Eagles 2024 Training Camp Preview: Interior Defensive Line

Much is expected from defensive tackles Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis this season.

Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis (90) and defensive tackle Jalen Carter (98) walk off the field after a victory against the Buffalo Bills at Lincoln Financial Field. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - For the first time in 13 seasons, the Eagles don’t have Fletcher Cox to lean on.

The four-time All-Pro retired after his 12th NFL season, shifting the focus to recent first-round picks Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis on the interior of the defensive line.

The two were college teammates at Georgia with Davis being selected No. 13 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft and Carter going No. 9 in 2023.

Both have been good early in their careers and Carter was especially so in the first half of his rookie season. Conditioning has been an issue for both players, however.

And that’s been the focus for the Eagles this offseason because both players have the talent and skill sets to succeed. In fact, new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is moving forward with the idea that the two will be the foundational pieces for his defense.

Carter will mainly play 4i and 3-technique in Fangio’s variable fronts while Davis will handle the nose/shade.

Carter played 563 snaps last season, only 48% of the team’s total, generating 6.0 sacks and a mind-blowing 47 pressures. 

As a comparison point,  Cox, the foundational piece on the interior for over a decade, played 509 as a rookie in 2012 (49%) before going on a run of 11 seasons where he never dipped below 600 again. Cox had nine seasons of over 700 snaps, topping out with consecutive campaigns of over 900 in 2014 (921) and 2015 (983).

That gives you a solid template on where Carter’s playing time must go.

“He’s got to get in great shape,” Fangio admitted of Carter, “... so we can play him a lot.”

It’s not conservative to say the Eagles will want Carter at the 700-rep mark this season at the bare minimum and would prefer him to be in the 800-900 range, something Cox did five times. 

“It’s been a lot on conditioning,” Carter said when asked about preparing to handle a Cox-level workload. “Really, I’d like to be a lot more conditioned than working on technique because we’ve got all year for technique stuff. …I did more conditioning than I did hand moving and stuff like that.”

With Davis, it’s a similar mindset at the nose/shade tackle spot.

Eagles NT Jordan Davis / John McMullen/SI Eagles

“Same thing. He's heading into his third year. I think he's off to a good start this offseason. I don't have anything to compare it to, not having been here his first two years,” Fangio said of Davis. “But I think he's working good. I think he's rounding into good shape. 

“It's up to us to give him the opportunity and platform to get in good shape, and then rely on him when he leaves here and that dead time between the offseason and camp. From what I've seen so far, very encouraging. “

The other major component on the interior will be Milton Williams, who will be the other “starter” in the team’s five-man fronts at the 4i-technique entering a contract year. 

The depth is shakier than it typically has been with fourth-year player Marlon Tuipulotu serving as the big-bodied fourth man and second-year player Moro Ojomo serving as the more movement-based option.

The deeper reserves are 320-pound P.J. Mustipher, who could stick if the Eagles want a true backup for Davis at nose tackle, as well as lengthy undrafted rookie Gabe Hall and practice squad returnee Thomas Booker. 

Depth Chart: 

-The Eagles will use multiple fronts. The five-man (50) includes two overhang players outside two 4i techniques who bookend nose tackle Jordan Davis. The four-man (40) fronts typically are going to use multiple 3-techniques or perhaps a 3-tech and a shade if Davis proves he’s conditioned enough for a lot of snaps.

4i - Jalen Carter; Gabe Hall; Thomas Booker

NT - Jordan Davis; Marlon Tuipuloto; P.J. Mustipher

4i - Milton Williams; Moro Ojomo

-Veteran Brandon Graham may also play inside at times and Fangio is not averse to using Nascar packages, meaning a stand-up joker next to Carter.

WHAT’S CHANGED: Cox moving on is a big deal from both a playing standpoint and a leadership one. Mustipher replaces Noah Elliss as the organization continues to try to uncover a legitimate viable backup nose tackle. The only other new body is Hall, who was regarded by most as a draftable commodity by many but is a bit of a tweener in that he had a defensive end’s body but plays DT.

COACHING: Former Seattle defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt takes over for Tracy Rocker, who is now the defensive line coach in Tennessee under Dennard Wilson, the former Eagles’ secondary coach who left the organization after being passed over for promotion when Jonathan Gannon left to become the head coach in Arizona.

Hurtt was an assistant head coach and D-Line coach for Pete Carroll in Seattle from 2017-2021 before taking over as the DC in 2022 and 2023. Before that, he was an assistant D-Line coach and outside linebackers coach in Chicago from 2014 to 2016. In 2015 and 2016 Fangio was Hurtt’s boss so that’s where the relationship started.

THE CEILING: Carter turns the corner and becomes one of the NFL’s best defensive tackles, Davis’ removal of the ‘Zonas from his daily nutritional schedule pays dividends, and Williams embraces the opportunity to earn a lot of money in his contract year.

THE LONGSHOT: Hall is an intriguing prospect if the Eagles can find the right spot for him. The Baylor product has the length and frame to be an old-school base left end in the antiquated 3-4 belief system. It’s Fangio’s job to fit that into his overall philosophy if Hall proves he is a worthy developmental prospect.

WHO STAYS/GOES: Carter, Davis, and Williams are locked in while Tuipulotu and Ojomo will be trying to hold off Mustipher and Hall. GM Howie Roseman would like to keep them all between the 53-man roster and the practice squad. 

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