Eagles Nose Tackle Depth Could Be Addressed By Signing Recently-Released Veteran

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said that Milton Williams is probably the backup nose tackle behind Joordan Davis, though Williams is on the lighter side and hasn't played that position much.

Oct 29, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Teair Tart (93) leaves the field during the warmups against the Atlanta Falcons at Nissan Stadium. Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports / Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA – Teair Tart if a Philly guy, played at West Philly High School and Valley Forge Military Academy, and now he’s a free agent after the Miami Dolphins released the defensive tackle on Tuesday morning. Something else about Tart – he can play nose tackle.

A back-up nose tackle is something the Eagles appear to be lacking behind Jordan Davis. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said there is no concern about not having a true nose tackle on the roster because he thinks Milton Williams can do it despite Williams weighing just 290 pounds.

Tart tips the scales at 305 pounds.

“Obviously we got Jordan, I think Milt can probably go in there and play it,” said Fangio. “You have to have - you probably dress five on game day, interior D-Linemen, and somebody has to be a backup nose.”

How does Williams feel about it?

Eagles DC Vic Fangio surprisingly mention Milton Williams as a candidate to get some snaps at nose tackle. / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

“I feel I can do it all on the D-line,” he said. “Whatever any coach needs me to do, I feel I can do it. I haven’t played a lot at nose, but I got a couple snaps here and there.”

In considering Tart, the question would be can he be one of the five tackles Fangio said he would like to have dressed for a game?

That’s unclear and he could be worth a flyer just to find out, but there are other concerns, too.

His conditioning is suspect, per reporters who cover the Dolphins, and his desire to play every snap hard is also an issue, per reporters who cover the Tennessee Titans, for whom Tart spent the first three years of his career after the Titans signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Florida International. He signed a one-year deal in the offseason with the Dolphins for the veteran minimum of $1.125 million.

Tart also was released by a team that is looking for defensive line help after losing DTs Christian Wilkins and Raekwon Davis in free agency. Still, he is just 27, played in 47 games with 36 starts, and last year in nine games with the Titans, had eight tackles for loss. He has 16 of those in his career.

That may be intriguing enough to take a hard look at for the Eagles, but is he better than what they have behind Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Williams, and Moro Ojomo?

Again, that’s unclear and he could be worth a flyer just to find out.

Fangio said he would have liked to see more from his backup defensive tackles in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens, but said he thought they did “fine.”

 “We had a decent game against the run,” he said. “We didn't have many plays on defense the other night. You know, it was in the 40s, you know, when you take away the pre-snap stuff.”

Fangio was talking about a group of four – Marlon Tuipulotu, Thomas Booker, P.J. Mustipher, and Gabe Hall.

Mustipher collected three tackles in 18 snaps. Booker played 25 snaps and Hall just seven.

“I would have liked to have gotten a longer look at some of them,” he said, “but you know, we need to develop more pass rush in our interior line, and that's something that hopefully we'll get done.”

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