The Arizona Cardinals have been one of the top stories of the 2024 NFL season under ex-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 look to his former team’s roster in an effort to bolster his defense for a potential NFC playoff push?
The Bleacher Report scouting department recently urged Arizona to poach defensive end Tarron Jackson, who was waived by the Carolina Panthers and signed onto the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad last week.
Jackson was a sixth-round draft 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 was the site’s take on a potential reunion in Arizona:
“Last week's trade for Barron Browning helped to boost Arizona's pass rush. But the Cardinals could still use additional depth on the defensive line, both to aid the pass rush and bolster a middling 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 just 23 percent of the defensive snaps that season but recorded 18 tackles, a sack and nine quarterback pressures. His experience under Jonathan Gannon should help make for an easy transition.”
The Eagles have decent defensive line depth, with Moro Ojomo and the up-and-coming Thomas Booker IV the top reserves behind starters Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis and Milton Williams.
Jackson spent the entire 2023 season on Philly’s practice squad, and was once again a roster cut following this year’s training camp, so he’s unlikely to get promoted to the 53-man roster if the guys ahead of him stay healthy.
Arizona’s defense has established an identity of being physical across the board, but the defensive line has been the unit’s top weakness, per PFF’s grading 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 move the needle much at all.
