Straight From The Vic

PHILADELPHIA – Always candid and comfortable in his own skin, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio took the podium Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex to address the media. It was the first time Fangio had formally spoken since Super Bowl LIX, and there were no shortage of topics to delve into, including trades, new additions, and players undertaking – or vying for – new roles.

Fangio provided clarity and substance to many of the most pertinent offseason topics during his availability. And still, it probably left you yearning for more.

With that that in mind, here are five of my most pertinent takeaways from Fangio’s first press conference of the offseason:

ITB PHOTO: Eagles DC Vic Fangio touched on many topics with candor in his first press conference of the 2025 OTA season.

Bryce Huff Explained

The Eagles ended the suspense last week, sending EDGE Bryce Huff to the San Francisco 49ers for a mid-round pick. While it’s a move that figures to benefit both teams, it was evident early that the Eagles’ big-ticket free agent addition of last offseason wasn’t a fit for Fangio’s system, which was a stark contrast to more simple duties Huff shouldered with the Jets.

The 27-year-old pass-rusher appeared in 12 games, registering 2.5 sacks despite a salary of around $15 million annually. He eclipsed 50 percent of the snaps only three times last season, including the season finale in which Huff accounted for 87 percent. Further compounding his struggles was a wrist injury that required surgery and held him out of Weeks 11-15.

Huff was inactive for Super Bowl LIX, which felt like the death knell on his Eagles tenure. When he wasn’t at the media-attended OTA session last week, it seemed his time in Philadelphia was winding down. Fangio expanded on Huff’s brief and turbulent tenure.

“Well, I think the one thing is, he was getting better, and when he hurt his hand, he tried to play with it for a couple weeks,” he said. “It wasn’t going good because he was reluctant to use his hand. Then when they operated on it, he had to play with a big cast on his hand, which basically rendered his hand useless and then rendered his arm useless because you can’t use your hand. That really had an effect on him.

“We just came out of draft season and the first thing you see when they put a guy’s name up on the board is his hand size, arm length. Well, he lost all that. While he was out, [OLB] Nolan [Smith] got more snaps, [OLB] Jalyx [Hunt] got more snaps and things evolve, but I think he’ll do fine in San Francisco.”

Clarity On Jihaad Campbell, Nakobe Dean Timelines

If you gazed past the action taking place on the near practice fields, in a distance, on a far field, you saw Fangio working with 2025 first-round pick Jihaad Campbell. Campbell, of course, underwent pre-draft surgery to repair a torn labrum and surprisingly tumbled to the Eagles on draft night. Campbell, who sported a helmet during Tuesday’s session despite being sidelined, can line up at off-ball linebacker or rush the passer from the edge, but questions remained as to where he would begin. He also faced a murky timetable with regards to his return. Fangio provided clarity on both fronts.

Well, right now he’s working at ILB because there’s a lot more to learn there,” he 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.”

With Campbell sidelined until “sometime in August” expectations should be tempered, as Fangio’s system is typically most daunting for linebackers and safeties. And it’s improbable the Eagles overburden him with reps out of the gate. The linebacker shortage also includes Nakobe Dean, whom Fangio said “won’t be back for a while” as he recovers from a torn patellar tendon suffered in the postseason. The depth shortage at the position should benefit second-year pro Jeremiah Trotter Jr., who stands to gain an uptick in reps alongside Zack Baun.

The Versatility Of Cooper DeJean

A prominent talking point from last week’s media-attended OTA revolved around the usage of DeJean, who repped with the first team at corner when the defense was in base. The second-year defensive back on Tuesday was again deployed outside in base before kicking back inside when the defense shifted to nickel personnel. Fangio outlined the plan for the multifaceted DeJean – and added a bit of an interesting twist.

“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.

While nickel is arguably the most challenging position to play on defense for a host of reasons – and there isn’t an obvious replacement should DeJean undertake a new role – it seems inevitable DeJean will eventually move outside to the perimeter.

Still, it was interesting to hear Fangio add safety to the many hats DeJean could wear this season. And Fangio not only believes DeJean could be serviceable in that role; the veteran coordinator could hardly contain his intrigue.

“I think he would play very well at safety,” he said. “I think it suits his skill-set, things that he does well. I just think he would do very well in there. We played 21 games last year. How many base snaps do you guys think we played? About 160 in total.”

DeJean joined the safeties for individual drills Tuesday.

Another Name Added To The Safety Mix

“It’s a competition that is going to take a training camp and a few preseason games to sort out. And Tristin’s in that, too.”

The two names often mentioned when assessing the impending battle royale to start opposite Reed Blankenship at safety are Sydney Brown and Drew Mukuba. Brown, a 2023 third-round pick, has been around Fangio for a full year and knows the inner workings of his scheme and what’s expected. He’s also fully healthy after missing the first month of the 2024 season returning from a knee injury that ended his rookie campaign.

Mukuba, on the other hand, was a second-round pick drafted under Fangio, boasting many of the traits of recently departed safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who enjoyed a productive season in Fangio’s defense. Mukuba has an exceptionally high football IQ and has a nose for the football. He also has versatility working in his favor. Barring a difficult transition, the Eagles didn’t draft Mukuba in the second-round with depth in mind.

But Fangio mentioned McCollum, a fourth-year pro, for a reason. The 26-year-old may not offer the same game-changing potential as the aforementioned, but McCollum has intangibles that can’t be measured, like work ethic, toughness and football intelligence. He seems to be someone who has gained Fangio’s trust for being dependable and assignment sound. While it remains unlikely that he leaps both Mukuba and Brown, McCollum clearly can’t be written off, as Fangio suggested.

As I’ve mentioned several times over, the Eagles like McCollum, who has now left a favorable impression on two coaching staffs.

Thoughts On The Gardner-Johnson Trade

In one of the more heavily scrutinized offseason transactions, the Eagles sent ball-hawking safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for guard Kenyon Green and a 2025 fifth-round pick.

For the Eagles, the decision to jettison their defensive heartbeat merely a month after winning a Super Bowl was polarizing to say the least, though Fangio maintained a poker face even nearly three months removed from the trade.

“That was a salary cap-type thing, and Howie [Roseman] made that decision,” he said. “I was fine with it.”

The move was made with the future in mind, but it left the cupboard completely barren in terms of impact and positional depth at the position. Moreover, safety isn’t exactly a position that can be patchworked in a Fangio defense. But if you’ve been paying attention, Mukuba possesses many similar qualities, including the range and football intelligence, which to me, further suggests that Fangio had considerable influence in the selection.

Mukuba’s ball skills, versatility and tone-setting ability figure to soften the blow and atone for the sizeable loss on the backend.

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.