Down The Line

PHILADELPHIA – Like the flash of a powder keg, a white jersey suddenly surged into the backfield during a red zone period Tuesday during Eagles training camp, blowing up a running play for a loss of yards.

Earlier in the session, the same defender exploded off the ball from his interior alignment, actively working his hands and slipping past a block to register a would-be sack on quarterback Kenny Pickett.

On the notepad, even the dripping sweat from the steamy morning temps couldn’t wither away the No. 97 that had already been jotted down multiple times, with one of the notations accompanied by an exclamation point for extra emphasis.

Disruptive plays have accumulated this summer for Eagles second-year defensive tackle Moro Ojomo, one of the more notable standouts of training camp.

Apparently driven, and echoing the philosophies of a throwback, the 22-year-old defensive lineman has been a persistent pain in the read end for the offense while serving as a one-man wrecking crew at the heart of the Eagles’ second-team defensive line.

He’s showcasing violent hand usage, tenacity and renewed lower body power.

“Football is violent, and I think you just have to set the tone,” Ojomo said recently. “Any great football defensive lineman has to have a level of power and violence to his game.”

“You talk to a lot of guys, and you talk about the transition they’ve made to that next stage – like a lot of o-line, d-line – I think they have to have that realization; these are grown men you’re going versus. And they’re trying to run through your face. So, you have to be able to run through their face, too. It’s a mindset. A mentality.”

GETTY IMAGES: DTs Moro Ojomo (right), Marlon Tuipulotu are giving the Eagles reasons to be OK with their DL depth.

While Ojomo’s recent ascent has been somewhat of a revelation, especially in light of the offseason retirement of mainstay Fletcher Cox. And given the depth uncertainty behind Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams, the Texas product singled out former Eagles defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and current position coach Clint Hurtt for nurturing his development.

Rocker, Ojomo said, instilled in him the violent nature needed to approach position.

Hurtt, a former defensive coordinator, has offered tips on how to be faster as well as well as the knowledge of recognizing formations.

The absence of Cox, who in his swan song last year accounted for nearly 700 defensive snaps, surely creates a major void.

But according to Ojomo, the responsibility of bearing the leadership role won’t be delegated to just one person.

“I think we’re a younger group, and I think that we have to lean on each other a little bit,” Ojomo said. “And grow with each other. Fletch kinda took that leadership role as a whole, and it was all on him.

“Now, I think it’s kinda spread out between everyone we have.”

Barring an unforeseen circumstance, Ojomo will see an increase in playing time this season. He logged just 68 defensive snaps as a rookie over eight games.

Fairly or not, Ojomo finds himself squarely under the microscope with expectations of progressing at a faster clip given some degree of skepticism surrounding at least two of the top three interior players, Milton Williams and Jordan Davis.

Williams is being asked to assume a larger workload in his fourth year while the mammoth Davis has struggled in his two seasons to control his weight and and be consistently impactful.

So far, though, the 6-foot-3, 292-pound Ojomo has checked off most boxes.

“He’s getting better,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said earlier this week. “He’s showing up. He’s on the lighter side as D-linemen go, D-tackles, but he’s athletic. Plays extremely hard and very coachable. He’s had a good camp.”

But Ojomo won’t be the only defensive line reserve counted on to take an uptick in snap share.

Fourth-year pro Marlon Tuipulotu, a 2021 sixth-round pick, falls within the same category, tasked with occupying vacated snaps at a position of organizational priority despite a limited resume.

Tuipulotu’s role hasn’t changed much and probably won’t, but his snaps should see a hike.

“Same as before,” Tuipulotu said of the approach going in his fourth season. “Just come in, be coachable, just know my role and try to make the most out of every opportunity.”

Tuipulotu, 25, has been solid, if unspectacular, as a rotational lineman, with variables – including injuries – limiting him to 28 games over three seasons.

He’s also never eclipsed 232 snaps in a season.

Tuipulotu’s game is predicated on existing as a space-eating interior player boasting power at the point of attack.

With a style of play that doesn’t exactly fill up stat sheets, Tuipulotu’s value manifests in run defense as well as his ability to occupy blockers for teammates to clean up.

Players of Tuipulotu’s mold are fairly common across the NFL and are never safe, battling to the brink each summer to secure a roster spot.

“You can never be comfortable, honestly,” Tuipulotu said. “Like, you gotta come in here – like, I’m battling. So, just gotta continue to get better every, single day and be coachable and understand the scheme.”

His offseason focus was continuing to improve his strength – a request from his coaches – and absorbing the playbook upon arrival to minimize the acclimation period and eliminate start-up costs.

Tuipulotu repeatedly mentioned his coachability, adding that, “Everyone has a role. Everyone is a piece to this big puzzle we’re trying to build at the end of the season.”

Between the rapidly evolving skill set and physicality of Ojomo, and the relatively anonymous, workmanlike approach of Tuipulotu, the Eagles would appear to have their bases covered in terms of trench depth.

But training camp fodder can sometimes act as a mirage, deceiving what the eyes sometimes see. It’s often game situations, and open practices, where players separate.

If these two can quell any concern with steady production, they won’t require the Eagles to look elsewhere to fortify the reserve roles.

The answers are already here.

“I think I demand a lot of myself,” Ojomo said. “And I think I’m humble and hungry. And I wanna show this coaching staff I can be great and keeping working hard.”

– Andrew DiCecco (@AndrewDiCecco) is a Staff Reporter/Content Producer for InsideTheBirds.com.