Javon Hargrave has gone M.I.A. since joining the Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles have gotten little to no production out of free agent signing Javon Hargrave.

When it was announced that the Philadelphia Eagles would be signing defensive tackle Javon Hargrave to a $39 million free agent contract, it came as a bit of a surprise to a good chunk of people. Not only did the Eagles already possess two highly paid DTs in Fletcher Cox and Malik Jackson, but the team had a plethora of other holes that needed addressing during free agency (linebacker, wide receiver, backup running back to name a few).

Regardless, Howie Roseman stayed true to his old philosophy of prioritizing the defensive line, and made the former Pittsburgh Steeler the 13th highest paid DT in all of football (in terms of average annual salary).

Despite appearing like a super odd fit on paper, Eagles fans and media alike did their best to justify the addition. Nobody was sure if Malik Jackson would come back the same player following his foot injury, a duo of Hargarve and Cox projected to be a nightmare for opposing O-Lines, and Hagrave was seemingly entering his prime following a bit of a breakout year in 2019.

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Despite all the self-justifying that people did, Hargrave has gone full on ghost mode since arriving in Philly. Not only is he not living up to his contract, but he’s been flat out bad when on the field. His name barely pops up in the stat sheet, and even when it does, he’s routinely been outplayed by the likes of Jackson, Hassan Ridegway, and even TY McGill.

Hargrave has played in 232 defensive snaps for the Eagles thus far, and he’s logged just one sack and seven total tackles. He’s recorded zero tackles for a loss, and he has just two QB hits to his name. For reference’s sake, Ridegway (who’s played in just 137 total defensive snaps) has recorded one sack, two TFLs, one QB hit, and eleven total tackles.

Ridgeway is unfortunately done for the season due to a biceps injury, but up unto that point, he had been outperforming Hargrave in almost half the snaps, while playing for about 3% of the price.

Hargrave missed the team’s opening game against Washington due to injury, but returned the following week against LA. He failed to record a single statistic during that game. Not even a tackle.

It wouldn’t be the last time Hargrave would put up a goose egg in the box score either, as he went stat-less in Weeks 3 and 6. It was especially frustrating during the team’s Week 3 tie to Cincinnati, considering the state of their respective interior offensive line.

Outside of the stereotypical box score numbers, Hargrave has been just as unproductive when looking at some of the advanced statistics as well. He has zero QB knockdowns, one QB hurry, and just three total pressures. His missed tackle rate is at a career-high 12.5% as well.

Needless to say, Hargrave has been really, really bad since making the swap from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. What makes it even more concerning is the fact that the Steelers pass rush has been absolutely thriving this season. Not only do they lead the entire league in sacks forced with 26, but they also have the best run defense in all of football. Pittsburgh’s fiery defensive line hasn’t missed a beat with Hargrave out of the lineup, while #93 is getting outplayed by backups in Philadelphia.

It’s hard not to put two and two together and make the claim that Hargarve was simply a product of Pittsburgh’s strong defensive system.

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There’s still a lot of football left, and maybe Hargrave is still dealing with some lingering effects from his offseason injury, but as of right now this is starting to look like a fairly disastrous Howie Roseman signing. The Philadelphia Eagles had all sorts of holes to fill this summer, and they instead opted to overpay for a guy that they simply did not need.

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