From now until July 22, PhillyVoice will be previewing 2025 Eagles training camp by choosing a topic question for the staff to debate. This series will run from Monday, July 7, through Monday, July 21, as all players are expected to report by to the NovaCare Complex by July 22. The first session is July 23.
Today's preview topic question is which job competition on defense is the most intriguing headed into camp. Our writers made their selections and wrote about the player they felt best fit the category.
Most Intriguing Job Competition On Defense
GEOFF MOSHER: The four-man rush
There will be plenty of attention on the secondary – at left cornerback and safety – and plenty of attention on the linebacker who ends up temporarily filling in for Nakobe Dean for a few weeks to start alongside Zack Baun, but the key to Vic Fangio's defensive success is the four-man rush. Fangio is usually among the most conservative DCs when it comes to extra-man pressure. Last year, the Eagles blitzed on just 19.1 percent of defensive snaps, per Pro Football Reference's advanced stats. Only four NFL teams blitzed at a lower percentage. Even when he blitzes, Fangio typically will send an extra linebacker or nickel – nothing too crazy or out of the Todd Bowles/Brian Flores playbook.
When you've got the kind of dogs up front that Fangio had last year, starting with Jalen Carter and Josh Sweat, you shouldn't have to blitz very much. But gone are Sweat, Milton Williams and Brandon Graham, leaving the door wide open for a new era of pass rushers to stake their claim – and to convince Fangio that he can still lean heavily on the four-man rush to get home.
On the edges, Nolan Smith and Jalyx Hunt are the projected starters, but they've combined for 11 NFL starts, so nothing will be handed to them, especially if they don't get off to good starts. Fangio has veterans Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche – two high second-round picks who signed one-year deals in free agency – waiting in the wings in case Smith and/or Hunt isn't up to speed. Uche had an 11.5-sack season in his third year with the Patriots while Ojulari had eight sacks his rookie season with the Giants, so either one is capable of capitalizing on an opportunity to become an integral piece of the four-man rush.
On the interior, Carter is the constant, but Moro Ojomo will battle with Jordan Davis for the right to line up next to Carter on those pass-rush downs. Ojomo is the leader in the clubhouse to fill Williams' void as the other interior rusher but the 2023 seventh-round pick must prove he can flourish in that new role. The coaches have also talked about the mammoth Davis' improvement as a pass rusher and will give the 2022 first-round pick an opportunity this summer to showcase that development. The dark horse is rookie fourth-rounder Ty Robinson, who caused all sorts of pass-rush chaos at Nebraska and, with quick development, could threaten both Ojomo and Davis for some snaps on the first-team four-man rush.
Could Fangio also decide to slide an edge rusher (Hunt, perhaps?) inside to get three EDGEs on the field in a four-man rush situation like Jim Schwartz did with Brandon Graham in 2017?Anything is possible, and with Fangio's depth at both iDL and EDGE, finding the right four-man combo will surely be an exciting competition this summer – one that's worth following every day.
EVAN MACY: The second safety spot
The best competition will be safety. It's wide open.
Reid Blankenship will start at one safety spot this season as he's proven to be a trusted veteran in the secondary. Just who will line up next to him will be a very interesting battle to watch in training camp. The Eagles elected not to bring in a starting caliber vet, nor trade for one, so they must like who they have currently in the room.
It's hard to even pinpoint the leader right now for the role. Sydney Brown has the most experience of the contenders vying to replace the big shoes left from C.J Gardner Johnson's shocking trade. Brown has played in 25 games over the last two seasons with two picks and two forced fumbles. But he's injury prone and inconsistent.
Next is their second round pick Andrew Mukuba out of Texas, who would not have been drafted so high if he wasn't someone the Eagles front office saw as a long-term starter at safety. Also in the mix are Tristin McCollum, who filled in well during stints last season, and Lewis Cine, a first-rounder out of Alabama in 2022 who has yet to find his footing in the NFL.
This could be the most wide open competition in camp and I wouldn't be surprised to hear any of those four guys starting against the Cowboys in Week 1.
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