Eagles Linebackers
The Philadelphia Eagles are primed to be a premier contender for the 2024 Super Bowl. Their team is stacked with talent, but one question about the Eagles going into next year is their linebacker play. T.J. Edwards was an awesome linebacker last year for the Eagles but signed with the Chicago Bears this offseason. Last year’s other starting linebacker, Kyzir White, left to reunite with former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon this offseason with the Arizona Cardinals. White and Edwards were not only the starters for the Eagles last year at linebacker, but they were also the only two linebackers to get significant play time throughout the whole year. The Eagles have clear plans and successors to this position, but how successful can they be?
As always if you missed out on any of the other editions of this series, check them out below!
Quarterbacks
Runningbacks
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Line
Defensive Tackles
Edge Rushers
Starters: Nakobe Dean, Nicholas Morrow
Currently, both Nakobe Dean and Nicholas Morrow are atop the depth chart for the Eagles and there’s no reason to think they’ll lose their spots going into the season. Morrow signed with the Eagles this offseason from the Bears, and is coming off the best season of his career last year with 116 tackles and 11 tackles for loss. Morrow is a fast linebacker that runs sideline-to-sideline and finds the ball carrier. However, he had 13 missed tackles last year and is not great at pass coverage.
Nakobe Dean was a third-round pick by the Eagles in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Georgia. Dean was a polarizing prospect at Georgia with clear strengths and weaknesses. Dean’s strengths consist of his great ability to read his keys and get to the ball before the play starts. However, Dean lacks athletic traits like size and speed other linebackers possess.
Backups: Christian Elliss, Shaun Bradley
Both Christian Elliss and Shaun Bradley made the Eagles roster last season, thanks to their special teams’ value. It will be interesting to see if these players can carve out more of a defensive role this year with the team. Elliss was an undrafted free agent in 2021 out of Idaho, who has bounced around the league in his short career. He found a spot on the Eagles as a special teams contributor last year. He is a well-schooled linebacker with good instincts and play recognition. However, he doesn’t have much athleticism to be able to run sideline to sideline or drop back in pass coverage.
Shaun Bradley is an intriguing player with great athleticism and a mentality that brings havoc to the football field. Bradley is from New Jersey and played his college ball locally at Temple University before being a sixth-round pick in 2020. He plays like a missile that has no fear of running into the fire. His mentality and his athleticism are what has made him a valuable part of the Eagles special teams unit. However, he lacked the instincts and play recognition needed by linebackers in the early years of his career. If he can show improvement in that area, do not be surprised to see him in a more important role for the defense. He has the athleticism to be a ballhawk in the run game and be a plus factor in the pass game.
Fighting for Roster Spots: Davion Taylor, Ben Vansumeren
Davion Taylor is a player the Eagles have had high hopes for since he was drafted in 2020. He’s another mold of an athletic linebacker who had real upside in pass coverage as well. Unfortunately, he has dealt with many injuries throughout his career that have stunted his growth as a player. He was cut last year from the Eagles but will look to improve his consistency and show he can be a dependable contributor for this team. Taylor is extremely athletic but also lacks awareness and play recognition, but if he can figure those two problems out, he has athleticism that would rank among the best linebackers in the league.
Ben Vansumeren is another uber-athletic linebacker with real upside but ways to go. Vansumeren was an undrafted free agent this past year from Michigan State University. His play at Michigan State was not very productive, and he seriously lacks instincts and a feel for the game. However, his pro day at Michigan State was what got him on the map. He ran a 4.4-second forty-yard dash, a 42.5 inch vertical, a 10 foot and 11-inch broad jump as well as putting up 29 reps on the bench press. The running and jumping numbers are akin to what a defensive back or wide receiver would put up, not what a 240-pound linebacker usually produces. It’s clear he has immense potential, but his development will be what makes or breaks his NFL career.
Philadelphia Eagles Depth Chart Preview Conclusion: Linebackers
All in all, the Eagles linebackers lack a lot of certainty. There’s not one player in the group that anyone can be very confident in producing good play at the position. However, there is promise in a lot of those players that could prove the value of the Eagles’ ability to develop players. While Dean and Morrow seem like the clear-cut starters, this position is up for grabs for anyone. If Dean and Morrow are the starters, they at least complement each other well. Dean being the more cerebral player who can sift through the offensive line and get where he needs to be and Morrow, who can be the sideline-to-sideline player who can cover ground quickly. The Eagles have other players that fit those molds, and it will come down to who performs best in training camp and who the coaching staff has the most trust in.
Between Bradley, Elliss, Taylor, and Vansumeren, it will come down to who can provide the most on special teams to decide who will make the roster. Expect Elliss and Bradley to be the favorites based on their experience last year. But, if Vansumeren can prove his potential value as well as his current value on special teams he could make the team as well. All the Eagles need out of this position group is some solid consistent play. The linebackers do not need to be the reason the Eagles win games, but they cannot be the reason they lose games either. Expect Dean and Morrow to be the most consistent and dependable players of this position and be the starters at least for the beginning of the year.
Main Image: Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
