Philadelphia Eagles: Genard Avery looked like a stud against the 49ers

Philadelphia Eagles DE Genard Avery had himself a day against the 49ers.

Literally everyone was sleeping on Philadelphia Eagles DE Genard Avery this past offseason, myself included. A trade acquisition at last year’s midseason mark, Avery really failed to make his presence known during his first six or so months as an Eagle. He barely played in 2019, and had an uneventful 2020 training camp plagued with injury.

When the final 53-man roster was announced, there was actually quite a bit of outrage regarding Avery’s inclusion. The running joke became, “Oh, but you’ll keep Avery over *insert Eagles player who got cut*”.

Things weren’t looking too hot for Avery and his career in Philadelphia, especially after he wasn’t even allowed to dress for the team’s game against Cincinnati. However, after a phenomenal showing against the San Francisco 49ers, things may be trending upwards for the former Browns edge rusher.

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Avery is a bit of a hybrid player, too small to be an every-down defensive end but too slow to play consistent outside linebacker snaps. It wasn’t super clear why Howie Roseman felt justified in sending over a fourth-round pick for him at the time of the trade, but the expectation was that Jim Schwartz would find a creative way to get him involved.

Using him in a bit of a “joker” role in situational pass-rush type downs could prove useful, seeing as his above average speed would be a considerable changeup from Brandon Graham‘s and Derek Barnett‘s usual motor.

Regardless of what the initial plan was, Avery barely played for the Eagles in 2019. The most defensive snaps he saw in a single game was 10, and he finished the year with just half a sack. After a knee injury kept him out for most of training camp, it seemed like Avery’s “role” in the Philadelphia Eagles defense was all but gone.

However, for whatever reason, Scwartz thrusted Avery back into the game plan against San Francisco. Despite matching up against one of the better right tackles in the NFL in Mike McGlinchey, Avery did not disappoint.

Avery was the best defensive end on the field during Sunday night’s win, and that’s saying something considering he was taking snaps alongside Graham, Barnett, and an emerging Josh Sweat. Avery finished with a team-high five (!) quarterback hits, one sack, and one tackle for loss.

His QB hits also occurred in fairly high-leverage situations, as one came against Nick Mullens in the red zone (which resulted in a Rodney McLeod interception), and the other came in the closing seconds of the ballgame when CJ Beathard was driving. It was one of the more dominant, clutch performances we’ve seen from an Eagles edge rusher in recent memory, and it really came completely out of nowhere.

Avery is genuinely an intriguing player due to his speed and athleticism, and it was obviously giving the Niners’ O-Line fits all night. If Schwartz can continue to find creative ways to work him into the defense moving forward, it’s possible that he could end up as a productive player after all.

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It’ll be hard for him to top his dominant Week 4 outing moving forward, but even just getting him involved for the odd third down sack or QB hit would turn out to be immensely valuable. Chris Long made a living off being a rotational edge for the Philadelphia Eagles, and we all know just how crucial he was to the team’s overall success.

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