Philadelphia Eagles: Jatavis Brown’s retirement was a blessing in disguise
The Philadelphia Eagles linebacking corps looks fresh.
When Jatavis Brown unceremoniously announced his retirement earlier this month, it felt like just another knot in a string of bad luck for the Philadelphia Eagles.
With free agency and the draft long since past, fans, pundits, and sports blogs the internet over feverishly racked their brains for a potential replacement player who could come in a month before the regular season and fill the team’s presumed vacancy at weakside linebacker. Could the team sign Jim Schwartz-alum Preston Brown (more on that here)? What about Temple standout Haason Reddick? He had his fifth-year option declined by the Arizona Cardinals, could he be available via trade for, say Sidney Jones? Oh gosh, please tell me the Eagles aren’t going to have to turn to a player like Alec Ogletree, not with a very real chance to represent the NFC East in the playoffs so close at hand.
Well, as it turns out, none of these scenarios had to be realistically considered, as the Birds’ suddenly look flush with young, ascending talent who could fill out their linebacking corps for years to come.
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Despite Nathan Gerry now serving as the linebacking corps’ elder statesman alongside T.J. Edwards, a 2019 UDFA who started all of four games for the Eagles last season, the ascending young duo of Shaun Bradley and Davion Taylor, plus CFL standout Alex Singleton are suddenly vying for a spot that would have theatrically been Brown’s to lose. And if recent reports back from camp are to be believed, that may be the best possible outcome for the Eagles’ long-term viability at the second level of their front seven.
Bradley, the Eagles’ first of three sixth-round picks back in April, has suddenly transformed himself from a player come believed was borderline undraftable into a seriously effective sideline-to-sideline piece; making playing in coverage, against the run, and as a blitzer while showing a thorough understanding of Schwartz’s scheme.
If the season started today, Bradley would likely get the nod at weakside linebacker (more on that here), and may even be named a starter, depending of course on whether or not the team would rather give the nod to their slot cornerback. With solid NFL-size at 6-foot-1, 235 pounds and the added bonus of playing safety for the Owls for part of his college career, Bradley has the potential to rapidly become a fan favorite in our fare city and retain many of the fans who cheered him on at the Linc over the last four years.
While Taylor hasn’t been as impressive defensively, as the incredibly raw Colorado linebacker who only played two high school football games (more on that here) is still figuring out the ins and outs of Schwartz’s scheme, he too looks to be an instant contributor for the Eagles this fall, filling Kamu Grugier-Hill‘s vacant role as a special teams ace. With legit 4.4 speed and the same athletic profile as Ravens’ first-round pick Patrick Queen, Taylor could easily lead the team in special teams tackles as a four-core player, all the while learning what it takes to play linebacker at the NFL-level. Though he may not be vying for Rookie of the Year, Taylor has the highest ceiling of the group and could ultimately have the best career of the three if he gets his game together.
Even Singleton, who made the jump from the CFL to the NFL last summer and spent the first chunk of the season on the Eagles’ practice squad, has a chance to not only make the team, but do so in time for Week 1. A college standout at Montana State, Singleton amassed 311 tackles over his three-year career with the Calgary Stampeders and is the most traditional-built linebacker of the bunch, standing 6-foot-2, 240. While he’s not the prototypical weakside linebacker, especially by 2020 standards, expect him to compete for the primary backup role behind both Edwards and Gerry, and as he continues to grow more confident stateside.
Heck, with all of this talent locked up on rookie-scale contracts, there’s a very real possibility the Eagles may not even offer Gerry a contract extension upon season’s end, a near unthinkable outcome not one month prior.
Jason Peters has backed the Philadelphia Eagles into a corner. dark. Next
Now sure, could Shaun Bradley (or someone else) have beaten out Jatavious Brown cleanly for the Philadelphia Eagles’ weakside linebacker spot over a full training camp? Sure, the NFL is a meritocracy after all, but by removing himself from the competition entirely, Brown gave a young collection of linebackers a chance to showcase their abilities for even bigger opportunities down the line. In lamen’s terms, it must really stink to be Nigel Bradham right now, as there’s no chance he’s back in the City of Brotherly Love this fall.