Neville Hewitt gives the Philadelphia Eagles a new look at linebacker

The Philadelphia Eagles have a major need at linebacker – need that likely won’t be filled during the first two rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft. As much as some local Penn State fans want the team to draft Micah Parsons in the first-round, the odds of such a pick happening feel fairly slim at this point in time.

The Eagles have made two low-cost upgrades to their defense this offseason in way of adding safeties Anthony Harris and Andrew Adams, but they’ve done nothing so far to address their league-worst linebacker room. In fact, you could argue the team’s LB room actually got a tad worse following the departure of Duke Riley (he signed with the Miami Dolphins).

With funds still on the tight side, Howie Roseman and the Eagles have turned their attention to free agent LB Neville Hewitt, a six-year veteran and two-year starter with the New York Jets who has an interesting set of skills to his name.

Brandon Lee Gowton of Bleeding Green Nation wrote the following on the veteran ‘backer:

"More from Section 2154 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster SpotsBest Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn SipossCowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak PrescottDevon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on EaglesHewitt, who turns 28 in April, has logged 39 starts in 82 career games played since entering the league as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Marshall in 2015. Last year marked the first time he started all 16 games and he led the Jets in total tackles with 134. Hewitt took on a larger role than originally expected with C.J. Mosley opting out of the 2020 season and Avery Williamson getting traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in early November.Hewitt has a reputation for being a solid run defender but he’s never graded out well in coverage. The 6-2, 220-pound backer has a 106.0 passer rating allowed when targeted over the last five seasons, according to Pro Football Focus.The Eagles have some familiarity with Hewitt. Former Jets assistant and current Eagles defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson overlapped with him in North Jersey over the past three seasons."

The biggest point of emphasis that has to be made when talking about Hewitt is that he’s not exactly what the Philadelphia Eagles need at the moment. The team’s linebackers really struggled in pass coverage last year, and as Lee Gowton mentions above, Hewitt is not someone who necessarily *thrives* in pass coverage.

With that in mind, Hewitt is an aggressive downhill tackler who actually did a fairly above average job getting after the quarterback in 2019 and 2020. He recorded a total of five sacks across said two seasons, along with 12 quarterback hits.

Neville Hewitt to the Philadelphia Eagles?

While a partnership of Alex Singleton and Hewitt across the middle of the field might still struggle to contain tight ends and running backs in coverage next season, the work they’d do blitzing the quarterback could end up giving Jonathan Gannon a building block to base his defense around next season.

Combine the Eagles strong defensive line with two linebackers who are above average pass-rushers, and you’re looking at a large sack total in 2021.

The Eagles connection to Hewitt via the coaching staff and the overall link that the Eagles’ and Jets’ front offices share make Hewitt a prime candidate to land in Philly over the coming days, and he would likely sign at a relatively cheap price considering the way this year’s free agency period has progressed.