No Early Edge Answers For The Eagles

PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles seem content with the idea that emerging third-year player Nolan Smith can be the centerpiece of their edge-rushing rotation, and the talented Jalyx Hunt can turn a very small rookie sample size into a significant upward trajectory in Year 2.

Five days of training camp were never going to validate that thesis.

However, it’s fair to say there are more questions after Day 5 of camp – Philadelphia’s first padded practice of the summer – than there were when the Eagles kicked off preparation for the 2025 season with the idea that prove-it free agent signings Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche could serve as credible insurance policies.

Smith is a good football player, and the scale is about how good he can become at 238 pounds and banging against people the size of Lane Johnson every week.

Eagles edge rusher Nolan Smith after practice on July 24, 2024. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

Smith tore his triceps in the Super Bowl and is still wearing a large brace on his left arm, and he suffered a concussion at Monday’s practice, something that kept him out Tuesday and will likely take at least a few more days away from the Georgia product.

Hunt has impressive twitch and the kind of length and athleticism that project well. His teammates, most notably Smith and second-team All-Pro left tackle Jordan Mailata, have spoken glowingly of the Houston Christian product. On the field, however, Mailata has been getting the best of Hunt, and that figures to only accelerate with pads in the equation.

A.J. Brown and Jalyx Hunt smile after a spirited practice on July 26, 2025. | John McMullen/Eagles On SI

With Smith out, Uche got most of the first-team reps as the left-overhang player with the versatile Patrick Johnson mixing in here and there. Ochaun Mathis was getting the third-team reps that have been elevated to the second team.

Ojulari hasn’t pressed hunt at all on the right side, and late signing Ogbo Okoronkwo, who has been a rotational player with the Los Angeles Rams, Houston, and Cleveland, is making some noise to get into the conversation. Rookie sixth-round pick Antwaun Powell-Ryland has yet to push for anything about third-team reps.

Of that second-tier group, Uche has been the best performer so far.

Josh Uche meets with reporters after Day 4 of Eagles training camp. | Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

“I feel good about Nolan, and Jalyx is making good strides,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Tuesday. “After that, we have got some heavy competition going on, and nobody's really truly surfaced yet. Good or bad.

“Hopefully over the course of this camp and preseason games, that will play itself out.

The outside-the-box answer with those in-house would be letting off-ball linebackers Zack Baun or Jihaad Campbell ramp up their work on the edge, and each does do extra work on the side at times with edge-rushing coach Jeremiah Washburn.

The ability to make that kind of move on a more consistent basis will likely be tied to the health of Nakobe Dean and how quickly he can return from the torn patellar tendon he suffered in January, or the ascension of second-year LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

For now, Fangio didn’t exactly offer a glowing endorsement of the situation, and it’s becoming evident that the Eagles need more on the edge, making the position a clear favorite for what has been the annual Howie Roseman August trade in the Nick Sirianni era.

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