Philadelphia Eagles Top Breakout Candidate in 2026
Newsweek · C · trust 54/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Two years ago, Nolan Smith Jr. was one of the best players on the Philadelphia Eagles ' Super Bowl-winning defense, racking up a career-high 6.5 sacks during the regular season before adding four more during a dominant playoff run.
There's an argument to be made that he's already broken out. Yet, even after that strong season, he still didn't receive any national awards and isn't viewed in that upper echelon of NFL edge rushers. That's because he's been dealing with one major injury ever since.
In the second half of that Super Bowl, Smith tore his left triceps. He played through the rest of the game with the injury, but it carried over into last season. He underwent offseason surgery, but re-aggravated it in training camp, and then again early in the 2025 season before landing on injured reserve.
He finished the year appearing in just 12 games and posting 31 total tackles, 11 quarterback hits, three sacks, one tackle for loss, and one forced fumble, well off pace for the trajectory he was on before the injury.
But now, Smith enters his fourth season in Philly with massive expectations to get back to that elite level, and he's got even more opportunity in front of him to get there.
Last season, third-year linebacker Jalyx Hunt passed Smith on the depth chart and led the Eagles in sacks with 6.5 across 17 games. That's his biggest competition heading into 2026, but there's a clear runway for Smith to reclaim a full-time role if he can stay healthy.
Nakobe Dean, the Eagles' third-round pick in 2022 and Smith's former teammate at Georgia, left in free agency. Jonathan Greenard is now starting opposite Smith at the other edge spot, but he's 29 years old and has dealt with his own injuries throughout his career, including missing five games last year with a shoulder injury.
It feels like one of either Hunt or Smith truly breaks out in 2026. But even while rehabbing from a major injury, Smith still matched up well with Hunt last season, part of why there's optimism for a rebound. He had a 16.3% pressure rate that was only narrowly behind Hunt's 17.3%, and even edged him out in quick-pressure rate (4.7% to Hunt's 4.3%), according to ESPN's Ben Solak .
Smith is entering the final year of his rookie deal, and after a full season disrupted by injury, this is his chance to prove he belongs among the sport's elite. He's got the tools to post a double-digit sack season, and if he does, he could truly break out and walk away with his first Pro Bowl or All-Pro honor, setting up a massive payday.
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