Eagles' Draft Preview: Cornerbacks

The Eagles should be in the market for an outside cornerback opposite Darius Slay

Last year the Eagles sure looked like they were about to roll the dice with then-rookie Zech McPhearson opposite Darius Slay on the outside of Jonathan Gannon’s defense.

Throwing the 123rd overall pick into the deep end of the pool immediately seemed like a questionable plan and turns out it was all lip service as veteran cornerback Steve Nelson, and all of his extensive starting experience, showed up a few days before training camp last summer and was immediately inserted as the starter opposite Slay.

Nelson is now in Houston and we haven’t reached similar DEFCON 1 levels yet this year in late April with the draft still to come, along with the Phase 3 of free agency, post-draft, and even the trade market.

As Howie Roseman likes to remind observers, talent-gathering season reaches far beyond the first week of free agency and the draft, something proved at CB in recent years with an August trade for Ronald Darby and the signing of Nelson in the summer of 2021.

Today, however, the penciled-in plan is McPhearson with 179 career snaps opposite Slay perhaps pushed by the lengthy Tay Gowan, a sixth-round pick in 2021 by Arizona who was acquired in the Zach Ertz trade.

That puts the position at the top of many minds in the draft where there are likely three potential options for the Eagles with the Nos. 15 and 18 picks.

Roseman might have to bounce up a bit for LSU’s Derek Stingley, Jr. while Washington’s Trent McDuffie has graded out to most as a player who should go in the 15 to 20 range. Clemson’s Andrew Booth, Jr. could likely be snared in the early 20s if Philadelphia wants to maximize value there.

The one CB seemingly out of the Eagles’ range would be Cincinnati’s Ahmad Gardner, a potential top-5 selection.

When Nelson arrived last year, he stepped in and never looked back, offering Gannon competency as a complement to one of the best CB1s in the NFL in Slay.

The Eagles got Nelson at a bargain-basement price on a one-year deal for just over $3 million with the selling point being playing time and the ability to hit the free-agent market again.

While Nelson, 29, wasn’t able to break the bank or reach the $8.5M he topped out at previously with Pittsburgh, the six-year NFL starter was able to get multiple years from the Texans.

The Eagles had not completely shut the door on Nelson returning but were letting things play out when it comes to the draft. If Nelson remained on the market and a significant upgrade did not unveil itself, Philadelphia would have been more than comfortable bringing him back.

The team also checked in on veteran Stephon Gilmore, who signed with Indianapolis. Gilmore’s camp described the Eagles’ interest as a “hard play” but a source familiar with Philadelphia’s thinking described it as more of an observation of the market in case the former Defensive Player of the Year’s price would come down.

It did not. Not even close.

For now, head coach Nick Sirianni talked up in-house, young, unproven talent at CB this spring, a group that includes McPhearson, Gowan, and another trade pick up from last season in Kary Vincent Jr.

The Eagles also have Josiah Scott, who is primarily a slot CB, Mac McCain, and Craig James, who has been a special teams star in the past.

"I think we have a lot of good young corners that showed us a lot in practice but didn’t get the time to go on the field last year to play," Sirianni said at the NFL's spring meetings. "… You have Zech McPhearson, obviously. You have Tay Gowan. You have Mac McClain, Kary Vincent, all those different guys that are young first-year players.

"We have a great secondary group of coaches [led by Dennard Wilson] … I can’t wait to see how those guys continue to develop their game because we have some great coaches."

The good news about the position is that the Gannon’s other two CBs are among the best.

Slay, 31, had his fourth Pro Bowl season and was graded by Pro Football Focus as the fourth-best in the NFL behind only the Rams’ Jalen Ramsey, Atlanta stalwart A.J. Terrell, and Washington’s Kendall Fuller.

Avonte Maddox, meanwhile, was No. 23 overall and one of the best inside options in the league after a career year that earned him a three-year, $22.5 million extension.

EAGLES CORNERBACK DEPTH CHART:

LC - Darius Slay, Mac McCain, Craig James

RC - Zech McPhearson, Tay Gowan

Slot - Avonte Maddox, Josiah Scott, Kary Vincent

EAGLES TODAY TOP 10:

1. Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati

2. Derek Stingley, Jr., LSU

3. Trent McDuffie, Washington

4. Andrew Booth, Jr., Clemson

5. Kaiir Elam, Florida

6. Roger McCreary, Auburn

7. Kyler Gordon, Washington

8. Tariq Woolen, Texas-San Antonio

9. Cam Taylor-Britt, Nebraska

10. Coby Bryant, Cincinnati

Sleeper - Joshua Williams, Fayetteville State

Boom or Bust - Derek Stingley, Jr., LSU

BUILDING THE PERFECT CORNERBACK

Press Coverage - Ahmad Gardner, Cincinnati - If your nickname is “Sauce,” you better be able to cover things and Gardner has everything the NFL looks for in a CB1 – length, press-coverage ability, recovery speed, and ball skills.

Zone coverage - Roger McCreary, Auburn - McCreary doesn’t have the arm length or top-end speed to be a first-round pick for most teams but if you play a lot of zone coverage, and the Eagles certainly do, he’s the best read-and-react CB in the draft.

Run support - Andrew Booth, Jr., Clemson - When it comes to the outside running game, CB run support is a much bigger deal than people realize and while there are no Antonie Winfield, Sr.s in this year’s class, Booth has no problem sticking his nose into the traffic.

Recovery speed - Derek Stingley, Jr., LSU - Stingley has one of the highest ceilings in the draft and his traits are among the best the NFL has seen at CB since Ramsey.

Ball skills - Marcus Jones, Houston - Jones is a great returner who got some touches on offense so he understands what to do when the ball is in the air.

Eagles Potential Picks:

Day 1 - Derek Stingley, Jr., Trent McDuffie, Andrew Booth, Jr.

McDuffie is the sweet spot if the Eagles stay home (Nos. 15 and 18). If Roseman is feeling a bit froggy, Stingley is the high-level ceiling player for a targeted move up which would likely mean you have to get above Minnesota at 12. Booth is the trade-back candidate because it’s hard to justify the value there at 18 considering some other players at positions of need will be higher on the Eagles’ board

Day 2 - Roger McCreary, Kyler Gordon

McCreary seems like a perfect fit for how Gannon played defense last season and is just a good football player even though he’s not an eye-popping athlete. Gordon has starter potential but still needs work when it comes to technique and diagnosing what he’s seeing.

Day 3 - Marcus Jones, Houston; Jaylen Watson, Washington State; Martin Emerson, Mississippi State; Vincent Gray, Michigan

The Eagles really like Jones and had him in for a top-30 visit. The interest is twofold because Jones has solid potential as a slot corner but he’s also a dynamic return man and Philadelphia really struggled with their returners last season.

Thoughts of getting Jones later in the draft seem to be dissipating, however, and if he even falls to the fourth round the Eagles better jump.

When it comes to the Eagles in Day 3 picks at the CB position, focus on length and that leads me to players like Watson, Emerson, and Gray, who are in the Gowan mold they badly wanted to add last season. Of that group, Watson and his 4.48 speed would be the closest to the template.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen