Jalen Carter might not be getting holding calls, but the Eagles defense has ‘prospered’ with his presence

Opposing offensive linemen are getting creative in their efforts to stop Jalen Carter, whether they’re double-teaming the Eagles’ second-year defensive tackle or getting away with some seemingly suspect blocking techniques.

Vic Fangio is aware that the latter issue of apparent holds and subsequent no-calls against Carter continued to persist in the victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. When asked on Tuesday if there is anything that he can do to help Carter get some of those holding calls going forward, Fangio expressed a sense of uncertainty.

“I don’t know,” Fangio said. “You got any ideas? There was one play in particular where he was grossly held and pulled to the ground and there was no call. So, yes, and I don’t know what we can do about it.”

Despite the extra attention and grabs that Carter endured throughout 71 of his defensive snaps out of a possible 72, he still made an impact against the Ravens. The 6-foot-3, 314-pound defensive tackle registered his first full sack since Week 7 against the New York Giants when he tripped up a scrambling Lamar Jackson at the end of the first half.

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Even when Carter hasn’t been landing hits on the quarterback, the double teams he has garnered have opened up opportunities for others to make plays. According to Next Gen Stats, Milton Williams produced a team-high five pressures on 26 pass rushes (19.2% pressure rate) against the Ravens, each of which came on one-on-one matchups.

The 25-year-old Williams leads defensive tackles across the league who have taken a minimum of 150 pass-rush snaps with a 14.8% pressure rate this year. He has been double teamed on just 32.9% of those snaps, which is likely due to the extra blockers that Carter has drawn.

Williams has also taken advantage of the pressures that Carter has still managed to create while double teamed. Last week against the Los Angeles Rams, Carter generated an initial pressure on quarterback Matthew Stafford by defeating a pair of blockers, which allowed Williams to loop around on a stunt and post a sack.

“Milt’s benefited some,” Fangio said of Carter’s play. “We all have. He’s caused some sacks for other people by applying the early pressure that makes the quarterback move and buys time for somebody else to get there. But really our team and our defense has prospered because of his play.”

In the absence of Brandon Graham, Fangio leaned on a three-man edge rushers rotation against the Ravens, which included Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith, and Jalyx Hunt. The recently claimed Chuck Harris was active but did not play a single snap.

Smith, the second-year player out of Georgia, saw the most substantial increase in playing time. He was on the field for a single-game career-high 58 snaps (81%) while collecting his fourth full sack of the season. Hunt also reached a career high in defensive snaps (35 snaps, 49%) and split a sack with Zack Baun.

While Fangio hinted last week that Sweat’s snaps would remain largely unchanged, the seventh-year edge rusher played 71% of the defensive snaps (51), which is a 7% increase above his overall rate on the season. Fangio seemed comfortable with the prospect of continuing to roll with just three edge rushers going forward.

“Yeah, that’s sustainable,” Fangio said. “Played a whole year in San Francisco with three guys for 16 games. So it’s sustainable.”

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This is an especially big opportunity for Hunt, who had played just 66 snaps total in five out of the 10 games in which he was active before this past weekend. Fangio said he saw “some good, some not so good” in the third-round rookie’s latest performance.

“Now he’s at the point where he’s got to improve and build on that,” Fangio said. “It’s a process. The more you practice, the more you play, you get better, in spite of what Allen Iverson ever said.

“Some guys, personnel guys around the league, they think, ‘This guy, just throw him in.’ They expect the finished product. You never have the finished product with a young player until they get enough practice time and playing time. So the key will be how does he improve?”

Meanwhile, Jordan Davis has seen his playing time dip since the bye week. In his first four games of the season, Davis was on the field for 49.8% of the defensive snaps. Since then, the second-year defensive tackle has dropped to 33.1% in the last eight games.

In the last few weeks, his snaps have tilted slightly more toward the run game (55.4% of his playing time) over the passing game. The 6-foot-6, 336-pound Davis fared well in that rotational role on Sunday. He generated a pair of “stops” against the run, which Next Gen Stats defines as tackles that result in successful plays for the defense.

“We just try and rotate those guys at that position opposite Jalen and I think [defensive line coach Clint Hurtt] does a good job for the most part of doing that,” Fangio said. “Jordan’s a better run defender than he is a pass rusher at this moment in time. I do think he’s getting better.”

When the Eagles selected Davis No. 13 overall in the 2022 draft out of Georgia, they had aspired to help him reach his potential as a pass rusher. Fangio acknowledged that Davis is still a work in progress in that regard. According to Next Gen Stats, his 3.4% pressure rate on the season ranks last among Eagles defensive linemen.

“Just convert quicker,” Fangio said when asked how Davis can improve. “Get into his rush quicker. He tends to get high sometimes.”