Who Should I Start? Nakobe Dean or Nephi Sewell

Monday, January 13, 12:03 PM

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (knee) suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee late in the wild-card win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday and will miss the rest of the playoffs. It's a tough blow for the Eagles and Deal, who was at the tail end of a breakout season. He now has a long road to recovery and will likely miss the start of the 2025 regular season this fall. The Eagles were bracing for a serious injury after Dean had to be carted off the field in Philadelphia on Sunday. He underwent an MRI exam on Monday morning to confirm the serious injury. The former third-rounder in 2022 out of Georgia emerged as a starter in 2024 in his third year in the league and had an impressive 128 tackles (80 solo), a career-high three sacks, nine tackles for loss, six QB hits, one interception, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in 15 regular-season starts. It's a notable loss for Philly's D the rest of the way.

Wednesday, March 20, 2:43 PM

New Orleans Saints linebacker Nephi Sewell (knee), who tore his ACL in Week 17, is not expected to be ready to go for training camp this summer, according to head coach Dennis Allen. Given the timing of Sewell's injury late last year, nobody should be expecting him to be ready for training camp, let alone the start of the 2024 regular season. The 25-year-old was a depth linebacker for the Saints last year while also contributing on special teams. In the 16 games he appeared in, Sewell didn't make any starts and finished with 15 tackles (11 solo) and one forced fumble. He entered the NFL with the Saints in 2022 as an undrafted free agent after playing college ball at both Nevada and Utah.