How worried should we be about Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Nolan Smith?

By Reuben Frank • Published September 20, 2024

 

They’re all 1^st-round picks, they all played at Georgia, they’re all 23 or 24, they’re all in their second or third year and they’re all struggling.

Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith are kind of like a package deal, three best friends who were part of a national championship team or two in Athens.

The Eagles drafted the trio in a two-year span after drafting only three 1^st-round defensive linemen in the previous 15 years – Brandon Graham 13^th in 2010, Fletcher Cox 12^th in 2012 and Derek Barnett 14^th in 2017.

Davis was the 13^th pick in 2022, Carter and Smith the ninth and 30^th picks in 2023. 

The Eagles drafted them to form the heart of a rebuilt defensive line that over a three-year period will lose four Pro Bowlers - Javon Hargrave to free agency after the 2022 season, Cox to retirement and Haason Reddick in a trade after last year and Graham to retirement after this season.

So far, all three have been disappointments to varying degrees, and the early returns this year are ominous.

These three 1^st-round picks have combined for one solo tackle, no quarterback hits, no tackles for loss, no sacks and no hurries in the Eagles’ first two games.

"I think all three guys have shown moments of ... having a lot of good plays and all of them have had bumps too,” Nick Sirianni said this week. "But that's every player, that's not just limited to those guys. 

"We're 1-1 at this particular point so there's going to be good plays, there's going to be bad plays but a lot of confidence in those guys and their abilities to (show why) we drafted them in the first place and what they can add to our defense.”

Two games in, Carter, Davis and Smith don’t have a sack and don’t have a tackle for loss. Davis has no solo tackles and one quarterback hit. Davis has one solo tackle and no quarterback hits. And Smith has one solo tackle and no QB hits.

Thomas Booker, a futures contract player who's only played 17 snaps, has more tackles than all of them combined.

Carter and Davis have had some flashes. They’ve both gotten double teamed at times, and Carter had his hands full with a two-time Pro Bowl guard in Chris Lindstrom Monday night.

But the bottom line is they were brought here to dominate, they’ve played a total of 215 snaps and not one of them has made a single impact play.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said the three Georgia guys won’t be able to make those sort of game-changing plays until the Eagles are able to stop the run, his logic being that it’s difficult for defensive linemen to get tackles for loss, hurries or sacks when teams are rarely in third-and-long.

"When you talk about the 1^st-round picks, I think it's a lot of the same," he said. "When you talk production … you're talking sacks and pressures and stuff. And until we do a better job of playing the run, those aren't coming. That's for sure. And we all have to do a better job, that's starting with me, of playing the run better.”

That makes sense in theory, but the reality is that the Eagles have faced 14 third downs of 3^rd-and-5 or more. That’s tied for seventh-most in the league.

So the opportunities have been there.

The production hasn’t.

And that’s scary because general manager Howie Roseman has devoted a tremendous amount of assets to these three. Davis is in Year 3 now and Carter and Smith in Year 2. At least Carter had a great first six weeks last year but he hasn’t approached that level of dominance yet this year.

Carter and Davis haven’t been in the locker room this week while it was open to the media. Davis actually hasn’t all year. Smith declined an interview request on Thursday.

Carter did speak briefly after the loss to the Falcons Monday night and said he was disappointed in how he played.

"It was very frustrating,” he said. "Me, no game is perfect for me. No game is good for me. I always got to higher a standard for myself and what I want to do. If I have a game where I have three sacks, why not six? So that's just my mindset with it.

Carter was in the news for the wrong reason this week after being benched for the Falcons’ first series Monday night after being late for a team meeting.

The combination of coming across as undisciplined and unproductive as a top-10 pick is not a good one.

"My message (to Carter) is just continue to be a professional,” Graham said. "Stuff's gonna happen. I know for him, he's come way, way farther than when he started. I'm going to make sure when they do stuff, let them know, ‘Hey, you’re going to get punished for this.’ As much as it hurt me to do it, I gotta do it. They don't want to do it, but if you do stuff, how else are you going to learn?”

Carter, Davis and Smith aren’t the Eagles’ only concerns on defense. Bryce Huff looks lost. Josh Sweat has gone nine straight games without a sack. Missed tackles, blown coverages and miscommunication have been the rule through two weeks.

Not surprisingly, the Eagles are 27^th in points allowed, 28^th in sacks per pass play, last in rushing yards allowed per carry, 30^th in yards allowed and tied for 30^th in takeaways going into their game Sunday against the Saints at the Superdome, where they'll face the 4^th-highest-scoring offense in NFL history through two weeks.

