The Philadelphia Eagles clearly like Idaho nose tackle Noah Elliss

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ 2022 UDFA class is very good indeed. They secured the services of an Olympic-level hurdler in Devon Allen, a pair of quality young cornerbacks in Mario Goodrich and Josh Jobe, and even a solid power rusher out of Oklahoma – Kenny Brooks – who once shared an offensive backfield with starting quarterback Jalen Hurts.

Will any or all of these players make the initial 53 man roster? Statistically speaking, yeah probably; the Eagles have consistently found quality contributors on the post-draft open market and the team has clear openings at QB3 and RB4.

But weirdly enough, none of these players were handed the most guaranteed money of any undrafted position player signed by Howie Roseman. No, that honor goes to Noah Elliss, a defensive lineman out of Idaho who is brothers with current Eagles linebacker Christian Elliss and earned just $70,000 fewer in guaranteed money than Carson Strong, who earned a staggering $320,000.

What? You aren’t familiar with the youngest Elliss the NFL currently has to offer? Well, you’d better read up on him soon, for there’s a very real chance he makes the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster this fall.

Noah Elliss could backup Jordan Davis for the Philadelphia Eagles this fall.

Noah Elliss is a big, big dude.

Measuring in at 6-foot-4, 346 pounds, Elliss instantly enters the NFL as one of its biggest players, and even if he drops a few LBs and leans down into the 330s, he could still fill the prototypical NFL nose tackle role with ease. While his production in college with the Vandals wasn’t ideal, recording just 29 tackles, two tackles for a loss, and a single sack over his 11 game career in Idaho, his game on tape was hard to ignore because he was seemingly always the biggest person, physically speaking, on the field, as he played at 367 pounds according to the team’s official website.

Hmm… a tall, heavy defensive tackle virtually designed in a lab to lineup over opposing centers? Who does that sound like?

… oh yeah, 2022 first overall pick Jordan Davis.

Now granted, Ellis is nowhere near the same caliber of athlete as “Heavy-D;” his timed 40 is roughly 0.8 seconds slower – good for a not-so-good 5.66 – his burst is, um, unconventional, and realistically, his role in the NFL as a rookie would best be described as a situational run stuffer. But do you know what? With a Top-4 of Davis, Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, and Milton Williams locked in, giving Elliss a snap or two around the goal line per game wouldn’t be a bad idea indeed.

Worst case, Elliss spends his rookie season on the practice squad alongside his brother, and inevitably makes his way onto the active roster when someone suffers an injury. Either way, for the price of a few hundred thousand dollars in guaranteed money, you can’t hate the fit one bit.

The later rounds of the NFL Draft aren’t about finding immediate contributors or future stars. Sure, occasionally that will happen, as with Jordan Mailata and Jason Kelce, but as a general rule, a successful late-round addition should be a schematic fit who can backup an established player – think Kyron Johnson and Hasson Reddick. While Noah Elliss wasn’t drafted, his addition could provide similar utility for the Philadelphia Eagles behind Jordan Davis as a second-team nose tackle, which could prove incredibly valuable depending on how often Jonathan Gannon runs that look this fall.