Nakobe Dean Signs, Continues Setting High Bar for Youth in Horn Lake

The Eagles LB talked about his primary motivation and that is to give the kids back in his hometown somebody to emulate

Back in Horn Lake, Mississippi, about 20 miles outside of Memphis, the celebration has been ongoing for months now.

The town of about 25,000 celebrated the national title won by the University of Georgia, led of course, by hometown hero Nakobe Dean.

The draft must’ve been a bit of a downer for them as Dean slipped to the third round before the Eagles swooped in to grab him after he had been passed over twice by most teams in the draft.

No doubt, they were back up again when Dean signed his rookie contract on Monday.

Dean talked about setting a high bar for the kids in his hometown, challenging them to someday set that bar even higher.

Asked during rookie camp earlier this month his primary motivation for paying the game, the linebacker talked about Horn Lake.

“Besides my family, that sounds like a cliché, but one of my biggest things is the kids back home,” he said. “I remember growing up, back in Horn Lake. I didn’t have anybody to look up to (for) where I wanted to be in life, what I wanted to do. I always wanted to be better than everybody I looked up to.

“I want the kids to look up to me. I want them to be better than me (but) I’m going to make it hard (for them).”

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If things go expected during the life of that rookie deal, there will be plenty to look up to for the youth in Horn Lake.

“I got high hopes for Dean, man,” said veteran CB Darius Slay earlier this month. “I like his film. I’ve been watching him just because I’m from the state of Georgia. He played at Georgia. He’s the kind of guy that’s going to fly around the ball. 

"He’s going to learn a lot from T.J. (Edwards) and those guys because those guys are true veterans. They work hard, they know the game, they’re smart. I’m looking forward to how he turns out.”

Dean recorded 168 tackles over three seasons at Georgia, adding three forced fumbles, 7.5 sacks, and two interceptions. He was a captain of the Bulldogs' defense in 2021, finishing as a unanimous All-American and winning the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker. 

He started all 15 games for the National Champions and suited up for all 39 games of his college career.

Dean was a five-star recruit out of Horn Lake High School, ranked as the No. 2 linebacker in the country and the No. 1 player in the state of Mississippi out of the 2019 class. He received offers from every single SEC school.

Nakobe Dean (left) and Jordan Davis on draft night / Philadelphia Eagles

He is the fourth member of the Eagles’ five-man draft class to sign a contract. The only who has not is center Cam Jurgens, the second-round selection out of Nebraska.

First-round pick Jordan Davis and sixth-rounders Kyron Johnson and Grant Calcaterra signed their rookie deals on the eve of rookie camp.

Davis, of course, played in front of Dean on a Bulldogs defense that had seven members selected in the first three rounds of the draft, which is the first time that large of a number from the defense of one school was picked in the first three rounds in draft history.

“He was like the commander of our defense at Georgia,” said Davis. “The kid’s an engineer, so he’s obviously smart and knows what he’s doing. When you have a leader like that.

"We were all leaders on that defense, but when you have someone like Nakobe running the show and calling the plays, you got him behind you and trust him 100%. I know if I mess up, he’s going to clean it up. If he messes up, I know I’m going to clean it up. It’s kind of like, we’re in that tandem.”

And the two will be in that tandem for at least the next for years together.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.