The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to defend their Super Bowl title in 2025. They have made some changes to their roster, with the majority of them coming on the defensive side of the ball.
Darius Slay left in free agency, and they traded away C.J. Gardner-Johnson. That left some holes in the secondary, but the Eagles were able to add Andrew Mukuba with the 64th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft.
Since stepping foot in the building, Mukuba has been impressive and is ready to hit the ground running in his rookie season.
While the Eagles have made it known they are excited about him at safety, he was getting reps at nickelback during minicamp and impressed there.
Andrew Mukuba Has Been Impressive for Eagles
In an article written by Brooks Kubena of The Athletic, he said, "The departure of Avonte Maddox hasn’t been a major storyline this offseason. Cut last offseason, re-signed to a team-friendly, one-year deal, Maddox still supplied 345 defensive snaps for the Eagles in 2024 — often as the team’s second slot corner in dime packages. Mukuba played dime for the first time on Tuesday."
He added, "It signals that the Eagles believe in Mukuba’s coverage skills more, at least in slot matchups. It also revealed how much flexibility the newest members of the secondary are affording Fangio in 2025. DeJean to corner in base? Mukuba to the slot in dime?"
Mukuba has also received reps at safety this offseason, and Andrew DiCecco added that he's an ideal counterpart to Reed Blankenship due to his range over the top. DiCecco believes that Mukuba and Blankenship will be the Eagles' starting safety duo.
The fact that the rookie is getting snaps at safety and nickel is a great sign, and how the coaching staff believes he could be an instant contributor. They are throwing different things on his plate because they believe he can handle it.
Mukuba has a great range with outstanding play recognition skills to diagnose route concepts. Over 50 collegiate games, he had 212 total tackles, 28 pass deflections, six interceptions, and 8.5 TFLs.
The Texas native impressed the team throughout the draft process, and he's doing that on the field as well. With training camp next on the docket, Mukuba seems poised to be an impactful contributor.