Philadelphia Eagles address huge void at linebacker with Jatavis Brown

The Philadelphia Eagles kept their focus on the defensive side of the ball in free agency by adding an experienced linebacker, Jatavis Brown.

After a busy week that included trading for former Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay, and signing former Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle Javon Hargrave. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ front office stayed active by making a move at the linebacker position for the first time this offseason with the addition of Jatavis Brown.

Howie Roseman inked the 26-year-old to a one-year deal on Saturday to help fill holes left at linebacker by the departures of Kamu Grugier-Hill and Nigel Bradham. Brown is an outside linebacker who just finished his rookie contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, but after a promising start to his career, he spent 2019 stuck at the backend of their linebacker depth chart, playing primarily on special teams.

Despite standing at just five-foot-eleven, Brown can get the job done. He covers plenty of ground in pursuit. At the University of Akron, he played in 35 games and compiled 340 total tackles, 40.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, three passes defended, and ten forced fumbles as he won the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year award during his senior season.

The fifth-round pick transitioned into the league smoothly and put on a show in just his third career start. He collected 14 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble on Thursday Night Football and came through in the clutch.

With just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of a division battle with the Denver Broncos, Brown blitzed and sacked Trevor Siemian on first down and then forced Demaryius Thomas to fumble on second down. That helped the Chargers to a 21-13 victory.

In his first three NFL seasons, he played in 43 games with 22 starts and racked up 255 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, 12 passes defended, and three forced fumbles. Brown will easily be one of the most experienced and accomplished of the Eagles’ linebackers once he steps into camp.

Being stuck behind three-time Pro Bowl nod Thomas Davis and second-year players Uchenna Nwosu and Kyzir White limited his playing time as he went from averaging 581 snaps on defense in his first three years to just playing 92 total snaps in 2019. He ended up being relegated to a reserve role and played 50 percent of the Chargers’ special teams snaps.

While the Chargers didn’t need for him on defense, he should have an opportunity to contribute for Philly. The Eagles’ current linebackers are lacking in experience and Brown will probably be used similarly to how the Eagles used Grugier-Hill, as a starting outside linebacker and as a special team ace.

Brown has significantly more experience than recent signings Eagles signings like Corey Nelson and L.J. Fort. Nelson and Fort were both solid contributors on special teams but didn’t have enough playing time on defense to make significant contributions and stick around.

Brown will have to compete for reps as Nathan Gerry is expected to start. The latter showed flashes despite having to play through an abdominal injury. T.J. Edwards could start at middle linebacker. Alex Singleton will also be in the mix. Brown will likely be the frontrunner at one of the outside spots with Duke Riley also fighting for playing time. At least, that’s how it looks now. We’ll have to see what Philly does going forward and what they’ll do in the draft.

This is a low-risk, high-reward signing for Roseman and the front office. Brown has gotten the job done in the past and fills a major need for the ‘Birds’ defense. This signing will fly under-the-radar but Brown’s production could surprise many in 2020.