The Eagles like Javon Hargrave a lot more than you do right now

So, to review: On the first day of NFL free agency, the Eagles officially parted ways with three-time Pro Bowl safety and beloved team leader Malcolm Jenkins; got outbid for the top cornerback in free agency, Byron Jones; elected not to make a trade offer for three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins; but did give a three-year, $39 million contract to a 3-4 nose tackle, Javon Hargrave.

Needless to say, none of those things did much to help Eagles fans drive away the coronavirus blues. Jenkins will be sorely missed. Jones would have addressed the team’s biggest defensive need.

And the teeth-gnashing over the Eagles saying thanks but no thanks to an opportunity to get Hopkins has been louder than the screaming at a Jonas Brothers concert.

While the Eagles would have loved to have landed Jones, whose five-year, $82.5 million deal with the Dolphins computes to $41.25 million per career interception, they’re very happy with the addition of Hargrave.

While he can’t provide any help covering wide receivers, the Eagles think he will provide a big lift to a pass rush that needs to be better than it was a year ago, when it had one or no sacks in seven of their 16 regular-season games.

They’ve liked the 6-2, 305-pounder out of South Carolina State since he first landed on their radar before the 2016 draft. The Steelers selected him in the third round and used him primarily as an early-down nose tackle in their 3-4 alignment.

But the Eagles felt then and feel now that he can excel as a three-technique tackle in their 4-3; a one-gap penetrator who can be an effective interior pass rusher.

They feel he can play with power and work the edges. He does a good job of staying on his feet. He is, in the words of one Eagles scout, a big man with a little man’s lower body.

Last year, Hargrave finally got a chance to play quite a bit in the Steelers’ passing-down sub-packages. He had four sacks, but his 49 quarterback pressures were the 10th most in the league among interior defensive linemen. Just three interior linemen — the Rams’ Aaron Donald, the Packers’ Kenny Clark, and the Buccaneers’ Vita Vea — had more hurries than Hargrave.

Pro Football Focus had Hargrave, who just turned 27, rated as the eighth-best interior lineman in the league last year, just behind his new Eagles teammate, Fletcher Cox.

The Eagles had 43 sacks last year, but 10 of them came in one game, against the Jets. Their 422 quarterback pressures were their fewest since 2016.

They signed another defensive tackle, Malik Jackson, to bolster their interior pass rush last March. But he suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Eagles’ first game.

Without Jackson next to him, Cox had just 3½ sacks, his fewest since 2013. His 56 quarterback pressures were 39 fewer than the previous season.

Cox, Jackson, and Hargrave should give the Eagles a formidable interior pass rush if they all can stay healthy. Hargrave’s durability is one of the things the Eagles like about him. He has missed just one game in his four NFL seasons. He played a career-high 75% of the Steelers’ snaps last year.

In today’s NFL, with so many mobile quarterbacks able to extend plays and teams throwing the ball more than ever, the most effective weapon is a consistent, pocket-collapsing interior rush.

“Over the years, I’ve talked to almost every top quarterback in the NFL and have asked them all the same question: What bothers you the most?" Oakland Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said last year. “Almost every one of them said the same thing: Immediate pressure up the middle.

“If you have a couple of good edge rushers, [the quarterback] can step up in the pocket if the protection is sound up front. But if you’re getting push up the middle, that makes it difficult.

“It disturbs sight lines. It forces you to readjust your feet. We’re at the point now where people are throwing the ball so much that you have to find a way to affect it regardless. Which places more emphasis than ever on the inside guys.’’