In Roob’s Notes: Discovering the Eagles’ cornerback room originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Find out how the Eagles’ massive cornerback inventory fits together, a look back at Sean Desai being fired, and five things to like and dislike about the Eagles’ 2024 schedule.
That’s just a taste of what’s in store for those who dare read all 10 of Roob’s 10 Random Eagles offseason observations this week.
1. With Shon Stephens in the mix, the Eagles now have 14 cornerbacks on the roster, which is crazy but shows how serious they are about fixing their broken secondary. On my projected 53-man roster, I kept seven – Darius Slay, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Isaiah Rodgers, Avonte Maddox, Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks. I could see three corners on the practice squad – Stephens, Zech McPhearson, Josh Jobe, Tyler Hall and Mario Goodrich are good candidates. It’s hard to cut Jobe because he’s one of the Eagles’ best special teams players and I hope he’s around. And I’m going to keep Mekhi Garner, but move him from corner to safety, where he’ll have a better chance of staying. I like the idea of having DeJean work the slot early on to get him on the field, and if Ricks or McPhearson show they can handle the backup slot, I can see Maddox being expendable even if he is able to hold his own. healthy. No matter how I elaborate, I don’t see how James Bradberry is in the lineup. Keeping him would mean losing a promising young corner and I just don’t see Howie Roseman doing that, no matter what the cap is. My guess is the Eagles go into training camp with Bradberry on the roster and then trade him to a team desperate for veteran help. There’s no reason to cut it now. Either way, the Eagles will have more talent at the position than they did last year. A lot more. It will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.
two. The Eagles had 11 defensive players age 28 or older who played at least 100 snaps last year, and eight of those 11 are no longer with the team. Fletcher Cox, Bradley Roby, Kevin Byard, Haason Reddick, Zach Cunningham, Nicholas Morrow, Justin Evans and Shaq Leonard are gone. The only ones still here are James Bradberry – who I don’t expect to be here when the season starts – along with Brandon Graham and Darius Slay.
3. Nelly? Of course. Of the 94 wide receivers who were targeted at least 40 times last year, Nelson Agholor’s 77.8% catch percentage was 3third-highest in the NFL, behind Buffalo’s Khalil Shakir (86.7) and Lions’ Kalif Ryamond (79.5). Nelly caught 35 of the Ravens’ 45 targets. The highest catch percentage in Eagles history by a WR is DeVonta Smith’s 72.3 last year, with Jason Avant in 2009 (70.7) and Alshon Jeffery in 2018 (70.7) next. Agholor’s catch percentage from 2015 to 2022 with the Eagles was 59.3, which ranked 63rdthird of 94 receivers with at least 300 targets. Good for Nelly.
4. Three weeks before Sean Desai was fired, the Eagles had the 12thth-ranked in the NFL and was coming off a victory in Kansas City over the eventual Super Bowl champions in which they eliminated Patrick Mahomes and Company in the second half, the first time in three years that the Chiefs were eliminated in a second half. Then they gave up 34 points in a win over the Bills — two of their TD drives were under 50 yards — and then were blown out by 42 and 33 points by the 49ers and Cowboys. In the space of three weeks, they faced the No. 4, 5 and 2 offenses in the league, three offenses with a composite average of 28.4 points per game, and they got no help from an offense that repeatedly put them in bad position and that’s when Desai was fired and replaced by Matt Patricia. We all know what happened after that. The more I look back at the end of last year, the more I realize how changing defensive coordinators midway through created far more problems than it solved and what a horrible mistake it was to replace a defensive coordinator who three weeks earlier was ranked 12th. defense in the league as the Eagles move to 10-1. I think of Haason Reddick standing at his locker and giving his honest assessment of the change: ““I’m not going to say or act like it’s not a hard thing to do. It is difficult. It is extremely difficult.” Desai wasn’t perfect, but it was a combination of the schedule, weak personnel – especially in the secondary – and an offense that made things very difficult for the defense, as well as some of Desai’s deficiencies that contributed to the three-game collapse. And any chance the Eagles have had to turn things around these last four games has been with the same scheme, the same defense, the same terminology, the same voice that led the Eagles to 10-1. This was a panicked and strange move for a franchise that likes to take an intelligent, measured view of things. Getting rid of Desai was a mistake. Replacing him with Patricia was an even bigger mistake.
