Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: Important and Underrated Defender Lands At No. 14

Third-year nose tackle Jordan Davis is one of the Eagles' most important defenders.

Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis (90) against New York Giants cornerback Nick McCloud (44) at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - Jordan Davis has been good for the Philadelphia Eagles over his first two professional seasons. The organization wants good to turn to great in 2024, just not the way most expect.

At 6-foot-6 and 336 pounds, Davis, 24, is a unique physical specimen. He’s also got an even more distinctive role when it comes to Vic Fangio’s defensive scheme, which relies on multiple fronts to best handle run support while keeping the plus-one in pass coverage as often as possible.

Davis, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 draft is the lynchpin for Fangio to use the “Tite” and “Tuff” 50 fronts (five-man looks), essentially gap-and-a-half schemes reliant on a stout nose/shade tackle up front. 

Davis will enter training camp at No. 14 on SI.com’s annual list of top 25 Eagles players ranked by Eagles on Sports Illustrated reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen. 

The list has become an annual affair as the two reporters submit their top 25 lists at the same time so each would be unaffected by the others. No. 1 on the list is awarded 25 points and so on down the list with No. 25 receiving one point.

Huff finished No. 13 on McMullen’s list but Kracz is waiting to see if Davis can take his game to the next level in 2024 and had the Georgia product at No. 16. 

The strength of Davis’s game is more esoteric in that when he’s in the mix and performing at a high level, Philadelphia’s early-down looks generally have a fighting chance to turn first-and-10 into second and long, which is a crucial goal.

Where Davis needs improvement is with his conditioning, as well as generating a better interior push as a pass rusher so that he can play more in Fangio’s four-man fronts next to his good friend Jalen Carter.

Cosmetically Davis is in better shape after “cutting out the Arizonas” (AriZona juices), a staple of his Southern roots.

“Obviously it looks a lot better than how it did last year,” Davis said of his frame. “And I feel a lot better than I did last year. We’re just continuing on, we have a plan here, and we’ll just keep on working.”

Fangio has already stated that he wants Carter and Davis on the field as much as possible this upcoming season. Davis played 269 snaps as a rookie in 16 games, which included three postseason games including Super Bowl LVII. That number was affected by an ankle injury that caused Davis to miss four games and be lightly used for a few more. By last season the was up to 561, including the wild-card loss at Tampa.

Eagles defensive line coach Clint Hurtt / John McMullen/Eagles SI

“The No. 1 thing for him is just being in the best shape he possibly can be in,” new defensive line coach Clint Hurtt said. “And he’s taken huge strides with that this offseason and it’s a work in progress but he’s off to a really, really good start. 

“If he’s in great condition and he can play all out … Then he’s going to be a hard guy to block.”

To that end, Hurtt was putting his players through box drills in the spring to push them physically.

“A lot of it for him is just pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion,” Hurtt said. “When you’re at what you think is your limit, and then take it another step. And then do it another time and again and again and again. Because you’re building mental toughness along the way.”

Svelte edge rusher Nolan Smith, another former Davis teammate at Georgia that reunited with the big man in Philadelphia, was particularly impressed with Davis’ ability to handle drills that are generally the domain of lighter players. 

“If you can’t tell, that boy look good,” Smith said. “He’s looking slim, he’s running around, he’s doing box drills like it’s nothing. Box drills, really, I told him it’s like a linebacker drill. … I couldn’t be more proud of him, because it’s not an easy drill.”

Hurtt believes he’s got something special in Davis and wants to push the player to find his ceiling.

“You never know what you have in your body unless you push yourself to your limits and that’s the part that I’m challenging him on right now and really the whole group. But especially him,” Hurtt said. “Because the longer he can play, he can be on the field, he can do some things to help us be successful.”

Davis is ready for the challenge.

“I’ll be able to answer the call,” Davis said. “I know what’s required of me, I know Vic is leaning on me, I know the D-line is leaning on us, so I’ll definitely be able to handle that. That’s what I’m working for.”

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