If you watched the National Championship game on Monday night, you saw NFL talent all over the field, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

ESPN even presented a graphic that should be blown up, printed out, and plastered all over Howie Roseman’s office in preparation for the 2022 draft:

Evan Neal will be off the board by the time the Eagles pick. Jameson Williams tore up his knee, which was a real damn shame for him. Travon Walker is awesome (ran down a receiver in this game) and Jordan Davis too, but let’s talk about Nakobe Dean.

Dude is a baller, the 2021 Butkus Award winner as the nation’s best linebacker. He reminds me of Roquan Smith, who was also a Bulldog and won the Butkus back in 2017 before going on to the NFL as the #8 overall pick.

They list Dean at 6’0″, 225 pounds, which feels slightly undersized for a pro linebacker. T.J. Edwards, for comparison, is listed at 6’1″, 242 and Alex Singleton measures 6’2″, 240. Dean’s best scheme fit is probably outside linebacker in a 4-3. But when you watch him play, he just seems to have “it,” like that intangible playmaking ability with leadership qualities to boot. He’s an excellent tackler and pretty smooth in coverage, too, especially on running backs, which is important at the next level. He’s one of those dudes you watch and think “this guy is always around the ball.” He has really impressive play speed and seems to react very quickly to everything.

In 13 games this year, he logged 61 tackles, 8.5 for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, four PBUs and a forced fumble. Solid numbers he posted while doing stuff like this:

Is Dean going to be there at 15? It’s hard to say. We need to see how he does at the combine and how pro scouts react to his measurables. There’s a chance he falls because of those questions, but you can always package picks and try to move up. It’s hard to see the Eagles doing that, however, considering how they never draft first round linebackers.

But if we talk about it enough, perhaps we can speak it into existence. Nakobe Dean to the Birds! #DoTheDeal.

edit – I also want to point out that Alabama linebacker Christian Harris, a junior, was awesome in this game, and Utah’s Devin Lloyd is fantastic. The Eagles gotta come out of this draft with a LB. It’s a great LB draft. Even if Howie just sits there and drafts three defensive players at 15, 16, and whatever the natural pick ends up being, it’s a win.