Vic Fangio breaks down how Eagles plan to replace Brandon Graham originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
After Brandon Graham was lost for the rest of the season with a torn triceps on Sunday, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio thinks Graham has one more year left in him.
“I do,” Fangio said. “He can’t retire on an incomplete year.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Fangio hadn’t yet relayed that message to the 36-year-old Graham but said he planned to.
While Graham’s future is up in the air, there’s no question the Eagles will miss him the rest of the 2024 season. Not only is Graham the longest-tenured player on the team and a locker room leader, but he was playing really well this season.
So how do the Eagles replace him?
“Just by committee,” Fangio said on Wednesday. “Really, that’s what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a lot of guys picking up his load that he’s been playing and it won’t be one guy.”
In 11 games this season, Graham played 311 snaps (46%) and now those snaps will have to get divvied up among other players. As a reminder, Bryce Huff will be out at least three more weeks after having wrist surgery.
Fangio on Wednesday was asked about every possibility, including the four edge rushers on the 53-man roster and more:
Josh Sweat
Sweat has been the Eagles’ top edge rusher all season. He has played 429 snaps (63%) and leads the team in sacks (7) and QB hits (13).
Last season, Sweat played 71% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps but ended up struggling down the stretch, so it might make sense to not overload him.
“I see his workload pretty much staying the same as it’s been,” Fangio said.
Nolan Smith
The Eagles’ other starter is Smith, a second-year player out of Georgia. The 2023 first-round pick has played in all 11 games and has started 5. He took over that starting job from Huff a while back.
After a somewhat disappointing rookie season, Smith has been much better in Year 2. He has played 299 snaps (44%) and has 3 1/2 sacks, 7 QB hits and has been solid against the run.
Can Smith play more?
“Yeah, probably a little bit more for sure,” Fangio said.
While Fangio didn’t really have expectations for Smith because he played so little in his rookie season but said he thinks Smith has played well and gave him credit for continuing to improve.
Jalyx Hunt
When the Eagles drafted Hunt in the third round out of Houston Christian, he was considered to be a raw prospect who would need time to develop. Well, there’s no waiting anymore. The Eagles need him to play.
Is Hunt ready for more snaps?
“We’ll find out,” Fangio said.
Hunt, 23, has played just 66 snaps all season but does seem to have a bit of juice. He has a sack, 2 QB hits, 2 forced fumbles and 1 pass breakup in limited action.
“He’s been getting better,” Fangio said. “He hurt his ankle two weeks ago against Washington. He wasn’t fully healthy last week. I mean, he was healthy enough to play but hopefully he’ll be better this week. Because we’ll need him to step up.”
Charles Harris
The Eagles on Tuesday claimed the former first-round pick off waivers from the Panthers. Before getting released by Carolina, Harris had 21 combined tackles, 3 tackles and 4 TFLs.
What does Fangio know about Harris?
“Not a lot. Not a lot,” he said. “Hoping to find out here soon.”
Harris was at practice on Wednesday in a No. 95 jersey. Depending on how quickly he can pick up the defense, he could play a role on Sunday in Baltimore.
“Well, you gotta cram like some of us used to do for exams,” Fangio said. “And you gotta put in a lot of extra time and get him on the practice field and get him rolling and see how quickly he picks things up.”
Milton Williams
The Eagles’ 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle gets most of his snaps on the interior of the line, but he does get some snaps on the edge, especially on clear run downs.
Could Williams play some more on the edge?
“He could,” Fangio said. “Not a steady diet though.”
Zack Baun
While Baun has been a starting linebacker for the Eagles all season — and a really good one — he has a history of playing on the edge and will occasionally line up there in Fangio’s defense.
But don’t expect him to be a solution to the edge rusher dilemma.
“Not really,” Fangio said. “I don’t want to weaken another position. If you can not make too many changes for one guy missing, that’s better.”
The practice squad
In addition to the edge rushers on the 53-man roster, the Eagles also have three edge rushers on the practice squad: Tarron Jackson, K.J. Henry and Ochaun Mathis.
The Eagles signed Mathis to the practice squad on Nov. 22 and signed Henry to the practice squad on Tuesday. Jackson has been back on the practice squad since Nov. 7 but the 2021 sixth-round pick was with the Eagles all summer and presumably has a better understanding of the defense.
“He’s basically the same guy that left here, when he came back,” Fangio said of Jackson. “He’s a possibility too, for sure.”
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