Analysis of Eagles DC Vic Fangio’s revelatory press conference

myphillyconnectionJune 5, 202508 views

Prior to the Philadelphia Eagles' OTA practice session on Tuesday, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spoke with the media for the first time since the Birds won the Super Bowl. As always, he gave refreshingly honest answers about his defense. Let's analyze everything he said.

Where will Jihaad Campbell play?

"Right now he's working at ILB because there's a lot more to learn there," Fangio said. "So that's where we'll start him. He won't hit the practice field until sometime in August. So, we're doing all we can. 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."

#JimmySays: As expected. It's also interesting that Fangio gave a semi-specific timetable for Campbell's return to the field as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery.

As for Campbell being a pass rusher, Fangio had the following exchange with a reporter:

Reporter: "When you see him though, do you see pass rush upside?"

Fangio: "Potentially."

Reporter: "What would it take to realize that?"

Fangio: "Getting him out there."

While the Eagles may see Campbell as capable of being an edge rusher, there doesn't seem to be a rush to get him there.

How does Vic feel about the edge rushers with the departures of Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, and Bryce Huff?

"I feel good about Nolan," Fangio said. "I think we'll feel good about Jalyx now that he's going to get a lot of reps and develop. He played good for us down the stretch last year and played a lot, as you saw, so I feel good about those two guys, and I think they'll continue to improve. We've got Uche, we've got Azeez [Ojulari], we've got three other guys there. I think we'll be fine."

#JimmySays: "We've got three other guys there." Lol.

But in all seriousness, the Eagles have certainly had better edge rusher depth in the past. If I'm handicapping what position the team could trade for at the trade deadline during the season, edge rusher would be at the top of my list.

What about Cooper DeJean's role in the base defense?

"We'd like to keep him at nickel, and then in our base package, we'll find a spot for him either at corner or safety," Fangio said.

#JimmySays: Wait, what? Safety, huh? Vic just volunteered that one on his own with no prodding at all.

The Eagles drafted DeJean because they liked what he was at corner. They also felt that he was a very versatile player who could play other positions, like safety.

If the Eagles feel like Kelee Ringo or Adoree' Jackson are better players than whoever the starting safety is opposite Reed Blankenship, then putting DeJean at safety in base would allow Fangio to get his best 11 players on the field.

DeJean did not get any reps at safety in team drills on Tuesday, for what it's worth.

What does Vic like about DeJean at safety?

"I think he would play very well at safety. I think it suits his skillset, things that he does well. I just think he would do very well in there."

#JimmySays: I agree that DeJean would be a good safety. I also believe that he can handle having a lot on his plate.

What's Vic's view of the starting safety competition between Sydney Brown and Andrew Mukuba?

"It's a competition that is going to take a training camp and a few preseason games to sort out," Fangio said. "And Tristin's in that, too."

#JimmySays: It's interesting that Fangio went out of his way to make sure we didn't exclude Tristin McCollum from that conversation. McCollum was ahead of Brown on the depth chart for the entirety of the 2025 season.

Does Sydney Brown's experience give him a leg up on Mukuba?

"Well, his experience came in '23, not '24," Fangio noted. "Last year at this time, he wasn't doing anything and didn't do anything really until the middle of October. So he lost all this time of year, training camp, early part of the season, and really never got many reps with us defensively. He did play in the last game against the Giants and did fine, but it's a new system from what he had in '23. So yes, he's sitting in meetings, but that only goes so far. You've got to get out there and experience it and build on it, and he lost that last year, so he's going through that process now and he's doing fine."

#JimmySays: Vic isn't the over-praising type, but "doing fine" is pretty low-level praise nevertheless.

Where will Zack Baun play (MIKE, etc.) if Nakobe Dean and Jihaad Campbell are both out to start the season?

"Zack can play either spot, just like with Cooper," Fangio said. "Wherever we need him the most, what's best for the team, which will be determined some by who the next guy is until Nakobe comes back, which he won't be back for a while. That'll be TBD. That'll be a good question after two preseason games."

