Eagles snap counts: A 3-man edge rusher rotation to start playoffs

The Eagles’ highest-paid edge rusher mostly sat on the bench Sunday in their 22-10 wild card win over the Green Bay Packers.

Bryce Huff played just one defensive snap.

It was unrealistic to expect that Huff would suddenly be worth the three-year, $51.1 million contract he signed with the Eagles in March. But it seemed plausible that he’d at least contribute in the playoffs. That wasn’t the case on Sunday.

While the Eagles did play some snaps with defensive tackles lining up on the edge, they went down to a three-man edge rusher rotation with Nolan Smith, Josh Sweat and Jalyx Hunt. Earlier this season, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said the Eagles could use a three-man rotation in the playoffs and he apparently meant it.

Here’s how the snaps broke down at the position: Nolan Smith 58 snaps (88%), Josh Sweat 51 snaps (77%), Jalyx Hunt 21 snaps (32%), Bryce Huff 1 snap (2%).

Ever since the Eagles lost Brandon Graham for the season in late November, Smith has been the top edge rusher in the rotation. The Eagles clearly didn’t want to overload Sweat and thought Smith would be able to handle those extra snaps. They were right.

On Sunday, Smith had the best game of his career. He finished with 7 tackles and 2 sacks against the Packers. Nick Sirianni gave Smith a game ball. In addition to his 58 defensive snaps, Smith also played 6 special teams snaps and made a special teams tackle. Smith had played just 5 special teams snaps in the last nine games but the Eagles wanted to beef up their special teams units in the playoffs and he was eager to get out there.

It’s not surprising that Smith and Sweat played a lot on Sunday, but it is telling that Hunt played 21 defensive snaps. The third-round rookie has earned his spot in the rotation and is way ahead of Huff.

Huff, 27, missed four games after having wrist surgery in November but returned for the final two games of the regular season. After his first game back, Fangio said Huff showed some rust and then Huff played a ton in the regular season finale. But that wasn’t enough to earn him a spot in the rotation in the wild card round.

Other defensive notes

• The Eagles played 66 snaps on defense. Zack Baun and Quinyon Mitchell didn’t leave the field.

• Nakobe Dean played 23 snaps (35%) before leaving the game with a significant knee injury in the second quarter. His replacement, Oren Burks, played the final 36 snaps in this game. The Eagles are going to miss Dean on the rest of this playoff run.

• At safety, C.J. Gardner-Johnson played 65 of 66 snaps and Reed Blankenship played 64. Avonte Maddox is still the next guy up at safety and got out there for 2 defensive snaps.

• At defensive tackle: Jalen Carter: 62 snaps (94%), Milton Williams: 43 snaps (65%), Moro Ojomo: 23 snaps (35%), Jordan Davis: 13 snaps (20%). Snap count data has been tracked since 2012 and Carter’s 94% is the highest percentage of an Eagles defensive tackle on record. The next closest was Fletcher Cox (90.5%) against the Falcons in the 2017 postseason.

• Darius Slay played 56 snaps and had to leave the game briefly to get his elbow checked out. But he got a compression sleeve on that left arm and re-entered the game. Isaiah Rodgers played 16 snaps, both in place of Slay and as the extra DB in the dime package.

Offensive notes

• Jalen Hurts and his entire offensive line played all 60 offensive snaps. The offense wasn’t especially crisp on Sunday but it’s a great sign to get those six out there for every play.

• At receiver, A.J. Brown led the way with 56 snaps (93%), followed by DeVonta Smith 54 snaps (90%), Jahan Dotson 34 snaps (57%) and Johnny Wilson 6 snaps (10%). Brown had just 1 catch for 10 yards but Smith had 4 for 55 and Dotson caught an 11-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

• Dallas Goedert played 55 snaps (92%) to lead the tight ends, while Grant Calcaterra played 32 (53%) and E.J. Jenkins played one. Goedert caught 4 passes for 47 yards and his 24-yard touchdown catch-and-run in the third quarter was a monster play. 

• Saquon Barkley played most of the game at running back, betting 50 snaps (83%). Kenny Gainwell played the other 10. And fullback Khari Blasingame got a couple snaps as well. Barkley finished the game with 119 yards on 25 carries and Gainwell had 14 on 3 carries.

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