Vic Fangio’s expected hiring puts Howie Roseman in the spotlight. Is the talent there?

The talent-scheme-coaching conundrum isn’t as mysterious as it seems. If you don’t have all of them, it’s tough to judge any of them. Unless you have none. Which brings us to the Eagles.

The bravest thing Howie Roseman did on Wednesday afternoon was mention Nakobe Dean by name. At first, it sounded like the opposite, a pitiful whimper of denial, a meek sliver of an excuse, a woeful attempt to explain why he’d built his defense like an undercooked pancake. If only they’d had Nakobe Dean, all 231 pounds and 43 career tackles of him. If only the guy who slid to the third round because of injury concerns hadn’t gotten injured.

“We lost two linebackers at that spot, two good players from our Super Bowl team, and we had Nakobe waiting in the wings,” Roseman said. “We drafted him for that role.”

The best laid plans, you know?

The brave part came next.

“Obviously, it didn’t work out perfectly for him this year,” Roseman continued. “That doesn’t change the belief we have in the player.”

We’re going to find out, aren’t we? About Dean. About Sydney Brown. About Nolan Smith. About Kelee Ringo and maybe Zech McPhearson. About whatever linebackers and safeties and cornerbacks are added this offseason.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ Howie Roseman defends his team-building philosophy at linebacker and has belief in Nakobe Dean

It has been 10 years since Roseman struck gold on the free agent market with Malcolm Jenkins and gave the Eagles a foundational defensive centerpiece to build around. I mean that term literally. Center/piece. A guy who plays in the middle of a defense and thus has the ability to find the ball and insert himself into the action wherever it happens to be. Every dominant defense has at least one. This year’s playoffs are no exception. Kyle Hamilton, Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith in Baltimore. Fred Warner and Talanoa Hufanga in San Francisco. You see it every year. The Seahawks of the 2010s were perennial contenders because of a defense built around Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor and Bobby Wagner. I’m not suggesting the Eagles have erred with their focus on pass rushing. It’s a philosophy that has kept them afloat. It played a big role in the two most recent Super Bowl berths. But you can’t ignore the middle of the field.

The years since Jenkins have yielded some modest successes: Jordan Hicks in the third round, Avonte Maddox in the fourth, Jalen Mills in the seventh, T.J. Edwards as an undrafted free agent. Otherwise, the list looks like this: Eric Rowe, Rasul Douglas, Sidney Jones, Davion Taylor, K’Von Wallace.

Everyone is still scratching their heads about the Eagles’ late-season implosion. When you look at that list of names, the entire output of a decade’s worth of drafts, there is nothing suspicious at all. It had all the makings of an implosion. A fresh coat of paint and new laminate flooring can only cover up so much. If the foundation is rotting, things look great, then collapse.

Enter Vic Fangio.

Roseman has invested a ton of reputational capital in Fangio’s ability to fix things. The Eagles brought the veteran defensive coordinator in as a consultant to help them prepare for last year’s Super Bowl, then threw a thinly-veiled conniption when they weren’t able to hire him full-time to replace Jonathan Gannon. In doing so, they ensured that everybody would suspect that things would have turned out better if they’d gotten their guy. The chips are now on the table.

Fangio’s reputation is well-deserved. Forget the numbers for a second. There is a certain level of competence, of competitiveness, that a championship-caliber team needs out of a defense. The Eagles did not have it this season. Fangio’s units always have, regardless of the era.

Still, it comes down to talent. Fangio’s units have always had that, too. The big unknown is how much the Eagles will give him to work with.

Roseman clearly believes they already have more than they’ve shown. That’s a good thing for Eagles fans. If he is right, then Fangio will turn things around quickly. Dean will be Danny Trevathan, if not Patrick Willis. Brown will be Donte Whitner, if not Eddie Jackson. Smith will be Leonard Floyd.

» READ MORE: Which Eagles should stay or go?

If not?

It will be obvious why.

Fangio could easily end up being the best personnel decision that Jeffrey Lurie and Roseman have ever made. This might be their last best chance at establishing a sustained organizational identity and avoiding the boom-bust cycle that churns through coaches and quarterbacks and their fanbase’s patience. You watch the Ravens, the Steelers, the Patriots, the 49ers, you know what you are getting. The organizations that achieve stability are the ones who possess a well-defined schematic vision that unites coaching with personnel. Fangio shouldn’t be here to run a system. He should be here to build one.

The hope is that he is Jim Johnson, a well-respected coach who has reached a point in his career where is happy to take ownership of a defense and craft it in his image. The Eagles have not had that sort of thing since their legendary defensive coordinator passed away in July 2009. They desperately need to recreate him.

During Johnson’s decade at the helm of the Eagles’ defense, you always knew what it was going to be. The scouts knew it. The executives knew it. There was a continuity of vision.

Johnson’s last season was a testament to the value of that continuity. In terms of individual talent, the 2008 defense isn’t the first one you’d pick to exemplify the Eagles’ dominance during the Johnson era. Jeremiah Trotter, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Hugh Douglas — all were long gone. Brian Dawkins was 35 years old. But that 2008 defense was one of Johnson’s best, at least according to the numbers. The Eagles finished the season ranked third in the NFL in yards allowed and fourth in points allowed. The only other time they ranked in the top 5 in both categories was 2002.

How’d they do it? By consistently identifying young collegiate players with skill sets that fit Johnson’s scheme, and then developing those players to learn well-defined roles under the tutelage of Johnson and his incumbent veterans. Ten of the 11 starters on that 2008 team were homegrown. Most had been playing together for years.

Quintin Mikell was in his sixth season, having originally signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown, one-time understudies to Bobby Taylor and Vincent, were both in their seventh seasons. Omar Gaither, a fifth-round pick who spent his rookie season with Trotter, was in his third year. He was joined by Akeem Jordan and Stewart Bradley, both in their second seasons. The front seven also included Trent Cole (fourth season), Brodrick Bunkley (third), Mike Patterson (fourth), and Chris Gocong (third).

» READ MORE: Who is Vic Fangio? Everything you need to know about the Eagles’ potential new defensive coordinator

Fast forward to 2023. Of the Eagles’ top 10 snap-getters this season, only four were homegrown. Compare that to the Ravens (9 of 10), Chiefs (9 of 10), 49ers (10 of 11), even the Lions (7 of 10). It’s easy to blame Roseman’s draft philosophy or evaluation prowess, but the bigger problem has been the structural instability on his watch. The last decade has seen them go from Bill Davis’ scheme to Jim Schwartz’s scheme to Gannon’s scheme to whatever scheme they ran this season. Each time, the necessary skill sets change.

In San Francisco, Fangio inherited a three-time All-Pro middle linebacker in Willis and helped turn Whitner, NaVorro Bowman, Ahmad Brooks, and Dashon Goldson into Pro Bowlers. In Chicago, the Bears drafted Roquan Smith, Adrian Amos, Jackson, and Floyd and signed Trevathan.

Talent. Scheme. Coaching. We’re supposed to believe that they now have two of the three. We’ll find out about the other.