After losing Za’Darius Smith, could the Eagles add more Jihaad Campbell snaps on the edge?

Vic Fangio had been asked before as Nakobe Dean’s return loomed in recent weeks.

But the question of where the Eagles will align rookie linebacker Jihaad Campbell moving forward carried some extra context earlier this week after defensive end Za’Darius Smith abruptly retired Monday morning.

The healthy edge rushers on the active roster entering Sunday’s Week 7 matchup at Minnesota are Jalyx Hunt, Joshua Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Patrick Johnson. Only one of them, Johnson, has a sack. It came last week vs. the New York Giants and was the first of his career in his 66th NFL game. Ojulari was a healthy scratch for the first four games of the season. Uche’s pressure rate has dropped two percentage points since 2023, his last season with extensive work.

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The Eagles have just nine sacks this season. Only six teams have fewer, and it’s fair to wonder if there’s enough talent in the edge rusher corps, especially in the short term with Nolan Smith out likely through the Eagles’ Week 9 bye after left triceps surgery. A return in Week 10 means the Eagles would be shorthanded for only two more games, but the margins right now are slim. Za’Darius Smith was playing just over 26 snaps per game in his five games with the Eagles.

Fangio said the Eagles will “have to absorb those snaps up with the rest of the guys, and we’ll make it work.”

But is it possible Campbell could see some edge snaps?

“It’s possible,” the defensive coordinator said. “He’s been getting edge snaps in certain ways we align.”

According to Pro Football Focus, Campbell has lined up on the defensive line for 80 of his 380 defensive snaps this season, but that number could increase as soon as Sunday. The Eagles activated Dean from the physically unable to perform list before Thursday’s game, but he only played on special teams, and he wants to play more after his breakout 2024 season.

“Come on now. I’m a competitor,” Dean said. “I’m in the NFL. You want to play. I want to play every snap.”

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Fangio said Dean’s health makes it easier to put him on the field and have Campbell or even Zack Baun take snaps from the edge. When asked if getting his best 11 players comes into play, Fangio said, “it does and it doesn’t. What you want is your best combination.”

The Eagles could test some new combinations Sunday vs. the Vikings.

They drafted Campbell and touted his ability to play both off-ball linebacker and on the edge. He did both at Alabama, but the Eagles worked him exclusively at linebacker during training camp. Baun, a former edge rusher who turned his career around with the Eagles as an off-ball linebacker last year, said it made the most sense to start Campbell’s NFL career at linebacker exclusively.

“I know he’s got a great grasp on the defense as a whole, so for him to transition to learning outside linebacker, it’s more physically than it is mentally, which is the better side of the coin,” Baun said.

Why?

“Because if you have done it physically before, it’s like riding a bike,” he said. “If you haven’t done it, it takes a little longer mentally.”

Campbell said he’ll do whatever is required of him moving forward.

Baun, meanwhile, touted the depth of the team’s edge rushers and said guys were “itching and scratching to play, and now they’re going to get their opportunity to do that and show what they can do.” But he also has confidence that Campbell can be an impactful player if the Eagles need to utilize him more there.

“I think his skill set in the first place, the fact that he’s done it before, and then starting him at inside linebacker here gave him a good grasp of the defense,” Baun said. “If you can play inside linebacker on this defense, you can play a lot of different positions on this defense as well.”

Ojulari, who had 22 sacks in 46 games with the Giants before joining the Eagles as a free agent, had a strong Eagles debut in Week 5 vs. Denver and again was around the ball and in the backfield a few times in Week 6. Despite the hits to his position group, and the lack of sack production, Ojulari expressed confidence in the four healthy players in the corps.

“We’ve got to keep going,” he said. “Things happen in this league. You never know what happens. Things can go up and down, and we have to be ready and prepared.”

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The question marks on the edge have led to some obvious speculation that the Eagles may look to upgrade the position. Those thoughts existed even before Smith’s surprising retirement earlier this week. The Eagles could look to trade for a player. They could call old friend Brandon Graham, though Fangio said “not to my knowledge” when asked Tuesday if Graham was a possibility. Graham, meanwhile, did not have anything revealing to say about the topic on his podcast Wednesday.

For now, the Eagles likely will take what they have in-house with them to Minnesota, where they could opt for some new combinations. They were bullied and outmuscled at times vs. the Giants, though they were missing key players in Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell, both of whom were on the practice field Wednesday.

“We got to get our swagger back,” Dean said after practice.

Maybe he’ll have a part in doing that.