Roob's 10 Observations: What will the Eagles do with Eli Ricks?

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Roob's 10 Observations: What will the Eagles do with Eli Ricks?

By Reuben Frank, Eagles Insider • Published August 27, 2023

 

What will the Eagles do with undrafted rookie Eli Ricks? Why isn't T.J. Edwards still here? And what about expectations for Nolan Smith?

We're now just two weeks from opening day,  and these two weeks will go s-l-o-w-l-y. But eventually we'll get to Sept. 10 and get this thing going for real.

Until then, here's another edition of Roob's 10 Random Eagles Preseason Observations! 

1. I’ll be shocked if Eli Ricks isn’t on the final 53-man roster after watching him the last couple weeks. Ricks, an undrafted rookie, got off to a slow start in training camp, but he’s been outstanding lately and really has the look of an NFL cornerback. Honestly, the progress he's made in terms of confidence, technique and execution has been really impressive. Ricks had a 90.2 Pro Football Focus grade this preseason on 109 snaps, and that's the highest of 105 corners who played at least 50 snaps this preseason. His coverage grade of 90.2 is also highest. Even his run defense grade of 67.6 is better than average (40^th of 105). There’s a pretty good chance he’d get claimed if the Eagles tried to get him to the practice squad. The funny thing is any of the teams who might claim him if the Eagles cut him could have just drafted him in the seventh round in April. With the 21-year-old Ricks, 21-year-old Kelee Ringo, 23-year-old Mekhi Garner, 23-year-old Mario Goodrich, 24-year-old Zech McPhearson and 25-year-old Josh Jobe, the Eagles have an impressive group of promising young corners. And with Darius Slay 32 and James Bradberry 30, that's big. The Eagles haven’t started a pair of homegrown cornerbacks since Lito and Sheldon, but this group has a chance to become something special.

2. Justin Evans is proof that the depth chart when training camp starts really doesn’t matter. Evans began camp behind Terrell Edmunds, Sydney Brown and K’Von Wallace in that battle for the starting safety spot opposite Reid Blankenship, and for much of camp he wasn’t even getting an opportunity with the first defense. But Evans showed up in a big way in the Ravens and Browns preseason games, making the sort of plays we hadn’t seen from him in practice. And since that Browns game, he’s gotten the bulk of the starter reps. I wouldn’t say Evans has a starting spot locked up, but it’s trending that way. And Evans has a decent pedigree. He was a 2^nd-round pick out of Texas A&M in 2017 and has started 25 games. After missing three entire seasons – he didn’t play a snap from Dec. 2, 2018 through Sept. 11, 2022 – he came back as a part-time starter with the Saints last year. Evans is a physical guy, strong against the run and a sure tackler. But coverage isn’t his strength, so it will be interesting to see how he’s used and who’s out there on passing downs. Sydney Brown will be the starter when the Eagles feel he’s ready and could have a role early, but two weeks before opening day, it sure looks like Evans is going to get the first crack at the starting spot.

3. In 1990, Keith Byars had the greatest passing season ever by a non-quarterback. Byars, a running back from Ohio State and the Eagles’ 1^st-round pick in 1986, went 4-for-4 for 53 yards and four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. Byars threw TDs of 8 and 18 yards to Anthony Toney, 9 yards to Heath Sherman and 18 yards to Calvin Williams. Nobody else in NFL history has thrown that many passes that were all touchdowns. In all, Byars threw six TDs in his career, although he’s best known for his 578 receptions – 7^th-most in history by a running back. 

4. I’m still bewildered that the Eagles let T.J. Edwards leave, seemingly without even trying to keep him. Edwards signed a three-year, $19.5 million deal with the Bears 15 minutes into free agency. According to Pro Football Focus, Edwards was the highest-rated off-ball linebacker in the NFL from Week 8 in 2021 – when he began playing virtually every snap for the Eagles – through the end of last year. To get a player like that for an average salary of $6.5 million per year is quite a bargain. That’s less than Avonte Maddox makes. Maybe Edwards just really wanted to go back to his native Illinois and wouldn’t have signed with the Eagles no matter what. But out of all the guys the Eagles lost in free agency - and there are some good ones - they may miss him the most. They’ve tried so many replacements this summer – Nicholas Morrow, Christian Ellis, Myles Jack, Zach Cunningham – and seem to have settled on Cunningham, who’s a functional veteran. But Edwards is so much better than Cunningham and while he’s more expensive, the Eagles could have afforded him. I still think Howie Roseman might not be finished with that linebacker corps. We’ll see. But I would have loved to have seen Nakobe Dean and Edwards line up next to each other.

