The Eagles' secondary wasn’t very good last year. You probably remember. Unless your brain short-circuited from watching Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher stumble through the season and you deleted any memory of the mess, at which point no one could blame you.
There were all sorts of factors that went into that poor overarching performance, from personnel to scheme to the fact that the offense played fast and the defense was frequently on the field as a result. Plenty of variables, but an undeniable truth: the secondary was ugly.
The Eagles were next to last in passing defense, allowing 4,238 yards. Only the Falcons were worse. The Eagles surrendered 30 passing touchdowns. Only the Jets, Bears and Washington were worse. And they coughed up a staggering 13 “X plays” -- plays that went for 20 or more yards -- which was tied for fourth-worst in the league. Only the Titans, Steelers and Patriots gave up more. Not good.
Not surprisingly, the Eagles made changes to the back of their defense during the offseason. They waved goodbye to Williams and Fletcher. Same with Nate Allen. They took Brandon Boykin -- arguably their best cornerback last season -- and bundled him off to Pittsburgh. Among significant contributors/starters, only Malcolm Jenkins remained. Then the Eagles filled in the vacancies with new faces. They threw a ton of money at Byron Maxwell to sign him away from one of the best defenses in the league. They threw some more money at Walter Thurmond. They had high hopes for JaCorey Shepherd -- then had those hopes snuffed out when the corner suffered a season-ending injury. They also drafted Eric Rowe. Nolan Carroll is back. E.J. Biggers, Denzel Rice and Jerome Couplin made the roster. That’s basically the crew. (Throw in Chris Maragos if you like, though he’s primarily a special teamer.)
If you like the changes and additions -- or even if you believe in addition by the subtraction of Williams and Fletcher -- the Eagles have to be better in the secondary. Don’t they? Because it would be hard to be worse.
During Thursday’s conference call with the Falcons, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was asked about the Eagles' secondary. He mentioned the different personnel this season and called the new crew “talented” in general. Specifically, he singled out Maxwell. Makes sense. If the Eagles are going to improve in the defensive backfield, Maxwell will have to play a primary role. But while it’s important for Maxwell to play well, NFL offenses generally make a living by identifying and exploiting the soft spots in a defense. Find the weak link, crack it in half. That kind of thing. With a secondary rotation that’s far from solidified, you wonder how many players the Eagles will switch in and out to begin the season.
“I think there’s always a level of fluidity because you’re always so based on what your performance is,” Chip Kelly said. “We’ll look at it as those guys kind of get acclimated back there. But that’s kind of the same for every position, not just the secondary.”
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Defensive coordinator Bill Davis agreed that the secondary could vary “week to week,” though he also said he’d like to get his “top five guys out there.” But where some see uncertainty in the defensive backfield, Davis sees options.
“It’s kind of neat that we have the position flexibility and the personnel where we have corners that can play nickel and corners that can play safety,” Davis said. “We have some flexibility with both game planning and to absorb injuries as well as we go through the season.”
Flexibility is good, but it also leads to questions. Rowe might be the biggest unknown in terms of where and how the Eagles will deploy him. He was a safety for most of his collegiate career until switching to corner. That’s a tough transition at any level. You saw some of that difficulty manifest itself in the final preseason game. Rowe struggled against the Jets. But he’s also been asked to do and learn a lot. It’s hard enough to be a rookie in the NFL. It’s harder still when you’re moving to what remains a new/foreign position.
The other day, after practice, Rowe talked about all his different assignments and tasks -- playing corner, playing nickel, playing safety, using inside leverage and outside leverage. It sounded like a lot. It is a lot.
“Coach really has us playing all positions,” Rowe said. “No one really knows the depth chart yet. We’re out here practicing. It’s the first week of the season. I don’t really know what to expect.”
Rowe said he spent the other day trying to get a feel for the Falcons' route trees and their offense. He said he’s played safety all his life, but he feels like he’s making progress at corner. He called himself a quick learner. He’d better be. Goes for him and most of his teammates in the defensive backfield.
“All the guys have taken reps at all the spots,” Davis said. “Even through training camp, Walt Thurmond was taking reps at corner. We’ve had a really good offseason as far as cross-training our secondary.”