Derek Barnett begins climb up Eagles’ depth chart

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff

At the raucous 2017 NFL Draft hosted right here in Philadelphia, the Eagles used their first round selection on defensive end Derek Barnett. Now it appears that the Eagles' first rounder is already pushing for a starting job with the team. 

Barnett posted astounding numbers with Tennessee in the toughest conference in college football, outperforming first overall pick Myles Garrett by nearly double in conference play.

Barnett is an adept pass rusher, and has seemed to have expanded on his already deep pass rush arsenal thus far in camp. Barnett also leads all players in preseason with three sacks over 59 snaps.

Today coaches met with the media and Barnett was a point of focus as the coaches discussed the possibility of Barnett playing with the first unit. "It's important. Obviously, better tackles, better competition is a sign of where you are in your development process," Pederson said. 

Barnett has faced some outstanding tackles in practice as the Eagles have one of the best duos in the league with Lane Johnson and perennial pro-bowler Jason Peters. This week Barnett will get to see some new competition as the Eagles host the Miami Dolphins at Nova Care Complex for joint practices ahead of Thursday's preseason dress rehearsal. 

Laremy Tunsil, a top prospect in 2016, plays tackle for the Dolphins and Barnett dominated the Ole Miss alumnus during their days in the SEC, registering two sacks and four tackles for loss in one game against Tunsil back in 2014.

Defensive line coach Chris Wilson also met with the media and stated that it is too early in Barnett's development to begin thinking of him as a starter, but Barnett will continue to do his part to climb up the depth chart. 

“I always tell myself if my technique is good, the sacks will come," said Barnett. "I’ve still got more work to be done. It’s just two preseason games. It’s not the regular season yet, so there are still a lot of things I need to improve.”

One of those things is his run defense, where Barnett can find himself out of position due to his full-speed ahead rushing style. Barnett is more than capable of developing into a stout run defender, as he finished his college career second all-time in the SEC in tackles for loss. 

With the starters expected to receive the bulk of playing time on Thursday, Barnett could see his snaps dropoff from where they were in the first two games to game three, but it appears to be a priority for the Eagles and their coaches to see how Barnett performs against tougher competition after dominating with the second team.

Barnett is a player who is extremely coachable while also having a very advanced and polished skillset for a player his age. While he may not be named a starter right now, do not be surprised if he is the first name on the depth chart by season's end.