Philadelphia Eagles: Signing Scandrick makes the most of a bad situation
While losing Cre’von LeBlanc is a major bummer for the Philadelphia Eagles, signing Orlando Scandrick makes the most of a bad situation.
In case you haven’t heard, the Philadelphia Eagles very well may be without Cre’von LeBlanc after suffering a leg injury on the first Thursday of training camp (more on that here).
While a season-ending injury to LeBlanc would be a very, very bad for the Birds going into 2019, as he was the odds-on favorite to win the team’s slot cornerback position outright, Howie Roseman acted swiftly to make the most of a bad situation by inking an old NFC East foe to a one-year contract.
That’s right, after spending the first nine years of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, and a lone season under the watchful eye of Andy Reid in Kansas City in 2018, Orlando Scandrick will officially cross enemy lines and join up with the Eagles as per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.
The #Eagles are signing CB Orlando Scandrick following today’s workout, source says. Added depth at a position that’s a bit banged up and some veteran experience as well.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 27, 2019
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But, you may ask, what’s the point of signing a 32-year-old cornerback to a one-year deal when the team is flush with young, ascending talent at the position?
Depth my friends, depth.
With LeBlanc, Jalen Mills, and Ronald Darby all out of commission at the moment, the Eagles simply need bodies to run practice – bonus points if said player can also serve as a mentor to the younger players.
For better or worse, Scandrick can at least do that in the same vein as players like Patrick Robinson and E.J. Biggers before him, but with a little luck, the former Cowboy could be oh so much more.
Despite having to learn a brand new scheme after a decade in Big D, where he mostly earned his snaps in the slot (though he did play on the outside in base package), Scandrick defensed an incredible 13 passes in 2018 as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs – the best mark of his career and easily his best individual mark since all the way back in 2013.
If you know Jim Schwartz, you know he loves cornerbacks who fight for every ball, even if they don’t always nab an interception.
Furthermore, while Scandrick clearly didn’t impress the Chiefs – or anyone across the league – to earn a big-money, long-term deal when free agency opened up back in March, he still finished out the 2018 season as the league’s 40th-ranked cornerback according to Pro Football Focus (via our sister site Arrowhead Addicts).
Despite turning 33 midway through the 2019 season, there’s no reason Scandrick shouldn’t be able to at least play up to that standard as the team’s designated slot cornerback while playing about half of the team’s defensive snaps a night (as opposed to 66.9 percent in KC).
Losing Cre’von LeBlanc long-term would be a disaster. dark. Next
Now sure, this could all be for not, as Scandrick is far from a lock to make the team and could be looking for a new home after the final trim down to 53, but as injuries continue to pile up in the secondary, there’s almost no downside to adding a former division rival with intricate knowledge of the Cowboys’ scheme, and some valuable wisdom he can impart on the rest of the Philadelphia Eagles’ young cornerbacks.