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Eagles snap counts: Nolan Smith comes through as workload increases originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
CINCINNATI — Nolan Smith is playing more these days and the former first-round pick is making the most of his opportunities.
Against the Bengals on Sunday, Smith played 30 of 58 defensive snaps (52%) in the Eagles 37-17 win at Paycor Stadium. That’s the highest percentage of snaps Smith has ever played in a game other than Week 18 against the Giants last year when the Eagles rested their starters.
Bryce Huff started the game against the Bengals but Smith played more.
Here’s how the edge rusher snaps broke down on Sunday in Cinci:
Josh Sweat: 38/58 (66%)
Nolan Smith: 30/58 (52%)
Bryce Huff: 22/58 (38%)
Brandon Graham: 21/58 (36%)
Jalyx Hunt: 3/58 (5%)
The Eagles had just one sack on Sunday and it came from Smith. While Smith had to share the sack with Milton Williams, who helped finish the play, it was a clean pass rush win from Smith, who has come alive since the bye week.
In the three games since the bye, Smith has 2 1/2 sacks, 7 tackles, 3 QB hits and 2 TFLs. His emergence in recent weeks is one of the most encouraging signs in the 2023 season.
Before this three-week stretch, Smith had played 294 defensive snaps in the NFL and had one sack. In the last three weeks, he has 2 1/2 in just 77 snaps.
It’s also worth noting that this season, Smith has now played 183 defensive snaps in seven games and picked up his first start last week against the Giants. As a rookie first-round pick in 2023, Smith played a total of 188 snaps in 17 games. So not only is Smith becoming a bigger part of the rotation, but he’s producing along with it.
Other defensive notes
• Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell, Reed Blankenship and C.J. Gardner-Johnson all played 55 of 58 snaps to lead the Eagles’ defense. Nakobe Dean was next with 51 snaps; he comes off the field in dime situations
• At defensive tackle, Jalen Carter continues to play a ton. He got 45 of 58 snaps (78%), followed…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-snap-counts-nolan-smith-164228507.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2024-10-28 16:42:28
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