensive snaps total.

But even though his role may be increasing, Dean is just as excited for the opportunity that lies ahead as he was for last season.

“Of course, it feels different,” Dean said. “But it don’t feel too much different, because I went into last year the same way. Attacking it, attacking the first game, and I’m going to attack it. I’m taking a step up this year and every year after that, too.”