The 3rd-year Eagles DT poised for a huge jump in 2025

The 3rd-year Eagles DT poised for a huge jump in 2025 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Moro Ojomo is expecting to have a bigger role this year because he's seen it before with the Eagles.

Now it's his turn.

One hundred percent," Ojomo said on Monday. That's kind of the way the Eagles have gone. (Javon) Hargrave was gone, [Milton Williams] stepped into that. Milt is gone and now I'm getting an opportunity."

And Ojomo is making the most of it.

The 26-year-old was a seventh-round pick out of Texas back in 2023 and is turning heads early in this training camp. Not only is he getting a ton of reps - first-team reps - but he has been consistently wreaking havoc. Anyone who has watched the first four practices of the summer has jotted down No. 97 plenty of times. He's always in the backfield.

It might seem strange that there's so much hype around a former seventh-round pick who has exactly zero sacks in 25 regular season games in the NFL, but the Eagles have high hopes for Ojomo. He gave the Birds solid snaps last season and got his first NFL sack in the fourth quarter against the Rams in the divisional round.

And after Williams left in free agency to join the Patriots on a $104 million deal, the Eagles are expecting Ojomo to help eat up some of those snaps.

I think Mo did a good job last year in the reps he got his reps will kick up this year," defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. I think Milton's reps will be divided up between him, Jordan (Davis) playing more. We'll see what Ty (Robinson) can do, Gabe (Hall) can do and [Thomas Booker]. So I think it will be more of a committee eating up those reps than just one guy. But back to your question, I'm very happy with Mo, was happy with him last year and I expect him to play good for us."

For the past two years, Ojomo has worked to improve but it meant something to him to watch the lineage of Eagles' defensive tackles.

It showed me everything," Ojomo said. Keep your head down and kind of wait your turn. At the end of the day, this is a talented organization. Just keep working and things will work out for you."

Last season, Ojomo played 37% of the Eagles' defensive snaps in the regular season, which ranked tied for third among their defensive tackles:

Jalen Carter: 831 (79%)
Milton Williams: 501 (48%)
Moro Ojomo: 388 (37%)
Jordan Davis: 388 (37%)
Thomas Booker: 166 (16%)

With Williams gone, there are 500 snaps to replace this season. While Davis has worked on his body and his conditioning level to be more available in 2025, it seems like Ojomo is a more ready-made interior pass rusher. And based on what we've seen so far this summer, Vic Fangio wants to get Ojomo ready for a bigger workload.

I think just starting out having more reps than I'm used to and getting acclimated to that and just getting used to being on the field more," said Ojomo, whose jersey was drenched with sweat and smeared with blood (?) after Monday's practice.

Eagles Pro Bowl center Cam Jurgens was drafted the year before Ojomo. On Monday, he smiled when asked how much Ojomo has improved over the last three seasons.

A lot. A lot," Jurgens said. He works just as hard as anybody on this team and puts a lot of effort in. Not just in the weight room but on the field. He puts in a lot of time. He was kind of like a little pest to deal with his first year here. He just worked and played so hard.

And now he's got a lot of those tools and he's a lot stronger than he was and just talking to Fletch (Cox) and BG (Brandon Graham) and learning from them guys, all those little tips and tricks. I mean, he's tough to go against now. Really tough."

The Eagles' offensive line is considered to be one of the best in the NFL and Ojomo appreciates getting to work against them. On Monday, he and Lane Johnson spent some extra time talking over a play from practice. Ojomo said he beat Johnson with something on a previous day but Johnson changed it up and didn't get beat on Monday. Ojomo has always been game for intricate football conversations.

For the most part, Ojomo's damage in training camp has come against new right guard Tyler Steen but he also had success against Landon Dickerson in 1-on-1s Monday.

Listed at 6-foot-3, 292 pounds, Ojomo has a slighter frame than a lot of defensive tackles, which can give him an advantage as a pass rusher.

I think like I strike like I'm big and I move like I'm small," he said.

After playing just 68 defensive snaps as a rookie, Ojomo played 388 in his second season and should see another significant jump in 2025. He has been waiting for this opportunity and working behind the scenes to get ready for it.

This season, all that work is going to be put on full display.

You want pass rush to get to the point where you're not thinking. It's fluid," Ojomo said. It's almost deja vu. I've done this 100,000 times and I'm going to do it 100,000 more."