For all the hand wringing over the Philadelphia Eagles not having an elite edge rusher on the roster this offseason … there might already be one standing right in front us.
Genius/Stats Guru/X User Eagles Eric recently put up a stat about former first round pick and third year edge rusher Nolan Smith that seems to lend itself to the idea he could be the one who puts Philadelphia’s pass rush on his back as his team tries to win a second consecutive Super Bowl.
“The ONLY players who had a higher rate of High Quality Sacks per pass rush than Nolan Smith in 2024: Myles Garrett, Trey Hendrickson, Danielle Hunter, Nick Bosa, Dexter Lawrence, Aidan Hutchinson, Von Miller, Nick Herbig,” Eagles Eric wrote on his official X account on June 9. “Smith might have a monster season!”
That list reads like a Who’s Who of the NFL’s best edge rushers — Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in 2024. If Smith could make the leap to being an NFL All-Pro this season, it could end up being the key to Philly’s repeat hopes.
Smith, who is just 24 years old, was a first round pick (No. 30 overall) in the 2023 NFL draft and is coming off his first season as a full time starter in 2024 — he played 16 games with 10 starts and had a career high 6.5 sacks.
One area of concern for Smith is that he tore his triceps and had to have surgery after the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX — an injury he played through during the game.
Smith’s Measurables Off the Charts Before Draft
Smith, 6-foot-2 and 238 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in an incredible 4.39 seconds at the NFL scouting combine. That’s the kind of speed that turns players into first round draft picks at the skill positions — not at edge rusher. It was also the second fastest 40 run by a defensive lineman in combine history.
He also registered a 41.5-inch vertical leap, making him the heaviest player in NFL history to run the 40 in under 4.4 seconds and jump over 40 inches.
“Lower weight class edge defender with the toughness to mix it up with bigger players,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation of Smith. “Based purely upon his sleek but smallish frame, one might expect him to be more effective as a rusher than run defender but the opposite is true. Smith is hard to move off of his spot due to his technique and leverage … he falls below the size standards some team might have for a 3-4 outside linebacker, but he plays team-first defense with quality technique that should help him translate to the pros.”
NFL Network announces that Georgia edge Nolan Smith, at 238 pounds, is the heaviest player with a sub 4.4 40-yard dash (4.39) and vertical over 40″ (41.5″) in combine history.
Smith’s Greatest Quality: All He Does Is Win
When we look back on the career of Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman, many decades from now, it’s safe to assume his decision to begin drafting defensive players from the University of Georgia, en masse, will be among the bullet points that lead the Roseman Retrospective.
Last year’s Super Bowl winning defense — the No. 1 rated defense in the NFL in 2024 — featured 4 former Georgia stars as starters.
Winning the Super Bowl for Smith, at this point, may have just felt like destiny for him. It was his third championship in the last 4 seasons, including back-to-back College Football Playoff national titles to close out his career at Georgia.
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