After making a cameo in Week 6 against the New York Giants, Nakobe Dean was finally able to take an expanded role on defense in Week 7 as the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-22.
Dean would contribute to 31 snaps on defense, in addition to another three on special teams. For his Week 7 totals, Dean racked up six tackles and one tackle for loss in his first set of meaningful defensive snaps for the 2025 season.
Dean spoke out about making an impact on defense
When asked about it after the game Dean had nothing but good things to say when speaking to the media after the game.
“To be out there with the guys…it felt great”
Dean was all smiles post-game which is too be expected after a great game and a great team win against the Carson Wentz-led Vikings.
"I'm blessed and I thank God to be able to be out there doing the thing I love."
What shouldn't be lost in Dean's performance is how grateful to be out there for his first real action on defense in 2025. With an injury suffered several months back the fact that Dean is not only playing but impacting the Eagles defense in a positive way cannot be understated.
"I've been wanting to get out there for a couple weeks now, so it feel great. So to be out there with the guys, be out there and tackle somebody and hit people, it feels great."
Dean from an analytics perspective also graded out at a 78.6 for his 31 defensive snaps out of the Eagles' 69 total. As far as an expanded role for the coming weeks, that's unknown at this time.
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With the Eagles set to have their rematch against the Giants in Week 8 at home, a healthy Dean could be a key difference maker with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio containing the dynamic rookies in Jaxson Dart and Cam Skattebo.