August 29, 2016
New Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham is 6'5, which means that he's tall. Conversely, throughout the NFL, there are many cornerbacks who are short.
Yes, this high-level analysis, and you can send all Pulitzers to PhillyVoice's offices. Thanks in advance.
You can stop reading now if you wish, because we only expand on this point further. However, since the Eagles have not had a very tall receiver who used his height in "tall guy" ways, Green-Beckham is kind of a new phenomenon for Eagles fans.
Riley Cooper (6'3), Jordan Matthews (6'3), Hank Baskett (6'4), and Todd Pinkston (6'3) are Eagles with size in recent memory, but none of them posted up smaller corners or caught fade routes in the end zone with any kind of consistency. The Eagles used Terrell Owens' size (6'3) to some degree, but obviously, his tenure in Philly was short-lived.
Even the Eagles' tight ends over the last two decades or so were never really used in any kind of "throw it high" role.
If we're jumping to conclusions from the Week 2 and Week 3 preseason games against the Steelers and Colts, Green-Beckham will be used that way in Doug Pederson's offense. In the red zone against the Steelers, Green-Beckham entered the game unexpectedly and Chase Daniel floated him a fade in the right corner of the end zone. The pass attempt was bad, but the intent was there.
Against the Colts, Sam Bradford connected with Green-Beckham on a fade for a touchdown.
The Colts' 6'0 corner had no chance on that play.
"It felt natural," said Green-Beckham after the Colts game last Thursday night. "Just me being a big target, having a height difference, going up and making plays like that. I know I have to take advantages of those opportunities in the red zone."
Green-Beckham is going to have major size advantages over almost every corner he'll face this season. Below is a list of the projected starting corners for every team on the Eagles' schedule in 2016.
| Player | Height | DGB advantage (in inches) |
| Nevin Lawson, Lions | 5'9 | 8 |
| Adam Jones, Bengals | 5'9 | 8 |
| William Gay, Steelers | 5'10 | 7 |
| Terence Newman, Vikings | 5'10 | 7 |
| Orlando Scandrick, Cowboys | 5'10 | 7 |
| Janoris Jenkins, Giants | 5'10 | 7 |
| Robert Alford, Falcons | 5'10 | 7 |
| Tramon Williams, Browns | 5'11 | 6 |
| Joe Haden, Browns | 5'11 | 6 |
| Tracy Porter, Bears | 5'11 | 6 |
| Bashaud Breeland, Redskins | 5'11 | 6 |
| Damarious Randall, Packers | 5'11 | 6 |
| Sam Shields, Packers | 5'11 | 6 |
| Shareece Wright, Ravens | 5'11 | 6 |
| Kyle Fuller, Bears | 6'0 | 5 |
| Ross Cockrell, Steelers | 6'0 | 5 |
| Darius Slay, Lions | 6'0 | 5 |
| Josh Norman, Redskins | 6'0 | 5 |
| Brandon Carr, Cowboys | 6'0 | 5 |
| Desmond Trufant, Falcons | 6'0 | 5 |
| Jeremy Lane, Seahawks | 6'0 | 5 |
| Xavier Rhodes, Vikings | 6'1 | 4 |
| Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Giants | 6'1 | 4 |
| Dre Kirkpatrick, Bengals | 6'2 | 3 |
| Jimmy Smith, Ravens | 6'2 | 3 |
| Richard Sherman, Seahawks | 6'3 | 2 |
Indeed he was, and the Tennessee Titans often had success just chucking it high to Green-Beckham and letting him make plays. A sampling:
So if you were ever one of those fans who pined for the likes of Plaxico Burress, the Eagles now have a version of him.
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