Philadelphia in the Slot: What’s Answer for Eagles Defense?
PHILADELPHIA - Like any Monday Night Football game, most of the hype surrounding two early unbeatens like the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will focus on quarterbacks Jalen Hurts and Baker Mayfield, and trickle down from there.
For those of us in the weeds with Philadelphia, what the Eagles are going to do at slot cornerback is the lede.
A huge proponent of competitive advantage, Nick Sirianni wasn’t about to give up the goods but he did offer up some hints earlier this week.
“We feel like we have good options in-house to be able to move forward,” the Eagles coach said. "That’s why we cross-train people, whether that's a corner, a safety, whether that's the guys that play nickel.”
The uncertainty stems from the attrition Philadelphia has already had at the position, losing penciled-in backup Zech McPhearson to a torn Achilles in the preseason and then watching starter Avonte Maddox suffer a torn pec in the Week 2 win over Minnesota.
Sirianni’s mention of multiple options could be the foreshadowing of a piecemeal approach in Tampa, involving first-year player Mario Goodrich, who replaced Maddox against the Vikings, All-Pro outside cornerback James Bradberry, who is ready to go after missing Week 2 with a concussion, and a safety in big nickel looks.
"I feel like I could have been better all around but just getting out there, understanding the feeling of the game, and going against other people's ones (was important)," Goodrich told SI.com's Eagles Today of what was his first meaningful action against the Vikings. "... I felt once the third quarter got around, I was more settled, more relaxed."
From the safety pool Justin Evans, a former Buc, has experience in the slot while rookie Sydney Brown and veteran Terrell Edmunds offer different traits. If you’re a betting man, this could be the opportunity to allow Brown, one of the organization’s two third-round picks back in April, to get his feet wet when it comes to meaningful defensive reps.
“Listen, are we going to miss Avonte? Of course, we are,” Sirianni said. “He's a great football player who has made a lot of plays here. I thought he was playing really good football, really being aggressive. … So, we'll miss his contributions as a teammate and on the field, but we like some of our options.”
There are a lot of moving parts that defensive coordinator Sean Desai must weigh but ultimately defensive football has to be reactionary.
If Tampa OC Dave Canales defaults to Chris Godwin in the slot in key situations that might have to be Goodrich. If the Bucs push the 6-foot-5 Mike Evans inside, something Tampa Bay has done a handful of times over the first two weeks, that’s where he might see the lengthy Bradberry kicking inside and Josh Jobe rotating in on the outside.
“My guess is there is probably a notion that longer guys aren't as quick in transitions to reverse the slot option routes. I’m not necessarily of that belief,” Desai told SI.com’s Eagles Today when asked about bigger players inside. ”I think if you can play the option route, you can play an option route. If you feel the option stem, and you play the leverage right, you should be able to play it appropriately.”
Adaption is the key and Desai specifically mentioned Evans’ potential to shape his thinking.
“I think a lot of that is just kind of in the football way of thinking over time, that long guys stay outside, smaller, slighter guys go inside,” said Desai. “I think in this day and age you have to keep adapting, because really on the flip side you saw forever people were saying that a guy with Mike Evans' height and skill set doesn't play in the slot well. He showed up a lot in the slot tape when he's in there because they're trying to create those matchups.
“We have to be able to adjust our techniques and fundamentals that way, too, and I think we try to do that with our teaching.”
As for Brown, that’s a bit of projection mixed with aggression.
The Eagles are well aware that Brown offers the kind of athleticism and burst that’s rare and want to find ways to get him involved. Boiling things down to slot work for the raw rookie versus the larger picture a safety must deal with could be the answer for that.
