Eagles Jordan Davis Pass-Rush Truthers Need to Press Pause
PHILADELPHIA – When you’re 6-6, 340 pounds and can move that big body to the tune of 4.78 seconds over 40 yards, expectations will follow, sometimes unrealistic ones.
Take second-year Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 draft and a player some labeled a disappointment as a rookie despite Pro Football Focus grading the Georgia product as No. 26 of the 127 interior linemen who played enough to be ranked.
The failure of PFF to differentiate Davis’ usual role as a zero- or shade-technique in Philadelphia’s 50 fronts vs. defensive tackles tasked with playing three-, four- or five-technique is part of the problem for fans when it comes to the context of roles.
Nose tackles aren’t supposed to be Aaron Donald but each is technically a defensive tackle and will share a position coach.
In the case of Davis, statistics aren’t the goal. His job is to take on blockers so others can make plays whether it’s the off-ball linebackers filling gaps without needing to disengage from blockers, or the edge rushers and three-techs who see one-on-one blocks.
It’s often a selfless job description but a necessary one, especially in the Eagles’ defensive scheme where the goal is to stop the run while playing light boxes. It’s also typically only a two-down role which can also spark criticism especially when it comes to the valuation of a draft slot.
To some taking a “two-down player” is a non-starter at No. 13 overall so Davis has to prove his worth by developing into a better pass rush and staying on the field for three downs while reaching a certain sack bar.
Davis’ movement skills and athleticism have always tantalized those who live in the world of projection but forcing him on the field to justify an imaginary standard is a thesis quickly wrecked by common sense.
The Eagles’ Nascar package is filled with stud pass rushers that helped the team get to 70 sacks last season, starting with Hasson Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham on the edge and Fletcher Cox and Milton Williams inside. Add in 2023 first-round picks and former Davis teammates at Georgia, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith, and Derek Barnett, who is returning from a torn ACL, and you currently have eight defensive linemen who are better natural pass rushers than Davis.
None, of course, are better run-support players so why in the world would you want to pound the square peg in the round hole by reversing roles to justify a nebulous standard?
Luckily for their fans, the Eagles couldn’t care less about the imaginary quotas dreamed up outside the NovaCare Complex and the organization drafted Davis for the right reasons.
If 1st and 10 turns into 3rd and 8 because of Davis spearheading the 50 fronts that will allow defensive coordinator Sean Desai to keep the plus-one on defense in coverage without sacrificing the run support which means Reddick and Co. can pin their ears back in known-pass situations.
And that’s exactly the philosophy of the Vic Fangio-inspired schemes that are all the rage around the NFL.
Davis still needs to improve his conditioning and prove he can stay on the field after missing a month as a rookie with a high ankle sprain and suffering the effects of the injury far after he returned to the lineup.
"Strength training and conditioning,” Davis said this spring when asked what this offseason was about for him. “Conditioning, most importantly, and working on get-off technique. That was the biggest thing. I watched the film and I just realized a lot of my technique was raw.
“So I wanted to come in and I wanted to come in hot. … I don't wanna be the guy that like falls behind or the guy that the coach has to correct my technique every time but one conditioning for sure and two, maintaining, maintaining and then doing the right thing on the field just doing my technique right, doing the right little things correctly."
The plan for the Eagles is to let Davis be Davis and maybe when veterans like Cox and Graham are gone, a little more pass rush from the big man will be revisited. Until then, any kind of push is house money as long as the run support is delivered.
Maybe drafting a two-down player in the top half of the first round isn’t the right way to go for a lesser team but for a Super Bowl contender playing the Fangio defensive philosophy, it’s a necessity.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
