Eagles Still Have Questions at Edge Rusher Despite Offseason Moves

Most of the Eagles' roster-shuffling is over, but there are still a few tweaks that still likely to be done.

The Philadelphia Eagles had five key losses to their defense in free agency, but tried to replenish with a few signings and the NFL Draft, with hopes that they can make the 53-man roster.

The Eagles made a trade in Monday Night, adding depth at cornerback, with Jakorian Bennett coming over from Las Vegas.

They have some other issues that still need to be addressed as we near the first preseason game on Thursday night against the Bengals? What position group might have the most unfinished work left?

Pro Football Focus’ Trevor Sikkema sees their biggest question at edge rusher, even with the additions of Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche in free agency.

"I think Josh has had some good practices here of late, he's flashed and had some really good plays," Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said on Monday. Like a lot of the guys that are new, he just needs to eliminate the negative plays and the negative plays aren't something that you guys may see or know. It's just reacting and covering and the way we want to play the run. The nuances of the defense. He has to master those, but overall he's had a good camp and I see him getting better each and every day and the same thing with Azeez."

Losing Josh Sweat, who played the second-most snaps along the defensive line (821), means the unit needs others to step up. It could be a big year for Jalyx Hunt, who earned a 69.0 PFF overall grade in his rookie season.

Jalyx Hunt Could Be Key in 2025

2024 third-round pick Jalyx Hunt gave the Eagles plenty of reason to think he can develop into a replacement for Sweat. By the end of the 2024 season, he exceeded expectations for his rookie season with 1.5 sacks in the regular season and 1.5 sacks in the playoffs.

"Jalyx to me, the last third of the season into the playoffs played a lot for us and played good," admitted Fangio before the start of training camp.

That level of play allowed him to earn more snaps after veteran Brandon Graham went down with an injury and has expectations high for 2025.

Nolan Smith and Hunt Leading the Pack

"I feel good about [OLB] Nolan [Smith], and [OLB] Jalyx [Hunt] is making good strides, Fangio stated. After that, we have got some heavy competition going on and nobody's really truly surfaced yet. Good or bad. Hopefully over the course of this camp and preseason games, that will play itself out."

How will it play itself out?  It all starts Thursday night against Cincinnati.