Former top draft pick Marcus Smith has become somewhat of an afterthought.
Following two incredibly disappointing seasons to start his career, Smith is no longer looked upon as one of the team's key young building blocks. He's not guaranteed a roster spot, and he'll have to play his way onto the team.
However, with a new coaching staff and a new defensive scheme, the potential is there for Smith turn his career around and become a productive member of the Eagles defense.
The changes on the coaching staff were the best possible things to happen to Smith.
Smith was in Chip Kelly's doghouse from the moment he was drafted. During the 2014 draft, Howie Roseman had final say on the Smith pick, and Kelly reportedly wanted the team to go in another direction. Kelly proceeded to bury Smith on the depth chart, and never seemed interested in giving the young pass rusher a real opportunity to make an impact.
Kelly's defensive coordinator, Billy Davis, also had negative impacts on Smith's situation.
Throughout his tenure in Philadelphia, Davis struggled properly utilize the talents that were given to him, and failed to find roles for many players in his unit, with defensive end Vinny Curry being the most notable case. Davis ran one of the most vanilla defenses in the league, with very few innovative schemes, and constantly struggled making adjustments to put his personnel in the best position to succeed.
Under Davis, guys like Curry couldn't get off of the bench. Nolan Carroll did an excellent job when given an opportunity to start in 2015, but during the 2014 season Davis refused to give him a chance to play over struggling Bradley Fletcher. Smith was given so few snaps in his first two seasons, it's entirely possible that his lack of impact could have just as much to do with the previous coaching staff as it does with the player himself.
Now Smith enters a situation where his role will be simplified in a scheme that is much more friendly to pass-rushers.
Jim Schwartz will run a lot of looks out of the wide-nine front that will provide opportunities for Smith to do what he does best and get after the quarterback.
During last year's season finale, the Eagles ran a few more defenses out of a traditional 4-3 front, and Smith flashed several times, generating a couple of hurries and even notched a sack.
Curry, Brandon Graham and Connor Barwin are set to be the team's top three defensive ends, leaving one spot in the rotation up for grabs. Smith will be given every opportunity to prove himself, and gain a hold on that fourth defensive end spot.
After seeing another disappointing first-round pick like Graham evolve into a solid contributor after multiple disappointing seasons, it's too early to count out Smith just yet, and the potential is there for him to be one of this team's more pleasant surprises in the coming year.
Denny Basens is a contributing writer to Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @DennyBasens.
