FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Knee Injury Puts Nakobe Dean's 2025 in Question

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Mon, Jan 13 2025 4:04 PM UTC

Eagles LB Nakobe Dean left Sunday's win over the Packers with a left knee injury. NFL Network reports that it's a torn patellar tendon, which not only ends Dean's season but will challenge his readiness for 2025.

What They're Saying

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport: "He'll likely miss the start of next season."

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

Oren Burks replaced Dean against the Packers and wound up playing 55% of the snaps. (Dean played 35% before leaving.)

Expect Burks to start next to Zack Baun at off-ball LB the rest of the playoffs.

He totaled 5 tackles (4 solo) and forced a fumble against Green Bay.

Burks also filled in for Dean over the final two games of the regular season. He tallied 8 and 17 tackles in those two contests, including a big Week 18 stat line against the Giants.

There's upside to Burks as an IDP option over the next few weeks, with the Rams and Lions presenting rushing-volume upside as potential opponents.

Dynasty Impact

Dean faces a tough recovery that we'll have to monitor through the offseason. At the moment, he looks like a poor bet to make an IDP impact for at least the first half of the 2025 season.

Unfortunately for Dean, that's also the final year on his rookie contract. That could incentivize Philly to look into replacement options this offseason.

Dean's ultimately holdable in IDP dynasty leagues, but also isn't a must-hold.

His breakthrough 2024 followed a disappointing -- and injury-riddled -- 2023.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.