Sizing up the Eagles’ inside linebacker competition: Will Nakobe Dean have to keep waiting?

Who is Nakobe Dean, the NFL version, and what is he capable of? With Dean entering his third season with the Eagles, those questions are hard to answer right now, and they may not be any easier to answer in the immediate future.

Dean, the 2021 Butkus Award winner as the top collegiate linebacker, supposedly was a steal when the Eagles grabbed him in the third round of the 2022 draft after the Georgia linebacker slid from being considered a first-round talent to pick No. 83. He waited behind T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White on the depth chart during his rookie season. Then, after becoming a starter last year, Dean had his 2023 season cut to just five games because of two foot injuries — the second, a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot, required surgery in November and had him rehabilitating pretty much all the way until minicamp in June.

The Eagles, according to general manager Howie Roseman, still “have tremendous confidence” in Dean, but they did shore up the depth chart at linebacker this offseason by adding veteran talent to a position group that needed to be upgraded. While it was obvious last summer that Dean would be stepping into a starting role, it’s just as obvious this time around that he has a lot of work to do to earn that spot.

If the season started Tuesday (it doesn’t), the inside linebackers probably would be Devin White and Zack Baun, free agents the Eagles brought in from Tampa Bay and New Orleans, respectively. Dean has seen his fair share of first-team reps during 11-on-11 play, but White and Baun continue to be the first combination manning the middle of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s scheme.

“Me having to work for everything has been my MO since I started playing and I’m still doing it to this day,” Dean said.

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Fangio and head coach Nick Sirianni acknowledged last week when camp started that the competition at inside linebacker would be among the fiercest in training camp. While that trio is at the top of the depth chart, there’s also talent behind them. The Eagles brought in veteran Oren Burks, who has missed practice time with a knee injury, drafted Jeremiah Trotter Jr., and have Ben VanSumeren, who was on the practice squad for most of last season.

Dean, whose real offseason began in the six weeks between minicamp and training camp, will have plenty of chances to make his case to start.

“You’ve got to give them all fairly equal opportunities, and you don’t want guys that right now might be listed at second or third team not get reps with the first team against our good offense,” Fangio said. “So you’re constantly manipulating their practice reps from a numbers standpoint and also who they’re going against.”

Dean said he’s enjoying the competition right now, and rotating is helping him learn the new scheme.

“Every time you’ve got a competition, you’ve got guys like that who fly around and make plays, we always feed off each other,” Dean said. “We want each other to make plays, but you also want to make a play. The competition don’t do nothing but make everybody better, in the whole room.”

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White, Baun, and Dean have had positive moments so far in practice. White looks like a shoo-in to be a starter at this point, and the Eagles are hopeful his down 2023 season was just a blip. Baun, though, mostly was used as a pass rusher during his time with the Saints, and it may have come as a bit of a surprise when he was taking inside ‘backer reps during minicamp in June. It was easy to explain then, since Dean had just been cleared from his injury. But now? Multiple practices into camp?

“I just play linebacker, and I can do a lot of different things,” Baun said. “I can pass rush. I can play inside ‘backer. I can cover. I’m just here to contribute to the team however they see fit.”

Right now the Eagles appear to like the look of Baun’s fit next to White, although it’s plenty early and the Eagles were scheduled to finally put pads on during practice Tuesday.

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Time for the competition to ramp up?

“This T-shirt and shorts is cute, but we play football in pads, and we’re getting in pads tomorrow,” Dean said. “I told the linebacker group this, that we need to be the ones to set the precedent and the violence that’s going to come tomorrow in the first day of pads.”

Said Baun: “It’s different when the pads go on. It’s a lot more physical, and you really find out who’s who and what’s what.”