The Eagles have the NFL's second-best defensive line going into 2025, and best in the National Football Conference, according to Pro Football Focus' most recent rating of d-lines around the league.
Only the Steelers, per the analytics website, enter the season with a better defensive front.
It's an interesting ranking that appears to be prioritizing the Eagles' history of development at this position more than the actual production of the expected Eagles starters and top role players on the line.
Sure, the Eagles just won the Super Bowl over a dynastic Chiefs team because of their imposing defensive line that abused the Chiefs' offensive line, but two of those starting four – Josh Sweat and Milton Williams – departed in free agency, and a major contributor in Brandon Graham just retired.
The Eagles enter 2025 with perhaps the most inexperienced EDGE tandem in the entire league, as projected starters Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith have combined for just 11 career NFL starts. On the interior, third-year pro Moro Ojomo will become a starter for the first time in his career alongside sudden elder statesmen Jalen Carter, who enters his third season.
As Jimmy Kempski recently noted, the Eagles are trying to make up for more than 1,700 snaps last season played by Sweat, Williams and Graham. That's a ton of snaps. Some of the replacements – free agent signings Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche, rookie draft picks Jihaad Campbell and Ty Robinson – aren't accustomed to playing a ton of snaps or just haven't yet played an NFL down.
Here's the projected top three at EDGE and DT for 2025 and their experience, pass-rush production and 2024 playing time percentages:
Career Starts 2024 Sacks+QB Hits % Of Snaps
EDGE Nolan Smith 10 17.5 55%
EDGE Jalyx Hunt 1 4.5 25%
EDGE Azeez Ojulari 30 16 58%
DT Jalen Carter 16 20.5 84%
DT Moro Ojomo 1 5 37%
DT Jordan Davis 39 2 37%
Let's compare that to the top three at both d-line positions for the Giants, who ranked third on PFF's list:
Career Starts 2024 Sacks+QB Hits % Of Snaps
EDGE Brian Burns 84 26.5 79%
EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux 43 22.5 75%
EDGE Abudul Carter N/A N/A N/A
DT Dexter Lawrence 85 25 73%
DT Roy Robertson-Harris 62 1 37%
DT Rakeem Nuñez-Roches 57 8 63%
The production disparity of each team's top four is glaring here, as the Giants have three guys who produced 22 or more combined sacks and QB hits last year and played 73 percent or more of the defensive snaps compared to the Eagles' top three (Carter, Smith, Ojulari), none of which equaled 22 or more sacks/QB hits, although Carter's 20.5 is close.
Jalen Carter is the only Eagle on the list to play more than 70 percent of the snaps, while the Giants have three, and all three were productive.
Again, PFF isn't just taking into account production as much as projection. There's surely room for Hunt, an explosive third-round pick entering Year 2, and Smith, who didn't start until the second half of the season, to see significant improvement.
But if we're being fair with projections, the Giants could easily have a fourth impact lineman/edge rusher if No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter lives up to his draft stock early. The hunch here is that the Giants will lean heavily on a four-man rush with Carter and Burns at the edges, and Thibodeaux kicked inside next to Lawrence.
The Texans, who came in at No. 4 on the list, might also like a word with PFF, seeing as their top two edge rushers – Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson – combined for 23 sacks and 42 QB hits last season, almost twice the amount of Smith, Hunt and Ojulari combined. Texans defensive tackle Tim Settle combined for 15 sacks/QB hits, and Houston finished with the sixth-ranked overall defense.
Denver, which ranked eighth on PFF's list, also has an argument based on production. The Broncos return their top five pass rushers from last season's defense that ranked No. 1 in sacks per pass attempt and seventh overall, including Zach Allen (48.5 sacks/QB hits), Nik Bonitto (37.5 sacks/QB hits) and Jonathon Cooper (30.5 sacks/QB hits).
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