Eagles Top 25 Best Players Countdown: Checking In At No. 23 Is Another Cornerback

It's been a cornerback run so far on SI's list of the top 25 best Eagles players.

Eagles CB Isaiah Rodgers / Isaiah Rodgers/X.com

PHILADELPHIA – The question surrounding Isaiah Rodgers this spring was simple: How long would it take for him to shake off any rust in his game? The answer came quickly – not long at all.

Rodgers showed no signs of needing any time to reacclimate to the game taken from him after the NFL suspended him for one year for violating the league’s gambling policy. The cornerback was one of the Eagles’ OTA and minicamp standouts, notching a pick-six interception of Jalen Hurts and breaking up several passes.

Thus, he lands at No. 23 on our list of top 25 best Eagles.

The list has become an annual affair in which SI.com’s Eagles beat reporters Ed Kracz and John McMullen submit their top-25 lists at the same time so each would be unaffected by the others.

No. 1 on the list is awarded 25 points and so one down the list with No. 25 receiving one point.

One player will be revealed each day as we count down until Eagles training camp with players set to report on July 23.

Eagles CB Isaiah Rodgers / John McMullen/Eagles SI

The two picks that have been revealed already:

No. 25 – Kelee Ringo

No. 24 – Cooper DeJean

Now comes a third straight member of the Eagles’ rebuilt secondary with the selection of Rodgers. The 26-year-old received seven votes, with five coming from McMullen, who had him at No. 21 on his list. Kracz had him at No. 24.

After the Eagles signed him roughly two months after his suspension was handed down and after his previous team, the Indianapolis Colts, released him, the thinking by many was that he could end up playing in the slot, but his reps came solely at outside cornerback during the spring. He got a heavy dose of working with the first team, with Ringo and rookie Quinyon Mitchell occasionally taking turns with the first team as well.

“I just kept my schedule up as if I was still playing,” Rodgers said when asked how it looked as if he hadn’t missed any time. “On Sundays, I used it like a game day, so I used cardio and things like that. I’d take Tuesdays off as if I was still playing. So, I kind of still stayed with an NFL schedule and continued to work, and just prepare for these moments.”

He is expected to contend for a starting job opposite veteran Darius Slay, but the competition will be fierce, with Ringo and Mitchell in the mix as well.

Rodgers, though, can do more than play cornerback. He can also return punts and kicks, two areas of special teams where he got reps during the spring.

He returned 64 kickoffs in three years with the Colts and had a 101-yard touchdown on one. He averaged 27 yards per return. The kickoff rules are different this year, but perhaps that experience will give Rodgers an advantage to do that job once the season begins.

“I love them,” he said about the new rules. “I think once you get past that first level, there’s really nobody else there. We’ll see how it goes. It’s going to be a little different to actually see it, but I’m ready to actually get it going full speed.”

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