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Nakobe Dean on Eagles draft, Georgia players in Philly, and mindset for 2023

joe vitale
·3 min read
2

The Philadelphia Eagles have drafted five former Georgia Bulldogs over the last two NFL drafts, plus they also added former UGA running back D’Andre Swift in a trade with the Detroit Lions.

The drafted players include defensive tackle Jordan Davis (1st round, 2022), linebacker Nakobe Dean (3rd round, 2022), defensive tackle Jalen Carter (1st round, 2023), outside linebacker Nolan Smith (1st round, 2023), and cornerback Kelee Ringo (4th round, 2023).

That’s a lot of Dawgs in Philly next season. Linebacker Nakobe Dean, who is expected to play a much larger role in 2023, is a big fan of what Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman is doing with the roster.

After playing mostly special teams and as a backup linebacker in 2022 during his rookie year, Dean is likely to play a much larger role this season. With T.J. Edwards (Bears) and Kyzir White (Cardinals) gone, Dean will step into that starting role at middle linebacker.

Lined up in front of him will be Davis and Carter. And behind him, depending on how he performs this offseason, will be Ringo at cornerback.

Kirby Smart once declared that the University of Georgia wouldn’t be the ones hunted, but instead, they would be the hunters. Fast forward to now, and Dean proudly stated the following:

“We don’t look at it like we’ve got the target on our back. We look at it like we’re the ones out there hunting.”

As a Georgia fan, you love to see that philosophy carried into the NFL. Dean’s statement was inspired by Smart’s 2022 SEC Media Days quote:

“People ask the question, ‘how does it feel to be hunted?’

We will not be hunted at the University of Georgia. I can promise you that. The hunting we do will be from us going the other direction.

We’re not going to sit back and be passive,” Smart said in July of 2022.

Dean finished his 2021 national championship-winning season at Georgia with 72 tackles. He led the Bulldogs in tackles for loss (10.5) and was second on team in sacks (6). He finished with 31 pressures and six pass breakups, while finishing second on team with two interceptions. He was the 2021 Butkus Award Winner, an All-America first-team member, captain of the 2021 AFCA Good Works Team and SEC Defensive Player of the Year by Pro Football Focus.

Story originally appeared on UGA Wire