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#2 Eagles' cornerbacks – Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills, Rasul Douglas, Sidney Jones and Avonte Maddox
The Super Bowl champs are no exception to the concept of constant competition. There are a few blasphemous people who say there might be a quarterback controversy brewing in Philadelphia, but I think Carson Wentz is the man and I had him as my league MVP until he went down in week 13.
Mike Wallace is coming over to take on a clearly defined role as a speedster out wide, which Torrey Smith recently owned. The D-line is loaded and the Eagles have several guys out of the backfield, but I think those two positions will feature heavy rotations. The three spots that actually seem to be up to grabs to some degree are the two outside corners and the nickel position.
Ronald Darby was acquired via trade about a year ago and played some good football for them, so he looks to be set. He possesses exceptional short-area quickness and just has to find some more consistency.
Jalen Mills went from a liability to an average starter, as their bigger outside guy who can disrupt receivers off the line, while Rasul Douglas got his hands on plenty of balls as a rookie despite not really seeing a lot of playing time in the postseason.
Sidney Jones is the wildcard in this whole thing. I had the second-round pick from a year ago as my number two corner in the entire draft, but he ended up tearing his ACL at the Washington pro day and fell to the Eagles at 43rd overall.
Evaluating Jones’ tape, I see a long, aggressive corner in the mold of a former fellow Huskie in Marcus Peters, who displays excellent route-anticipation, an ability to stick his foot in the ground and attack out of breaks and special playmaking to finish.
If he is back to himself and has taken advantage of a year on an NFL roster, I expect him to start on the opposite boundary of Darby. Philly also drafted another ultra-competitive DB with their fourth-round selection in this year’s draft. Avonte Maddox was one of those draft prospects I really enjoyed watching.
He was Pittsburgh’s clear-cut number one corner with smooth transitioning and feistiness at the point of the catch. While he isn’t patient enough against some routes yet, the fact that he is only 5’9’’ will never change. However, he could be a great fit inside, where they just had Patrick Robinson really make a name for himself and earn a big contract with the Saints.
Overall, I think the Eagles have an intriguing young cornerback room with very talented and competitive guys that should serve them well in the upcoming years.