The Eagles drafted Smith to rush the passer, they drafted Davis to stop the run and they drafted Carter to do both.

And here are the Eagles last against the run and near the bottom sacking the quarterback.

It’s too early to panic. But it’s definitely not too early to be very concerned.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/jalen-carter-jordan-davis-nolan-smith-struggling-should-we-be-worried-eagles-2024-season/616805/

Davis and Smith are both busts.  Howie"s ego will insist on us keeping both for 4 years and probably all 5 of their rookie deals, while rejecting the team's 5th year option.  So we are stuck watching Davis this year and two more after and Smith for 3.  It's much easier to keep busts when they play rotational positions and Howie will do just that to protect himself while proclaiming "we have full confidence in Davis and Smith".  Graham will retire and Sweat will leave in free agency and we won't have one DE on the roster except for undersized Hunt.  Maybe Booker can move outside.

  Even with a change in who drafts it will be a challenging defensive rebuild.  We have to hope Hurts can learn to look for 2nd and 3rd options, to read thru his progressions instead of locking in on his preferred first option then running when not open. Until then he's just an average QB from the pocket. If Howie remains picking the players we may re visit the 60s and early 70s.  That is when I started watching this team and we were really bad.  I expect us to return to this level of irrelevance with Howie in charge.  A crash and burn is what we need for Lurie to wake up from his slumber. He needs to stop being a quietly meddling owner thru his son Julian and the Analytics dept in their crafting game plans and choosing schemes and he has to remove Howie from drafting decisions.  So a re birth can happen after the crash and burn but at that point Jeff Lurie has to face reality.  And that may be the biggest obstacle of all.  The same thing happened in Dallas where Jones drafted the players.  5-6 years ago his son Stephen finally convinced him to allow others to pick the players and their drafts improved. But Jerry is still feeding his ego by over paying his stars, keeping them from having a complete team

And remember we have already spent more than a full year's future salary cap dollars.  Way more than any other team.  So we can't spend our way out of this mess.  We need young cheap players, so better drafting is our only option.

Let's give them some more time?

Wasn't BG labeled a 'bust' for like his first 4-5 years in the NFL? Then BOOM the lightbulb goes on, and he becomes a really good NFL player.

 

Didn't like the Davis pick when we did it and didn't like the Smith pick either. I wanted Hamilton but I also feel a big problem

is bringing so many guys from the same program from the same period of time to the Pros because to them it's just an extention of college.

They needed to come into a situation that they had to work and get to know new teammates that aren't your college buds thinking that they're 

that good. To me Davis will never be serious about his craft til his 2nd or 3rd team nd Smith will have to learn a new position  because or put on some weight and maintain that speed..

and that's not easy. 

I still have hope that Carter can develop in to an elite DT. Okay he might not be a Donald type player but I think he’s going to be really good. I just think he’s not being helped by a very poor and underwhelming DL so far this year. 

21 hours ago, LacesOut said:

Let's give them some more time?

Wasn't BG labeled a 'bust' for like his first 4-5 years in the NFL? Then BOOM the lightbulb goes on, and he becomes a really good NFL player.

 

The biggest jump in performance is from year 1 to 2 and the second biggest is from year 2 to 3. The beginning of the 3rd year the player you see is the player you have. Davis cant move sideways or forward. He is a 4th round nose tackle with limited passion for the game or desire to get in shape. Smith is not a DE. Maybe he could be a 4-3 outside linebacker but he can’t rush the passer as he has no strength no bulk can’t use his hands. 

I'm not worried about these guys yet.  They've had 2-3 different systems, 3-4 defensive coordinators......coaching inconsistencies.

You bring in young players and constantly change philosophies, responsibilities, expectations and methods, you're going to slow their development.  And I don't care where they were drafted, they all are in different stages of development.  

Davis started well his rookie season and faded as the year went on,.....not unusual for rookies.  Davis and Carter started out good last year and struggled down the stretch like EVERYBODY on the defense with all the turmoil and coaching changes.  Smith barely saw the field last year.

Now Fangio comes in, hopefully to bring some stability, but also another system to install with multiple new players.  It takes 4-6 games to get a defense to adjust and jell in a new system.  We've seen some mistakes, but also some flashes of what the defense could be.  The offense hasn't helped with the number of turnovers it has had.

IMO, I think the defense gradually improves, especially if the offense stops turning the ball over.  I also think Carter and Davis will also improve as the year grinds on.....Smith may take more time to develop as Fangio may find different ways to use him.  

If the eagles fire Sirianni, I hope they promote Moore to HC with full control of the offense and leave the rest of the coaching staff in place.