Data Reveals that Eagles Defense Needs to Get Taller and Heavier
Rhetorical question –
Would you rather go through life being tall and heavy, or short and light? Gronk or Tyreek Hill? Chris Hemsworth or Danny DeVito?
This was floating around on social media and seemed worthy of a post, a study on measurables conducted by the folks over at Football Outsiders. They do a great job with statistical analysis.
One of the metrics they track is “snap weighted age,” which basically helps us understand how young or how old a team is based on how often particular players are on the field. This week, they expanded on that by introducing “snap-weighted height” and “snap-weighted weight,” to determine which teams are playing the biggest and smallest guys.
The difference between gauging size and age is that size actually has three factors: height, weight, and the relationship between the two. So we calculated each team’s snap-weighted height (SWH) and snap-weighted weight (SWW), and using those numbers calculated their snap-weighted body mass index (SWBMI). It’s also important to note that for most players, height and weight are measured at the combine and then rarely changed in our database. Obviously players will gain and lose weight throughout the season, but there are no weight limits in the NFL, so nobody’s updating that info.
Interestingly enough, when you look over a few of their charts, the Eagles defense ranked dead last in both height and weight –
For some context here, 72.9 inches amounts to 6.075 feet. And Fletcher Cox, at 310 pounds, was the heaviest guy on the defense while Nickell Robey-Coleman, at 180, was the lightest. Both starting corners, Darius Slay and Avonte Maddox, weighed 190 or less, and the entire starting defensive backfield didn’t feature a single guy taller than six feet.
New York’s divisional rivals in Philadelphia had the league’s lightest defense … and while we’re talking about the Eagles, let’s mention that they were the league’s shortest defense too. Philadelphia’s diminutive secondary was last in the league in both SWW and SWH, their defensive linemen ranked 26th in both categories, and their linebackers were 25th in the former and 26th in the latter.
Since defensive players make up special teams, the Birds also lagged behind on that unit, ranked 31st in height and weight. On offense, they were 20th in height and 10th in weight.
The question is whether any of this matters, and the answer is maybe. Super Bowl winner Tampa Bay had the second tallest and fifth heaviest offense. Their defense was somewhat short, but bulky. Kansas City was relatively smaller and faster across the board.
You can parse the data in different ways, but if you sensed that the Eagles were small on defense last year, you were right. The good thing is that Anthony Harris is 6’1″ and a shade over 200 pounds, and Zech McPhearson is 5’11” and playing a bit heavier than 190. They beefed up the defensive line, too, and hopefully can be a little more stout overall this season. In 2020, they finished bottom-half in total defense, so we know in very basic terms that they need to get better.