Biggest Eagles questions of 2025 by position: Defense

The Eagles had the best defense in the NFL last season and dominated in Super Bowl LIX.

If the Eagles are going to repeat as Super Bowl champions in 2025, they’re going to need another strong year from Vic Fangio’s side of the football.

We already took a look at some of the biggest questions facing each position on the offensive side of the ball. Today, we look at the biggest questions at each position on defense:

Edge rusher: Do the Eagles have enough on the edge? 

The Eagles this offseason lost Josh Sweat to free agency and Brandon Graham to retirement and then they traded Bryce Huff to San Francisco. That left them with the top returning edge rushers as Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt. In free agency, they signed veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche to one-year deals. They also drafted Antwaun Powell-Ryland on Day 3.

But it’s fair to wonder if the Eagles will have enough pass rush entering the 2025 season. Smith returns as the top guy after having 10 1/2 sacks in the regular and postseason and if he keeps it up, he should continue to be very good. And Hunt came on so strong in the playoffs that his ceiling seems virtually limitless. But there’s also some projection involved there. Ojulari and Uche were available on one-year deals for a reason. They have both had some success in the NFL but Ojulari has struggled to stay healthy and Uche has struggled to produce consistently.

If there’s a spot the Eagles could still look to add, it might be at edge rusher. That could come by way of a free agent or perhaps a trade. But the Eagles might want to get to training camp first and see how this group looks on the field.

Defensive tackle: How will Eagles replace Milton Williams? 

The Eagles liked Milton Williams but they simply couldn’t match the $26 million per season deal he got with the New England Patriots. Williams had a career season for the Eagles in 2025 with 5 sacks and 10 QB hits while playing around 50% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps. The Eagles bring back Jalen Carter, who is the centerpiece of the defensive line and a young star.

It’ll probably take a group effort to replace Williams. The Eagles also bring back Jordan Davis and Moro Ojomo and they also drafted Ty Robinson from Nebraska in the fourth round. Davis and Ojomo each played 388 snaps in the regular season last year and should both see their playing time increase in 2025. For Davis, it’s about maintaining his weight and conditioning level while growing as a pass rusher. For Ojomo, it’s about continuing to improve. The former seventh-round pick enters Year 3 with a chance to have a much bigger role in the D-tackle rotation. And Robinson should be able to contribute too. He’s a 24-year-old rookie who had good production his final year at Nebraska.

Linebacker: When will Nakobe Dean, Jihaad Campbell be healthy?

The Eagles’ top priority in free agency was to re-sign Zack Baun and they gave him a three-year, $51 million deal. The Eagles weren’t going to let the All-Pro walk out the door. But now we have to wonder who will be starting next to him on Sept. 4 when the Eagles kick off the season. During the spring practices, second-year linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. got a ton of valuable reps and is a solid fallback option if both Nakobe Dean and Jihaad Campbell aren’t ready for the start of the season.

Dean suffered a torn patellar tendon in the wild-card game against the Packers and is still rehabbing. The guy who replaced him in the playoffs was Oren Burks, who left in free agency. The first-round pick Campbell is coming off a shoulder surgery in March and while he missed most of the spring, he was able to return to linebacker drills on the final day. So it appears that Campbell is ahead of Dean in terms of recovery, which gives him the inside track on being the starter if Dean’s timeline pushes into the season. When all three are eventually healthy, the Eagles will have more decisions to make, but that might not be for a while.

Cornerback: Who is the other outside corner? 

Quinyon Mitchell had an excellent rookie season and returns in Year 2 as the Eagles’ top outside cornerback. But with Darius Slay and Isaiah Rodgers both gone, the Eagles need to figure out who will line up on the other side. It’s worth noting that in the spring, Mitchell worked as the left cornerback, taking over Slay’s old spot after Mitchell played exclusively on the right side in 2024.

In the Eagles’ base package, it appears that Cooper DeJean could be the right cornerback. But that’s just about 15% of the plays and DeJean is still expected to slide inside on sub-packages, which accounts for around 85% of the Eagles’ snaps. So starter or not, this right cornerback position is a big deal. The two top candidates fighting for this job are Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson.

Ringo, who will turn 23 soon, is entering his third NFL season and has a ton of potential. He’s 6-2, 207 pounds and runs a 4.40. Ringo played more as a rookie in 2023 before getting pushed down the depth chart in 2024. But he looked solid in the spring and should probably be considered the favorite. Jackson, 29, is someone the Eagles have had their eye on for several years. In fact, before signing with the Giants in 2021, Jackson was expected to make a visit to the NovaCare Complex — that visit never happened. Jackson is entering Year 9 in 2025. He’s a nice insurance policy but the Eagles would probably prefer that Ringo takes the reins. There’s also a third door (a signing or trade) if neither guy looks the part in training camp.

Safety: Who takes over as the other starter? 

The biggest surprise of the Eagles’ offseason was trading starting safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans after just one year of his three-year deal. The best battle of training camp will be figuring out who replaces Gardner-Johnson. The top two competitors appear to be Sydney Brown and Andrew Mukuba. But during the spring, Vic Fangio made sure to also include Tristin McCollum in the competition. So it’s a three-man battle for that job next to Reed Blankenship in the secondary. It won’t be easy to replace Gardner-Johnson’s production (12 picks in two years with the Eagles) or his swagger.

Brown is a former third-round pick but most of his defensive snaps came as a rookie under a different defensive coordinator. Still, he was the guy lining up first next to Blankenship this spring before a ton of rotation. Mukuba was drafted in the second round (No. 64 overall) out of Texas and it’s notable that he got first-team reps in his first spring. While Mukuba is a tad undersized at 5-11, 186 pounds, he doesn’t play like an undersized safety. And he has the speed, instincts and ball skills that made him a Day 2 pick. McCollum is the underdog in the battle but he was ahead of Brown in the pecking order last year and it seems like Fangio trusts him.

Special teams: Who will return kicks and punts?

The Eagles this offseason let former punt returner Britain Covey leave in free agency. Covey missed considerable time last season and Cooper DeJean took over as the full-time punt returner. DeJean was good in that role but Fangio hasn’t been shy about not wanting his star nickel cornerback to have that on his plate and the Eagles shouldn’t want it either. So it’s time to find a new return man.

The most obvious option is Avery Williams. The Eagles have since listed Williams as a receiver but when they signed him, he was initially called a “return specialist.” If Williams is able to make the roster, he seems like a safe bet to return both kicks and punts for the Eagles. But Williams did not practice this spring with an apparent injury.

In addition to Williams, it seems like Will Shipley could be kick return option as he enters Year 2. Both Kenny Gainwell and Isaiah Rodgers are gone and Shipley did return six kickoffs in 2024. Receiver Ainias Smith could also factor in as a returner but he has to make the team first. The Eagles also claimed RB Keilan Robinson off waivers and he has a history of returning kicks.