Back then, there were major question marks about this 2025 Eagles defense. Back then, there were significant holes to fill from a 2024 unit that ranked No. 1 in the NFL and led the way as Philadelphia won 16 of its last 17 games, the final one a victory in Super Bowl LIX.
Back then, Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio answered questions about his 2025 defense with his trademark honesty and legendary-coach perspective.
“I look at this year very similar to last year,” Fangio said at a press conference in early June, “in that this time last year, you know, 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 (linebacker) 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 in his rookie year. You had Nolan (Smith), who didn’t play hardly at all in his rookie year. We got Chauncey (C.J. 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, (Joshua) Uche, Byron Young, Gabe Hall, (Thomas) Booker, Jihaad (Campbell), all the draft picks – (Andrew) Mukuba, (Ty) Robinson, Smael (Mondon), and the rest of the rookies.
“Some of those guys on the second list have to become like those guys on the first list and I don’t know how that’s going to turn out, but I look at it like it’s basically the same one year to the next. The names have changed; hopefully we’ll get the same results from these new guys like we got from a lot of the new guys last year.”