Super Bowl 59’S MVP Sleeper: Nolan Smith Poised to Clinch Super Bowl 69 with Dominant Performance
Nolan Smith entered the league with undoubted concerns about his size for an edge rusher, having weighed in at 238 pounds, putting him in just the second percentile for his position. That did not deter the Philadelphia Eagles, though, as they selected the former Georgia Bulldog with the 30th overall pick in the 2023 draft.
Now, in just the second season of his career, he is in an excellent position to repay their faith by helping the Eagles prevail in Super Bowl 59 by taking advantage of what looks to be a very favorable matchup in Sunday’s rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Smith had 6.5 sacks in the regular season, a huge leap after recording only one in his rookie year, and he has thrived in the postseason, proving pivotal to the Eagles’ run to to a second Super Bowl in three seasons.
No edge rusher has more pressures in the postseason than Smith’s 15, per Pro Football Focus, and he has registered four sacks in the playoffs in an outstanding demonstration of why the Eagles bet on his athletic abilities.
In the Super Bowl, he has a tremendous opportunity to cap his superb playoff run in style.
Smith is capable of creating substantial disruption rushing from both the right and left side, but he has predominantly played from the latter in 2024, and that is likely to be where he lines up at the Superdome given the makeup of the Kansas City offensive line.
While veteran Joe Thuney has adapted well following his switch from guard to left tackle, giving up just one sack in his five games there and posting a clean sheet in terms of pressures allowed in the AFC Championship Game win over the Buffalo Bills, the Chiefs have a clear vulnerability at the right tackle spot in Jawaan Taylor.
Taylor allowed seven sacks in the regular season, tied for the ninth most among all tackles. He has only conceded four pressures in the postseason, but his Pro Football Focus pass block grade of 62.5 is the fourth-worst among all tackles to have played multiple playoff games this year.
Renowned for an extremely quick reaction to the snap that has seen him develop a reputation for false starts — including allegedly committing many that have not been penalized — Taylor would seem to be well-placed to deal with the threat of Smith’s explosiveness off the edge.
But their battle will not just be one based around get-off. Yes, Smith has speed to turn the corner and win with dip and bend, but he also plays with impressive leverage and knows how to use his hands to disengage from linemen with an obvious size advantage over him.
Yet the tool that may be most useful to Smith in his likely duel with Taylor is the inside move that led to his first sack of the postseason against the Green Bay Packers.
Smith’s explosiveness makes him a substantial weapon attacking the inside shoulder of opposing tackles. If he can offer enough of a threat to Taylor’s outside shoulder, it could lead the former Jacksonville Jaguar to quickly overset and open up substantial space to the inside for Smith to exploit, with the Chiefs’ interior likely to be preoccupied with Jalen Carter and Co. at defensive tackle.
It is the gargantuan Carter and his ability to exploit an interior of the Chiefs’ offensive line featuring an inexperienced left guard in Mike Caliendo that is likely to be viewed by many as the most significant defensive matchup for Philadelphia.
However, if the Eagles are hoisting the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night, there’s a strong chance the considerably less substantial figure of Smith will have had an outsized impact.
