Tim McManus
PHILADELPHIA — As championship teams turn the page to the season ahead, the question inevitably becomes: Can they do it again?
In the case of the Philadelphia Eagles, it depends largely on whether defensive coordinator Vic Fangio can have a repeat of his own.
The similarities between this offseason and last on the defensive side of the ball are not lost on Fangio. He even brought up the parallels to his players recently.
There was significant turnover and question marks at a number of positions, most notably corner and linebacker and on the edge. To turn around a unit that fell flat in 2023, rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean would have to hit the ground running. Young, unproven players like Nakobe Dean and Nolan Smith Jr. would have to develop into difference-makers. And they’d need contributions from the free agents they brought in on modest one-year deals like linebacker Zack Baun.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
DeJean’s pick-six against Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LIX tells you all you need to know about how the first part went. Dean and Smith looked like their old Georgia Bulldog selves. And Baun came out of nowhere to become one of the best linebackers in the game en route to All-Pro honors.
The result? The Eagles went from one of the worst defenses in the NFL to the top-ranked unit in 2024.
The defense has undergone a lot of turnover once again this offseason, bringing a level of uncertainty to all three levels. There are starting positions up for grabs at corner, safety and linebacker thanks to the departures of Darius Slay Jr. and C.J. Gardner-Johnson and the late-season knee injury sustained by Dean. Depth along the edge and at defensive tackle will be tested now that Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Milton Williams are no longer in the mix.
This time around, it’s rookies like linebacker Jihaad Campbell, safety Andrew Mukuba and defensive lineman Ty Robinson who need to muscle through the rookie learning curve. Players such as cornerback Kelee Ringo, safety Sydney Brown and DT Moro Ojomo will have to elevate up the depth chart. And Philadelphia will have to get some production from one-year signees like corner Adoree’ Jackson and edge rushers Josh Uche and Azeez Ojulari.
“Some of those guys in that second list have to become like those guys in the first list, and I don’t know how that’s going to turn out, but I look at us really basically the same one year to the next,” Fangio said. “The names have changed. Hopefully we’ll get the same results from these new guys that we got from a lot of the new guys last year.”
The odds of Philadelphia’s defense maintaining such a high level of play after losing so much talent aren’t great. But the presence of Fangio gives them a shot.
The Eagles’ defensive fortunes did a 180 when Fangio was hired to replace Sean Desai and Matt Patricia last offseason. His demanding, old school approach and deep well of knowledge built up over 40 years in coaching was exactly what the doctor ordered to get things back on track.
His cred has only gone up since overseeing a top-ranked defense that made Mahomes look ordinary in a 40-22 thrashing of the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
“I don’t think Coach Vic knows but, man, he coached some of my favorite guys in the world,” said Smith. “Watching Von Miller in his defense made me want to be the person that I am today. Just relentless, like ‘Who is that guy? What does he do during the offseason? Why is he always at the ball?’
“Coach Vic, watching him and how he molded those guys, it’s nothing for me to listen to him, to be coachable. Are you crazy? He coached guys that surpassed in the league, Super Bowl MVPs. And he’ll never talk about none of that, but you feel it.”
