Chris Maragos played all of 17 defensive snaps a season ago, appearing as a safety only in the Eagles' wins in Week 10 against the Panthers and Week 12 over the Titans.
This past Monday night in Atlanta, the special teams ace received more than twice as many defensive snaps as he had in all of 2014. He was in for 36 plays, made a tackle, wasn't targeted and didn't allow any catches.
Maragos' playing time came as a surprise considering he didn't play defense in the Eagles' third preseason game. In Atlanta, he entered the game when the Falcons went to three-wide receiver sets. The Eagles shifted Malcolm Jenkins to the nickel and inserted Maragos into Jenkins' usual spot.
The Eagles' slot corner spot was something of a mystery heading into the regular season. After trading longtime nickel Brandon Boykin on the eve of training camp, the first man up at slot corner looked like sixth-round pick JaCorey Shepherd, but he tore his ACL early in camp and was placed on injured reserve.
Other candidates throughout the summer were second-rounder Eric Rowe and veteran E.J. Biggers. Walter Thurmond, who played corner his entire career until this season, was too valuable as a safety to move into the slot.
After Rowe struggled mightily in the Eagles' final two preseason games, they opted to start the season with Jenkins moving up to play nickel in three-wide sets. Jenkins did enter the league out of Ohio State as a cornerback.
And that meant, finally, Maragos got an opportunity to show he's more than a special-teamer.
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"He's just gotten better," Chip Kelly said Thursday of Maragos. "He's improved in Year 2. Last year was really trying to hone in on playing special teams and being a great special teams player. We had talked to him last year about, 'Don't sell yourself short as a defensive back. There's potential for you there.'
"And I think he's done that, he's embraced both roles. I think maybe he feels a little bit — I'm not speaking for him — he may feel a little bit more comfortable with what we're doing special teams-wise and now he can tackle the other part of it."
Maragos carved a niche in Seattle playing special teams and that's what attracted the Eagles to him. It was understandable that he never got a chance to play safety with the Seahawks — Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor have not only been the best safeties in the NFL the last few years, they've also stayed healthy.
Maragos saw the Eagles as a new opportunity, one in which he could continue to stand out on special teams but maybe earn some playing time on defense, too.
"When I first came in, the first conversation I ever had with Coach Kelly, I said I'm not going to be perfect, but I'm going to do everything in my power to be perfect," Maragos said. "And he was like, 'Hey, listen, don't just limit yourself to special teams, to what you've been used to doing. Excel any way you can.' That's always been my mindset, too.
"When I came in here, it was the opportunity to kind of do what I've been known to do my whole career, which is special teams. But for me, coming into a new system, last year was my first year, just kind of getting used to everything that was going on, then starting to feel comfortable with the scheme. It feels good."
Maragos has had an interesting route to the NFL. He was a walk-on wide receiver at Western Michigan before transferring to Wisconsin, where he also walked on. How he ended up at Wisconsin is the crazy part. Maragos is a Wisconsin native, and his brother was the Badgers' mascot. He took a shot in the dark and messaged a Wisconsin wide receiver on Facebook, introduced himself as Bucky Badger's brother, and before he knew it, his tape was in front of the Wisconsin coaching staff and he was being asked to walk on. It wasn't until Maragos' final season that he was offered a scholarship.
After going undrafted in 2010, Maragos joined the 49ers and received a signing bonus for a whopping $4,000. A few years later, he was making special teams tackles for the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
"Obviously when we brought him here — and he knew that — it was to be a special teams player," Kelly said. "And he's an outstanding special teams player, one of the best in the league at it. Now he's kind of adopting that other role that you can do both. And I think he's shown that going back to last spring when we got here in April."
Maragos is unsure if those 36 snaps in the opener are a sign of things to come. But defensive coordinator Billy Davis spoke highly of him after practice on Thursday, saying Maragos "came in and quarterbacked the back end (of the defense) like we wanted him to."
Since Rowe doesn't yet appear ready and the Eagles aren't flush with other options at fifth defensive back, Maragos should continue in this role until a better option presents itself.
"It's so fluid there on the back end with all the different guys we have," Maragos said. "So every week, based on what the offense is gonna give us, personnel, matchups, different things like that, it fluctuates. For me, I just stay ready as best I can."
Maragos' role could take on greater importance in Week 2 against the Cowboys. With Dez Bryant sidelined with a Jones fracture in his foot, Dallas will likely use the middle of the field more, with Tony Romo targeting Jason Witten, Gavin Escobar and Cole Beasley on intermediate routes.
But the Eagles aren't completely sure what a Bryant-less Cowboys offense will look like. After all, he hasn't missed a game since 2011.
"You don't know exactly what they're going to do now with Dez out," Maragos said. "It's going to be interesting to see how they use their personnel, how their gameplan is going to change offensively. It's kind of a toss-up, not having Dez in there. We'll know a little more after the first half what they'll be doing."