Philadelphia Eagles: Top positional needs for 2020 offseason

Cornerback

Outside of wide receiver position, the cornerback position is the one roster spot that will probably see the most turnover this offseason.

The Philadelphia Eagles opted not to address the position in the 2019 season. Instead, they chose to re-sign Ronald Darby for one more season and see if Jalen Mills could still be a serviceable player in the secondary. Roseman kept most of the same players present from the Super 52 roster and it was assumed that, after high injury rates in 2018, this unit could get back to playing at a high level again.

The 2019 season showed that to be a mistake, exposing the team’s secondary as easy pickings for opposing quarterbacks. At one point during the season, the unit was ranked as one of the worst groups in the NFL. According to PFF, by the middle of the season, they had given up more 30-yard touchdown plays and more 100-yard receivers than any other team.

On top of being inefficient, they were constantly injured. For the second straight season, Darby played less than 11 games. For the second straight season, Mills played less than nine games. Backups also saw time on the injury report, as Cre’von LeBlanc was critically injured before the season even started.

Out of all the secondary, only Rodney McLeod, Malcolm Jenkins and Rasul Douglas played in all 16 games. Darby gave up six touchdowns in 11 games, allowing a 64 percent completion rate. Mills wasn’t much better, giving up four touchdowns in nine games, allowing a 57.4 percent completion rate.

The back-ups brought it weren’t much better. Nothing epitomized this problem more so than the Wild Card Round in this year’s playoffs. After the loss, media outlets exuded the elite play of Seattle Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf during the matchup. Metcalf earned 160 yards on seven targets that evening, good for over 22 yards a reception, an NFL record for a rookie in a playoff game.

But what the media forgot to mention is he was facing off against a sixth-round rookie safety named Marcus Epps. Claimed off waivers in November, he had only played in ten percent of all defensive snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles during the regular season, according to Pro Football Reference.

Ask an Eagles fan who Epps is and watch their face go blank.

Most likely the 2019 cornerback unit will be disbanded this offseason. It will require both free agents and draft picks to re-assemble this unit if the Philadelphia Eagles have any chance of competing in the secondary next season.

Free Agency: If the Philadelphia Eagles have any hope of rebuilding this unit in time for the start of the 2020 season, they will need to be big spenders this offseason. Douglas will be the highest-paid cornerback on the roster this season, making just $2.3 Million, the fifteenth highest-paid player on roster according to Over The Cap.

Chris Harris Jr. from the Denver Broncos is a good option for the team. Harris will be turning 31 this season and will likely cost a lot, having made over $12 Million last season.

Harris has also spent much of his career playing against slot receivers. Slot duties last season were mostly covered by either Jenkins or Sidney Jones, making Harris’s potential role on the team opaque and potentially redundant. Harris did play last season on the outside receiver but would be best maximized in slot coverage.

Byron Jones from the Dallas Cowboys is the best free-agent cornerback this offseason from a skills perspective. But if he leaves Dallas, it will be a result of their cap situation. Meaning it would be very tough to convince him to play on any type of discounted contract.

Jones is also a mixed bag from a production standpoint. Jones hasn’t brought in an interception in two seasons. On top of which, he has been used a lot during his five seasons with the Cowboys, playing at least 83 percent of all snaps during that time.

That being said, there is still a lot to like about Jones. For starters, his interception rate is low because quarterbacks are afraid to throw to whomever he is covering. At 27, he should still have several seasons of elite play left in him.

Jones plays exceptionally well on the outside in single coverage. The Philadelphia Eagles desperately need a cornerback with such skills. Having an elite single coverage cornerback would allow their star safety Jenkins to patrol more of the field instead of helping cornerbacks.

PFF projects that Jones will ink a deal upwards of $16 million a year, so if the Philadelphia Eagles want Jones they will have to dig deep in the couch cushions for that kind of money.

Bringing ex-Cowboys to Philadelphia does not have the best track record in recent years (see: DeMarco Murray, Orlando Scandrick). But if the team is confident he can be a pass-disrupter in the secondary for the next five years, it is difficult to see how they don’t make a move for Jones this offseason.

2020 NFL Draft: This year’s draft pool has several good cornerbacks in the first three rounds. It should be assumed that if a cornerback is not selected in the first round, he will be drafted in the second round.

Kristian Fulton from LSU could fall to the twenty-first spot in the first round, but it would depend on how other teams draft ahead of them. With 38 total tackles and 14 deflected passes in 2019, he would be a valuable addition to the team’s secondary. His biggest issue will be lack of experience, as he only started for LSU one full season.

Trevon Diggs for Alabama would be an interesting fit. He played well under Nick Saban’s exceptionally diverse coverage schemes and should have an easy transition into the NFL.

Known as a press-coverage expert, Diggs has the speed and strength to be a tough matchup for opposing receivers. At 6-foot-2, 200 pounds he can manhandle receivers in the contact zone and is an excellent defender downfield.

Like Fulton, Diggs is likely to be a first-round cornerback, which means Roseman will need to draft him early if they choose to select him. Considering the state of the Philadelphia Eagles cornerback unit, they may not have a choice.

If Roseman doesn’t bring in a big name cornerback during free-agency, you should assume he will drafting one early in the 2020 NFL Draft.