Eagles’ Vic Fangio explains limited role for Bryce Huff, crowns Nakobe Dean starter over Devin White

Vic Fangio needs to see more from Bryce Huff.

The Eagles defensive coordinator has the reputation for straightforward analysis of the way his unit is playing. Fangio provided just that Wednesday in his first news conference since the team’s 34-29 win over the Green Bay Packers. When asked about Huff’s limited playing time in his Eagles debut, Fangio said the team’s highest-priced addition in offseason free agency had yet to distinguish himself from the rest of the team’s edge rushers.

Huff played 30 of the Eagles’ 67 defensive snaps (45%) in the opener in São Paulo, Brazil, one fewer than second-year edge rusher Nolan Smith and two fewer than veteran defensive end Brandon Graham. Huff played a similar percentage of the New York Jets’ defensive snaps (42%) last season in a more limited role.

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“Most of our guys, if you look at it, we had five guys up, and they all played about similar rep counts,” Fangio said. “We’re just rolling those guys.”

Huff signed a three-year, $51.1 million contract with the Eagles in March after becoming one of the most efficient pass rushers in the NFL with a specialized role on the Jets’ defensive front. Huff seemed poised to take on a bigger role than the designated pass-rushing duties he had before, but Fangio said earlier this summer that the 26-year-old needed to make strides as a run defender to play on early downs.

Fangio said Wednesday that Huff has shown improvement in that area, but he acknowledged that Huff hasn’t yet earned a prominent role in the team’s edge rusher rotation.

“Just separate himself from the other guys,” Fangio said when asked what Huff would need to do to earn more playing time.

Aside from Josh Sweat playing 61% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, the edge rusher rotation was more reminiscent of the Eagles’ approach under previous defensive coordinators rather than the one Fangio has employed during his career.

Three defensive linemen from the Miami Dolphins — Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, and Zach Sieler — played more than 75% of the team’s defensive snaps with Fangio as the coordinator last season. By comparison, Sweat led the Eagles’ defensive front in playing time last year by playing 71.1% of the team’s defensive snaps.

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Fangio was asked whether the deep rotation was related to easing guys into the first game or more indicative of his plans for the group throughout the season, and he said “it’s both.” He also conceded that the defensive front will need to generate more pressure after a quiet game on Friday.

According to Pro Football Focus, Packers quarterback Jordan Love was pressured on just 12 of his 34 dropbacks, with linebacker Zack Baun responsible for each of the Eagles’ two sacks. The slick field conditions at Corinthians Arena may have hampered edge rushers from getting around the edge, but Fangio still wanted to see more from the group.

“We didn’t pass-rush good enough overall in the game,” Fangio said. “Did the field have something to do with that? Yeah, it obviously did, but we can get better there.”

Fangio dismissed any further deliberation about the Eagles depth chart at linebacker when he confirmed that Nakobe Dean will stay in the starting lineup even when Devin White returns from injury.

“Nakobe’s the starter,” Fangio said.

Dean and Baun were the partnership against the Packers after White suffered an ankle injury last week in practice and stayed home over the weekend as a result. White, 26, signed a one-year contract with the Eagles worth up to $7.5 million this offseason and took most of the first-team reps with the defense this summer, but he was overtaken by Dean during training camp.

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Dean, 23, missed all but five games of the 2023 season with a litany of foot injuries. The 2022 third-round pick consistently made plays in the backfield during the summer and showed improvements in coverage as well. Against the Packers, Dean logged four tackles, including one for a loss, and a pass breakup.

“I just think from the start of camp to the end, he won the job,” Fangio said.

Fangio noted that White still would have a role behind Dean and Baun, who excelled in his new role as an off-ball linebacker in Fangio’s system.

“We’ve talked to [White] about it,” Fangio said. “He’s still a good player; he tweaked his ankle last week. He’s still part of it and will be part of it.”