Byron Jones, Amari Cooper, every linebacker on planet Earth: Eagles fans had a lot of names on their minds coming into the 2020 legal tampering period before NFL free agency, but Javon Hargrave wasn’t one for most. But as the first day of discussions closed, the Eagles have seemingly missed on every one of the big-ticket names entering the week, save for Hargrave.

Designated a nose tackle by the Steelers and unfairly boxed in as a two-gapper, Hargrave doesn’t seem like an Eagles guy, though adding to the defensive line certainly seems like an Eagles move. But Hargrave simply isn’t Michael Pierce, or Danny Shelton, or Domata Peko — he doesn’t win in the same ways, and doesn’t have nearly the same limitations. If anything it was the Steelers’ defensive structure and their requirements of Hargrave that muddies his projection.

Since 2015, the Steelers’ defensive coordinator has been Keith Butler, who took over once Dick LeBeau resigned. As such, he was the DC when the Steelers drafted Hargrave in 2016 out of South Carolina State. Butler, in that he was student of LeBeau’s, does not run a 4-3 defense like Jim Schwartz does. Now, that’s not to say he runs a 3-4 — he doesn’t. LeBeau and Butler alike run multiple fronts, at times have two, three, four players with their hands in the dirt.

Butler drafted Hargrave to play the nose tackle in his defense, and he’s done so successfully for his entire career. When you hear “nose tackle,” it can be easy to assume Hargrave’s role for Butler’s defense. He sat over the center, plugged up the A-gaps, and tried to occupy multiple blockers to free up other players.

At times, that’s what it looked like for Hargrave; and he filled that role well. But those times aren’t of interest to us, now that Hargrave is in Philadelphia. Jim Schwartz doesn’t run multiple fronts; he doesn’t ask his defensive tackles to sit over centers and guards and play multiple gaps and occupy multiple blockers. He asks them to get line up in a gap, occupy that gap, and get upfield in that gap.

Extrapolating those plays can be tricky at times from Hargrave’s film. Here, he sits in a 0-technique alignment: right on top of the center. He will never play in this role in the Eagles’ defense — but the film is still useful.

The recognition to feel flow, the quickness to retain leverage to the play side, and the power to push the center back and get upfield and make the tackle don’t look like a space-gobbling nose tackle — it looks like a penetrating 1-technique, the nose tackle in the Under front, or in the 5-man Diamond front the Eagles used heavily this past season.

But as we said before, when Butler dialed up a four-man front, Hargrave was aligned in one gap and given free reign to get upfield. As a pass rusher, Hargrave demonstrated hand usage, lateral quickness, a powerful bull rush, and again delightful block recognition to get upfield and either compromise the pocket integrity with power, or attack the QB set point with separation quickness to generate sacks.

Hargrave doesn’t look like Fletcher Cox or Malik Jackson; he doesn’t look like a one-gapper. Jackson and Cox have linear frames, with long arms, long legs. They get upfield, they explode forward. Hargrave not only isn’t asked to do that; it’s not the play style that his body type lends itself to. Hargrave is a shorter player, a stubbier player, with a ton of natural leverage and sand in his pants. He’s not going to beat anybody off the ball at the snap.

But he doesn’t have to always win the first step to win in a one-gapping role. He initiates contact, has excellent lateral quickness, good power once engaged, and can finishes rushes with surprising bend. Hargrave represents more of a Timmy Jerningan body type, but is a better player than Jernigan, and in that he’s a of a different mold as compared to Cox and Jackson, won’t have similar weaknesses. He won’t lose to double-teams, get stymied by powerful guards in one-on-one situations.

Hargrave is a dang good football player, and even if he doesn’t look like the Eagles’ defensive tackles we’ve come to expect, his bowling ball frame and immovable anchor still win in the role the Eagles will ask him to fill. If Hargrave continues to excel as a technical pass rusher from tilted and shaded alignments, he’ll contribute to the defense on all down and distances, and give the Eagles a more balanced rotation of interior rushers to keep their stable fresh for playoff runs.