Shades of Suh

In order to beat the Minnesota Vikings, the Philadelphia Eagles will need to take advantage of their dominant defensive line and win a matchup against a high-level receiving core.

On the first episode of “Inside The Tape,” former Eagles TE Clay Harbor teamed up with legendary NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell to review the tape from Week 1 and looked ahead to Thursday night’s Week 2 matchup.

Eagles DT Jalen Carter showed elite traits in his first NFL game

Jalen Hurts

Greg Cosell: “I didn’t think Jalen Hurts played particularly well. He didn’t see things with the clarity that we saw a year ago. He misread some things, I don’t think he looked like a comfortable player.” 

Jalen Carter

Clay Harbor: “He was incredible. The thing that makes him so special is his explosiveness, this guy can just move. He reminds me a little bit of a guy named J.J. Watt. He is a guy that had the Allen Iverson crossover, he had the wiggle. He can get out of his lane and get back in, hit you in the swim move, not give up his gap presence. Sometimes these interior pass rushers are just bull rush guys. Carter can bull rush and he can give you that elusive wiggle, get around you, quick type rush and that what makes him so special.”

Cosell: “People always ask me who is my comp? I started to think given the fact he is powerful yet quick and has great short area explosiveness, great hand strength and body power to play off contact, he kind of reminded me of a combination of Ndamukong Suh and Gerald McCoy.”

Justin Jefferson

Cosell: “Jefferson now gets moved around a lot more than he did back then, so now the question is will Darius Slay travel with him and will he travel inside with him? The other thing the Vikings are doing a lot is putting Jefferson in motion. He is not going to line up in one spot.”

TJ Hockenson

Cosell: “Hockenson is one of those tight ends that can detach from the formation, he almost has to some degree big wide receiver movement. If the Eagles have to play Terrell Edmunds, who is not really a coverage safety, is this where you see a lot more zone?”

Brian Flores

Cosell: “What you see before the snap of the ball is not what you are going to see after the ball is snapped. He didn’t do a ton of it last week, but built into his arsenal is pressure. Those two things and with a short turnaround for the Eagles, this is going to be a big cram homework week with an iPad in the classroom.” 

Harbor: “He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve. This guy knows defensive football. He can bring pressure, he likes to bring zero blitz, he is a gambler, a guy who can move around and switch different defensive fronts depending on who he sees.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com