So what does everyone think of him?  He's been playing against backups and guys who will likely get cut, but he still didn't look that impressive to me. 

Also, it looks as if Sirianni/Fangio didn't play any defensive players who are materially important to the team.  They played Dejean, but obviously he needs to catch up since he missed most of camp, so that makes sense.  And they also played Nolan Smith, and that is very telling to me.

Honestly, I'm not sure he should be higher on the depth chart than Patrick Johnson and Julian Okwara.   To be clear, I am not saying he should be cut or is a bust, but this guy was a 1st round pick.  Maybe my expectations are too high, but I expect a lot more from him.

BG took a few years to get it and people called him a bust.

You hold the consensus opinion. 

 

He's doing nothing to stand out. I'm not sure what to think about him.

He's terrible.

Dog crap...another 1st round bust

Hated the pick before and hate if more now

He's behind a rookie 3rd round pick from Houston Christian by way of Cornell.  That tells you pretty much about what the Eagles think about him.

I have no idea. I'm going to give him AT LEAST a second full season before I start making judgments. Maybe he ends up being a bust, maybe not. One thing is certain though. People calling him a bust after one season and a pre-season are whining drama queens.

I think people are running out of things to legitimately gripe about and so they are manufacturing some "problems" to get them by until a real concern develops.

My personal take is that Smith is still a backup and still eager to learn and develop. He wanted to be out there and Fangio wanted him out there ... getting some reps on film to help speed up the development. The thing that is "telling" is that Smith wants to work and get better. In the end, he only played 19 snaps. IMO, they should have given a bunch more guys some snaps --- as we have several projected starters on defense that are young and inexperienced. 

 

We all know Smith was "a 1st round pick." But let's not pretend he was a high 1st rd pick or that we traded something extra to move up. He was pick #30. In college he was a great run defender, but never really considered a great pass rusher. That's something everybody knew he would have to develop in the NFL. Fans look at the pick (1st rd pick!!!11!!) and want instant production, but that development just doesn't happen over night. I believe Smith is one of those picks you want to wait to grade after his 3rd season. If he hasn't earned a starting role by then, then it will be disappointing. If he doesn't play well enough for the Eagles to pick up the 5th year option, then he's a bust. But right now, he's right where scouts expected him to be --- developing. I can find lots of pre-draft pieces that expected him to go in the 1st round (even if they rated him a 2nd round talent) and some had him going much higher in the first round than pick 30. But I didn't see very many people projecting him to be a day 1 starter in the NFL as an edge rusher. 

14 hours ago, Diehardfan said:

BG took a few years to get it and people called him a bust.

BG was pretty good right from the start, but he tore his ACL in week 14 of his first year and was not activated until November his second year.  Lots of Eagles fans here were annoyed that the Eagles had traded up to pick 13 overall and not picked Earl Thomas or JPP, who went with the following two picks ... in their second seasons, Thomas made 2nd team All-Pro and JPP made the Pro Bowl roster after chalking up 16.5 sacks.  It was a pretty unfair to compare those guys with someone who tore his ACL and so had his first two seasons short-circuited.

 

Still way too early to tell.  

I get why some are discouraged. I still think it’s tough to get a fair assessment in preseason. Other starters either don’t play, or play limited snaps in a vanillia scheme. Hopefully things start looking better when there’s more talent on the field, with an actual game plan. 
 

If he doesn’t have 5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in week 1, then I look to trade him for another 5th rounder. 

7 hours ago, BayAreaLennie said:

BG was pretty good right from the start, but he tore his ACL in week 14 of his first year and was not activated until November his second year.  Lots of Eagles fans here were annoyed that the Eagles had traded up to pick 13 overall and not picked Earl Thomas or JPP, who went with the following two picks ... in their second seasons, Thomas made 2nd team All-Pro and JPP made the Pro Bowl roster after chalking up 16.5 sacks.  It was a pretty unfair to compare those guys with someone who tore his ACL and so had his first two seasons short-circuited.

 

This is absolutely not true.

It's far too early to tell, but..

Jordan Davis, while solid/good, needs to justify his draft slot ASAP.

Dean and Smith are both a JAGs IMO, but they can easily still turn into players.

I still think he needs time (and I’m sure he’ll get more time) but the signs aren’t great. He struggled last year and he’s not really stood out during camp. He’s an undersized DE and he really looks it. He’s got speed but he needs to add more to his skill set in the NFL.

 

On 8/25/2024 at 10:44 AM, Diehardfan said:

BG took a few years to get it and people called him a bust.

You know even when BG was considered a bust, he still stood out as a run stopper. BG always showed solid at holding the edge. I’m not ready to call Smith a bust, but it is telling that they played him in a meaningless game and more telling that he didn’t really flash in it. Fangio is a guy who doesn’t hold back punches. I can’t help but wonder if they were trying to showcase Smith in order to see if they could trade him, but he did nothing to show out. I doubt they cut him, but he’s not really doing much up to this point. Heck Dean, Trotter, Hunt, VanSumeren, McCullom, and Ringo (to name a few) are just a few guys who flashed more than Smith this camp and preseason than Smith has. Looki highly doubt they cut Smith, but I’m not ready to claim he’s the next BG either.

2 hours ago, EagleJoe8 said:

I get why some are discouraged. I still think it’s tough to get a fair assessment in preseason. Other starters either don’t play, or play limited snaps in a vanillia scheme. Hopefully things start looking better when there’s more talent on the field, with an actual game plan. 
 

If he doesn’t have 5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in week 1, then I look to trade him for another 5th rounder. 

I get your point, but when a first round talent is basically going up against guys who will basically have regular jobs in a few days fails to stand out it’s a bit of a concern. Obviously the Eagles expected something out of him otherwise they don’t play him. Bradbury didn’t play but Smith did. Let that sink in. 

14 minutes ago, EazyEaglez said:

I get your point, but when a first round talent is basically going up against guys who will basically have regular jobs in a few days fails to stand out it’s a bit of a concern. Obviously the Eagles expected something out of him otherwise they don’t play him. Bradbury didn’t play but Smith did. Let that sink in. 

I get what you’re saying, and it’s valid, but the other side of that is Bradberry is a veteran and Smith is limited on pro experience. The truth usually lies in the middle. I can’t imagine they want to give up on Smith yet, so it’s possible they just wanted to give him as many live reps as possible. 

32 minutes ago, EagleJoe8 said:

I get what you’re saying, and it’s valid, but the other side of that is Bradberry is a veteran and Smith is limited on pro experience. The truth usually lies in the middle. I can’t imagine they want to give up on Smith yet, so it’s possible they just wanted to give him as many live reps as possible. 

Usually in the final game they give guys who are either getting cut, won’t play much during the season, or trying to showcase for a trade. I don’t really know where Smith falls in that type of grouping. I bet if Smith went out there and got a ton of pressure, a couple tackles for loss, or stood out in any way they would have pulled him. He just didn’t stick out against guys who won’t play much in the league this year. That’s a bit of an eye opener considering I would argue all of the other Bulldogs have show that they deserve some playing time this year. 

He better show up

On 8/25/2024 at 4:39 PM, brkmsn said:

I think people are running out of things to legitimately gripe about and so they are manufacturing some "problems" to get them by until a real concern develops.

My personal take is that Smith is still a backup and still eager to learn and develop. He wanted to be out there and Fangio wanted him out there ... getting some reps on film to help speed up the development. The thing that is "telling" is that Smith wants to work and get better. In the end, he only played 19 snaps. IMO, they should have given a bunch more guys some snaps --- as we have several projected starters on defense that are young and inexperienced. 

 

We all know Smith was "a 1st round pick." But let's not pretend he was a high 1st rd pick or that we traded something extra to move up. He was pick #30. In college he was a great run defender, but never really considered a great pass rusher. That's something everybody knew he would have to develop in the NFL. Fans look at the pick (1st rd pick!!!11!!) and want instant production, but that development just doesn't happen over night. I believe Smith is one of those picks you want to wait to grade after his 3rd season. If he hasn't earned a starting role by then, then it will be disappointing. If he doesn't play well enough for the Eagles to pick up the 5th year option, then he's a bust. But right now, he's right where scouts expected him to be --- developing. I can find lots of pre-draft pieces that expected him to go in the 1st round (even if they rated him a 2nd round talent) and some had him going much higher in the first round than pick 30. But I didn't see very many people projecting him to be a day 1 starter in the NFL as an edge rusher. 

He belongs on the practice squad. We are not cutting him just yet. It is also silly to keep him on the roster over other more valuable players.

8 hours ago, Godfather said:

He better show up

 

41 minutes ago, Traveler Vic said:

He belongs on the practice squad. We are not cutting him just yet. It is also silly to keep him on the roster over other more valuable players.

There is no way we expose a first round pick on the practice squad at the start of his second year. 

That being said, it is concern that he is not showing much and is playing deep in the last pre season game. 
 

 

4 hours ago, Traveler Vic said:

He belongs on the practice squad. We are not cutting him just yet. It is also silly to keep him on the roster over other more valuable players.

LOL

3 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

That being said, it is concern that he is not showing much and is playing deep in the last pre season game. 

Why is it a concern to see a backup get 19 1st half snaps in the 3rd preseason game? To me, it's more concerning (as it is every year to me) that we don't utilize the preseason games to further prepare the starters and key players for actual games. 10 years ago virtually every team in the NFL played their starters for around a combined 4 quarters in the 1st 3 preseason games and then let them rest for the final one. Now we only have 3 preseason games and a greatly reduced practice allotment  and an extra week of rest between the final preseason game and the regular season. 

4 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

 

There is no way we expose a first round pick on the practice squad at the start of his second year. 

That being said, it is concern that he is not showing much and is playing deep in the last pre season game. 
 

 

I never said he should be on the PS