Roob's Observations: The Eagles' cornerback competition has become a big concern

Roob's Observations: The Eagles' cornerback competition has become a big concern originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

A sobering look at the Eagles' second cornerback competition, a safety tandem that really needs to be inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame and an interesting roster trend heading into the season.

Roob's 10 Random Eagles Observations keeps plowing forward toward opening day, now just 19 days away.

1A. With the opener now less than three weeks away, the Eagles' cornerback situation is officially a major concern. The coaches hoped someone would have taken ownership of that CB2 spot by now, but Kelee Ringo and Adoree' Jackson have struggled for much of camp, and Jakorian Bennett is still learning the system and finding his way. Watching the Eagles' 1^st-team defense work against the Browns' 1^st-team offense during joint practices you got a sense of what things could look like this year. Joe Flacco barely threw at Quinyon Mitchell. When he did, Mitchell had tight coverage, knocked balls down, didn't give up much of anything. When Flacco went after someone else, the Browns generally were successful moving the ball down the field. When you have two top corners - like Mitchell and Darius Slay - quarterbacks can't pick on one guy. When you have one top corner, they can and they will. And that's the concern. That's why Vic Fangio is considering traveling Q this year. Because if opposing teams want to target their WR1, they'll have to throw his way. But against teams with two very good receivers, there is going to be a tough matchup for someone. Cooper DeJean still hasn't taken any outside corner reps, although there's no question he could handle it. But that's a last resort. Eli Ricks hasn't either and I'd really like to see him get an opportunity because I think Ricks can play. Mac McWilliams, the rookie 5^th-round pick from Central Florida, looks like a player and has gotten some work at outside corner but is probably better suited to the slot. This kid Brandon Johnson - an undrafted rookie from Oregon - has also had a nice training camp but that's been against 2^nd- and 3^rd-teamers and he's also probably mainly a slot. If the Eagles were happy with Ringo or Jackson they wouldn't have traded an interior lineman they like for Bennett. What's the answer? I'm not sure there is an ideal one right now. And that's scary.

1B. I wonder if Howie Roseman regrets not trying to keep Isaiah Rodgers. Rodgers was very good last year after missing all of 2023 with that suspension. Out of 107 corners who played at least 400 snaps in 2024, Rodgers' 73.2 Pro Football Focus grade was 23^rd-highest. And his contract with the Vikings - two years, $11.05 million - would have been manageable for the Eagles. Roseman was in the mode where he just wasn't going to keep any non-essential free agent, and I get it. That was the plan all along. To rely on draft picks and go young and cheap. And Rodgers is 27 and maybe a little too old and a little too pricey to fit into that philosophy. But the Eagles could sure use him right now. He'd be their 2^nd-best outside corner by far.

2. Jihaad Campbell came up with the best quote of training camp on Thursday. Asked about his conversation with Myles Garrett after practice with the Browns, Campbell said: Really, just two freaks talking to each other." He wasn't lying.

3. One of my favorite things about joint practices is seeing the interactions between guys with the two teams, and it was so cool seeing Duce Staley and Jemal Singleton chatting before practice on Thursday. Duce was Eagles running backs coach from 2013 through 2020 and is starting his second year in that role with the Browns, and Singleton has been Nick Sirianni's running backs coach since 2021, so one or the other has coached Eagles running backs for 13 years. Both have a Super Bowl ring, and both have gotten the most out of the backs they've coached here. Not surprisingly, the Eagles lead the NFC in rushing yards since 2013 (and trail only the Ravens overall). Ted Williams coached Eagles running backs from 1997 through 2012, so the Eagles have had just three RBs coaches over the last 30 years.

4. The most accurate quarterback in Eagles history (minimum 100 attempts) is Sam Bradford, who completed 65 percent of his passes in 2015, his one year with the Eagles. But Jalen Hurts has gradually been gaining on him, and after completing 69 percent of his passes last year, Hurts is now at 64.4 percent for his career. If he repeats his 2024 numbers - 248-for-361 - he'll become the most accurate quarterback in Eagles history at 65.044 percent to Bradford's 65.038.

5. Saquon Barkley had 2,504 rushing yards in his first 20 games with the Eagles. That's over 500 more than any other player had in his first 20 games. Ricky Watters had the 2^nd-most -1,485 in the 1995 regular season and postseason, plus the first two games of 1996.

6. Saturday's preseason game vs. the Browns will be our first chance to see rookie 2^nd-round pick Andrew Mukuba in game action. Mukuba missed a little over a week and the preseason opener with a shoulder injury before returning to action last Saturday. It feels like the Eagles really want to see Mukuba win that battle with Sydney Brown, but we just haven't seen enough of him to get a true sense of where he is. Brown has had a decent summer but didn't play particularly well in the Bengals game. We'll see a lot of both of them Saturday afternoon at the Linc, and it'll be a good opportunity for either of them to gap the other as they battle for the second safety spot across from Reed Blankenship. A lot of people have asked about Lewis Cine, who's only 25 and was a 1^st-round pick just three years ago. But he just hasn't been the same since that horrible broken leg he suffered with the Vikings as a rookie, and honestly he hasn't made one notable play during camp. He missed a few days early in camp with a hamstring and then hobbled off the practice field on Wednesday with a groin injury.

