We learned a lot from Vic Fangio in just 15 minutes.
The Eagles’ veteran defensive coordinator spoke at a news conference before Tuesday’s OTA practice at the NovaCare Complex and answered a bunch of questions about a myriad of topics.
The good news about Fangio is that he pulls no punches. Ask him a direct question and he’ll answer it. That happened a bunch on Tuesday.
Here are some key takeaways from his availability:
The Bryce Huff trade
This was the first time talking to Fangio since the Eagles traded Bryce Huff to the 49ers for a conditional fifth-round pick. Huff was the Eagles’ highest-paid free agent a year ago (three years, $51 million) but his one season in Philly was a disaster.
Fangio on Tuesday was asked why Huff didn’t work out with the Eagles.
“I think the one thing is he was getting better,” Fangio said. “When he hurt his hand, he tried to play with it a couple weeks, it wasn’t going good because he was reluctant to use his hand. And then when they operated on it, he had to play with a big cast on his hand, which basically rendered his hand useless and then rendered your arm useless because you can’t use your hand. That really had an effect on him. We just came out of draft season and the first thing you see with the guys name on the board is his hand size, his arm length. Well, he lost all that. When he was out, Nolan (Smith) got more snaps, Jalyx (Hunt) got more snaps, things evolve. But I think he’ll do fine in San Francisco.”
That seemed like a diplomatic answer from Fangio because even before Huff’s injury, he didn’t seem to fit in with this defense. In San Francisco, Huff will be reunited with Robert Saleh, who was his head coach with the New York Jets. Saleh is now the 49ers’ DC and will likely have a better understanding of how to use him.
Where does Jihaad Campbell fit?
First-round pick Jihaad Campbell isn’t practicing yet after having shoulder surgery in March and on Tuesday Fangio volunteered that Campbell likely won’t return to the practice field until “sometime in August.” The Eagles will report in late July.
When the Eagles moved up a spot to draft Campbell at No. 31 overall in April they really talked up his potential as a pass rusher, but so far, Campbell has been spending his time with the inside linebackers. Fangio said that’s because “there’s a lot more to learn there” at inside ‘backer.
“We’re doing all we can,” Fangio said. “He’s doing all he can in meetings, we’re doing all we can with him on the field. I take him to the side and do an individual drill with him that’s suited to what he can do right now. So, he’s working good and trying to pick it up.”
Campbell on Tuesday was a spectator at practice but had a helmet on. It seems like he’s itching to get back on the practice field for real.
As far as that pass rush upside, does Fangio see it?
“Possibly,” he said.
More Cooper DeJean
One of the big takeaways from last week’s OTA practice was that Cooper DeJean was lining up as an outside cornerback in the Eagles’ base package and bumping inside on nickel downs.
“We’d like to keep him at nickel,” Fangio said, “and then in our base package, we’ll find a spot for him either at corner or safety.”
Fangio volunteered the potential DeJean snaps at safety. Basically, it seems the Eagles have decided that DeJean shouldn’t come off the field in 2025 and even though they mostly live in nickel, there are some snaps with just four defensive backs on the field. DeJean needs to be one of them — either sliding outside to corner or back to safety.
Of course, Fangio did point out that the Eagles were in their base package for just 160 total snaps last year, so we’re not talking about as big a change as some might think.
“I think a lot of it will end up depending upon how the rest of the guys develop and where we most need him,” Fangio said. “So, it will be determined by what’s best for him and what’s best for the team, and probably what’s best for the team will win out in that decision. But he’s capable of playing corner and he’s capable of playing safety also.”
The linebacker position
With Nakobe Dean (knee) and Jihaad Campbell (shoulder) still not practicing, second-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. has been getting all the first-team inside linebacker reps next to Zack Baun.
And it might be that way for a while.
Not only did Fangio said that he doesn’t expect Campbell back until August but he also said Dean “won’t be back for a while.” Dean is recovering from a torn patellar tendon and it seems possible he’ll begin training camp on the PUP list. That means plenty more reps coming for Trotter, who is trying to make the most of them. The good news is that Baun wore the green dot as the defensive signal caller in the final three playoff games and handled those duties well.
The safety competition
The Eagles’ most surprising move of the offseason was trading starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans after just one year of his contract and a Super Bowl title.
What were Fangio’s thoughts on that trade?
“That was a salary cap-type thing, and Howie (Roseman) made that decision,” Fangio said. “I was fine with it.”
The top candidates to replace CJGJ are Sydney Brown and Drew Mukuba but Fangio made it known that it’s a three-man competition. He tossed veteran Tristin McCollum’s name into the mix as well. No matter who wins this job, Fangio doesn’t expect to have his answer anytime soon.
“It’s a competition that is going to take a training camp and a few preseason games to sort out,” he said.
Entrenched starting safety Blankenship after practice agreed that he’ll need some time with whoever wins that other job but he didn’t seem worried about building that rapport. There’s a lot of mixing and matching going on this spring so everyone is playing with everyone else.
Jordan Davis in great shape
The Eagles this offseason picked up Jordan Davis’s fifth-year option that will pay him nearly $13 million in 2026. Fangio on Tuesday said he didn’t have anything to do with that decision but did like what he saw from Davis late in 2024.
“I would say the last seven or eight games including the playoffs, (Davis) played very well down the stretch,” Fangio said. “I think that’s carried over into this offseason and I anticipate it carrying over into the season. I think he’s in the best shape that he’s ever been in, which he kind of got into late in the season last year and he’s carried it over, so I think he’s going to do very well for us this year.”
When asked why it took Davis so long to get into his best shape last season, Fangio allowed that for some guys it takes time but also said, “I’m ducking that question.”
After having just one sack in 17 regular season starts in 2024, Davis had two in the playoffs. Fangio said he saw improvement from Davis as a pass rusher late in the season.
“He got better towards those last seven or eight games. He really did,” Fangio said. “You saw it in practice first. A lot of people think you don’t need practice, you do need practice, and he showed it in practice first and then it carried over into the games. I think he realized that, felt it, felt good, and he’s just carried it over all offseason.”
Into the unknown
The Eagles had the No. 1 defense in the NFL last season but they did lose plenty of players this offseason. Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, Brandon Graham, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Isaiah Rodgers and Oren Burks are all gone.
So there are some serious questions about this defense going into 2025.
But Fangio had a good point on Tuesday: Think about how many questions there were about last year’s defense at this time.
This was Fangio’s longest answer of his press conference and it’s a message he said he delivered to his players as well:
“I look at this year, very similar to last year in that at this time last year, we had a lot of turnover in personnel from the previous year. You had (Zack) Baun, nobody knew what he was at this point last year. You had Nakobe (Dean), who hadn’t played any meaningful NFL football in his first two years. You had Oren Burks, who we had just signed. You had Isaiah Rodgers, who we had just signed. You had (Moro) Ojomo, who didn’t play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Nolan (Smith), who didn’t play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Chauncey (Gardner-Johnson) back. We drafted Q (Quinyon Mitchell), Cooper (DeJean), Jalyx (Hunt).
“We had a lot of question marks at that time. This year, those names are replaced. (Kelee) Ringo, Adoree’ (Jackson), Sydney (Brown), (Tristin) McCollum, (Azeez) Ojulari, (Josh) Uche, Byron Young, Gabe Hall, (Thomas) Booker, Jihaad (Campbell), all the draft picks — (Andrew) Mukuba, (Ty) Robinson, Smael (Mondon) and then the rest of the rookies. 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. 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.”
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