Since the start of the offseason, you or someone you know has probably seen articles on the need for another defensive goal for the Eagles.
Whether it was Jadeveon Clowney, Yannick Ngakoue or Everson Griffen, the feeling was the same: get more depth.
But do the Eagles really need more depth? Let’s take a look at the position.
The entrees
Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett are the starters, making it the second consecutive year for this twinning. Barnett started every game he played in 2018, but it was only six.
Although Graham may never be the sack artist that people expected to get with the 13th overall choice in 2013, he has always been one of the best assisters in the league. He recorded 67 presses last season and was the third EDGE of the decade ranked by ProFootballFocus with a score of 92.1, behind Von Miller 94.6 and Khalil Mack 93.5.
Barnett has work to do. The fourth-year pro has just seen his fifth-year option chosen by the Eagles, but he will need a big year to justify the price. He has played only 35 of the 48 games possible in his three years in the league and has registered only 14 sacks. Barnett, however, seems to be on the verge of a year of disruption. It is his first healthy off-season since college and he trains with former Eagles defensive line coach Jim Washburn. Washburn spent time with Jim Schwartz in Tennessee, where the Wide 9 technique currently in use was implemented.
Rotating parts 2019
Josh Sweat, Genard Avery and Daeshon Hall all saw defensive snaps on defense in 2019.
Of the three, Sweat provided the greatest impact. Although he only played 35% of the shots, he still recorded 21 tackles and four sacks. By ProFootballFocus, among all the top defensemen with at least 80 snaps from the race in 2019, Sweat was second in the league with a stop race percentage of 11.1%. Although he played 253 fewer shots than Jadeveon Clowney, look how similar the year of Sweat was to Clowney:
Sweat may not be the destroyer of all beautiful things like Clowney, but sweat offers a very good depth behind Barnett and Graham.
The Eagles had no fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft due to an exchange with the Browns that earned them Genard Avery. In his very first game with the Eagles against the Bears, he explained why the team traded for him:
Avery is the second player aligned from the left (next to Mills). Watch as he shows his speed to rush in the middle and combine with Malcolm Jenkins on the bag. In three, yes only three, smack this match, he had this half-bag and two tackles. He made his presence felt when he was in the field. However, these will be his only stats with the team for the rest of the season, as he has seen very limited defensive snaps and has played mostly on special teams. With a full off season with his new team, we could be looking at a rough diamond at the EDGE position.
Daeshon Hall has seen very limited time, has injury issues and will likely see limited time again in 2020, but he has the physical tools to be a force. He published elite combine measurements before the 2017 draft:
Daeshon Hall #RAS https://t.co/ON4McJHhmW pic.twitter.com/hQZIpcNgf3
– Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) April 22, 2017
He tied Cliff Avril’s score and got a better athletic score than Melvin Ingram, who was pretty good. He had a bag of 50 shots last season, if he can stay healthy he may be able to use his 6’5 ” 265 lb frame to wreak havoc on the bench. Hall performed in the 2019 preseason, racking up four bags in four games.
The unknowns
Rookie Casey Toohill was drafted to play EDGE at the NFL level, after playing LB in college. His SAR was elite for the positions of defensive end and linebacker:
It is far from part of the training, but it could provide valuable depth to the training team.
Second-year defensive end Shareef Miller has played two snaps throughout the season, both on special teams. He was scheduled to make the 5th-6th round in the 2019 draft, but the Eagles selected him in the 4th. His scouting report included his ability to rush the smuggler and affect the racing game, but the inability to use any functional power to beat the offensive linemen. He obviously needs development and if he lands again in the training team, his days can be counted.
Joe Ostman has been the apple of the eye from the coaching staff since its inception. He was a stud in the training camp before going down with an injury. Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice must have said of him after watching him at training camp in 2019:
It seems that everyone in the organization has been inflating Ostman for about a year now, and observers of the practice are starting to see why. He was legitimately good, and not just in a “jostling more than everyone else” way. He intrigued the Eagles so much, in fact, that Jim Schwartz is trying to find other ways to use it. Recently, in practice, Schwartz held Ostman above the center is something of a Joker role.
He should be 100% recovered from his ACL injury during training camp and showed no limits during beach training:
#Eagles DE Joe Ostman looks close to 100% after suffering from a torn ACL just over 9 months ago.
Ostman, who had a very high team before injury last season, will have a chance to win a defense role this year. (????: IG of Ostman) pic.twitter.com/ISqJoKFOdO
– Logan Banker (@ LoganBanker_19) May 20, 2020
With the praise he received before his injury, it’s hard to think that he won’t be on the active list.
Variations
If the Eagles don’t make a defensive move, they could still form a killer line.
If you forgot, Fletcher Cox played a defensive role over the Chip Kelly years while the then defensive coordinator, Billy Davis, put up a 3-4 defense. During these three years, he recorded 16.5 bags, including a year of 9.5 bags in 2015. It took him three years to beat this number, whereas he had 10.5 in 2018, could we review this in 2020?
On that note, Malik Jackson can play both 3-tech and 5-tech, adding value to his game and of course by removing the pressure of a light group on the depth.
A wrinkle on the #Eagles DL that we could see in 2020 is the return of Cox to DE for a series or two to have BG, Hargrave, Jackson and Cox on the line. Scary thought for crimes. Back to the days of Chip Kelly when Cox was DE in diagram 3-4: 3 bags and 2 FF against the Saints in 2015 pic.twitter.com/bEFS3eSmaW
– Chris Infante (@ Infante54) June 28, 2020
Having Brandon Graham, Javon Hargrave, Malik Jackson and Fletcher Cox on the field at the same time could be deadly for opponents’ offensive lines. Who do you double? A single blanket for each player would open gaping holes for linebackers to cross or open the edges for DB blitzes.
The depth of the defensive attack (Hassan Ridgeway, Bruce Hector, Anthony Rush and Albert Huggins) being deeper than the defense, the Eagles could choose to follow this path instead of signing another defense.
My minds
I would love a signature from Everson Griffen, it would be a Chris Long type signature that could help the depth of the defensive group. But if not Griffen, I’m good at letting young guns grow and letting Jackson and Cox wreak havoc on the defense a few times during the season.
The left tackles the Eagles in 2020 (Cox will line up to the right DE):
- Cornelius Lucas (2x) – Washington
- Andrew Whitworth – LA Rams (39)
- Jonah Williams – Cincinnati (2nd year but missed all year recruit)
- Trent Williams – San Francisco (hasn’t played since 2018)
- Alejandro Villanueva – Pittsburgh (the one who escaped)
- Ronnie Stanley – Baltimore (First Team All-Pro 2019)
- Nate Solder (2x) – New York Giants (overpaid and not good)
- Tyron Smith (2x) – Dallas (risk of injury but still good)
- Jedrick Willis Jr. – Cleveland (rookie)
- Duane Brown – Seattle (decent)
- David Bakhtiari – Green Bay (really, really good)
- Terron Armstead – New Orleans (see above)
- DJ Humphries – Arizona (not good)
Having Fletch against them could cause him to have a career year and push his name into the conversation of the defensive player of the year.
Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
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Elementary physical education teacher living his dream of writing about the team he loves.
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