The free safety job is Quintin Demps to win. He has the speed the Eagles want in their secondary but the jury is still out with regard to his ability to tackle in the open field.
Can he come up and punish a ball carrier on a sweep? Will be able to tackle a good tight end or running back in a one-on-one situation where a missed tackle means a touchdown?
Sean Jones can do the job as a tackler and he clearly has the better resume but can a guy who is really a strong safety, play free safety. Can he run step for step with wide receivers going deep?
Jones has lost weight so he can better run with the wide outs. You know he has the smart to make plays on the football. The veteran has picked off 14 passes in the last three years.
Last year the Eagles had to change their defense a bit because an aging Brian Dawkins was slowing down and had to be moved up by the line of scrimmage. Quintin Mikell played the deep routes more often so that Dawk could be allowed to flourish by the line of scrimmage.
Previously Jim Johnson and his staff liked to make their safeties interchangeable. Mikell can play up or back, the way Dawk used to be able to do. This gave the Eagles defense more versatility against opposing passing games.
The Eagles defense wants that versatility back and that's why the speedy Demps will have the first shot at the free safety spot. If he can prove that he's physical enough to do the job, he will be the starter.
On the other hand, if Demps fails and Jones proves that he can play deep middle and cover the ground needed when the ball isin the air, the job is his.
Even if Jones can't play free safety, he will be the starter at strong safety but the Eagles will have him play closer to the line of scrimmage than Mikell. It will mean the Birds will lose some versatility.
