There are plenty of things to get excited about regarding the Eagles, but the secondary isn’t one of them. I like the idea of Byron Maxwell matching up against Julio Jones, but I’m not interested in seeing rookie Eric Rowe getting matched up with anybody one-on-one, right now. The Birds made it clear that they wanted Rowe to play cornerback and nickel back now. They said he would probably play safety later in career.
Now, it looks like they may have had a change of mind about Rowe.
“Today, I didn’t go to nickel, but I did a little bit of safety. Coach said everyone is going to have to play everything eventually. I was the first to try it out.”
The Eagles second round draft pick worked out at safety yesterday and that’s not a surprise after the awful game he had against the New York Jets at the cornerback position. In the game against the Jets, Rowe was totally overmatched by some wide receivers, who aren’t even starters. He didn’t look quick enough to cover a NFL wide receiver.
Unfortunately at the safety position, you must have a clear understanding of all the secondary coverages and what the responsibilities are at each position. Rowe will need to know every assignment and every adjustment. To put it bluntly, he isn’t ready to do that, just yet.
Defensive coordinator Billy Davis isn’t ready for him to be matched up one-on-one against anybody, right now. I don’t know if Rowe understands that they’re working out at safety because they don’t feel comfortable with his at cornerback right now,.
“It’s more of an experiment,” Rowe said. “Down the road, if someone gets hurt, everyone has to get reps in there. Do it now, and maybe down the road, I can step in.”
Yes, they want him to be able to play both the safety and cornerback positions, but his poor performance at the cornerback spot is the reason he’s being worked out at safety. Right now, Rowe is only ready to play Special Teams.
Y they didn’t put this kid at safety from day one is beyond me! Thats what he is, the kid played three out of four years at safety, how don’t u let him practice there at least a little this past mini camp? I hope he picks it up quickly cause I think he can thrive there.
non-story– with a 50 man roster (P, K and LS don’t count in my book)– everyone needs to be versatile.
This is something that I stated about Eric Rowe since he was Drafted that he should groomed at his Natural Position which is Safety on Day 1 on where he could have made a bigger contribution for the 2015 Season..
But either way, he will be a Nickel Back/Back-up and Special Teamer for his Rookie Season, as most Rookies are, and will have a leg up for competing for a Starting Safety Position come 2016 ..
Walter Thurmond needs to be the Slot CB, which is his Best Position
This 2015 Draft Class at the CB & Safety Position was not a strong one as some of us indicated..
Top Picks Trae Waynes, Marcus Peters,Jalen Collins, Ronald Darby are all going thru their Growing Pains and none are Starting in Week #1 for their Repsective Teams ..
The Best CB so far in this Draft Class is who I thought and stated was the best Pure Cover CB in the 2015 Draft and that’s Kevin Johnson of Wake Forest who is battling with James Joseph for the Starters Job for the Houston Texans. Many were scared off by Johnson’s lean frame as he only goes about 184lbs on his 6-0 Frame, so he’s thin and some Teams wondered if he could physically hang with the bigger Receivers/Stronger Receivers and be a liability in stopping the Run but Johnson is very good 1 on 1 and just explodes to the ball with those long,lanky arms of his.. Keep an eye on Kevin Johnson as a Potential Pro-Bowler by Year 3 of his Career
PMan we will get a look at Atlanta falcons’ 2nd round pick Jalen Collins Monday.
Pittsburgh lost their 2nd round draft pick CB Senquez Golson to shoulder surgery — Brandon Boykin playing tonight wearing #25.
I watched 2 Falcons Pre-Season Games and DB Jalen Collins struggled in both of them though he did make a nice Int on one PLay.. He looks a little to bottom heavy, stiff in the hips and slow in changing directions to play CB and is built more like a Safety which is where I think he will end up playing in the NFL. He has nice Straight-Line Speed and not afraid of Contact, but as a NFL CB you have to be more Quick than Fast if you know what I mean…
Wasn’t Senquez Golston that little CB from Miss State that GMCliff was real High on.. I’ve seen the Steelers a couple of times this Summer but don’t recall if he played or did much..
pman, Jalen Collins will not be a good NFL corner either…you are correct…stiff hips.
I do think that Jalen Collins will make a very good Free Safety
He has great Ball Skills and can play Center Field and still be Physical enough to help in run support…
On a side Note
Jacorey Shepard has much more upside as a NFL CB than Eric Rowe, in my opinion..
Good article GCobb –
I was concerned with lining Eric Rowe as a cornerback Monday night.
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Eagles traded up with Miami from pick 52 (DT Jordan Phillips Oklahoma ) to pick 47 ( CB Eric Rowe Utah) and the Birds switched their 5th round draft pick ( CB Bobby McCann Memphis) for Miami’s 6th rounder ( CB Jacory Sheppard Kansas) to make the deal happen. Brian McCann is listed a starter with Brent Grimes for the Dolphins.
oops, Brice McCain is listed as Dolphin starter 7 year vet, Rookie Bobby McCain is 3rd string but made the 53 man roster.
I stated prior to the draft I was not an Eric Rowe fan, admittedly I only watched him play 3 games last year at CB, but I did not see him display skills that made me think he was someone I wanted the Eagles to take. I said he reminded me of Cary Williams because he got beat a lot. I hope he proves me wrong, not yet though.
Perhaps safety is better for him.
Jalen Ramsey will be everything we could wish for!
