Philadelphia Eagles Must Get More from Former 1st-Rounder Marcus Smith in 2015

Despite the high expectations placed on any first-round draft pick by those outside the organization, the Philadelphia Eagles weren't exactly counting on Marcus Smith to make a huge impact his rookie year. Smith had no shot to start at outside linebacker over Trent Cole or Connor Barwin, or even to steal Brandon Graham's spot in the rotation.

GMS	TKL	SK	PD/INT	FF
8	0	0.0	0/0	0

Yet even by pessimists' standards, Smith's first NFL season was an unmitigated disaster. According to Football Outsiders, the Louisville product lined up for all of 68 defensive snaps in 2014 and only an additional 37 on special teams, failing to record so much as a single tackle over eight total games.

Smith's complete lack of production no doubt has led many observers to rush to label the 26th overall selection a bust, a sentiment backed up by the popular opinion that he was a reach there to begin with. Yet the Eagles are still going to find out what exactly the 23-year-old can do in 2015, because the fact of the matter is the defense must rely on his contribution.

Cole was released over the offseason, and although Barwin and Graham each received new contracts and form a heck of a tandem, there is nothing in the way of established depth behind them.

Aside from Smith, there's Bryan Braman, who's purely a special teams ace; Travis Long, who's spent the past two summers in Philadelphia's camp but has yet to play a down in the NFL; and Jordan Dewalt-Ondijo, an undrafted free agent out of Duke. Of the four reserves, only Smith was drafted at all.

The Eagles do happen to feature a ton of depth at interior linebacker, and it's been suggested players such as Kiko Alonso, Mychal Kendricks, Brad Jones and Jordan Hicks could see time outside in a pinch. While that might work in certain situations, 240-pound defenders are generally going to struggle working against 300-plus-pound offensive tackles on a consistent basis.

That means, for better or worse, some of the workload at outside linebacker will inevitably fall on Smith's shoulders in '15.

YR	TKL	TFL	SK	PD	INT	FF
2011	12	6.5	5.5	0	0	2
2012	29	7.0	4.0	2	1	2
2013	42	18.5	14.5	3	0	4

The situation isn't necessarily as dire as it might sound. To begin with, it's not at all unusual for pass-rushers to struggle during their first season as a professional, and as a converted quarterback, Smith was a raw talent. He only enjoyed one season of high production in college, racking up 14.5 sacks as a senior in a bad AAC conference.

But then-general-manager Howie Roseman understood Smith was a bit of a project and acknowledged the selection was geared more toward the future than the present after the pick was in, via Reuben Frank of CSN Philadelphia:

"

When we look at [Smith], it's the upside. When you talk about him athletically, he's an exceptional athlete, he's 6'3", 250 pounds, he runs a 4.6, he had 14.5 sacks, he was the conference Defensive Player of the Year, and we think he's got so much more to grow, too.

Lucky for us, we do have veterans at that position, so we're looking at it more where's he going to be one, two, three years down the line. When you have someone who's an incredible athlete, who's a really hard worker, who's a good kid, who's smart ... it's impressive.

"

So if we're being fair about the depth chart and Smith's immediate potential, his rookie season becomes a little easier to digest. The question now is how he take the next step and play an actual role on Philly's defense in the year ahead.

Smith may already be well on his way.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Former Eagles offensive lineman and assistant coach Tra Thomas criticized Smith's physique in '14, telling CSN he had the build of a "high school athlete." Not surprisingly, with a full year in an NFL conditioning program, Smith has bulked up, with Barwin touting a new look for the young linebacker on CSN.

"Physically, he looks different. He gained 15 pounds, he put on a lot of muscle," Barwin said. "He's one of the stronger guys on our defense now. He took the offseason and did what he needed to do, which was get bigger, stronger."

The biggest issue with Smith last season was an inability to rush the passer off the edge. Adding 15 pounds to his list weight puts him around 265, which will go a long way when working against NFL offensive tackles. Now that he's functionally stronger and has learned a thing or two about technique, some improvement in this department should be expected.

He already had the size and athleticism to drop into coverage. Smith measured 6'3" with 34-inch arms and sub-4.7 speed at the combine last year, according to NFL.com. If Smith could only become better in the trenches, he could be valuable in a rotation with Barwin and Graham.

Only time will tell if Smith will shed the bust label, but one year is far too little time to write off a first-round draft pick. Whether he was worthy of the selection or not is irrelevant at this point. Smith is an Eagle and a player the team is going to be counting on in some capacity in 2015, even if only because the other options are so limited.