Film review: Linval Joseph beefs up the Eagles’ defensive front

Linval Joseph knows being the biggest guy on defense often means you get the fewest opportunities to eat.

But it’s a role the veteran nose tackle has long embraced.

“My job is to pull down the branch and let other guys pick the fruit,” Joseph said. “But sometimes they drop some fruit on the ground, and, when they do, you got to pick it up yourself. So my whole career I did that, and it did me well.

“Being an unselfish guy and being a team guy, it got me here. I’m going to give it all I got, and I would love to have another [Super Bowl] ring.”

The Eagles are betting he still can reach those limbs after signing the 6-foot-4, 335-pound 34-year-old to a one-year contract Wednesday. And maybe help place another ring — Joseph won his first with the New York Giants in 2012 — on his and their hands.

With rookie Jordan Davis out for at least two more games, and the Eagles’ defensive scheme dependent on having a space-eating nose tackle, Joseph picked up general manager Howie Roseman’s call after spending the first several months of the season at home.

“He kind of fits right into what we do and how he wants to play and what he wants to do,” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said, “and I think it’ll help us.”

Gannon first met Joseph when they were with the Vikings. But it was the latter’s last season with the Chargers, playing in a similar front to the Eagles’, that made the acquisition almost a no-brainer. Joseph should have little problem stepping into the nose tackle vacancy in the five-down-linemen package for Sunday’s game at the 4-5-1 Colts.

“There’s not that much different,” Joseph said of the schemes. “It’s just different names and calls.”

With running back Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis is bound to test the run defense after the Texans and Commanders gained on average 160 yards against the Eagles the last two weeks. Bringing in Joseph — and a day later, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh — was in direct response to those struggles.

» READ MORE: Colts’ Jonathan Taylor has a ‘won’t be denied mentality’ that started at Salem High School

Roseman also was beefing up Gannon’s front to account for a slate of opponents over the next two months that have been among the better run offenses in the NFL. After Taylor, the Eagles face the following tests: the Packers’ Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, the Titans’ Derrick Henry, the Giants’ Saquon Barkley, the Bears’ No. 1-ranked rushing unit with quarterback Justin Fields, and the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.

“They are all good players,” Fletcher Cox said Wednesday. “We respect all those guys. But we have to fix our problems first. Scheme-wise, I think we’re fine. We got great players and we believe in everybody here.”

The 35-year-old Suh, though, was pulled out of near-retirement the next day.

The additions of the former Pro Bowl interior linemen, more than anything, are to allow Gannon to run his system, which is predicated on maintaining light boxes so he can have split-safety coverages. And the central position, despite playing only 40% of the plays and typically logging few tackles, is the nose tackle.

» READ MORE: Ndamukong Suh sees an opportunity to win a championship with the Eagles

While that may be simplifying the defense to some degree — Gannon has many different fronts and coverages that place great emphasis on various players — if Joseph or Davis does his job, everything else should fall into place.

Just ask Eagles center Jason Kelce, who has blocked noses like Joseph for years.

“When we play a five-down front, you have a nose guard head up on the center, and you have five guys covering all five offensive linemen, it’s harder for guys to get up at the second level right now,” Kelce said. “And that is regardless of the size of the guy, but I think the bigger that nose guard, it can be advantageous.”

Size is imperative. Marlon Tuipulotu played the nose with great effort against Washington, but at 6-2, 307 pounds, he doesn’t command the space and attention that the 6-6, 336-pound Davis does. Tuipulotu’s knee injury created a roster spot, but the Eagles already had feelers out to Joseph.

Gannon said that he has aggressive calls in his scheme — blitzes, stunts, and one-gap penetration — he could utilize with opposing offenses likely to favor the run. But he doesn’t want to weaken his coverages and get beat over the top for big plays.

“I think you don’t want teams to run on you all day. With saying that, you know that there are stresses and strengths of each call,” he said Thursday. “I always talk about the quickest way to give up a lot of points is the ball to go over your head. Now, with saying that, when offenses adjust, we have to adjust, too.”

With the explosion of the pass over the last 10 years, rules designed to favor offenses and elite quarterbacks taking advantage, NFL defenses began to shift toward more shell coverage-based schemes. Vic Fangio’s is the hottest ticket, and almost a dozen teams, including the Eagles, run some version of it.

Quarterbacks now often are forced to take check-down passes underneath and the league-wide average of 11 yards per completion is the lowest since 1933, according to ESPN. The average of 4.5 yards per rush, meanwhile, is the highest in NFL history.

The increasing number of mobile quarterbacks has played some part in the greater rushing success, but the NFL scoring average of 21.8 points is its lowest in 13 years. Defenses are winning the war of attrition because, when given the choice, Gannon and his ilk would rather take their chances against long drives, when mistakes can happen, than quick-strike ones.

» READ MORE: Inside Jonathan Gannon’s Vic Fangio-influenced defensive turnaround with the Eagles

That doesn’t mean he wants to endure another 66%-33% time of possession disparity that kept the Eagles’ explosive offense off the field against Washington. But how many offenses will be as patient running as often as Washington did?

“The team’s 8-1. They’re doing something right,” new Colts coach Jeff Saturday said. “Irrespective of yards, I’ve always been one of those guys who believes it’s not just about the yards, it’s about impact plays. And they’ve done a really good job of stopping teams, getting turnovers, and not giving up points.”

The Commanders got to a remarkable 21 third downs, and while many were 4 yards or shorter, thus giving them more options on the call sheet, three of their conversions came on 5 yards or longer with pass completions.

