The pressure is on for former Philadelphia Eagles first-round pick Nolan Smith.
Smith, 24, originally chosen by the Eagles with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, walks into the upcoming season as not just Philadelphia’s youngest starter but as one of coordinator Vic Fangio‘s starting edge rushers, for the first time in his career.
Taking on an expanded role, Smith looks to replace an Eagles legend, in Brandon Graham, and chip away at some of the lost production that departed when Josh Sweat and his 43 career sacks signed with the Arizona Cardinals, this offseason.
With that backdrop, Pro Football Focus’ Dalton Wasserman says Smith is facing a “make-or-break” season.
“Smith’s make-or-break candidacy isn’t an indictment of his NFL resumé,” Wasserman writes for PFF. “As much as it is an indication of the Eagles’ need for him to be a star. The team lost veteran edge defenders Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham this offseason, making Smith a sure-fire starter for the first time in his career.
“He began to take on an expanded role late last season, recording a terrific 78.9 PFF overall grade across his final seven games. If that continues over the duration of the 2025 season, Philadelphia’s defensive line will once again be an elite unit.”
Last season, Smith posted a career-high 6.5 sacks as his role steadily increased, but the pressure the former University of Georgia standout is facing might go beyond production.
The Eagles must decide before April, 2026, whether to exercise Smith’s fifth-year option on his $11.9 million rookie contract, and a strong season could sway general manager Howie Roseman and Philadelphia to exercise their club option and set the stage for a robust second contract for Smith.
Vic Fangio Confident in Nolan Smith, Eagles’ Youth Movement
After playing through a torn triceps for much of last season, if Smith builds on his five-sack improvement from his rookie campaign, during his first season with Fangio, he could still have significantly untapped upside in 2025.
As the Eagles begin preparations for their Super Bowl championship defense, Fangio is confident that Smith and the rest of the young pass rushers in his stable are up to the task of replacing veterans like Graham and Sweat who will no longer be there in critical moments for Philadelphia.
“Yeah, I feel good about Nolan,” Fangio recently told reporters. I think we’ll feel good about Jalyx [Hunt] now that he’s going to get a lot of reps and develop. He played good for us down the stretch last year and played a lot, as you saw, so I feel good about those two guys, and I think they’ll continue to improve. We’ve got [OLB Joshua] Uche, we’ve got [OLB] Azeez [Ojulari], we’ve got three other guys there. I think we’ll be fine.”
Fangio struck an aggressive tone in his first season, and now that the young players up front have another year of continuity in the scheme, the Eagles’ defense aims to be even more dominant in 2025 than it was as the driving force of a Super Bowl run in 2024. It might just come down to whether the young personnel can make a leap.
Peyton Manning’s Advice to The Eagles Revealed
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has long been a culture-driver.
Since his arrival, Sirianni has tried to not just cultivate a winning culture but has adopted the posture as a tone-setting head coach. This offseason, Sirianni has leaned into the themes of a team team looking to not only repeat as champions but also reach a third Super Bowl in the past four seasons.
To that end, Sirianni recently invited Peyton Manning to speak to the team, and according to tight end Dallas Goedert, the Hall of Fame quarterback had a strong and pointed message.
“I would just say that it takes the work every day and you have to find little nuances,” Goedert said to NBC Sports Philadelphia’s John Clark. “One thing I found was interesting was he would make fake quotes and put them in the locker room because nobody was saying that they were bad or they could beat them so he put, ‘(my receiver) can’t get off of press’ and he’d put that in his receiver’s locker. ‘Are you serious? He said that?’ And it’s just finding different ways to keep yourself motivated when the negative isn’t coming at you.”
Goedert, entering his eighth NFL season, and is returning to Philadelphia on a restructured contract, in part because he believes the Eagles don’t just have the pieces in place to make a run at another Lombardi but the proper mindset to withstand the rigors of defending their title.
“As a team, we’re all hungry to get back and we know that it’s not just going to be given to us,” Goedert said. “It’s going to be even harder than it was last year because we are defending it. We just need to find ways to stay hungry, stay fresh and keep putting the pedal to the metal.”
