DeVonta Smith Scouts Eagles CB Josh Jobe: 'A Fan Since 'Bama!'

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Josh Jobe has stood out at a position that suddenly has question marks, but Smith believes his former teammate at Alabama is ready

PHILADELPHIA – Cornerback was supposed to be a position that would force the Philadelphia Eagles to make some difficult decisions when it came time to whittle the roster to 53 players, something all teams must do by 4 p.m. on Aug. 29.

It’s still a position that will force some difficult decisions, except it’s not what the team could have envisioned, not with injury and ineffective play.

Zech McPhearson was learning to play the slot to be the primary backup to Avonte Maddox. He tore an Achilles in the second preseason game and is lost for the season. The Eagles released him, but he went unclaimed, so he is now back with the Eagles, but his season is over after being placed on injured reserve.

Greedy Williams was signed to a one-year contract as a free agent and had the kind of experience – 39 games played with 21 starts - that could have paid dividends. Williams showed nothing and was released just two days after McPhearson’s injury.

Fourth-round draft pick Kelee Ringo is still finding his way as a 21-year-old rookie and based on his up, and mostly down, showing in the preseason and training camp, needs more time to grow and figure it out. His college career proved he is too good not, to, so maybe the learning curve will come quicker than what he has shown so far.

That has left the Eagles with more question marks at the position than there were at the start of training camp nearly a month ago.

A player who is trying to turn one of those question marks into more of an exclamation point is Josh Jobe, the second-year undrafted free agent from Alabama.

Jobe’s only regular-season experience in the defense came in one game, a blowout win over the New York Giants on Dec. 11 when he got in for 12 snaps. In the playoffs, he added nine more.

Raw would be an understatement for Jobe. Yet, the Eagles have shown great trust in him. He worked with the first team earlier in camp when James Bradberry missed some time with an injury.

Now, with McPhearson out, the Eagles gave some reps to Bradberry in the slot and had Jobe in on the outside.

DeVonta Smith worked against Jobe during their time together at the University of Alabama and believes Jobe is up to the task if he is indeed the backup to Bradberry.

“Man, I’ve been a fan of Jobe’s since Bama,” said Smith. “I’ve been going against Jobe for a while. So just seeing him come out here, and the trust that they have in him to put him out there, he’s only gotten better. Somebody I believe in myself, seeing him from Day 1 at Bama, till now.

“He’s very physical. He’s always been physical, but a guy that continues to be physical. But also he understands offenses and understands leverages and things like that.”

There’s another cornerback from Alabama who may find a home on the roster given the state of that position, and that is Eli Ricks, who had a pick-six in the first preseason game but struggled a bit in the second. Ricks only attended Alabama for one year after being at LSU for two.

The advantage young players like Jobe and Ricks, and some others such as Mario Goodrich and Mekhi Garner have, is learning from veterans like Bradberry and Darius Slay.

"A lot of vets in this league don’t want young guys to take their spots,” said Slay. “I’m looking forward to a young guy taking my spot because that’s what it’s all about, giving off your knowledge to the game because one day I’m going to hang it up.

"And I want these guys to be prepared to be in the position that I’m in. So I’m looking forward to a Josh Jobe, or any one of those young guys taking my spot. I’m looking forward to it.”

Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.

Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.

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