Ranking the 25 Best Eagles: ‘Big Play’ Slay Lands at No. 6
Being No. 6 on a list of best football players on the Eagles might be considered an accomplishment for most but don’t be surprised if it’s greeted with an eye roll by the uber-confident CB1 on Jonathan Gannon’s defense.
In many ways, Darius Slay’s superpower is the veteran’s confidence, almost the NFL’s version of a vision board coming to life.
A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Slay, 31, is coming off one of his best seasons with three interceptions and three touchdowns on returns to go along with his trademarked sticky coverage, good enough to be graded as the fourth-best CB in football by Pro Football Focus behind only Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Terrell, and Kendall Fuller.
On the Eagles Today list, Slay finished No. 6 with 43 votes.
The process behind the top-25 list started with Eagles Today site publisher Ed Kracz and staff writer John McMullen putting together their top 25 independent of each other’s and then assigning point values, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.
The highest ranking from either reporter broke any ties in the balloting.
Slay also finished No. 6 on McMullen's personal list while Kracz pushed him all the way up to No. 3 on his scale. He lost out in a tiebreaker to No. 5 which will be revealed on Wednesday.
Slay, who has a personality that might be even bigger than his talent level, has been known to balk at the much-ballyhooed Madden Ratings and recently made note of an ESPN panel of coaches, executives, scouts, and players that left him out of the top 10 at CB.
It’s hard to imagine Slay being better than he was last season when he finished third overall in coverage grade and allowed less than 30 yards per game when tasked with traveling with the opponent’s best receiver.
Perhaps a Slay with a chip on his shoulder and a year’s experience in Gannon’s defense might be able to pull it off, though.
Also likely to help is the upgrade from Steve Nelson to James Bradberry, another top-tier CB when right, opposite Slay on the defense.
"I see an elite corner," Bradberry said of Slay. "I watched him since I got into the league. I always admired his game. Just having the opportunity to learn from him and actually complement him, I'm excited for it.”
Maybe the best indication of Slay’s performance level is his now somewhat famous, at least locally, press conferences when the Georgia native is always playful while being queried about everything under the sun.
At his last availability in June, Slay was asked about A.J. Brown, Bradberry, Marcus Epps Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor, the best CBs he’s ever played with, a Boston Celtics playoff game, and even the gun-violence problem in Philadelphia.
The only thing left on the table was Slay's own game because there are no questions about that, a reality that highlights the veteran's importance to the Eagles’ defense better than any rating ever could.
THE COUNTDOWN SO FAR
No. 25 – Jack Driscoll
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No. 24 – Derek Barnett
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No. 23 – Kyzir White
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No. 22 - Quez Watkins
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No. 21 – Jake Elliott
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No. 20 – Isaac Seumalo
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No. 19 – James Bradberry
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No. 18 - Jordan Davis
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No. 17 - T.J. Edwards
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No. 16 - Miles Sanders
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No. 15 - Landon Dickerson
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No. 14 - Avonte Maddox
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No. 13 - Jalen Hurts
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No. 12 - Javon Hargrave
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No. 11 - Brandon Graham
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No. 10 - Josh Sweat
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No. 9 - Fletcher Cox
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No. 8 - Haason Reddick
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No. 7 - DeVonta Smith
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-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 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
