Philadelphia Eagles: One sack can’t offset Derek Barnett’s poor play

Derek Barnett isn’t flashy.

In the steakhouse of edge rushers, he’s a plain cheeseburger. In terms of cars, he’s a Nissan Sentra. And on the field, he’s much more of a pocket collapse than a sack magnet.

Normally, you don’t draft steady, Sentra-esque rushers in the first round – let alone the top-15 – as “base down” 4-3 ends can be found all over any given NFL Draft, but Howie Roseman clearly saw something he liked in the most prolific Tennessee Volunteer since Reggie White.

Through the first four years of his career, Barnett has shown enough to prove he’s worthy of a spot in the NFL, but would he ever transcend being just another guy and become a cornerstone piece in the next generation of Philadelphia Eagles football? If the first 10 games of the 2021 NFL season are of any indication, the answer to that question is a resounding no.

Derek Barnett’s days with the Philadelphia Eagles appear to be numbered.

In theory, when a defensive lineman closes out a game with a sack, they’re likely pleased with their efforts.

For only the second time this season, Barnett accomplished that feat.

But in the NFL, where a defensive lineman like Barnett averages 48 snaps per game, one play very rarely defines an entire game.

The sack in question came at the 10:47 mark in the second quarter, when the score was 10-10 and the game’s outcome was still up in the air, so it was important but it didn’t quite reset the tenor of the game in the same as, say, Darius Slay‘s 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown.

A play that arguably impacted the game more, by contrast, was the roughing the passer penalty Barnett recorded at the 6:35 mark of the third, as it kept the Broncos’ offense alive on third-and-seven and gave them a fresh set of downs in the red zone, which, in turn, could have changed the outcome of a still-close 20-13 game.

Granted, the Broncos gave it right back, as an illegal blocking penalty on Albert Okwuegbunam whipped away a Javonte Williams touchdown, but that play felt incredibly indicative of Barnett’s season as a whole, as he’s largely done more harm than good.

Through 10 games of action, Barnett has been called for six penalties, including two versus Denver. He’s missed five of 30 tackles, which accounts for by far the highest missed tackles percentage of his career, and oftentimes, he finds himself out of place on screens, read options, and even basic outside zones.

In a scheme where linebackers and safeties are responsible for interior run support, defensive ends, especially non-speed rushers like Barnett, have to set a strong edge on the exterior in addition to their typical duties.

So, if Barnett isn’t particularly good at rushing the passer, as his sack in Denver came against a 25-year-old UDFA backup on a blown play, doesn’t play the run at an elite level, and gets called for a penalty more than once every other game, what value is he really adding to the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster? Why is he getting snaps over, say, Milton Williams, a supremely talented rookie inside-out rusher who more accurately replicates Brandon Graham‘s style of play but is only getting 40 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in any given game?

I don’t know, but that trend should probably start to change.

While Barnett is still technically on the Eagles’ paysheet next season, as Howie Roseman reworked his contract to put $7.248 million of his money on the books in 2022, he’ll likely be getting that money as a member of another team, unless, of course, the team opts to give him a new deal. If he was producing well and helping the Eagles win games by logging 62 percent of the team’s snaps, playing him over Milton would make sense, as the Birds are still very much in the playoff conversation – as improbable as that may sound – but he just isn’t. At best, Barnett is a slight upgrade over Milton, and that may simply come down to how the duo are utilized.

Give Milton a few more snaps on the outside, maybe even split the right defensive end spot 50-50 between Barnett and Williams over the next few weeks, and who knows; maybe Milton will surprise some people.

At 25-years-old, Derek Barnett is who he is. He’s a solid, steady 4-3 defensive end who could surely benefit from joining a veteran line that would hold him accountable for his frequent penalties. What Barnett isn’t, however, is a player worthy of building around, as he’s just too inconsistent at his worst and too average at his best. Even if Milton Williams doesn’t ultimately prove to be that guy either moving forward, it’s better for the Philadelphia Eagles to keep an eye on their future than keep expecting different results from the same player.