Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: A Developing Cornerback Checks in at No. 25

It didn't seem possible that this fourth-round pick would be on this list after early struggles to his career, but he has developed to the point where he will challenge to start and should continue to rise on this list.

Dec 25, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Kelee Ringo (22) runs off the field after win against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA – The march to No. 1 begins, and it begins at No. 25.

In previous summers, my colleague John McMullen and I have voted for our 25 most important Eagles. This time, we are changing it up by naming our top 25 "best" Eagles.

How it works: We each submitted our lists at the same time, so there would be no copying, and awarded 25 points to the player we had at No. 1, 24 points to the player at No. 2, and so on down to No. 25, where the player in that spot received one vote.

One player per day will be revealed as we count down the days until training camp begins with players reporting on July 23.

At the risk of giving something away, two players did not make the list.

One was rookie Quinyon Mitchell who netted three points, all from yours truly who had the cornerback at No. 23 on his list. He did not make McMullen’s list.

The other player who will not appear here over the next 25 days is linebacker Nakobe Dean, who garnered one point. It came from McMullen, who had nim No. 25 on his list. He did not make the Kracz list.

And we’re off:

Kelee Ringo has shown vast improvement during spring workouts compared to early in his rookie season. / By Ed Kracz

NO. 25: KELEE RINGO

The second-year cornerback totaled four points – three from McMullen, who had him at No. 23, and one from Kracz who had him at 25.

That the fourth-round draft pick from the University of Georgia two years ago would even be on this list didn’t seem possible last summer. He struggled in every way possible for the first month or so.

The Eagles didn’t give up on him, and why would they? They moved up to grab him early in the fourth round and their philosophy is to develop the players they believed in enough to draft.

Ringo did exactly that. He first excelled on special teams as a gunner and would finish tied for third in tackles on those units with five. He then ended the season with five straight starts and added one more in the wild-card playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That's his immediate past.

As for Ringo’s future, he is expected to challenge for the starting role opposite Darius Slay. The competition should be as heated as the weather when training camp rolls into August and until the opener in Brazil.

Whatever happens, Ringo has already come a long way, and his future looks bright enough that he should continue to rise on this list as his career progresses.

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