The future is now for the Eagles' defensive line.
Fletcher Cox retired, Brandon Graham is on his last season, and Haason Reddick was traded away to the Jets (now looking to be traded away again).
Josh Sweat is still there as another veteran off the edge, but if the Eagles' defense is truly going to be a force to be reckoned with this season, it'll be on younger linemen Jordan Davis (24), Jalen Carter (23), Moro Ojomo (23), Milton Williams (25), Nolan Smith (23), and offseason signing Bryce Huff (26) to fully take the reins.
It's a pivotal year coming up for the Eagles' D-line, especially on the inside.
"Absolutely," Davis agreed Tuesday following the Eagles' second-to-last practice of training camp. "We're all the future. It don't move unless we go.
"We only have one D-line unit, and like I've been saying since OTAs: Ain't nobody coming to save us. So we all have to make sure that we do our part and be the best people that we can be, be the best defensive tackles that we can be."
Davis, the Eagles' 13th overall pick from the 2022 draft, is entering a possibly career-defining Year 3. The nose tackle's size – billed at a massive 6'6" and 336 pounds – and atypical athleticism to match were the main selling points in his potential coming out of a dominant Georgia program in college, and while he's had flashes of brilliance at the NFL level (like chasing down Bills quarterback Josh Allen on the run) and has proven to be a quality run stopper in spots, he still has to take that leap into a complete and consistent force that opposing offenses always have to worry about.
Carter will be following up an impressive rookie year where, at times, he looked like the Eagles' best pass rusher, but in a run where he faded down the stretch – granted, the entire team did – while Smith will be looking to take on more responsibility rushing in from the edge after gradually getting eased in last season to keep pushing the Georgia alumni's steady takeover of the line.
Williams, a 2021 third-rounder, and Ojomo, a 2023 seventh, also showed promise and made a few plays each in spots last season, which has them set up to fill out greater depth roles in 2024, while Huff is signed on to be a more regular pass rusher than he was in New York as, fair or not, the replacement for Reddick.
And overall, based on the entire camp now that it's over and practices where the defense really had its days, new coordinator Vic Fangio's aggressive, rush-heavy system should have them all in a good position to thrive.
"At the end of the day, it's a responsibility that we have," Davis said. "We want to make sure that we're the anchors in the defense, that we're athletic enough to make plays outside the box. That's all we're trying to do, explore and just break on the technique and learn the scheme inside and out."
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