After the loss of Josh Sweat in free agency during the offseason, the Philadelphia Eagles put a lot of eggs in the Josh Uche basket, and so far, it's been pretty good.
Uche has been more of a rotational player coming off the edge, but has made some noise from there. This season, he has racked up 17 tackles, three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, one sack, and one pass deflection.
Pro Football Focus has been a big fan of Uche all season, giving him the 11th-best overall grade among 110 edge rushers, with a grade of 84. He has been able to add 20 quarterback pressures on the season as well.
While the numbers have been solid, the sack stats aren't there, so the Eagles convinced Brandon Graham (with little pitching to be done) out of retirement. The Birds also traded a 2026 third-round pick to acquire Miami Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips to help out.
Uche must step up if he wants to stay on the Eagles past the 2025 season
Phillips and Graham's appearance in Philadelphia certainly won't help Uche at all. Phillips will step in and be one of the starters off the edge, and as long as Nolan Smith doesn't have any setbacks from his triceps injury, he's expected to be back in the starting lineup after spending the last month on IR.
This means with Phillips and Smith in the starting lineup that Graham and Jalyx Hunt will most likely get the first dibs on rotational snaps. That leaves Uche fighting for time on the field as well.
Uche has more than earned time to play as he's been one of the most effective pass rushers on the Eagles this season. While he hasn't been able to convert most of his pressures into sacks, he's still causing a ton of problems for quarterbacks in games.
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This upcoming showdown against the Green Bay Packers game could end up being the most crucial matchup of Uche's 2025 season. If any of the other four guys perform better than Uche, there will be no shot at him returning to Philly next season.