After receiving the news of Za'Darius Smith's unexpected retirement earlier this week, the Philadelphia Eagles have been focused on how to best address his absence. The pass rush rotation was already a weak spot for the Eagles after Nolan Smith's injury, and now they will be without one of their more experienced and proven veterans. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio discussed the situation in his remarks on Tuesday and identified Patrick Johnson as someone who can step up and help fulfill Smith's role, per Alexis Chassen of Bleeding Green Nation.
While some Eagles fans desperately want GM Howie Roseman to be active on the trade market to bring in another pass rusher, Johnson will get one of the biggest opportunities of his career, and he has the chance to prove to Roseman that no trade is needed.
Patrick Johnson Will Play a Big Role for the Eagles After Za'Darius Smith Retirement
Despite the loss against the Giants, Johnson will be riding a positive momentum heading into Week 7 after delivering his best individual performance of the season. The 27-year-old finished the game with a sack, tackle for loss, and a QB hit, and received a 71.6 defensive grade on Pro Football Focus on a season-high 22 defensive snaps.
For the season, Johnson has a miserable 40.7 defensive grade on PFF, mostly because of his struggles in tackling and run defense. He has three missed tackles on the season despite having only one solo tackle in the five games he suited up for. Otherwise, he has performed decently as a pass-rusher, receiving a 64.7 grade.
Throughout his NFL career, Johnson has been a deep bench option for the Eagles, depended upon in times of emergency. He has been released by the Eagles twice since being a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The first time, he was claimed off waivers by the Giants, where he spent the 2024 season. The second was this offseason, when he was re-signed to the practice squad by the Eagles the next day.
Now, he is receiving one of the biggest opportunities of his Eagles career. Fangio noted in his remarks that he is planning on divvying up the 20-25 snaps Smith was playing among the rotation.
It's important to note, however, that Za'Darius' snap counts were up to 36 and 34 in Weeks 4 and 5 (his two full games after Nolan Smith went down). In Week 6, when Za'Darius' snaps were limited by injury, the snap counts on the edge started to take shape:
- Jalyx Hunt: 43
- Azeez Ojulari: 29
- Joshua Uche: 27
- Patrick Johnson: 22
- Za'Darius Smith: 17
So while Johnson isn't likely to jump in the depth chart (and Jihaad Campbell might even pick up some snaps on the edge), he can be expected to continue playing upwards of 20 snaps per game for the foreseeable future. How well he performs in this limited role will be a huge factor in determining how aggressively Roseman will pursue a trade ahead of the deadline.