The Eagles had been rumored to be targetting Byron Jones on the open market but he wound up signing with Miami. After watching James Bradberry, Desmond Trufant and others sign with teams around the league the Eagles turned to the trade market and secured the services of Darius Slay, for a 3rd and 5th round pick. Slay had a down season for his standards anyway but still managed to intercept 2 passes, and defend 13 passes in 14 games. Just 2 seasons ago Slay had 8 interceptions and hasn't had a season without an interception since his rookie year. 2017 was his best season with 60 tackles, 26 passes defended, and 8 ints. He was at one point regarded as one of the best CB's in the league but after the trade came out speaking against the way Matt Patricia coached him and I would question if this didn't affect his play the past two seasons causing his slump. Regardless the Eagles had their eyes on Slay for the better part of 3 years and finally got him and locked him up for 3 years. This was one of the more telegraphed of their free agency moves.
Their next major move in the secondary was to resign Jalen Mills to play a hybrid safety/CB role. Mills might be their second best cornerback on the outside but they believe he could be a better safety than he was a cornerback. You may remember prior to Malcolm Jenkins moving to safety with the Saints he was a former first round pick at CB. He made the move after Just one season in the NFL and within a few years was used as a do everything defender who can line up in the box as an extra LB, in the slot to cover, as a single high safety, on blitzes, and became the unquestioned leader of the locker room along the way. The Eagles are hoping Mills can follow a similar path. The 6'1 205 lb cornerback played free safety in college so he is not completely green at the position couple that with the fact that he is a favorite of Jim Schwartz, and has been in this playbook for years now I would argue his transition should be smoother than most CB's that make this move. Also the new secondary coach Marquand Manuel has a history of moving cornerbacks to safety, he moved Ricardo Allen to safety in Atlanta and coached Desmond Trufant to his first pro bowl. The Eagles are hoping he can coach Sydney Jones or Avonte Maddox to their first.
At free safety they also resigned Rodney McLeod. McLeod started all 16 games last year had 76 tackles, 1 sack, 5 pass deflections, 2 ints, and 2 forced fumbles. Which honestly isn't far off his best statistical season. McLeod will likely take over the leadership role in this secondary as the older statesman at 29. He is signed through 2021 but there is an off chance his future replacement was signed this season.
Will Parks is a guy who has similar versatility to Malcolm Jenkins, he has played in the box, single high safety, right cornerback, or in the slot. Oddly enough the percentage he saw snaps at each position were similar to that of Jenkins. At 26 years old the 5th year veteran played 4 years in Denver learning from guys like Chris Harris Jr., Aqib Talib, and Darian Stewart. Parks is a Philly native and actually took less money to head home for a year. Parks signing serves several purposes for the Eagles. He adds a solid player to serve as their third safety in big nickel packages, while adding depth across the secondary, and special teams play. Most importantly he adds insurance at both safety spots. If Mills isn't cutting it at safety Parks can step in, if injuries occur the drop off won't be terrible. More importantly Parks has a penchant for big plays. In his rookie season he returned a blocked extra point attempt for the winning points in a game, that was after beating out Shiloh Keo for the backup strong safety job. Later that year he also managed an interception. In high school this guy played cornerback, wide receiver, running back, and kick returner. In college the 6'1 196 lb safety played specific positions in Arizona's 3-3-5 defense. He started at the "Bandit" position before moving to the "Spur" position. These positions in Arizona's defense are essentially hybrid safety/linebackers. They are used in coverage and run support. This is basically the exact role Jenkins played in the NFL. He served as a defacto third LB, even though he was deemed a safety. Allowing the Eagles to have a third cornerback or safety on the field. I believe Parks will be used in this exact role for Philly which will allow the team to use Mills exactly how they want to use him, as a safety who will come down and play the nickelback position when needed.
