Brandon Graham Predicts Big Things for Derek Barnett
The Eagles had options to upgrade at defensive end in the offseason but the status quo officially won out when general manager Howie Roseman decided to run it back with Vinny Curry behind starters Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett.
Splashier names like Jadeveon Clowney or Yannick Ngakoue would have energized the fan base while also digging Roseman into a larger salary-cap hole with the latter also requiring significant draft capital heading in the other direction.
The key to the decision-making is Barnett, the No. 14 overall pick in the 2017 draft, who has flashed in spots over his first three professional seasons. Overall, however, Barnett has not lived up to the billing as a potential elite edge rusher.
The Eagles understand what they are getting with Graham and Curry and expect another step forward from Josh Sweat in 2020 but Barnett is the one with the key to turn this from a good group to a top-tier one.
Heading into his fourth season, Barnett, 24, is reportedly healthy and ready to go, according to Graham, who told reporters to "watch out for D.B.," the player who once broke Reggie White's sack records at the University of Tennessee.
Barnett spent much of the past two offseasons rehabbing from surgeries, first a core-muscle procedure, and then another surgery for a torn rotator cuff last year.
Graham surmised that Barnett is “trying to have his breakout year now that he’s coming into the year feeling good.”
The in-season malady for Barnett in 2019 was an ankle injury that caused the veteran to miss two games but didn't stop him from being second on the team in sacks with a career-high 6.5 and fourth in quarterback pressures/hits with 32. Only Graham got to the QB more with 8.5 sacks and Graham, Curry, along with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, barely beat Barnett with pressures at 34 apiece.
The template has always been there with Barnett. All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson once compared Barnett's bend around the edge to All-Pro rusher Von Miller.
The question is when does the potential meet production?
Graham and Barnett have a lot in common as former first-round picks in a market where the microscope is high-powered and the expectations are often unrealistic.
From a personality standpoint, the two couldn't be more different, however. Graham always lights up any room he walks into and Barnett would prefer to go about his business in a far more understated way.
If anything, however, Graham's start with the Eagles was rockier than Barnett's and you don't have to go back very far to the time when the now fan-favorite was regarded as a bust with the names Earl Thomas and Jason Pierre-Paul, players picked directly behind Graham in the 2010 draft, constantly thrown into the organization’s face, at least until Graham took off and became a star himself as one of the best two-way defensive ends in football.
“We talk about that all the time,” Graham said of the similarities. “You can only control what you can control. Stay away from social media. Everybody is going to say what they going to say, but when you’re making them plays you can make them eat them words.
“I feel like that’s where he is right now - he’s going to try and make everybody eat those words and let everybody know he’s valuable."
Ironically, Graham and Barnett teamed up on the most important play in modern Eagles history. While the Philly Special is the most famous play, Graham's strip-sack of Tom Brady in Super Bowl LII essentially clinched the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history and Barnett was on the other end of it as a rookie, recovering the fumble.
“I’m just excited for him," said Graham, "because he really does have that edge."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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