Philadelphia Eagles pass rush ranks as NFL’s best

As expected, the Philadelphia Eagles have the strongest pass-rushing unit in the eyes of Pro Football Focus.

Ever since the arrival of Fletcher Cox, the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line has been a force up front. Obviously, Cox doesn’t do it all on his own, but the Eagles’ front office recognized the upside in building the defensive line over the years. The term ‘the rich get richer’ has been used to describe the defensive line multiple times as the Eagles added pass rushers.

And over time, the Eagles have shown the rest of the NFL just how much better a defense can be when the front line is continuously getting pressure on the quarterback. Over the last couple of years, the Eagles have had constant struggles on the back end of their defense due to injuries within the secondary. However, the unit still thrived as a whole thanks to big guys up front.

The defensive line has made some changes over the last two years, but the Eagles kept the most essential pieces on board in Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. While they lost key contributors in Michael Bennett and Chris Long, they also added some stellar talents in Malik Jackson, Vinny Curry, and even the rookie, Shareef Miller. The Eagles don’t have a sack-master on their team, as no one consistently notches double-digit sacks on a yearly basis. However, depth and pressure have become vital for Jim Schwartz’s defense.

Talent-wise, many might believe the Eagles aren’t number one — but their depth and constant rotation keep everybody fresh, and the opposing offensive line on their toes, which causes the Eagles to be much more dominant than expected. And in the eyes of Pro Football Focus, they are the number one pass-rushing unit in the NFL heading into the 2019 NFL season.

An explanation from the source

"“Death. Taxes. And the Eagles’ pass-rush. What defensive lineman wouldn’t want to come to Philadelphia and have every single pocket for them collapsed by Fletcher Cox?If Aaron Donald didn’t exist, we’d be talking about Cox in a similar air. Cox’s 95 pressures last season were the most by any defensive tackle not named Donald we’ve ever charted.”"

The Eagles’ starting defensive lineup looks quite sharp. They have two Pro Bowlers in Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson in the middle. On the outside, they have a proven veteran in Brandon Graham and a third-year veteran first-rounder who displayed tremendous upside through his first two seasons in Derek Barnett. Rotating in, the Eagles have Josh Sweat and Shareef Miller battling it out for snaps, while a proven Super Bowl winner Vinny Curry rotates in as well.

Then, at the tackle position, the Eagles managed to get their former starter Timmy Jernigan back in the mix at a discounted price. Behind Jernigan is the newly acquired veteran Hassan Ridgeway and two youngsters with upside in Treyvon Hester and Bruce Hector. The depth battles will be exciting to watch during the preseason, but the starters are primed for yet another dominant year in the trenches for when the regular season rolls around.