When the Eagles drafted Jordan Davis, they were inadvertently saying that the Nose Tackle position would be a big part of their defensive scheme for years to come. And when Jordan Davis got a chance at the beginning of 2022, he played at a really solid level. So much so that when he got injured, the Eagles biggest issue on defense quickly became their nose tackle play.
Poor defensive performances against the Texans and Commanders in the weeks after Davis’s injury influenced Howie Roseman to sign two new defensive tackles in Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph. And while Joseph did a valiant job of filling in for Davis, Nose Tackle reappeared as a weakness for this team in the Super Bowl. Against the Chiefs, Jordan Davis was clearly not a hundred-percent healthy and Linval Joseph played poorly.
This presents a clear need for the Eagles. They need someone to do a similar job to Jordan Davis when he’s out via injury or taking a snap off—which he does often. If we don’t have a player like that, our run defense will consistently get gashed in the absence of Jordan Davis. The good thing is that the Eagles have top-30 visits with both Keeanu Beanton & Gervon Dexter, two of the top Nose Tackle prospects in the draft. Expect the Eagles to select a nose tackle with a third round pick or so in this year’s draft.