The final signing was Nickel Robey-Coleman a former nickelback for New Orleans, and Buffalo. He is a very underrated signing for the team and it allows them to have an open competition between Sydney Jones, Avonte Maddox, Coleman, and Crevon Leblanc. I think Coleman could come in on big nickel packages when Parks, Mills, and McLeod are in the game allowing Mills to line up at outside cornerback opposite of Slay, while Coleman lines up in the slot. Ultimately it gives the Eagles options all over the secondary.
Taking a look at the depth chart it should look something like this:
CB1 Darius Slay
CB2 Jones/Mills (certain packages)
CB3 Coleman or Maddox
CB4 Maddox or Coleman
CB5 LeBlanc
FS1 Mcleod
SS1 Mills
S3 Parks
On the defensive line they decided to aid the pass rush by bringing in a former 3-4 nose tackle from Pittsburgh. Javon Hargrave, this is not your typical nose tackle, he is undersized for the position at 6'2 305, but this should just demonstrate his strength. He was able to not only hold his own at roughly 20 lbs under most other nose tackles, while being arguably the best pass rushing nose tackle in the NFL. In 4 years in Pittsburgh this guy had 168 tackles, 14.5 sacks, 2 pass deflections, and 2 forced fumbles. Hargrave belongs in a 4-3 defense that allows him to get up field on every play and not be asked to two gap to free up ends and LB's. Playing next to Fletcher Cox will undoubtedly help his pass rushing production as well because he will face less double teams. Many people are saying this move makes Malik Jackson expendable but I disagree.
One of the issues I see with our defensive tackle rotation is the fact that Cox is almost never allowed to come off the field because of the lack of quality depth behind him. Well now you have a really solid top 3 defensive tackles in Hargrave, Cox, and Jackson that keep each other fresh and healthy, while Hassan Ridgeway will also get in the mix at times. The other factor here is the ability of Jackson to play end. I have heard he doesn't like to play end but being that we would be either our 3rd or 4th option at end, and really only play the position in short yardage and running situations it would likely not account for a ton of snaps.
Depth chart so far:
DE1 Brandon Graham
DE2 Derek Barnett
DE3 Josh Sweat/Malik Jackson
DE4 Genard Avery
DE5 Shareef Miller
DE6 Daeshon Hall or Joe Ostman
DT1 Cox
DT2 Hargrave
DT3 Jackson
DT4 Ridgeway
DT5 Anthony Rush
DT6 Bruce Hector
DT7 Albert Huggins
The Eagles seem to be high on Anthony Rush so I would expect them to keep 5 tackles, which may lead them to only keep 5 defensive ends. If they expect Jackson to take snaps at both spots this should be plenty of depth at both spots unless they want to add another pass rusher at the top of the depth chart. Maybe someone to compete with Sweat for the 3rd end role.
At linebacker they have signed just one guy. Jatavius Brown. The 4th year former Charger is an under rated signing. This guy didn't play a ton in 2019 but that was the exception to the rule for his career. He is an undersized guy that made his bones on special teams at first but was a spot starter for the Chargers. In 4 years he played in 55 games starting 23 of them. He had 255 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 12 tipped passes, and 3 forced fumbles between 2016-2018. He was basically the guy they would call on anytime someone got hurt. If they needed him to play either inside linebacker spot in their 3-4 defense he would step right in but also played outside when needed and actually showed his chops as a pass rusher his rookie season with 3.5 sacks. I believe he will up playing a large role for the Eagles in 2020. With the Eagles base defense being used less than their nickel packages he might wind up being the third LB in base defense.
I expect the depth chart to look like this:
MLB:Tj Edwards, 2) Jatavius Brown
WLB:Nate Gerry, 2)Duke Riley
SLB:Jatavius Brown 3)Alex Singleton
Now I am certainly not of the mindset that we are set at any of these positions but that's why I like these moves. They are all low risk high reward moves. Brown, Parks, and Coleman are all on 1 year deals, so if they underperform, or there is value in the draft at that position I don't put it past the team to still have an eye on acquiring talent. The one position on defense I don't see us adding anyone else is defensive tackle. Outside cornerback, safety, defensive end, and any LB spot is still very much in play.
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