Jordan Davis, Jalen Carter at center of Eagles struggling run defense

There’s a stat circulating on social media that paints an ugly picture for the current state of the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line.

What on paper looked like a dominant unit entering the 2024 season — the trio of Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams anchoring Vic Fangio’s 3-4 defense — has looked more like a paper tiger through two games.

To put the struggles in perspective, defensive tackle Thomas Booker IV, who spent the entire 2023 season on the Eagles practice squad, has more solo tackles then the starting unit combined — while playing 8 percent of their total snap count:

Thomas Booker has played 17 snaps & has as many solo tackles as every other Eagles DT combined in 245 snaps:

Thomas Booker: 3 tackles, 17 snaps
Milton Williams: 2 tackles, 53 snaps
Jordan Davis: 1 tackle, 64 snaps
Jalen Carter: 0 tackles, 97 snaps
Moro Oromo: 0 tackles, 31 snaps

— Reuben Frank (@RoobNBCS) September 19, 2024

The Eagles currently rank dead-last in the NFL against the run, allowing their opponents to average 6.4 yards per carry. Just about all of that damage has come against running backs, as they’re yet to face a true dual-threat quarterback. It could be a similar situation in their Week 3 game against the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Derek Carr is not a big scrambler, and back Alvin Kamara is among the league leaders in rushing with 198 yards and four touchdowns through two games.

Davis (6-6, 336 pounds), Carter (6-3, 314) and Williams (6-3, 290) are three massive humans. Their jobs are to take up space and fill running lanes — especially in Fangio’s scheme that relies on deep safeties. The Atlanta Falcons schemed their rushing attack away from all that meat in the middle, instead moving Philly’s big men with runs to the outside. The Eagles had no answers for those plays on Monday night.

Eagles Defense thread All22 vs. Falcons. Buckle up. 1) The very first play of the game was a sign of things to come. The first of many under center outside zone runs. The Eagles slant Milton Williams the complete wrong way. The Falcons guard Lindstrom cuts Baun (he did this over… pic.twitter.com/ghklQwTLHk

— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) September 17, 2024

Why the Eagles are struggling to stop the run

Per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Week 2 film review, the Eagles are:

Allowing too many explosive runs, ranking 30th in the league in rushes of 10-plus yards;
Getting torched against the run in their base defense. They’ve have had six or fewer defenders in the box 73.5 percent of the time, which is the NFL’s third-highest rate.

There also appears to be a disconnect between the scheme and personnel. Eagles outside linebackers continually cut inside on Falcons rush plays, with no safety or corner rotating over to set the edge:

4) At this point I’ve fully lost my head watching this film lol. Why is Sweat jumping inside? Is he told to do so or ignoring the coach? If he’s told to do so, why is no one wrapping behind him to set the EDGE? This is just basic run defense and it’s horrible to watch. You can’t… pic.twitter.com/KWSYb0NQ7l

— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) September 17, 2024

The real crux of the problem seems to be the slow start from Philly’s interior lineman. Fangio wants to limit big plays in the passing game and disguise coverages. That means playing light boxes and daring teams to run. The Falcons rushed the ball on 28 of their 58 plays in Week 2 (48.2 percent), and the Saints might do the same if the Eagles can’t prove they can stop it.

Davis and Carter, especially, were pegged as one of the NFL’s elite young duos in the NFL entering 2024. The Eagles are going to need more from these two if the team’s going to fix what has been among the NFL’s worst overall defenses through two weeks: