Philadelphia Eagles need to improve pass rush during 2020 offseason

The Philadelphia Eagles enter the offseason with glaring needs at wide receiver and cornerback, but there are other needs on the roster as well.

Football-starving fans of the NFL love to spend the offseason speculating just who will take the field for their favorite team in the upcoming season. For fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, it’s a way of life.

Fans and media alike have been very vocal of the Eagles need to upgrade both the wide receiver and cornerback positions this offseason. The upcoming free agency pool is rich in both positions, and the draft even more so.

All things considered, Philadelphia should do just fine upgrading those two positions.

However, the Eagles need of a pass rusher is a need that also needs to be addressed by the front office, and not ignored by the fans.

In no way is this an indictment of Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, or anyone in particular, but the Eagles really haven’t had that singular stud pass rusher in years to lean on late in games.

Graham is still a stud, but is also getting up there in age. His strip sack of Tom Brady to all but seal Super Bowl LII is now going on three years ago, which is crazy to think about.

Fletcher Cox is still as much of a disruptive force as he’s ever been, but that’s in the interior of the defensive line.

Going back to the Super Bowl from the 2017 season, Philadelphia had several defensive linemen capable of making a play.

Fast-forward to 2020, and Chris Long is retired. Vinny Curry is not the same player (and also a free agent). And outside of the aforementioned Barnett, Cox and Graham, the cupboard is almost bare save for a couple unproven young players with potential such as Josh Sweat.

This isn’t a new problem either. It’s a code that the team hasn’t been able to crack for years now.

Reggie White’s 21 sacks in 1987 and 18 sacks in1988 along with Clyde Simmons’ 19 in 1992 are the three instances of an Eagles pass rusher leading the league in sacks since they became an official stat in 1982.

This means we’re going on more than 30 years in which a member of the Eagles led the league in the sack department. White and Simmons are also arguably the only two pass rushers one could describe as “game changing” in the league, as Simmons benefited greatly from playing opposite White.

The team tried this approach a while back with Jevon Kearse, and Hugh Douglas, as the duo came close to the elite level. Outside of that, in the last decade, Connor Barwin‘s 14.5 sacks in 2014 and Jason Babin‘s 18 in 2011 are the only two instances an Eagles player was even in the top five in league total.

Without question, the Eagles are likely to spend the draft and free agency focusing on the needs at wide receiver and cornerback. A high draft selection is unlikely due to the quality of the other two positions, but the free agency class is full of potential pass rushers to don the midnight green.

Jadeveon Clowney may not be the favorite choice considering his last visit to the City of Brotherly Love as a member of the Seattle Seahawks, and that’s fine. There is also Shaq Barrett, whose 19.5 sacks last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were good enough to lead the league in a breakout season.

Also, Arik Armstead of the defending NFC Champions in the San Francisco 49ers (assuming he doesn’t get franchise tagged) deserves consideration as well.

There are also a few players a notch below that Philadelphia could always get at a cheaper price like Bud Dupree of the Pittsburgh Steelers or Dante Fowler from the Los Angeles Rams, respectively.

While the Eagles still ranked in the top-10 in total league sacks during the 2019 season, the need isn’t completely dire, but with the length of time that’s passed since the team has had a real “game breaker” at the position, it is certainly one that should be addressed.

Some of Philadelphia’s veteran pass rushers are getting older, and the young guys aren’t there yet, so with a few key moves this offseason, the unit will hopefully be in better shape for the 2020 season.