Eagles select Nolan Smith with 30th pick in 2023 NFL Draft
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Eagles selected Georgia EDGE rusher Nolan Smith with the 30th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft Thursday night.
The pick follows after the Eagles selected Smith's teammate, Jalen Carter, with the ninth overall pick.
Smith will join former Bulldogs Carter, Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean on the Eagles.
Smith is a bit undersized at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds for a pass rusher, but he's a quick-twitch athlete who plays much bigger than his size.
Last season with the Bulldogs, Smith played in eight games and had 18 tackles and three sacks. He suffered a season-ending torn-pectoral muscle last year.
Here's a scouting report from NFL.com on Smith:
"Lower weight class edge defender with the toughness to mix it up with bigger players. Based purely upon his sleek but smallish frame, one might expect him to be more effective as a rusher than run defender but the opposite is true. Smith is hard to move off of his spot due to his technique and leverage, and he can be disruptive when firing into gaps. He can get off the mark as a rusher, but lacks the counters and contact balance to consistently assault the pocket at a high rate. Smith falls below the size standards some team might have for a 3-4 outside linebacker, but he plays team-first defense with quality technique that should help him translate to the pros."
Smith has gotten comparisons to Eagles' pass rusher Haason Reddick during the draft process.
Smith was the heaviest player with a 40-plus-inch vertical jump and sub-4.40-second 40-yard-dash time at the NFL combine since 2003.
With Smith and Carter joining the Eagles' defensive front, they're now set-up to have success next season and in the long-term.
Smith will be in a EDGE rushing rotation with Reddick, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham and Tarron Jackson.
