July 19, 2022
Bill Streicher/USA TODAY Sports
Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and rookie linebacker Nakobe Dean.
Over the last few weeks, we've been taking a look at every player on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster, and how they fit with the team heading into training camp. Today we'll continue on with the linebackers.
Previous training camp previews
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
Offensive tackle | Guard | Center
Defensive end | Defensive tackle | Rush linebacker
| LB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| MIKE | Nakobe Dean | T.J. Edwards | Shaun Bradley | Christian Elliss |
| WILL | Kyzir White | Davion Taylor | Jacoby Stevens |
Dean was a star at Georgia, patrolling the middle of the field in Georgia's smothering, national championship defense. In addition to his team's success, he was a unanimous All-American in 2021 and the Butkus Award winner, which goes to the best linebacker in college football. In his final season at Georgia, he had 72 tackles (10.5 for loss), 6 sacks, 2 INTs, 5 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles. A sampling:
Most draft experts assumed Dean would be a first-round pick, but he fell to the third round because of a pectoral injury, and the fact that is undersized. And really, to say he's undersized is probably putting it mildly. He's short and light with small hands and short arms.
There were also questions about Dean's athleticism, because he was unable to participate at the NFL Combine or Georgia's pro day.
The Eagles evidently had a different view of Dean's pectoral injury than some of the other teams around the league. When asked if the injury kept other teams from picking Dean, Howie Roseman said, "That's what it sounds like. I can only talk to what we have. He’ll be on the field. Can't wait."
And sure enough, Dean participated in a rookie camp after the draft as well at OTAs.
In addition to just seeing what Dean can do on the field and where exactly the Eagles will have him lined up (they're cross-training him at the MIKE and WILL spots), it will be notable if Dean makes it through the entirety of camp with no setbacks to his injury.
White was a big-hitting safety/linebacker hybrid at West Virginia, who is now an undersized linebacker in the NFL at 6'2, 218. He was drafted by the then San Diego Chargers in the fourth round in 2018.
In 2021, White had his best season for the Chargers, statistically anyway, when he racked up 144 tackles, 2 INTs, and a sack. As a former safety, he has the range that some of the Eagles' linebackers lacked in Jonathan Gannon's scheme in 2021, when opposing offenses torched the Birds' defense in the short-to-intermediate areas of the field.
The Eagles have added their share of linebackers with safety experience over the last half decade or so, such as Nate Gerry, Davion Taylor, and Kamu Grugier-Hill, to name a few. Obviously, they have not yet had much success with that approach. White will come to Philly having already successfully made that transition.
They have also had their share of free agent linebacker acquisitions who failed to even make it through a full season with the team, like Corey Nelson, Paul Worrilow, LaRoy Reynolds, L.J. Fort, Zach Brown, Jatavis Brown, and Eric Wilson. We'll see if White can break that trend.
Prior to the start of the 2021 season, Edwards was available for trade, but no acceptable offers came the Eagles' way. Over the first seven weeks of the season, there wasn't a single game in which Edwards played more than 41 percent of the team's defensive snaps.
Edwards eventually proved that he was clearly the Eagles' best linebacker, and over the final 8 weeks of the regular season, there wasn't a single game in which he played fewer than 92 percent of the snaps.
Despite his low usage early on, Edwards still finished 17th in the NFL with 130 tackles. Over the last nine games (when he became a three-down linebacker), Edwards averaged 10.9 tackles per game. During that stretch, he also had an INT and 5 pass breakups.
Edwards is under contract through 2022. I don't know if he's necessarily a great candidate for a long-term contract extension since the team previously did not seem to view him as a great fit for Jonathan Gannon's defense, but he also proved that he's better than anyone else they have had, even if athletically limited.
With the arrivals of Dean and White, it will be interesting to see what kind of role Edwards will have. The guess here is that he'll play the MIKE linebacker spot, White will play at the WILL, and as noted above Dean will be cross-trained at both spots, with all three players getting their share of snaps.
After a rough rookie season in 2020, Taylor started six games for the Eagles in the middle of the season in 2021 against the Buccaneers, Raiders, Lions, Chargers, Broncos, and Saints. He suffered a sprained knee against the Saints, went on injured reserve, and was done for the season, though it took some time for the Eagles to actually say so.
Taylor had his best game as a pro in Denver Week 10, when he forced a pair of fumbles against the Broncos, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Darius Slay.
Taylor was drafted as a raw prospect, and while he still has a lot improve on awareness-wise as a professional linebacker — and there are now also some durability concerns — he at least made positive strides during the 2021 season. Still, it does seem that the team has soured a bit on his chances of being a long-term starting option.
Bradley led the Eagles with 11 special teams tackles, and he was the reason Edwards blocked a punt against the Panthers, which changed that game.
As a linebacker in the regular defense, it's been disappointing that Bradley hasn't gotten many chances after he showed promise as a rookie in 2020.
Bradley has developed into a good special teams player, and I believe he can be a good backup linebacker as well, if given more opportunities to play in the regular defense.
Of the nine players the Eagles selected in the 2021 draft, Stevens was the only player who did not make the initial 53-man roster, partly because he missed time during training camp with a hamstring injury. He did eventually play in two games in 2021, making three tackles.
Stevens has an uphill climb to make the roster with five linebackers ahead of him in the pecking order.
Elliss' dad is Luther Elliss, who was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Lions. He also has a brother, Kaden, who plays linebacker for the Saints, and another brother, Noah, who is in Eagles camp as an undrafted rookie DT out of Idaho.
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