May 08, 2015
The Eagles' rookie draft picks and a few select undrafted free agents spoke with the Philly media today, and the three defensive backs who spoke all have something in common -- They all think they can play corner, safety, or nickel.
The Eagles' rookies got their first taste of action on the practice field in Philly, and the three defensive backs were all asked where they played.
"Today it was mainly corner, but I’m learning the whole defense," said Kansas rookie DB JaCorey Shepherd. "(Defensive backs coach) Cory (Undlin) talked to us about possibly playing safety and nickel. I played corner today, but tomorrow it could be different. Who knows? I’m just learning the whole defense and doing what they asked."
Utah second-round pick Eric Rowe echoed Shepherd's sentiments.
"Today I was at corner," he said. "But just like JaCorey said I can be a safety tomorrow, or a nickel tomorrow. I don’t know. Coach Cory pushes us to know the whole defense, so we know what’s happening on the back end. I could be the front or the backside corner, but I have to know what’s happening with the safety on the backside."
And finally, Randall Evans didn't know where he would play this season.
"This was our first day of practice, and right now no one knows," Evans said. "I can play corner, nickel, or safety."
It's really not that big of a deal where players line up in May, but clearly the Eagles have placed a heavy value on players who can play all three positions in the defensive backfield.
"We're going to throw them all out on the field and figure out who the best corners and safeties are," said Chip Kelly, speaking to reporters on the third day of the draft. "And again, I've said this, I don't care on Monday who lines up where. Let's start working on technique, let's start backpedaling. We've got a long way to go. You've got three weeks of you can't even go against a look. They're just backpedaling and braking and doing drills with no heartbeat across from them, and then we'll get going and we'll figure it out. But the more people you have to select from, the better we think our prospects are in the secondary."
The Eagles' roster is loaded with defensive backs who have experience at corner and safety:
Malcolm Jenkins: Jenkins is locked in as the No. 1 safety on the Eagles' depth chart, but he was the 14th overall pick of the 2009 draft as a corner, before eventually moving to safety his second year in the NFL.
Jaylen Watkins: Watkins began learning all three positions a year ago, and got some game action at corner in 2014. This offseason, according to Birds 24/7, Watkins bulked up to potentially move to safety. Watkins played both corner and safety at Florida.
Walter Thurmond: Thurmond was a good slot corner in Seattle, but Chip Kelly said he would be given the opportunity to compete for a starting spot on the outside in 2015, and Garry Cobb reported that he is already getting looks at safety.
Nolan Carroll: Carroll played on the outside in Miami, and he played a dime linebacker role in Billy Davis' scheme last season.
E.J. Biggers: Biggers played on the outside for the Buccaneers in 2012, safety for the Redskins in 2013, and moved to slot corner in 2014.
The remaining safeties with less versatility, in terms of their contributions in the regular defense, are safeties Earl Wolff, Jerome Couplin III, and Ed Reynolds, as well as special teams standouts (who also play safety) Chris Maragos and Chris Prosinski.
Byron Maxwell is the only corner definitely set to play on the outside, although Kelly said that Rowe is likely to start his career at corner as well.
And then there's poor, talented Brandon Boykin, who the team just doesn't seem to value all that much anywhere other than slot corner, if he remains with the team.
If we're taking a stab at the depth chart on the back end, here's how we'd have it:
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| CB1 | Byron Maxwell | Nolan Carroll | JaCorey Shepherd |
| CB2 | Eric Rowe | E.J. Biggers | |
| Slot CB | Brandon Boykin (?) | Walter Thurmond | |
| Safety1 | Malcolm Jenkins | Jaylen Watkins | Ed Reynolds |
| Safety2 | Earl Wolff | Randall Evans | Jerome Couplin III |
| Special teams guys / emergency safeties | Chris Maragos | Chris Prosinski |
Whew, that was hard, and probably wrong.
The Eagles will have a boatload of players heading into training camp who are versatile. Versatility is great, but do they have five guys who can play one specific position really well?
Follow Jimmy on Twitter: @JimmyKempski
