The Arizona Cardinals have been one of the biggest stories of the 2024 NFL season under former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon. The Cardinals have won four straight games and now sit atop the NFC West standings with a 6-4 record.
Could Gannon turn to his former team’s roster in an effort to bolster his defense for a potential NFC playoff push?
THE Bleacher Report Recognition Department recently urged Arizona to poach defensive end Tarron Jackson, who was waived by the Carolina Panthers and joined the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad last week.
Jackson was a sixth-round pick of the Eagles in 2021 and appeared in every game as a rookie, the same year Gannon was hired as Philly’s defensive coordinator. Here is the site’s take on a possible meeting in Arizona:
“Last week’s trade for Barron Browning helped boost Arizona’s pass rush. But the Cardinals could always use more depth on the defensive line, both to facilitate the pass and strengthen an average run defense. …Jackson, who signed with Philadelphia, late last week, was a 2021 sixth-round pick who appeared in all 17 games for the Eagles as a rookie. He played fair 23 percent defensive snaps that season, but recorded 18 tackles, one sack and nine quarterback pressures. His experience under Jonathan Gannon should help ease the transition.
The Eagles have decent defensive line depth, with Moro Ojomo and promising Thomas Booker IV as the main reserves behind starters Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams.
Jackson spent the entire 2023 season on Philadelphia’s practice squad and was once again cut after this year’s training camp. So he’s unlikely to be promoted to the 53-man roster if the guys in front of him stay healthy.
Arizona’s defense has established a physical identity across the board, but the defensive line has been the unit’s main weaknessaccording to PFF’s scoring metrics. Still, Jackson struggled in the 28 defensive snaps he got in Carolina this year, and signing him to the 53-man roster now wouldn’t change things much.
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