Philadelphia Eagles: Top three breakout candidates on defense
By David Esser
Free agent Will Parks is the definition of a “versatile” safety.
Ever since the Philly native returned home to play for the Philadelphia Eagles this offseason, people have been non stop raving about the former Denver Broncos’ work ethic. Considering how weak the Eagles currently are in terms of linebacker depth, the natural safety could find himself playing a huge role for the team as a “swiss army knife” in Jim Scwhartz’ positionless defense.
Drafted in the 6th round back in 2016, Will Parks has been a valuable piece to the Denver secondary the last four years. Bouncing in and out of the starting lineup, Parks has recorded four interceptions, 13 pass deflections, 2 forced fumbles, and 149 total tackles (104 solo).
Despite being listed as a traditional “safety” in the depth chart, Parks did anything but stick at one position during his time in Denver. Parks played significant snaps at free safety, cornerback, slot corner, in the box, and even on the defensive line. When looking at his career snap counts, Parks actually played the most amount of snaps as an in the box safety/linebacker hybrid.
This is an important piece to Parks’ game. Like previously mentioned, the Eagles weakest positional group heading into 2020 is easily at linebacker. While I’m optimistic about Edwards breaking out this year, he’s still an undrafted free agent. Gerry has shown flashes of ability in coverage, but is also one of the worst tackling linebackers in the entire NFL.
Outside of those two, the team possesses a long list of glorified special teamers who likely shouldn’t be seeing the field at all during important downs.
At 6-1 194lbs, Parks possesses the size to be an above-average in the box safety in today’s game. His versatility and athleticism gives the Eagles flexibility when it comes to moving him all over the field, and his experience playing the SS/LB position gives him a serious leg up on the rest of the Eagles roster.
Schwartz had huge success using Malcolm Jenkins as a “positionless” safety during the last few seasons, and Parks is primed to be the next man up when it comes to replacing that type of role. He’s proven he can do it in a limited role with Denver, now it’s time for him to do it in a much larger role with the Eagles.
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Rodney McLeod has the free safety position locked up this year, while Jalen Mills and rookie K’Von Wallace will likely duke it out for snaps at strong safety. The Eagles were beyond excited to land Parks this offseason, and would obviously prefer to get him on the field a lot in 2020. Lining him up in the box as their de-facto linebacker could allow him to put up career-highs across the board.