One Big Way Giants Gained On Eagles
Is it enough to give them a chance to win the NFC East?
The Eagles came as close as you can get to winning the Super Bowl last year and got all the deserved “loaded roster” headlines along the way, but one important part of their team was probably still underrated — their defensive line.
They almost broke the ‘85 Bears sack record but it wasn’t even the number of sacks as much as how they did it. They were the first team to have 4 different players with 10+ sacks — and 4x all pro, possible hall of famer, Fletcher Cox wasn’t even 1 of the 4:
16 - Haason Reddick
11 - Javon Hargrave
11 - Brandon Graham
11 - Josh Sweat
Cox had 7 sacks and backup DL Milton Williams had 4, while LB TJ Edwards’ 2 sacks made him the only non-DL on the defense with multiple sacks. In total, their down lineman had 63.5 of their 70 sacks with 60 of them from that core top 6.
To make this even more ridiculous none of those sack numbers include 13th overall pick and super freak Jordan Davis, whose injury impacted rookie year had some impressive flashes but zero sacks. He’ll probably always be more of a run defender but it’s likely QBs will soon enough have to start paying attention to the enormous guy lined up directly across from them with just a center between.
Their defensive line was an embarrassment of riches — and that embarrassment was passed in turn to opposing teams who fell behind on the scoreboard and then got overwhelmed once those pass rushers went to work without worry about the running game. Their playoff wins over the Giants and 49ers were about as noncompetitive as it gets on the way to a Super Bowl, and had Hurts’ not gifted KC a defensive touchdown who knows if even Patrick Mahomes could have overcome what surely would have been more than the 10 point halftime deficit.
I thought this was an article about the Giants?
I’m getting there, it’s just important to establish not only how good the Eagle DL was but also how invested they were in that outcome. I think the former is now pretty well established and how they did it isn’t so complicated, they paid up to acquire a bunch of good defensive lineman. And they never stopped. In addition to everyone mentioned above they also added former all pros Ndamkung Suh, Linval Joseph, and Robert Quinn in-season. Howie Roseman just kept doubling and tripling down the resources invested in his defensive line, from first round picks to big free agents, and it ended up being the most expensive defensive line in football by AAV.
If dollars and draft picks are proxies for honest opinions from GMs, snaps are the equivalent honest opinions from coaches. If we look at the snaps comparison of who played on the Eagles and Giants defensive lines, the Eagles coaches had the ability to clearly outclass what the Giants were putting on the field beyond their starters.
That top paid Eagles DL had almost twice as much money by AAV and they got what they paid for with more than twice as many sacks. They paid just over $1m per sack while the Giants were paying closer to $2m per sack. The Eagles best players stayed healthy for more games, probably because they didn’t need to play as many snaps within those games. Dexter Lawrence played more snaps than any lineman on either team in 1 fewer game than 6 of the Eagles lineman. The Giants were 16th in the NFL in cumulative DL AAV and finished 13th in total sacks, so they weren’t even that bad. They were average but the Eagles defensive line was that far above average.
Time for the good news
Beyond getting Dexter Lawrence extended, the Giants prioritized adding depth with veteran DL like Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson. They now have almost $10m more in roster AAV on the DL than Philly, who took a step back losing all pro Javon Hargrave to the 49ers via free agency on a 4 year $21m/AAV contract.
If there was a glaring weakness on the Giants roster it was that they didn’t add any new edge rushers, but the late training camp addition of Isaiah Simmons, along with the rumors that they plan to use him as “a weapon” at LB, hopefully signals that it’s a hole they think he can fill. The parallels between Simmons and Reddick’s similar departures from Arizona are notable, while his history of efficient pass rush production makes him arguably their 3rd best edge rusher on the roster even if it’s never been his primary role. He has rare explosiveness, long arms, times blitzes well, a knack for forcing fumbles, and good bend around the edge. Giving him the 200-400 pass rush snaps that went to minimum salary players in 2022 seems like a no brainer upgrade, with a ton of creative disguise possibilities thanks to his versatility. If his pass rush win rates hold up over more snaps double digit sacks aren’t unrealistic. Judging by the anecdote from Bob Papa during the Jets game that Simmons told Daboll he “likes to rush” and his first 3rd down nearly sacking Aaron Rodgers off the edge, it seems even more possible.
One thing that needs to be pointed out that’s somewhat hidden from the cap charts above is that Philly again had a lucky April, when for the second year in a row they were able to select 2 UGA standouts who were part of probably the best college defense ever. Rejoining National Champion teammates Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean, the Eagles added Jalan Carter 9th overall and Nolan Smith 30th overall. Smith ironically also has a lot of the elite athletic traits both Isaiah Simmons and Haason Reddick have, which he has already showed off in the preseason. Rookies are rookies and it’s possible it takes them some time as it has with Davis, but there’s unfortunately a possibility that one of the UGA guys replaces the impact player they lost in Hargrave.
Fortunately the Giants also have some promising young DL, including their own explosive UGA pass rusher who missed a lot of time last year, Kayvon Thibodeaux who looks poised to take a big step forward, and their own preseason phenom Jordon Riley creating some unexpected buzz. Even Carter Coughlin seems to be back to flashing some non-special teams juice. This is a DL arms race likely to continue for years to come — and who knows maybe even before the trade deadline.
So did the Giants do enough to catch the Eagles?
Probably not. You may have noticed on the chart above, or this version below more conveniently sorted by total AAV, that while the Giants DL spending leapfrogged Philly, across all positions the Eagles roster has $326.7m worth of AAV (2nd to only the Bills) and the Giants have $291.9m (which is 10th most). The Eagles are clearly in ‘go for it’ mode willing to maximize the present by kicking money into future seasons, allowing them more aggressive investment at position groups like WR, OL, and DB. It would not surprise me if they are one of the more aggressive teams pursuing Jonathan Taylor, likely as a rental to get them over the Super Bowl hump.
The Giants did make up a lot of ground though, and that should give them a much better chance at at least making it a competitive fight. In 2022 the Giants had the 4th lowest AAV roster with $176.7m, so while the majority of this year’s increase is from raises to the 3 core players who got big extensions, they do have less dead money and more talent on the field. In addition to getting faster and more explosive at skill positions, the 268 rushing yards Philly piled on in the playoffs were top of mind when the Giants mapped out their plan for the offseason.
So while the Giants didn’t catch Philly, they did move ahead a lot of the NFC, including Dallas by about $8m (Dallas is 12th at $283.8m). The Giants actually have the 3rd most AAV on their roster in the NFC behind just Philly and New Orleans, slightly ahead of SF and Dallas. SF is the only one of those teams with more money invested on the DL, so not unlike Giants teams of the recent past if they have a playoff run in them the investments on the DL are going to have to be a big part of it.