Philadelphia Eagles: Signing Janoris Jenkins just isn’t worth the trouble
Despite having a desperate need for defensive playmakers, signing Janoris Jenkins just isn’t worth the trouble for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Who is the Philadelphia Eagles‘ best cornerback?
Well, if paycheck alone is of any indication, one would have to assume the answer is Ronald Darby, but through nine games of action, can anyone really call the ex-Buffalo Bills corner even above average?
What about Avonte Maddox? He sure is fast, but at 5-foot-9, he’s just too short to be a reliable outside option against a 6-foot-3 corner receiver like Julio Jones.
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Rasul Douglas? No. Sidney Jones? No. Cre’von LeBlanc? Eh, maybe, but the sample size is just so small. Could it be Malcolm Jenkins, a corner who hasn’t played corner since 2009?
God, if only Jalen Mills ran a 4.4, everything would be perfect.
So, with clearly no elite option on the roster, one would have to assume the Eagles would jump at a chance to sign a cornerback who could subjectively push the team’s current crop.
Sounds too good to be true right? Boy, you must be new here.
Throughout the season, the Eagles have had half a dozen opportunities to add cornerbacks from the elite like Jalen Ramsey and Marcus Peters to the less than so like Vernon Hargreaves, and outside of a few marginal additions like practice squad call ups Craig James and Ryan Lewis they’ve opted against it – remaining firmly committed to Mills and Darby on the outside, and Maddox in the slot.
So why should we expect anything different now that Janoris Jenkins is a free agent?
Once considered a legit shutdown franchise cornerback from his time with the (then) St. Louis Rams, Jenkins’ PFF coverage grade has steadily declined over his tenure in the Big Apple, dropping from a solid 69.6 in 2016 to a less than solid 64.3 in 2019.
Those numbers are notably better than a few of the Eagles’ corners, but hardly in the same vein as Peters.
Sure, Jenkins ran a solid 4.46 40, has impressive ball skills with 22 interceptions in 113 games, and experience playing man press, Jim Schwartz‘s preferred style, but swapping out an average outside cornerback – either average outside cornerback – for another who doesn’t know the scheme feels like a lateral move at best.
Plus, there’s the controversy that got Jenkins released in the first place (read the full details here).
While Jenkins has finally admitted what he did was wrong, this isn’t the first off-field issue the 31-year-old has had over his career, as his character has been called into question all the way back to his time at Florida.
Barring a total change of heart, and his party reaching out to the Eagles explicitly, I can’t imagine Howie Roseman bringing Jenkins into the team’s locker room in good conscience.
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Ultimately, if the Philadelphia Eagles do decide to kick the tires on Janoris Jenkins in a desperate search for playmaking in the defensive secondary, fans will find a way to justify it internally – after all, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a player signed with a division rival to make them pay – but between his off-field issues and declining play, such a move just doesn’t seem worth the trouble. One Jenkins is enough.