One of the main reasons for the 2023 Eagles Collapse was the Eagles Defense. Fantasy wise, they also let owners down. It was one of the worst defenses Philadelphia Eagles fans have seen in a long time since the Chip Kelly days.
The Switch from Sean Desai to Matt Patricia proved to be a disaster when it came to the base metrics and the product on the field, especially because the team was not producing on the field and the coaching staff didn’t know how to make an adjustment. Now, Philly has the guy they wanted in the first place in Vic Fangio to try to get the defense back to the 2022 style of defense and help guide Philly back to the Super Bowl.
Eagles Defense 2023 Production
In 2023 The Eagles Defense had one of the worst statistical seasons in Philly history especially late in the year under Patricia, which hurt the Fantasy value obviously. The defensive unit last year had 43 sacks, which was a huge drop off from the seventy plus sacks the team had in 2022, nine interceptions, eight fumble recoveries, three defensive/special team touchdowns, while allowing 416 points and 6054 yards for 80.0 points on ESPN Fantasy.
Those Numbers equal a terrible season for the Eagles which hurts Eagles fans a lot especially a lot of those issues rose up especially after the Matt Patrica switch. Desai had stretches earlier in the year where he held some offenses to respectable numbers. Look at the Miami game at Home for further proof of his defense actually playing well at times last year.
There were shockers including the opener where Mac Jones had his best game of his season in New England and the two Washington games where under Desai, and the Buffalo Game was the backbreaker for this team in 2023 because the defense was on the field for way too long in that game and it proved to be the catalyst for the collapse to happen at least for the Defensive side of the ball.
2024 Eagles Defense Projections
ESPN has the Eagles as the 22 ranked defensive unit in its fantasy projections, projecting the Eagles to have 47 sacks, 15 interceptions, nine fumble recoveries, 3 touchdowns, while allowing 383 points and 6081 yards for a total of 89.08 points. Meanwhile Fantasy Pros has the Eagles defense in the top 10 projections at 10 after finishing last season at 26 on their metrics.
Fantasy Pros has the Eagles facing the 16th strength of schedule for the defensive unit this season. They project the Eagles to have 117 fantasy points with 53 sacks and 14 interceptions on the year.
The addition in the secondary of bringing back CJ Gardner Johnson and getting Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper Dejean in the 2024 NFL Draft along with still having Darius Slay and Reed Blankenship as key pieces will help the starting secondary improve from 2023 by a landslide. Isaiah Rodgers coming back from suspension to play his first year in Midnight Green will also bring much needed depth to that unit along with Kelee Ringo, Avonte Maddox, etc.
The youth movement on the defensive front will be a huge help as well, with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams having more snaps due to Fletcher Cox’s retirement. Brandon Graham is entering his last year in the NFL, meaning Nolan Smith and new additions Bryce Huff and Jalyx Hunt will have to step up as Graham shouldn’t play that many snaps in 2024.
The Huge question mark of this defense is the Linebacking unit. Devin White is coming off a horrendous season in Tampa Bay, Nakobe Dean hasn’t stayed healthy enough in the NFL yet and Zack Baun is unproven at the Linebacker spot. Jeremiah Trotter Jr will be developing this season as he was drafted late in the draft. So the linebacker play has to be as productive as the combination of Kyzir White and TJ Edwards in 2022 to be successful and I’m not sure yet that they will be that force.
Final Thoughts
I think it is worth taking a flier on the Eagles defense late in your drafts especially if you have one of the stud defenses on your teams already because of the Vic Fangio factor alone. I think they’ll be closer to the middle of the pack in terms of final numbers because of that schedule alone.
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