Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense is beginning to blossom with a core of players who still qualify to be on their parents health insurance
After spending a few seasons of working with Vic Fangio disciples like Jonathan Gannon and Sean DeSai and seeing the shortcomings of them and the defense at large, Howie Roseman put in work this past offseason to make improvements. He hired Fangio himself and then did what he always does in the offseason, cook. While Howie tends to be a wizard with his ability to sign free agents, over the last four years Howie made a real attempt to load the defense with young studs. He has drafted Milton Williams, Jordan Davis, Nakobe Dean, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Sydney Brown, Kelee Ringo, Moro Ojomo, Cooper Dejean, and Quinyon Mitchell. He also found Reed Blankenship as an undrafted free agent and landed Isiah Rodgers as a free agent after a gambling suspension. He also landed Zack Baun from the Saints. This group of guys is already yielding some pretty impressive results and guys like Carter, Quinyon, and Baun are really beginning to flash as stars. The youth of this group cannot be understated as of all those names listed, Zack Baun is the oldest at 27! The rest of the group is largely under 25.
Eagles Defense: From Hungry Dogs to Hungry Pups
This young group has rejuvenated the defense and has shown a streak of nasty dominance on the defensive side of the ball that hasn’t been seen since the Jim Jonhson days nearly 20 years ago. They are allowing under 18 points a game this year and over the last six weeks are letting up under 14 a game. They’ve only allowed 6 touchdowns over the last 6 weeks, 2 of which were in garbage time of games they had won. Now this is in part them taking advantage of some bad teams, but they have also just been that good. This past Thursday the 7-2 Washington Commanders, led by rookie phenom Jayden Daniels, were averaging 29 points a game before facing this Eagles team. They were down 26-10 with two minutes left before a garbage time touchdown and conversion gave them 18 points on the night. They looked completely inept for the majority of the game too in large part due to the scheme and the players ability to execute it.
This Eagles group appears to be gaining strength week by week. So let’s highlight a few of the guys leading the charge for this group. We’ll start with who is easily the most exciting rookie on the team, cornerback Quinyon Mitchell. From a relatively unknown school, the University of Toledo, Quinyon, who is the same age as the iPod has already become a shutdown corner taking on the best the league has to offer. Over the first 10 weeks of the season; Christian Watson, Drake London, Chris Olave, Mike Evans, Amari Cooper, Malik Nabers, Jamaar Chase, Brian Jonhson Jr, CeeDee Lamb, and Terry McLaurin have combined for 14 total receptions and 127 total yards. Zero touchdowns have been thrown in his direction yet either.
Second year stud Jalen Carter also appears to be getting better each week. As his hair grows out so does his power and he is morphing more and more into the game wrecker that he was at Georgia. For a team whose biggest weakness is the pressure they are generating up front, Carter picking up where Fletcher Cox left off is a welcome addition. Another player to highlight is linebacker Zack Baun. While not a “young gun” as this is year five in the NFL for Baun, he has exploded in Fangio’s system and is one of the defenses MVPs. He has brought stability to a position that the Eagles very rarely have and has climbed up from a roster filling signing to a guy that MUST get an extension with the team this offseason.
Ultimately it is quite difficult to build a good defense in the NFL. It is also quite challenging to find young players who can be immediate, high-level contributors. The Eagles have built what appears to be a dominant defense that is built around young players. Obviously there are some important vets on this team like Darious Slay, CJ Gardner-Johnson, Josh Sweat, and the effervescent Brandon Graham carrying weight for this team. However, make no mistake, this defense is built around a rising group of basically children. A group of Hungry Pups largely younger than DVDs, hybrid cars, USB cords, and Napster. The future on the defensive side of the ball has never looked brighter.
What do you think of this Eagles Defense? Are you impressed? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, BlueSky, or TikTok.
