Eagles

Fact Check: Are the Eagles the NFL’s #1 Nickel Team?

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Aug 6th, 2026 · 10:28 AM EDT

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Let’s do two Vic Fangio posts in a row since it’s a slow day.

This exchange from Wednesday’s presser was interesting:

Q. In these past few years, you’ve played more nickel snaps than any team in the league. (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: I don’t think that’s true, but we’re high.

Q. Is that based on the matchups you get or is that — (Zach Berman)

Vic Fangio: Well, first off, the league as a whole is playing a lot more nickel. There’s many reasons for that. The biggest being the fullback has disappeared in the NFL, and he’s been replaced by a third wideout or a second tight end who’s a good receiver. They’re splitting out people more from the core of the formation than they ever used to. That’s one of the main reasons for playing more nickel.

In ’24, we played a lot of nickel one because I thought it put our best combination on the field whenever we could, and to a certain degree last year also. I do kind of sense that the league is coming back a little bit. Not that there’s an influx of a bunch of fullbacks right now, but they’re maybe playing two tight ends. I think there’s a chance you’ll see more base, not just from us, but from other people too.

Fangio says he doesn’t think the Eagles have played more nickel snaps than anybody else in the league. Zach’s question doesn’t mention a specific time period; he just says “in these past few years,” so let’s go back two seasons and tally up 2024 and 2025:

• 2024 Eagles: 798 nickel snaps (5th most) / 79.9 nickel percentage (4th highest)
• 2025 Eagles: 796 nickel snaps (3rd most) / 73.7 nickel percentage (3rd highest)

High rankings in each of those categories, not #1 overall, BUT when you combine 2024 and 2025, you get the following:

• Philadelphia Eagles: 1,594 nickel snaps (1st) / 76.7 nickel percentage (2nd)
• Houston Texans: 1,571 nickel snaps (2nd) / 77.2 nickel percentage (1st)
• Seattle Seahawks: 1,564 nickel snaps (3rd) / 73.4 nickel percentage (5th)
• Chicago Bears: 1,559 nickel snaps (4th) / 75.9 nickel percentage (3rd)
• San Fancisco 49ers: 1,543 nickel snaps (5th) / 75 nickel percentage (4th)

That’s your top five. The Eagles have, indeed, played the most nickel snaps by volume over these past two regular seasons, though the percentage falls slightly behind the Texans. The Sportradar data shows that the Birds were in dime on 2.7% of their defensive snaps and in a 4 DB base on 19.9% of the snaps. There were seven total snaps of dollar and quarter, which are situational heavy-DB formations.

One of the reasons the Eagles were so successful in nickel over these past two seasons is because they have a slot corner in Cooper DeJean who can play both the pass and the run effectively. He’s like a small linebacker out there in run defense, and get up to the line and be physical and tackle well. Fangio notes that nickel “put our best combination on the field” and he’s not wrong about that, because 4-2-5 with DeJean, Zack Baun, and Nakobe Dean was the best personnel trio available. It was incredible to watch when it was clicking, which happened more often than not. These last two years have featured some of the best Eagles defensive play ever.

But what about showing more base this season?

Well, last year, 2025, CB2 was not nearly as strong as it typically is. But the addition of Riq Woolen should improve things in 2026. If the safety position doesn’t look amazing coming out of camp, DeJean can always slide back and you play a 4 DB base with only one of Marcus Epps and Drew Mukuba. Michael Carter II has apparently had a good camp, according to the beats. It probably depends on how the Eagles look over the top without Reed Blankenship back there. They have a lot of good pieces up front for those hybrid 3-4 and 5-2 looks, and while the Jonathan Greenard injury puts a little bit of a monkey wrench into the evaluation, there’s no shortage of options in Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, AJ Epenesa, and Arnold Ebiketie.

The other thing to consider is what Vic says about multiple tight end formations. 12 and 13 personnel have, indeed, seen an increase in recent years.

In 2020, 12 personnel usage across the NFL was at 20% flat. That number dipped to 19.6% in 2022 and then shot up to 24.4% this past year. 13 personnel (three tight ends) reached 5.5% as well. Those 2025 numbers were the highest 12 and 13 personnel percentages since the data started being collected in 2006.