5. It’s easy to forget just how good DeSean Jackson was. D-Jack, who’s not in a camp this summer, is one of only three players in NFL history with 11,000 receiving yards and a 17.0 average. The others are Hall of Famers James Lofton and Don Maynard. Jackson’s 26 lifetime touchdowns of at least 60 yards are most in NFL history, three more than Jerry Rice. And his 9.8 career yards-per-target is the highest since the NFL began tracking it in 1992. I’m not sure Jackson is a Hall of Famer, but he’s definitely in the conversation.

6. Imagine if Carson Wentz finishes his career with fewer postseason touchdown passes than Trey Burton?

7. You’ve probably noticed that every time a high-priced veteran former Pro Bowl player is available someone somewhere reports that the Eagles are interested? And 99 percent of the time nothing comes of it? There’s a very good reason for that. Howie Roseman is always going to pick up the phone and do his due diligence, see what’s happening, get as much info as possible about the situation. No matter who the player is. Every single time. So now you have an agent who’s trying to create demand and drive his client’s price up, so he’s going to leak "scoops" to all the national NFL information peddlers that these teams have expressed interest – including the Eagles, of course. Happens every time. Don’t fall for it. 

8. Jason Peters is not in a training camp this year, and at 41 years old there’s a chance his brilliant career is over. Peters has started at least one game 19 straight years, tied with Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews for longest streak in NFL history by an offensive lineman. The only players at any position with longer streaks are Tom Brady (22 years) and Vinny Testaverde, Jerry Rice, Darrell Green and Jim Marshall (20 years). Also at 19 are Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Junior Seau, Bruce Smith and Clay Matthews. With nine Pro Bowls, Peters has a very good shot at the Hall of Fame. Of 37 players at all positions who made exactly nine Pro Bowls, 34 are in Canton and only three aren’t (including Eagles great Maxie Baughan). Peters hasn’t been elite for a while now, but for a decade – from 2007 through 2016 – he was the best left tackle in the business, and I hope that’s how his career is remembered.

9. There are five running backs who’ve had a 50-yard run against the Eagles since 2019. Three of them are Saquon Barkley, Aaron Jones and Nick Chubb. The other two? Rashaad Penny and D’Andre Swift.

10. I’ll be surprised if Nolan Smith doesn’t make a run at the Eagles’ rookie sack record for edge rushers. That’s 6.0, set by Derrick Burgess in 2001. The only other Eagles edge rushers with more than three sacks as a rookie were Mike Mamula (5 ½ in 1995) and Trent Cole (5.0 in 2005). (Remember, Reggie White wasn’t a rookie his first year with the Eagles because he had played in the USFL.) Smith has rare qualities for a rookie – supreme confidence, tons of experience against top offensive tackles in the SEC, an array of moves, an explosive first step and an ability to get low and turn the corner quickly, attacking tackles before they have the chance to anchor. And he’s got the luxury of playing on a loaded defensive line. Imagine being an offensive tackle and trying to figure out Josh Sweat or Haason Reddick for a couple series, then all of a sudden here comes a fresh Nolan Smith off the bench? This is going to be fun to watch.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/roobs-10-observations-eli-ricks-nolan-smith-tj-edwards/533781/

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4. I’m still bewildered that the Eagles let T.J. Edwards leave, seemingly without even trying to keep him. Edwards signed a three-year, $19.5 million deal with the Bears 15 minutes into free agency. According to Pro Football Focus, Edwards was the highest-rated off-ball linebacker in the NFL from Week 8 in 2021 – when he began playing virtually every snap for the Eagles – through the end of last year. To get a player like that for an average salary of $6.5 million per year is quite a bargain. That’s less than Avonte Maddox makes. Maybe Edwards just really wanted to go back to his native Illinois and wouldn’t have signed with the Eagles no matter what. But out of all the guys the Eagles lost in free agency - and there are some good ones - they may miss him the most. They’ve tried so many replacements this summer – Nicholas Morrow, Christian Ellis, Myles Jack, Zach Cunningham – and seem to have settled on Cunningham, who’s a functional veteran. But Edwards is so much better than Cunningham and while he’s more expensive, the Eagles could have afforded him. I still think Howie Roseman might not be finished with that linebacker corps. We’ll see. But I would have loved to have seen Nakobe Dean and Edwards line up next to each other.

Dean is Edwards' replacement --- not those other guys he mentioned. Those guys are fighting for the spot left by White's departure. 

Edwards wanted to go home to Chicago. He's a huge Bears fan. He signed with them minutes into free agency for less than his market value.