Eagles film: Nolan Smith’s explosiveness and toughness will bring value to the Birds defense

Of the seven players drafted by the Eagles last week, former Georgia standout Nolan Smith may be the most intriguing of all.

After missing his last seven games of his final season with the Bulldogs with a pectoral injury, Smith wowed scouts and teams at the NFL combine, kicking off his excellent predraft process.

The production from eight games of action as a senior (18 tackles, with seven for loss and three sacks) is not what you would expect of a first-round edge rusher, but his traits and explosiveness on film shine more than his stats will ever show.

Smith will enter a defensive line and outside linebackers room with already established contributors in Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, and Brandon Graham. While Smith is far from a finished product, he has a skill set that could be hard to keep him off the field in his rookie season with the Eagles.

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At just 6-2, 238 pounds, Smith’s ability to set the edge rivals not just any pass rusher selected in the first round, but in all of college football last season. As a run defender, Smith was asked to take on pulling offensive linemen, to read the mesh point on read-option runs and even sent on stunts to shut down the B gap from traditional defensive end alignments.

Defensive coordinators typically ask 250- and 260-pound defensive ends to take on blocks head on, and Smith was not only fearless in doing so, but also blew up running plays in the process. In clips from three separate games below, Smith is seen “spilling” run plays, meaning he condenses the effectiveness of pulling guards and tackles, changing the running back’s aiming point of the run and funneling it to his flowing teammates. His ability to uncoil his hips, generate power to knock back offensive linemen, then redirecting to make the play in each clip is beyond impressive.

In addition to setting a firm edge, Smith also has the ability to win with elite first-step quickness and fluidity in his hips to bend and dip. A loose athlete who can get parallel with the ground, Smith explodes off the football and can shoot a gap before an interior offensive lineman or tackle can lay a finger on him.

In another set of three clips below, Smith showcases his ability to get underneath base and down blocks in one-on-one situations and not only win easily at the point of attack, but also make the play in the backfield or at the line of scrimmage. What’s special about each individual play is how quickly Smith gets in position to make the play, coming to balance before bringing the running backs down with great tackling technique. His ability to dip his shoulder parallel, while keeping his body balanced is proof of how unique of an athlete he is, and the multi-versed attack he brings as a run defender.

As more teams adopt quarterback and outside schemed runs, the role of the player setting the edge is as vital as ever, especially for the Eagles, who use Jalen Hurts early and often as part of their running game. With how dominant Georgia’s front seven were over the last two seasons, teams would try and test runs on the perimeter, while trying to draw Smith inside so they could find daylight up the sideline.

However, Smith is incredibly disciplined as a run defender, understanding his responsibilities in a given play and executing them. Facing Alabama in the 2021 national championship, Smith shows his grit and toughness to work through a crack-replace block, ward off the tight end, and chase down the running back while taking a great angle.

Against the Wolverines in the CFP semifinals, J.J. McCarthy’s athleticism in their run attack was a focal point coming into the game, and Smith’s ability to not get sucked in at the mesh point, squaring up the quarterback and finishing the play on the perimeter shows a well-coached, explosive athlete making plays in space.

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As a pass rusher, Nolan Smith doesn’t have a well-developed plan of attack yet, but the baseline of his abilities is using his elite first step, quickness, and natural flexibility to bend to win against opposing offensive tackles. In his four seasons with the Bulldogs, Smith accumulated 12.5 sacks, including a career high 4.5 in 2021, but his third-down pass rush win rate, according to Pro Football Focus, was 37.5.

That’s a staggering number for a player of his production, which proves there’s more beneath the surface of how many sacks he created. The flexibility, in particular, allows him to flatten angles that are difficult for tackles to cut off.

An example of this came against South Carolina in 2022, where Smith avoids a chip block from the tight end, an adjustment made after wreaking havoc earlier in the game, engages the tackle, uses a swim move to win, and works a parallel path to the quarterback, hitting Spencer Rattler as he’s releasing the football. The contact is made possible with his explosiveness in his ankles to redirect his path and quickly close on the quarterback.

While using his speed and flexibility to put tackles at a disadvantage, Smith has powerful and quick hands as well, which allow him to secure clean wins at the apex of his pass rushes. The power he uses as a run defender also shows up as a pass rusher, using his lower-body explosiveness to quickly eat up tackles’ space in pass protection, leaving an opportunity to work a myriad of pass rushing techniques.

Using the “forklift” technique, where a pass rusher gets his hands underneath the arms of an offensive linemen to put them in a vulnerable position, Smith fires his hands into the body of the Michigan left tackle below and forces the lineman to stagger backwards into the quarterback’s throwing lane. The maneuver, which he quickly pulls off, forces an errant throw, leading to an interception in the end zone.

The ability to win on an outside track forced tackles to overset against Smith, in an attempt to slow down the explosive rusher and prevent him from turning the corner to sack the quarterback. Because of his flexibility to bend as a pass rusher, it leaves room for Smith to work inside pass rush counters if tackles are trying to set a firm edge.

An example of Smith setting up an outside move only to attack in the inside shoulder of a tackle came against Alabama in the 2021 national championship, where he fooled current New York Giants right tackle Evan Neal into thinking he would try and win on the outside shoulder. Instead, Smith uses a stutter to the outside, swipes away Neal’s late hands and seals the game by sacking Bryce Young. Smith’s ability to quickly change direction and explode through blocks is why the Eagles should be excited for the skill set he is bringing in.

As Smith prepares to play alongside a player who many compared him to during the draft process, Reddick, there’s a palpable buzz surrounding how high the ceiling is for the former Georgia star. Playing much bigger than his size, showcasing a rare combination of unique athleticism and power, along with his relentless pursuit, Smith has the ideal tools to make an immediate impact as a rookie.

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How quickly he learns Sean Desai’s scheme will be the biggest question mark, but having played several different roles on Georgia’s defense, ranging from purely being a pass rusher to being a quarterback spy, it shouldn’t be out of question to expect Smith to find playing time as a situational player on the Eagles defense.