PHILADELPHIA – Devin White and Zack Baun were the Eagles’ starting off-ball linebackers for Sunday’s 11th consecutive practice.
For those who have no interest in looking into the matter any further, chances are that the two veteran free agents will be the ones trying to deal with the Green Bay Packers’ talented offense on September 6th.
As the calendar slowly advances into the dog days of August, Vic Fangio is not shortening his rotation as LB
After the 16-13 opening win on Friday night in Baltimore, in which the supposed substitutes – Nakobe Dean, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and Ben VanSumeren – all played well, numerous tandems were tried out in training.
In addition to the standard lineup with White and Baun, White took reps with Dean, Dean was the only LB on the field in the dime look and also played with Trotter and Baun at times.
Of the 32 Eagles defensive linemen evaluated by Pro Football Focus in Baltimore, VanSumeren was No. 2 behind edge rusher Patrick Johnson with his 19 reps. Dean was a step behind at No. 3 with 19 snaps and Trotter was No. 19 with 29 reps.
However, Trotter, a fifth-round pick, was ranked No. 3 in pass rush.
White and Baun started the game and played together 14 times. The former was rather mediocre, ranking 21st among the 32 defensemen, and Baun, the 29th player on the night, struggled a lot with his running attempts and coverage.
While Fangio acknowledged that the backup trio played well against the Ravens, he tempered his assessment at least a little.
“I thought those guys played well, all three of them. And it was different,” Fangio said. “They had their twos and threes in there too. You always have to temper it to some degree, but I was happy with the way those three guys played.”
Of course, the Ravens were unable to use most of their offensive starters, so it wasn’t as if White and Baun had any problems with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry.
Fangio was asked about Baun’s instincts for the position after spending most of his time as a fringe player in New Orleans.
“I think he has the instincts. He had a good training camp,” Fangio said, before admitting that Baltimore wasn’t Baun’s best work. “He didn’t play right in his first couple of games the other day, but overall he had a good training camp.”
The chances of pairing White with Dean early in the season seem to be increasing, and if Trotter continues to develop, he could be pushing for playing time as a rookie by midseason.
VanSumeren is expected to establish himself in the special teams core as he develops from an inexperienced college talent. Baun’s ultimate role could be similar to Andrew Van Ginkel’s in Miami as a hybrid edge rusher/off-ball LB.
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