Grade the Eagles Defense - position by position.

[EazyEaglez]

DT- A It is the deepest position on the team, but if Cox gets injured the overall talent will drop significantly. Hopefully this group stays healthy.

DE- C- The Eagles do not have a consistent pass rush from their defensive ends and the depth behind the starters are a bunch of question mark players. Hopefully Barnett can finally live up to expectations or the Eagles bring in some depth to help against the pass. 

LB- D- Frankly I’m looking forward to seeing the Eagles rookie linebackers they just drafted over their current lot. I don’t think much is special here at the starting position. Gerry has shown flashes of being a potential playmaker, but he’s blown far mor plays and has been caught out of position far too often. This might be a position where we could see some rookies push for more playing time. 

CB- C Slay is an upgrade to this sorry lot. Here’s a Sorry stat. Sidney Jones led the Eagles in interceptions last season. Honestly Jones did more in my opinion to at least get a chance to start outside over Maddox who has shown he doesn’t belong outside. Slay will help to improve this secondary, but a consistent pass rush would do more to help from them being exposed. The Eagles do have some talent in the slot and that will help them. 

S - D- McLeod was worse the Jenkins last season yet he’s back and Jenkins is gone. From there we have a bunch of patchwork players and a rookie. I’m rooting for the rookie.

Coaching- B Schwartz gets a bad rep, but truthfully the Eagles haven’t provided the defense with nearly enough talent for his group to actually perform well. They have tried to draft players, but many haven’t lived up to their potential. Corey Undlin’s departure could actually be a blessing. There’s only so much one can do with a defense with one pro bowl quality player. At least now he has Slay as well.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

11 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

DT- A It is the deepest position on the team, but if Cox gets injured the overall talent will drop significantly. Hopefully this group stays healthy.

That's true of most teams though isn't it? OK not necessarily at DT but when a team loses one of their star players there is always going to be a real drop off. 

[Devaster]

26 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

That's true of most teams though isn't it? OK not necessarily at DT but when a team loses one of their star players there is always going to be a real drop off. 

Depends on the position/role, but yes. Pass rushers are the most important defensive position and Cox is the team's best player at disrupting the opposing team's offense. Losing him will probably tank the defense because the edge depth is weak and without a pass rush the secondary will get beat up regardless of having Slay or not. Receivers eventually get open if there is no pass rush. The team's strength in 2017 was getting to the QB with only 4. It allowed the weak secondary to hold up in coverage longer.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

51 minutes ago, Devaster said:

Depends on the position/role, but yes. Pass rushers are the most important defensive position and Cox is the team's best player at disrupting the opposing team's offense. Losing him will probably tank the defense because the edge depth is weak and without a pass rush the secondary will get beat up regardless of having Slay or not. Receivers eventually get open if there is no pass rush. The team's strength in 2017 was getting to the QB with only 4. It allowed the weak secondary to hold up in coverage longer.

Yeah I absolutely agree with that. Losing Cox would be a major issue for this team (though at least unlike some teams we have depth at DT) but that is true of most teams with their star players. If the Chiefs lost Mahomes they'd be stuffed. If the Rams lost Donald they'd suffer majorly on defense.

[EazyEaglez]

44 minutes ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Yeah I absolutely agree with that. Losing Cox would be a major issue for this team (though at least unlike some teams we have depth at DT) but that is true of most teams with their star players. If the Chiefs lost Mahomes they'd be stuffed. If the Rams lost Donald they'd suffer majorly on defense.

Frankly I think the two players the Eagles can least afford to lose are Cox and Wentz. Maybe two years ago losing Wentz wasn’t as big of a deal, but there’s just far too many questions about the backup quarterbacks right now. Cox is their best defensive player and if the lost him there will be a significant drop off for the defensive line. I do think DT is their deepest position right now, but Cox still is leaps and bounds better than the next guy. The Eagles can survive if Hargroves or Jackson goes down, but they’re treading water if Cox goes down for a significant amount of time.