5. DeVonta Smith is one of six players in NFL history with 260 receptions, 20 touchdowns and 13 yards per catch in his first three seasons (including playoffs). The others are Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Odell Beckham Jr., CeeDee Lamb and AJ Green.
6. Jason Kelce was 191st player chosen in the 2011 draft. Only eight of the 190 players chosen ahead of him are still in the league: Von Miller, Tyron Smith, Blaine Gabbert, Cameron Jordan, Cameron Heyward, Andy Dalton, Justin Houston and Tyrod Taylor. Three others – Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones and Taiwan Jones – were active in 2023 but are not currently on the roster.
7. Brent Celek has the 3third-most receiving yards by a tight end in NFL history without ever making the Pro Bowl. Celek caught 398 yards for 4,998 yards and 31 touchdowns during his 11-year career, all with the Eagles. Only Ben Watson (6,058 yards from 2004 to 2019) and Bob Tucker (5,421 yards from 1970 to 1980) had more yards, but they never made the Pro Bowl. Dallas Goedert is 14 years oldth on that list and third among active tight ends with 3,589 yards, behind Hunter Henry (3,853) and Tyler Higbee (3,602). Celek’s 971 yards in 2009 are 3third-most times by a tight end in a single season without making the Pro Bowl. Darren Waller had 1,145 in 2019 and Jimmy Graham had 982 in 2012.
8. Of the five quarterbacks the Eagles have drafted in the last 20 years who have had at least 10 career interceptions, only one of them has had more than a third of them as an Eagle. Quintin Demps had one of 18 as an Eagle, Kurt Coleman seven of 21, Nate Allen 10 of 13, Jordan Poyer none of 24 and Rasul Douglas five of 19.
9A. Five things to like about the 2024 schedule: 1) The Eagles won’t have to step on a plane for the final six weeks of the season, with four home-and-away games at Washington and Baltimore, 2) Just one of the last 13 opponents won a playoff game in 2023 (the Ravens), 3) With the Panthers in Week 13, the Commanders in Week 15 and the Giants in Week 17, the Eagles he must be able to avoid any kind of late losing streak, 4) There is only one point where the Eagles face 2,023 playoff teams in consecutive weeks – the Rams and Ravens in Weeks 12 and 13. They face the Bucs and Browns back-to-back. return games but separated by the bye week, 5) The Eagles face the Cowboys at home in Week 17, and in significant home games against the Cowboys in December, the Eagles are 5-1 since 1995, with the only loss coming in 2014 with Mark Sanchez as defender. When the Eagles faced the Cowboys in December in Dallas, they lost five of their last six.
9B. Five things you don’t like about the 2024 schedule: 1) Three of the first four games involve air travel. Between September 4th and 29th, the Eagles will fly 13,498 miles, 2) From Week 8 to Week 13, the Eagles face five teams that have a winning record in 2023 in a six-week period, including three in a four-week period . stretch of week in which each won at least 10 games and made the playoffs (Cowboys, Rams, Ravens), 3) The early bye week means the Eagles will play 13 games in 85 days to finish the regular season, 4) The Stretch from Week 10 through Week 13 includes the Commanders at home on a Thursday night, four days after a late afternoon game in Dallas, and then a Sunday afternoon game in Baltimore after a night game against the Rams in Los Angeles, 5) The Eagles face several veteran quarterbacks who have had their number: Matt Stafford is 4-2 against the Eagles but with 12 touchdowns and one INT, Russell Wilson is 6-0 with nine TDs and one INT, Kirk Cousins is 6-5 but with nine TDs and two INTs and Dak Prescott is 9-4 with 24 TDs and eight INTs.
10. LWLWWWWWLWWLWWLWW.
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