When was the last time the Philadelphia Eagles had two reliable (let alone competent) safeties in their defensive backfield? We have to go back to 2008, when future Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins and uber-solid Quintin Mikell were patrolling the secondary.
With the re-signing of Nate Allen to a one-year contract on Monday, it appears if nothing else the Eagles will have stability at the safety position again going forward. Allen joins free-agent addition Malcolm Jenkins as the probable starters in ’14, with second-year player Earl Wolff, special teams ace Chris Maragos and likely a player in May’s draft pushing for a spot.
For five seasons, Philly fans have been forced to endure the likes of Quintin Demps, Sean Jones, Macho Harris, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Jarrad Page, Kurt Coleman, Patrick Chung and Allen bereft of his confidence. Now all of a sudden, this appears to be as deep and talented as the position has been since Dawkins departed as a free agent himself.
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Have the Birds found the next Weapon X? No. As it stands today, is safety an area of great strength? Let’s not get carried away.
At least defensive coordinator Bill Davis can work with this group.
There was some debate as to whether or not Allen was even going to make the team one year ago. The 2010 second-round pick out of South Florida was already chalked up as a firm bust by the time the new coaching staff arrived. At best, he was a charity case. At worst, he was retained because there was literally nobody else.
Allen was shaky the first few weeks of the ’13 campaign, but grew increasingly comfortable in Davis’ scheme as time wore on. Anecdotally, it’s hard to recall a specific play in the second half of the season where he was burned on a passing play down the field, while the four-year veteran demonstrated immense improvement as a tackler as well.
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Allen finished with a career-high 82 tackles to go with 1.0 sack, one interception and one forced fumble. If that’s the 26-year-old’s ceiling, the Eagles could still stand to upgrade. For now, they can get by.
Supporters would point to the fact that Allen has played under four defensive coordinators in four years in the league. Davis himself was critical of the scope of responsibility the previous regime’s Wide-9 front placed on the safeties. It’s unclear how rehab from a torn patellar tendon suffered his rookie season impacted Allen in the past as well.
Meanwhile, Jenkins has arrived in Philadelphia to little fanfare. Fans coveted some of the more expensive and theoretically superior safeties in the free-agent market, so anything less was going to be greeted mildly.
And the fact is Jenkins does have an unspectacular resume. A first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in ’09, the 26-year-old has registered just 4.5 sacks, six interceptions and six forced fumbles in 63 starts over a five-year career. Metrics site Pro Football Focus ranked Jenkins at or near the bottom of safeties in such areas as tackling, run-stopping and coverage for the ’13 season.
Those questionably reliable measures aside, Jenkins seems like a perfect for Davis’ scheme. He can play either safety position, which means he’s comfortable either in the box or dropping back into coverage. A converted cornerback, the Ohio State product can also cover wide receivers and tight ends man-to-man, which the Eagles will ask of their safeties.
While there were arguably better players available, Jenkins was a five-year starter in New Orleans. He helped the team win a Super Bowl in ’09 and was part of the No. 2 pass defense in the NFL last season. Signed to a three-year contract with $8.5 million guaranteed, it’s difficult to envision this being a complete backfire.
Perhaps most importantly, none of these moves prevent the Eagles from selecting a safety in the draft, not even in the first round. In fact, given the relatively short commitments to Allen and Jenkins, such an addition within the first two days of the draft is likely.
Wolff also looked as though he could be a potential starter during his rookie year. A fifth-round pick out of North Carolina State, he’s certainly still in the mix for a job, but there wasn’t enough tape that the team would feel comfortable going into this season with his name at the top of the depth chart.
A four-year veteran with zero career starts, Maragos appears to be here strictly for his special teams. However, he may have an opportunity to contribute more than he did coming from the Seattle Seahawks, where Pro Bowlers Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor were firmly entrenched as the starters.
It finally feels safe to say that we’re a long way from the days of desperately plugging in a Macho Harris, reaching for a Jaiquawn Jarrett, praying a Jarrad Page would take the right angle to the ball-carrier and wincing as a Patrick Chung took out his own teammates. By no means is the rebuild at safety complete, but at least it should be good enough to compete.