PHILADELPHIA – Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni lauded several of his backups for their play in Sunday’s 20-13 win over the Giants on Monday.
He said defensive tackle Jordan Davis played one of his best games in three years with the Eagles. He lauded linebacker Oren Burks for his 17 tackles, safety Sydney Brown for his game-sealing interception, cornerback Isaiah Rodgers for his 53-yard kickoff return. On offense, he praised linemen Jack Driscoll and Darian Kinnard, and, of course, quarterback Tanner McKee.
Conspicuously absent from his praise were defensive ends and edge rushers. The Eagles don’t have many, and the ones who played didn’t get much pressure on New York quarterback Drew Lock despite a Giants offensive line that is one of a dozen reasons why they won a woeful three games in more than four months of football.
Resting Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith, Bryce Huff played 87 percent of the snaps and had three tackles. He's been ineffective all season. Charles Harris was elevated from the practice squad, and he played 77 percent of the snaps. He also had three tackles.
Are they part of the future? Smith is. Sweat might not be. His one-year deal expires when the season ends. Rookie Jalyx Hunt is. He got 50 percent of the snaps vs. the Giants. He didn't show up on the stat sheet, but he's a third-round pick and isn't going anywhere.
Finding an edge rusher as a defensive end or outside linebacker is at the top of the Eagles’ offseason shopping list. While 18 teams have already begun planning for the offseason because they weren’t good enough to make the playoffs, the Eagles have some time to dive into who is available in free agency and the draft.
Because mock drafts never really stop, the Eagles have been linked to some defensive edge players, such as Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer, Mississippi’s Princely Umanmielen, and Arkansas’ Landon Jackson.
Sawyer is 6-4, 240 and has 22 career sacks, including eight this year and counting, with the Buckeyes in college football’s national semifinals later this week against Texas.
Umanmielen is 6-4, 255, and had 10.5 sacks this season, his first with Ole Miss after spending four years at the University of Florida.
Jackson is 6-6, 260, and 6.5 sacks in each of his last two seasons.
As mentioned, it’s a little early to start thinking about April’s draft and March’s free agency – not with a wildcard playoff game set to be played against the Packers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday (4:30 p.m./FOX).
Besides, nobody knows at what point in the draft the Eagles’ first selection will be, but it probably won’t be early enough to get the primo pass rushers such as Penn State’s Abdul Carter, Tennessee’s James Pearce, Jr., or Georgia’s Mykel Williams.
Still, it’s supposed to be a deep class of edge rushers, so maybe the Eagles take two, maybe in the first and third rounds? It’s tantalizing to think about.
