Bradley Roby looks like Eagles' answer at the nickel position

[time2rock]

Bradley Roby looks like Eagles' answer at the nickel position

Bradley Roby played 25 snaps in his Eagles debut and certainly looked the part at the nickel position.

By Dave Zangaro • Published 2 hours ago

 

Just four days after signing with the Eagles, Bradley Roby played 25 snaps against the Rams in a 23-14 win.

He certainly looked the part.

"I think he played solid,” Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said on Tuesday. "It shows you kind of his veteran nature and his ability. He's played a lot of football in this league, played a lot of slot in this league. 

"And then his ability to learn our defense. Credit to our coaches. (Nickels coach) Ronell Williams did a great job meeting with him extra all week and trying to get all our guys up to speed.”

Roby, 31, has played a ton of football in the NFL so it wasn’t a surprise that he was able to get up to speed on the Eagles’ scheme. After all, like Roby said last week, there are only so many coverages they can run.

"It just shows you that if you understand the system and what we're trying to get out of it,” Desai said, "there's an opportunity for you to come in and play in this defense.”

But the Eagles took it easy in his first game after Roby hadn’t been with a team through the first four weeks of the season. They played Roby in just certain packages and rotated a couple other players at the nickel. But there was no question that the veteran presence Roby provided seemed to calm down the secondary from that position.

In his first nine years in the NFL, Roby has played for three different teams and has 127 games and 60 starts under his belt. He never became a star in the NFL after being taken with the 31st pick back in 2014 but he’s been a high level player.

And he was a high level player from the moment he got on the field for the Eagles in his 2023 debut.

Here’s a look at Roby’s numbers in coverage compared to the two other nickel corners the Eagles used in the game, via PFF:

Bradley Roby: 2 catches on 5 targets for -4 yards

Mario Goodrich: 5 catches on 5 targets, 49 yards

Eli Ricks: 2 catches on 3 targets, 30 yards

And Roby also helped slow down All-Pro Cooper Kupp. Against Roby, Kupp had 1 catch on 3 targets for 5 yards. Against everyone else, Kupp had 7 catches on 10 targets for 113 yards.

The Eagles came into this season without their backup nickel cornerback after Zech McPhearson went down with an Achilles tear in the preseason. They kept Goodrich on the roster as the backup but still opted to use a rotation of James Bradberry and rookie Sydney Brown in that role at first.

The addition of Roby allows Bradberry to mostly head back to his normal post as an outside cornerback. While you can give credit to Bradberry for his willingness to play in the slot, that wasn’t the way to maximize him as a player. The Eagles didn’t give Bradberry a three-year, $38 million contract to play out of position.

While Roby is still on the practice squad, he has two elevations remaining and as long as he continues to be the best option, he’ll be on the 53-man roster soon enough.

Of course, it’s not ideal to have three starting cornerbacks over the age of 30. It feels a bit like the Eagles are playing with fire. But Roby is clearly their best option going forward.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/bradley-roby-looks-like-eagles-answer-at-the-nickel-position/540226/

[PoconoDon]

Tiny sample size but a good tiny sample size. Having a veteran in there who can still play makes for better communication and usually better results. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

22 minutes ago, PoconoDon said:

Tiny sample size but a good tiny sample size. Having a veteran in there who can still play makes for better communication and usually better results. 

Completely agree. Hopefully Roby was on the street because he wanted the right place to play rather than because he’s washed up. Early evidence is positive but let’s see.