Eagles Sign Linval Joseph, Ndamukong Suh

November 17, 2022, 4:34 pm ET

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh

Photo: USA Today Sports Images

NFL Week 11 - The Philadelphia Eagles have made two moves to shore up their interior defensive line, adding defensive tackles Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh.

The moves come after placing Marlon Tuipulotu on injured reserve. Tuipulotu was the replacement nose tackle for Jordan Davis, who was placed on the injured reserve with a high ankle sprain two weeks prior.

Linval Joseph last played for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 and earned two Pro Bowl nominations with the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 and 2017. Joseph's biggest strength is his run-stopping ability, helping the Vikings finish 10th and 5th respectively in defensive rushing DVOA in his two Pro Bowl seasons in Minnesota.

Ndamukong Suh last spent three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning a Super Bowl with the team in 2020. Not only does Suh have the ability to stop the run as a B gap defensive tackle, he also still has the motor necessary to generate a pass rush from the interior. Suh finished with six sacks in each of his last two seasons for the Buccaneers.

While the Philadelphia Eagles have a fifth-ranked defense by DVOA, they currently sit at 28th in DVOA defending the run. Philadelphia's first loss of the season came on Monday night against the Washington Commanders, where the Commanders rushed 49 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles posted a single-game defensive rushing DVOA of 12.7%.

Comments

5 comments, Last at 19 Nov 2022, 11:51am

#1 by Harris // Nov 17, 2022 - 5:36pm

Obviously, these are emergency signings driven by injury. But I prefer to believe Howie got sick of watching Gannon's soft defense get pushed around and gave him bodies, knowing that he can't do anything with scheme.

#2 by Aaron Brooks G… // Nov 18, 2022 - 9:21am

These are a replacement for Davis, because the run splits with and without him are dramatic.

Even if Suh is done as a Donald-type penetrator (and in bursts, he may not be), he's still a solid run stopper.

#3 by Pat // Nov 18, 2022 - 10:02am

Suh isn't Davis, he's 30+ pounds lighter (Joseph is closer, obviously). They are a replacement for Davis - kindof. But honestly this is something that should've been looked into before Davis's injury. They didn't go into the season counting on Davis to be the entire key to their run defense. It's really Cox's decline that's the issue. So in some sense Suh is coming in to spell Cox more to hopefully boost his effectiveness.

The problem is that sliding Davis in just ends up being a situational fix: it's easy enough to go hurry-up against the nickel under front to keep a big nose tackle off the field, which is exactly what the Cowboys did. Now you're left in the same situation as before. And Davis just isn't helpful outside of the 5-man fronts.

That's not a serious criticism of Davis, obviously, he's a rookie.

It's taken a while for teams to realize that Cox is a liability being used as heavily as he is, but it's pretty much out there for everyone to see now.

#4 by BlueStarDude // Nov 18, 2022 - 10:48am

Think I’d rather have had either one of these guys (for nothing) than Hankins (for a draft pick) to improve the run defense, but I can only hope the Cowboys’ pro scouting team knows better than me.

#5 by Pat // Nov 19, 2022 - 11:51am

Details on the Suh deal came out, and it's basically minimum value - not min vet, so you don't get the discount, but basically negligible ($1.25M base, $2.5M max).

Which is... interesting. Of course Suh came out and said "just doin' this cuz I want another championship," but the fact that this is the max he could get implies that most NFL teams don't think he has a lot left.

So, yeah. No magic bullets for Eagles fans. Kindof like the Quinn trade: lots of bluster from Eagles fans, but the money backs up that most teams didn't think he was worth much, and so far the play kindof backs that up.