» READ MORE: Eagles-Commanders: Opposing offenses will run on Jonathan Gannon’s defense until it proves it can stop it

The Eagles’ problems weren’t just against the run. And their problems in stopping the run weren’t solely because of the nose tackle. It takes all 11 on defense and there were breakdowns at other positions.

But having a big body in the middle who can account for both “A” gaps is a luxury few defenses can afford. The best nose tackles are freaks of nature and the Eagles drafted one in the first round in April, and they just paid one of the best of the previous decade.

How much does Joseph have left in the tank? Judging upon his film from last season, he should have more than enough until Davis returns, and even after if he has to play a lesser role.

With any unsigned veteran, the main question often is why? Joseph played well last season, but he missed a game with a shoulder injury and played through elbow pain.

“I played half of the season hurt last year,” Joseph said. “I still felt like I was top-tier, even though I was hurt. That’s one thing about me that a lot of people can’t do — I can play hurt.”

When he returned from the shoulder injury and a two-game stint on COVID-19 reserve, Joseph’s playing time was reduced in the final five games of the season. But he still performed, particularly when he lined up over center and ate up blockers. Here was Joseph (No. 98) in the Chargers’ season finale vs. the Raiders.

Joseph said he had offseason surgery to clean out the elbow and that he was 100% healthy by the start of training camp. There were offers, he said, but he wanted to wait for the right situation, which meant playing for a contender.

The Chargers opened 8-5 last season, but they lost three of their last four games. They surrendered 34 points or more in the losses. Their run defense was a season-long problem, though, and they finished 30th in yards allowed per game (138.9) and 28th in yards per carry (4.64).

“I don’t want to make no excuses. We just didn’t get the job done,” said Eagles linebacker Kyzir White, who played for the Chargers last season. “I don’t feel like we were all on one accord when we needed to be.”

Joseph mostly did his unglamorous job as the five-down nose tackle and freed up others to make stops.

Depending upon any number of variables, a nose tackle may have only the center blocking him. Kelce (No. 62) is a potential Hall of Famer, but when he has struggled, it’s often been vs. big-bodied nose tackles. He isn’t alone.

Joseph had maybe his best game of 2021 against the Eagles. He notched a team-high nine tackles, seven of them solo against the run.

“He’s a tough matchup for me, for sure,” Kelce said. “Not only is he a very large human being, but he’s very smart. … He picks up on things quickly — formations, where the back’s at. He’s good at reading offensive linemen.”

Joseph jumped the snap on the play below, but even an extended leg couldn’t stop Jordan Howard from a touchdown.

Early in his career, Joseph played in a predominantly four-man-front base defense with the Giants. It wasn’t until he went to the Vikings that he started to line up more at the nose, mostly shading the center.

When you’re directly over the center, there really is no other offensive lineman who can block you. But when you shade in the one-technique, depending upon assignments, you can get a one-on-one with a guard. Joseph also was a handful for Jack Driscoll (No. 63) last year.

“He’s not just some big dude that squats,” Driscoll said. “He’s quick. If you lunge out too far, he’ll make you miss.”

Even Joseph would probably concede that he isn’t the run-stuffer he was five-six years ago, when he went to back-to-back Pro Bowls. Pro Football Focus player rankings should be taken with a grain of salt, but he finished 82d out of 129 qualifying interior linemen in run defense last season.

Here he was against the Cowboys Zach Martin (No. 70), arguably the best guard in the NFL.

Joseph, to his credit, followed the run to its end.

“He plays hard. I remember that from last year,” Driscoll said. “He’ll go all the way to the whistle.”

It’s unlikely that Joseph — with Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Milton Williams already in place, and now Suh — will line up very often in the Eagles’ four-down package on obvious pass downs. But Gannon will call for it on run downs and Joseph’s objective will often be the same as it is in five-down: eat up blockers.

But with only four-down, O-linemen have more space to work to the next level. White (No. 44) is decent vs. the run, but most inside linebackers will struggle to get off well-orchestrated zone-blocking.

Offenses will sometimes pass on run downs, especially against 5-2 fronts. Gannon sometimes wants to avoid 5-2 fronts for that reason, and likes to go with the 5-1 so he can still have five defensive backs. Joseph didn’t get many chances to bull rush for the Chargers, but if he got singled up, he could walk a center back into the lap of a quarterback.

He can be quick at the snap and even in the open field. The Chargers said he was clocked at 19 m.p.h. during one of his few sprints against the Eagles last season. In 2018, he took a fumble recovery 64 yards for a touchdown when the Vikings beat the Eagles.

“I just look like this. I’m a world-class athlete,” Joseph said. “I’m fast. I’m strong. I’m blessed.”

Joseph had few pass rush attempts on third-and-longs, but he tallied 16 pressures a year ago and even a sack of Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Joseph said he has felt his best in three years. He’s known for multiple daily trips to the treadmill to maintain fitness for a larger man. But it could take a few weeks to get into game shape.

“To get in football shape,” Joseph said, “you actually have to play football.”

Davis, who has a high ankle sprain, is eligible to come off injured reserve for the Eagles’ Dec. 4 game vs. the Titans. He could need time to get back into football shape, as well. He should assume his role as the starter, but he could also benefit from practicing alongside Joseph.

“He’s going to be special, man,” Joseph said of Davis. “Once he puts it all together, I think he’s going to be around for a long time.”

Until then, the Eagles should benefit from the fruits of both nose tackles’ labor.

Inquirer Eagles beat reporters EJ Smith and Josh Tolentino preview the team’s Week 11 game against the Indianapolis Colts. Watch at Inquirer.com/EaglesGameday