Eagles Defender Facing Demotion After Major Injury

A 2022 third-round pick, Nakobe Dean really looked like he was coming into his own with the Philadelphia eagles last season. He opened the year as a starting linebacker, and as soon as he healed from his first injury of the year he was back in the lineup.

But a season-ending lisfranc injury seems to have shaken things up. Eagles training camp has opened ahead of the 2024 seaosn, and Dean appears to have been demoted in that time.

Nakobe Dean Injury Update: Falling on the Depth Chart

Returning from a long IR stint last season, Nakobe Dean appears to have lost his starting spot. Wednesday's training camp practice saw Dean lining up with the Eagles' second-string linebackers, while Zack Baun and Devin White were the starters.

There are really two ways to take this news:

The first is that it's an awful look for Dean. The Eagles clearly didn't love their linebacker situation heading in to the offseason, and that led to them making a controversial signing in Devin White and also signing Zack Baun. Not to mention they also drafted the son of a team legend in Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

Dean's injury history and shaky play through his first two seasons may have the Eagles convinced that he's not the future at linebacker and is best served filling a depth role.

The second take is that worrying about this would be an over reaction. This is the beginning of training camp, we haven't even seen a preseason game yet. Dean is working his way back from injury and might take time to get up to speed. With Baun and White being new faces in Philly, the coaching staff may also want to get a closer look at what they've got.

The way this linebacking group shakes out may not be determined until we're much closer to the first regular season game, and so worrying about which snaps Dean, White and Baun are playing is getting too caught up in minor details.

To me, we're probably somewhere in the middle. Training camp and the preseason are long enough that I have faith the Eagles' best two linebackers will end up in the starting lineup. Everyone will have a chance to prove themselves, and if Dean is better than White and Baun he will climb the depth chart again.

But at the same time, it's hard to ignore that this is yet another sign that the Eagles don't trust Dean with the first team. Two years in a row they've been aggressive in bringing in linebacking help in free agency. His injury issues create questions around his reliability as a starter. And his play has never been strong enough to make him look like someone it's hard to upgrade over as a first-team option.

Let's wait a few weeks before we really try to make an accurate depth chart projection here, but this linebacking situation is certainly a training camp battle to keep an eye on.

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