Veteran LB In Trouble For Eagles?

Third-year LB Nakobe Dean has a lot to prove this summer.

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (17) warms up prior to the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - On two occasions this week during the ramp-up to the 2024 Eagles training camp, different sources familiar with the Eagles discussed free agent linebacker Devin White as an “ink player.”

What that means is that don’t worry about penciling the durable White in. He’s the guy. The green dot. The only LB who will never leave the field, even in dime packages.

There’s a lot to unpack there. Things like the impact of spring football on the coaches vs. those observing and White’s history as a player with a star-level pedigree (and sometimes reputation) against his actual on-field performance in Tampa Bay.

If the sentiment is true, however, it also signals that you should shift to using the pencil for third-year linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Dean was the Eagles' foundational plan at the position entering the 2023 season but two different foot injuries limited the former Butkus Award winner at Georgia to five games. And the second of those injuries required Lisfranc surgery that Dean wasn’t cleared from until sprong work had already started.

Ultimately, Dean was able to work in during the spring, getting mostly second-team reps with another veteran free-agent acquisition, Oren Burks.

White was the on-field leader in “pajamas” as new linebacker coach Bobby King described OTAs, with Zack Baun, a player seemingly signed to be a potential edge player but moved to a stacked role once defensive coordinator Vic Fangio got a look at him.

Ultimately,  the brakes should be pumped here. 

No one’s winning jobs in the spring and the old-school King, specifically, couldn’t hide his disdain for what spring work has become, especially at the “physical” positions like linebacker when talking about Baun and his potential hybrid future toggling between Fangio's flat-defender role and a stacked one.

“Right now it's passing camp,” King said. “Everybody's in pajamas so just trying to utilize the best we can do with [Baun] right now and get the coverage work and see if he can do it.”

White certainly gave himself a leg up in the spring which should be his domain as an athletic marvel who easily carried Saquon Barkley down the field in coverage.

But, pay attention to King’s words – the spring is a passing camp.

When the pads come on it will reveal who should be playing at LB. For Dean, though, that’s a significant shift in 12 months from part of the plan to prove-it player.  

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