2019 Eagles vs Super Bowl 52 Championship Eagles: Defensive Edition

Safeties

To start things off, let’s take a look at the two players watching over the defense every play, Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins. In 2017, the duo drove offenses crazy with Jenkins bringing in two interceptions, recovering one fumble, recording a single sack and piling up 69 combined tackles. At the same time, McLeod snatched three passes out of the sky as well as gathering up two fumbles and combining with teammates for 50 tackles.

The duo also showed up in the postseason, with Jenkins tallying 13 tackles in three games and a highlight hit in the Super Bowl that sent Brandin Cooks to the locker room. In the same span of games, McLeod recorded himself 12 tackles. Although not quite as flashy, McLeod’s presence and efforts helped in the process of raising the ultimate trophy.

The Eagles will be excited to get McLeod back in 2019 following his knee injury that sidelined him in 2018. Not only is McLeod himself a great talent to have on defense but pairing him up once more with Malcolm Jenkins could bring back that dominate 2017 duo.

Jenkins – coming off back to back Pro Bowl selections and looking for his third straight – is definitely a player to watch in 2019. Also coming off a season where he played every single defensive snap (1,039 out of 1,039), Jenkins is most likely looking forward to having his fellow safety accompanying him, hopefully lessening his workload.

Of course, there are concerns still, as McLeod is coming off a knee surgery Though Jenkins didn’t suffer any injury in 2018, some fans may be worried about his age at 31-years-old and wonder if he’ll start to slow down. Nonetheless, Philly fans should be excited to have the championship-winning pair back together to watch over a (should be) dominate defense.