Fletcher doing what he does best…lol..getting beat deep
How the Eagles passed on Patriots Guard Tre Jackson who went to Florida State and was Selected at the end of the 3rd Round is beyond me.. Guy will be a 10 Year Starter and Pro-Bowl Player while Eagles Selected ILB JordanHicks who likely doesn’t see the field for 2 + Years outside of Special Teams
The others Rookie OL I really like that the Patriots got in the 4th or 5th Round is Center/Guard Shaquille Mason of Georgia Tech who is another athletic OL who Belicheck already had lined up as a lead Fullback on a red zone play
Damn Patriots are stacked on OL for the next 6-8 Years
A lot easier to play oline on the Pats with Brady than most teams. That being said, the Hicks pick made no sense.
I wanted tre jackson bad pman,,,,,i like hicks but he is not needed
Agree 100 but its not even about tom brady being there the guy is mauling people on the ground game
Damn gronk is mossing everybody out there…..pittsburgh has no defense at all…..boykin hasnt even played tonite
Fuck Chip Kelly has been labeled a racist, but the Pats have had the “all-white” offence for over a decade now. (save moss)
All white oline, all white qb, all white Wrs (save Moss), all white TEs, white rbs.
There are 9 of 11 Caucasian guys out there right now on offense….and its been like that since the hoodie has arrived.
vinnie, you just pulled the pin on the grenade…
Boston having the whitest team in the league isn’t news.
That’s generally been the case.
Boston (the city) being super racist also isn’t news. They have a long history there.
Which is why it IS news for the Ealges to be the whitest team in the league. To trump the Patriots is a pretty amazing feat considering that’s been the title holders since, well, forever.
And to manage to do so in such a short period of time. Hell I think one of the Ealges backup DBs is white – a white DB is like finding a unicorn (or a seahorn as the case may be) that’s so rare.
I believe I read that the Eagles have the most players with degrees including masters. And the patriots were number 2…. It has nothing to do with color… Has to do with brains and commitment
You are 100% Correct HAC and this is exactly how Chip Kelly is Building this Team.. The Patriots are the Model for Kelly in terms of Drafting, Signing and Acquiring Smart Players that are Achievers,Leaders and Committed to a Team Concept and can accept and thrive in a Structured, Regimented Routine similar to the Military where you have Loyalty to each other and actually Respect Authority
There is no Place on this Eagles Roster for the “Me-First” or “Selfish Players” no matter how Talented that Player or Players are … (Example’s are D-Jax, L McCoy, M Vick) which is why I called them all to be gone and replaced by Chip Kelly as he Built this Team in his Likeness
Players having masters have no correlation to the success of the Patriots. It’s just Chip Kelly’s harebrained non-scientific study when looking at the success of the Colts and Patriots, finding out they had a lot of college graduates, and claiming that has correlation to their success, instead of the obvious which is those teams were quarterbacked by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
All those college graduates amounted to nothing when Manning got hurt and the Colts took a nosedive. Just another thing that doesn’t really impact winning that Kelly makes a big deal about.
skayne, as an uneducated man yourself…keep telling yourself that. i do agree that a good qb is necessary– but smart, committed players are part of the formula. If you have questions see how desean and lesean continually say/do stupid things and the hell holes they have ended up in…
rhino, have you been paying attention to the home team? you would have kicked tires? really? did you read the next headline after the signing? charged with 3 crimes, the eagles want nothing to do with that.
Quite a few of the white guys on the Eagles were here when Chip got here. Most of the white guys that Chip added were those guys from the Pacific northwest colleges that he knew from Oregon.
Anyway, there’s 6 fewer white players this year so the Eagles will likely fall behind one of the teams that normally have the most white players – Green Bay, New England, Texas….
Here’s an interesting fact – In addition to being the whitest team the Eagles were also the fastest team in the NFL. That’s a combination that you don’t put together very often…. White and Fast… What?
2nd TE Scott Chandler is a good 2ns String/Backup TE to grab for Fantasy Football.. He will end up with 6-8 TD’s points aging with Brady and opposite of Gronkowski
Lol vinnie i was thinking that last night….damn pats got a all white offense
Mike Tomlin laying the hammer on the New England cheaters post game. But don’t worry the National Media gave equal time for the apologists to sugar coat his facts. Bob Kraft has his word police examining every word to see if he can fine Mike Tomlin and the NFL put zippers on every Pittsburgh Steeler’s mouths to brush under the rug integrity.
anyone see #25 Brandon Boykin yesterday for Pittsburgh? I saw Bradley Fletcher and Patrick Chung for New England.
i don’t think he played.
Eagles traded Boykin for a conditional 5th round draft choice that turns into a 4th rounder if Boykin plays 60% of the snaps. Getting zero snaps certainly doesn’t help reach that 60% number for the season.
He’ll get to that 60% number, don’t worry. He’s more talented than the guys they are currently running out there. He’s never been in anything but the Eagle’s system, and it takes time though to learn a whole new defense, considering he only had a couple weeks of training camp to learn it.
Aldon Smith signs with Raiders…
I get he is a headcase…but a 1 yr deal..i would have kicked tires.
Aldon Smith will likely get at least a Suspension from the NFL as well for multiple Violations of the Personal Conduct Policy once his Legal Charges work their way ..
Smith is not Chip Kelly’s Type of Player and has way too many issues going on in his life