Eagles LB Nakobe Dean Needs Running Mate; Draft Pick a Solution?

The Philadelphia Eagles' linebacker corps could add a rookie to allow Nakobe Dean and the draft pick to grow together over the next couple of seasons

For the Philadelphia Eagles, free agent Nicholas Morrow might be the answer, or maybe it will be third-round pick Davion Taylor or sixth-round selection Shaun Bradley from the 2020 draft class.

Perhaps the answer isn't on the roster, yet.

Whoever it is, somebody is going to have to step up and be Nakobe Dean’s running mate at the linebacker position.

Dean is just 22-years-old, but has experience beyond his years, playing 36 games at the University of Georgia, though, as a rookie third-round pick last, he took just 34 snaps on a defense led by linebackers in T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, both of whom departed in free agency.

If you are Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, wouldn’t you be thinking about pairing Dean with another young player so they can grow together over the next couple of seasons?

Morrow will turn 28 in July and is signed for only one year.

Bradley turns 26 on April 8 and Taylor hits 25 in August.

Perhaps the answer to be Dean’s running mate comes in the draft.

Iowa’s Jack Campbell or Arkansas’ Drew Sanders would be the home run picks. They are considered the top two linebackers in the draft.

Campbell, who was measured at 6-5 and 249 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, has reportedly been training with former Panthers’ star Luke Kuechly. He has become the odds-on favorite to be the first player taken at his position.

“Linebackers (have to) be amphibious and do a lot of different things,” said Campbell at the Combine. 

Asked what he meant by being amphibious, he said: “When I think of amphibious, I think of a frog. You can go in the water, you can go on the land. At linebacker you've got to play the run, take on blocks, you've got to be able to use your hands. You've got to be violent back there.

“But also you've got to drop back into coverage. I'm going to use this guy as an example: Tyreek Hill. I'm going to have Tyreek Hill in the slot, so I have to be able to take on 330-pound guys and defeat them and then go tackle a Nick Chubb. The next play I'm going to have to cover Tyreek Hill. That's the context I'm talking about.”

Sanders, an Alabama transfer, is 6-4 and 235 pounds and is considered a Day 1 starter, despite starting only one season with the Razorbacks. What a season it was, though, with 103 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and one interception.

Both, though, may be out of range, based on the Eagles’ feelings about the position. They simply don’t value it the same way other teams do.

They took Marcus Smith in the first round of the 2014 draft and he was called a linebacker, but really, he was more of an edge rusher who never really developed well at either position.

The last linebacker they took in the second round was Mychal Kendricks in 2012.

The Eagles haven’t scheduled any visits with linebackers, yet, and while visits aren't the be-all-end-all in determining who they will draft, it is telling.

There are others that could be in the second-round range and where the Eagles are currently scheduled to pick at No. 62 overall.

Players such as Washington State’s Daiyan Henley, Wisconsin’s Nick Herbig (the younger brother of former Eagles O-lineman Nate), Clemson’s Trenton Simpson, Oregon’s Noah Sewell, and Alabama’s Henry To’oTo’o may even be around in the third round when the Eagles hit the clock at No. 94 overall.

Whoever it is, it would be wise to find a long-term answer at the position to pair with Dean.

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Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

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