Philadelphia Eagles: Bolstering defense could be what the doctor ordered
The Philadelphia Eagles paid close attention to the defense in free agency, which was an area of weakness last year. Those moves could pay dividends for them this year.
The Philadelphia Eagles spent their free agency on the defensive side. They added defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, linebacker Jatavis Brown, safety Will Parks, and their prized signing was cornerback Darius Slay.
They also resigned defensive tackle, Hassan Ridgeway, Rodney McLeod, and Jalen Mills. Mills is not the fastest cornerback, and the move to safety will surely benefit him.
The Eagles needed to add speed and experience at the cornerback position. They got that in Slay. Slay has 4.3 speed, and he is a star corner.
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He is faster than other star signings the Eagles had like Nnamdi Asomugha, Byron Maxwell, and Asante Samuel. His speed will help negate big plays down the field.
Philadelphia knows that all too well. Slay was able to get a deep game-winning interception against the Eagles in 2016.
There were games last season that the Eagles lost that were because of their pass defense.
Julio Jones was able to beat the Eagles cornerbacks to win the game in the matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Every Eagles fan remembers the beat down by the Minnesota Vikings. Finally in the playoffs where everything matters the most a rookie in D.K. Metcalf carved up the Eagles passing defense. He had seven catches for 160 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles have retooled their defense in hopes that they will be able to defend the pass better. As always the Eagles took the opportunity to bolster their defensive line and they added a productive linebacker.
In 2018 Jatavius Brown had 97 total tackles. The most total tackles that a player had last year on the Eagles was 81 by Malcolm Jenkins.
While things on the field looked bad statistically the Eagles were seventeenth in pass defense which is middle of the pack.
Now with the extra attention, the Eagles have paid to the defense they look to become an elite defense again. The days of Brian Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter were when the Eagles had a defense respected across the NFL.
Next. Will Parks’ one-year deal is the steal of free agency. dark
The Eagles don’t have hard hitters like that on this team, but there is talent. Next year that talent should make this team harder to score on.