2020 NFL Draft: Five first-round targets for the Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles need to prioritize their secondary if they hope to be competitive in the future. The only safety the Eagles have under contract for 2020 is Malcolm Jenkins, and even he is no guarantee to play.

The 32-year-old veteran of the Eagles secondary wants a new contract to reflect his value to the team. Last offseason he missed voluntary workouts and begrudgingly attended training camp after the Eagles promised to review his contract in 2019. With the 2019 season officially over, Jenkins has indicated he means business, telling reporters on locker cleanout day he won’t be back in 2020 without a new contract.

Besides Jenkins, the team has other problems in the secondary. For starters they have no long-term solution at the other safety positions, bringing in Andrew Sendejo for the start of the 2019 season and finishing in the Wild Card Round with Marcus Epps, a rookie drafted in the sixth round in 2019.

Defensive backs Rodney McLeod and Jalen Mills underperformed in 2019 and are expected to hit free agency this spring as well. The Eagles need to make safety a priority in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Despite Jenkins’ age, the overall perception is that the Eagles will renegotiate his contract in the offseason. Jenkins has been a leader in the Eagles locker room for years and has been a consistent presence on and off the field. He is a versatile safety who can play in downfield coverage, as a slot defender, and as a pass-rusher.

The Philadelphia Eagles will need to eventually plan for a day when Jenkins won’t be on the team, but I expect he will return in 2020 and be the Eagles starting strong safety.

The Eagles 2019 season showed what happens to a team that disregards its secondary. Alabama’s Xavier McKinney is one of the best safeties in the 2020 NFL Draft and has been a consistent presence in the Alabama defense for the past two seasons. The Eagles may consider moving up in the draft to snag LSU safety Grant Delpit over McKinney, but the draft capital they would need to trade to move up for him would be prohibitive.

Which should suit the scouting department in Philadelphia just fine. McKinney had a strong 2019 season and it can be argued that he looks better than Delpit coming into the 2020 NFL Draft. McKinney earned 95 total tackles along with 4 forced fumbles in 2019, compared to Delpit who had only 59 tackles and no forced fumbles, according to ESPN.

McKinney has played a wide variety of roles for Alabama, from downfield coverage to dime and nickel coverages, along with pass-rushing on designed blitzes and defending against the run. Similar to Jenkins, McKinney is the versatile safety, who can play a variety of roles for a team and can be shifted based on the needs of the defense at the moment.

He has excellent sideline-to-sideline speed and is an excellent disruptor downfield. He can trick quarterbacks into making ill-advised throws and then quickly make his way to the target in time to break up the pass. Having played in the SEC for three seasons, McKinney has faced off against some of the best receivers in the 2020 NFL Draft and has shown a consistent ability to outmaneuver and outrun opposing receivers.

McKinney also has great instincts in coverage. Time and again I saw him on film turn around in time to break up a pass when tripped up with the receiver and assigned cornerback. At 6-foot-1 200 pounds, McKinney is the prototypical safety in the NFL size-wise. He can challenge receivers at the catch point and has the physicality to outmuscle receivers and disrupt their route trees.

The Alabama junior has the speed and size to become a disruptive force in the NFL. While Delpit may be the more athletic safety in the 2020 NFL Draft, Delpit will likely be long gone before the Eagles get a chance to draft this spring.

McKinney would make an excellent addition to the Eagles secondary, as he does all the things Jenkins does well and will have time to learn from one of the best safeties in Eagles history. Re-building the Eagles pass defense won’t be concluded in a single offseason, but getting a defensive back of McKinney’s skill set would be a great start for the Eagles heading into the new decade.