#JimmySays: Jeremiah Trotter has gotten reps with the first-team defense this spring. Dean almost certainly won't be ready for the start of the season, and as noted above Fangio doesn't think Campbell will be ready to practice until August. If I'm guessing who will start opposite Baun Week 1, I'd take Trotter.

After Dean got injured in the Wild Card Round against the Packers, Trotter was poised to split snaps with Oren Burks the following week against the Rams, but Burks started and played well, so Fangio decided to just keep Burks in there. But he did seem to have enough confidence in playing Trotter heading into that game.

How much influence did Vic have on the decision to exercise Jordan Davis' fifth-year option, and what does he need to see from Davis this season?

"I mean I didn't have anything to do with that decision," Fangio said. That's Howie's. But Jordan last year, I would say the last seven or eight games including the playoffs, played very well down the stretch. 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.

#JimmySays: A number of folks felt that Fangio was the driving force behind Davis' fifth-year option being exercised. Nope.

Why did it take so long for Davis to get into his best shape of the season?

"We could be here a long time for that," Fangio said. "For some guys it takes time, but I'm ducking that question."

#JimmySays: 😬

Does Vic have to consider the extreme workload Jalen Carter had last season (1000+ snaps), and manage that going forward?

"In Jalen's case, the two plays he had at the end of the Rams game, which everybody has alluded to many times, those were his 68th and 69th snaps in that game," Fangio said.

On a follow-up, it was pointed out the Carter had answered questions about his conditioning, but long-term if he's playing an extreme number of snaps every year, does Vic worry that his productivity could drop off?

"He's still a young pup," Fangio said.

#JimmySays: If he stays healthy, Carter is going to play a ton of snaps again in 2025. Also, at age 66, I doubt Vic cares much about the "long-term."

What does Kelee Ringo need to show to win a starting job?

"He just needs reps," Fangio said. "He needs to learn to play the game, and that comes with reps. To quote what Nick said in a meeting recently, 'Repetition is the burden of leadership.' It's up to us to get him enough reps in practice, expose him to all the things he needs to be exposed to so he can play a full NFL game. When I say full, not physically conditioning-wise, but be a competent corner throughout a full game in a full season."

#JimmySays: Nick has used that "Repetition is the burden of leadership" line in press conferences as well. I like it, and I think it can be applied to any job, really. The more you do something the right way, the more of a master you can become at it. It's easy to choose to be led by someone who has put in the hours to be a master at their craft. It's not so easy when you don't see that commitment and/or mastery. That's my takeaway, anyway.

Sorry, I got off track there. Yeah, agreed, Kelee has to play more to get better.

General thoughts on defense's depth

"It's too early to say," Fangio said. "I mean, I look at — and I told the players this — 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 Baun, nobody knew what he was at this point last year. You had Nakobe, 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 Ojomo, who didn't play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Nolan, who didn't play hardly at all his rookie year. We got Chauncey back. We drafted Q, Cooper, Jalyx.

"We had a lot of question marks at that time. This year, those names are replaced. Ringo, Adoree', Sydney, McCollum, Ojulari, Uche, Byron Young, Gabe Hall, Booker, Jihaad, all the draft picks — Mukuba, Robinson, Smael, 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."

#JimmySays: Great answer.

Was Vic cool with the team trading CJGJ?

"That was a salary cap-type thing, and Howie made that decision. I was fine with it."

#JimmySays: So I guess he was.

Is there any level of the defense that has Vic particularly worried?

"It's all of them because until Nakobe comes back, which won't be anytime soon, you've got that to fill," Fangio said. "We've got to get guys in our edge rotation, minus the guys we lost last year. You've got to replace Milt and his snaps, which I think will be done with guys we already had here and with the addition of Robinson. Obviously, got to have a starting safety, a starting corner, so it's kind of spread equally."

#JimmySays: Last week we interviewed offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo. There really wasn't that much to ask. The offense is cut and dried. As Fangio points out here, there are whole lot of answers that need to be found on the defensive side of the ball.

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