7A. Watching Darius Cooper this summer got me wondering how rare it is for an undrafted rookie wide receiver to actually get on the field for the Eagles and catch a pass. It's been nine years since any undrafted rookie receiver caught a pass for the Eagles in a regular-season game. In 2016, Paul Turner had 9-for-126 and Bryce Treggs 3-for-80. The only undrafted rookies in franchise history with at least 250 receiving yards are Dick Humbert, who was 29-for-332 with three TDs in 1941, and Hank Baskett, who was 22-for-464 with two TDs in 2006. But what makes Cooper special is that he played on the FCS level. The last undrafted Eagles rookie receiver from a school below Division 1-A or the BCS to catch a pass was Anthony Edwards, who played at Division 2 New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, N. Mex., and had two catches for 74 yards and a TD in 1989. The only other Eagles WR who came from what's currently not a FCS school was Bob Krieger from Dartmouth, who caught 19 passes for 240 yards and two TDs in 1939. That was long before the NCAA split into divisions, although Ivy League schools are now FCS.

7B. I'll be surprised if Cooper doesn't end all those streaks.

8. If one of Howie Roseman's goals for 2025 was to build as much as possible through the draft with as many homegrown players as possible to make things work under the cap not just this year but moving forward, here's an interesting nugget. The Eagles' current projected starting lineup includes 18 players who were either drafted by the Eagles or began their career as an undrafted rookie with the Eagles - everybody other than A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson and Saquon Barkley on offense and Zack Baun on defense (assuming Kelee Ringo starts at corner). That would equal the most home-grown starters the Eagles have ever had. They also had 18 in 1990 (everybody other than Mike Golic, Ron Heller, Mike Schad and Ron Solt). This year's team could actually surpass 18 if Grant Calcaterra starts more games than Dotson. What's crazy is that a handful of the free agents they lost this offseason - Josh Sweat, Milton Williams, Kenny Gainwell, Avonte Maddox - were also draft picks. But the Eagles have drafted so well they've been able to replace those types of guys with more draft picks. Building through the draft does so much for a team. It promotes togetherness because you have a group of guys who've grown up together, it solidifies your culture because guys truly understand what it means to be an Eagle when they've spent their whole career here and it keeps you away from big-money free agency misses. If you can draft good players, develop them and keep them, that's a heck of a formula for success.

9. Bucko Kilroy and Malcolm Jenkins definitely deserve to be in the Eagles' Hall of Fame. Kilroy, a Northeast Catholic and Temple graduate, was a starter on the 1948 and 1949 NFL Championship teams and made three Pro Bowls late in his 13-year career. Jenkins made three Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl during his six-year stay with the Eagles. But what I don't get is why all-time great safeties Wes Hopkins and Andre Waters, whose ferocious play and thunderous hits defined the late 1980s and early 1990s Eagles have still not been inducted. Wes got here in 1983 and Waters in 1984, and they started together at safety for much of the next decade, terrifying receivers who went over the middle and stuffing running backs at the line of scrimmage. Wes missed nearly two years with a career-threatening knee injury and was somehow better when he finally came back. Andre went from a walk-on at Division 2 Cheyney State to an undrafted rookie to a guy who started 100 games in an Eagles uniform. Wesand Andre. Last names not needed. Both rest in peace. Nobody better exemplified what it meant to be an Eagle and nobody deserves to be added to the Hall of Fame more.

10. Pretty crazy to see Landon Dickerson out on the field after practice Thursday. You go from fearing he's out for the year on Sunday evening to seeing him walk around with a beer cooler on the practice field four days later. Other than a compression sleeve on his knee there was no indication that this was a guy who got carted off the field on Sunday at the Linc and got scoped on Wednesday.It was pretty scary," Jordan Mailata said. I was very happy this morning to see him walk into the locker room. I was kind of shocked he was walking. I was just happy to see his bubbly face in the building." Everybody who plays in the NFL is incredibly tough. Especially offensive linemen. But nobody is tougher than Dickerson, who appears to be on track to play in the opener vs. the Cowboys on Sept. 4. Man, I think that guy is made out of rubber," Mailata said. It doesn't matter what injury he's going through during a game. He's going to just keep pushing through, and it's inspiring. I'll hurt a finger or I'll hurt a toe and he's out there playing with one leg or one knee. You say to yourself, All right, I've got to toughen up.' And, man, I don't know what it is, there's just something different about his mentality."