Jordan Davis slims down to 'more lean' 350 pounds entering Year 3 with Eagles
Jordan Davis, the massive Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle, is a little less big in OTAs. And he’s hoping a drop in weight will mean more time on the field in the fall.
The Eagles selected Davis, the former Georgia star, in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. When draft prep started that year, Davis weighed 341 pounds. Of course, he’s also nearly 6-foot-7. In his two seasons in Phllly, his listed playing weight has been 350, although most NFL watchers believe he was even heavier.
The extra pounds made him even more physically intimidating. But Davis also couldn’t stay on the field for as many plays. He’d stuff the run on early downs, then vacate when it came to obvious passing downs.
But when the Eagles began phase three of OTAs earlier this month, practice observers thought he looked thinner. His listed playing weight dropped to 336. But he may be even thinner than that weight.
Dare we say it, Davis looks skinny, albeit for a defensive tackle.
“Obviously it looks a lot better than how it did last year,” Davis told reporters this week. “And I feel a lot better than I did last year. We’re just continuing on, we have a plan here, and we’ll just keep on working.
“But in terms of being in the best shape, I’m getting into the best condition of my life.”
This is what Davis looked like last year while maintaining the middle of the Eagles D.
Eagles DT dropped weight by ditching cans of sweat tea
It’s always fascinating to learn how the big dudes drop weight. For Davis, it was ditching sweet tea from his diet and drinking more water. If he craved a sweeter drink, he’d slam some 90-calorie organic mango juice he bought at Whole Foods.
Nolan Smith, who has known Davis since both played for Georgia, noticed his friend’s slimmer physique.
“If you can’t tell, that boy look good,” Smith told reporters. “He’s looking slim, he’s running around, he’s doing box drills like it’s nothing. Box drills, really, I told him it’s like a linebacker drill. … I couldn’t be more proud of him, because it’s not an easy drill.”
Davis and several other defensive linemen are staying later after OTA sessions end to work on details of playing their position. The group calls itself “The Breakfast Club.” And part of the reason for the extra work is to practice the defensive scheme used by new coordinator Vic Fangio.
“We stay out there 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes after,” Davis said. “We call it the Breakfast Club, but we’re really late. We’re just spending time working on our craft … little details and little nuances. It started out as just two, now it’s like three, four, five [players.]
“So, in terms of leadership, there’s not really a set leader, but we’re trying to lead by example and pull everybody along. We always have this saying, ‘I can’t climb if my brother’s falling,’ so if everybody else is getting better, we’re getting better.”
Davis is hopeful that the decreased weight will increase the number of snaps he can play once the season starts. His rookie season, he was in on 22 percent of the defensive snaps. That percentage jumped to nearly 45 last season. But it was still lower than the other two tackles in the rotation. Fletcher Cox, who retired this off-season, was at 58.9 percent, while Jalen Carter, another Georgia Bulldog, was at 48.5.
“I’ll be able to answer the call,” Davis says. “I know what’s required of me, I know Vic is leaning on me, I know the D-line is leaning on us, so I’ll definitely be able to handle that. That’s what I’m working for. Nobody is coming to save us now, so we have to put the load on our backs.”