Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t mess with Cre’Von LeBlanc’s Strap Hive

Cre’Von LeBlanc has a posse, Philadelphia Eagles fans.

If you’re a decidedly not-online fan of the Philadelphia Eagles perusing any of the team’s online accounts over the last few days, you probably have one (or more) very specific question: Who the heck is Strap?

Now if you already know – or were one of these countless commentators – this is rather humorous, but I can’t tell you how many times I saw someone genuinely confused as to who this mystery player was, and why people wanted him to come back, especially when the posts in question were completely unrelated.

Well, if you don’t know, allow me to explain it to ya: Strap is the nickname of 2019 slot cornerback – and cult internet favorite – Cre’Von LeBlanc, who was released for the better part of 24 hours by the Eagles make way for waiver wire claim Jason Huntley.

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But why, you may ask, is LeBlanc so popular when he had a two average value in 2018 and a one in 2019, you may ask? Well, that, my friends, is a rather interesting dynamic to dissect.

Well, it all started when the Eagles claimed LeBlanc from the Detroit Lions in November of 2018. Replacing another ex-Lion in midseason sign-and-waivee Dexter McDougle, LeBlanc immediately found a home in Jim Schwartz’s defense – averaging 50 snaps per game as the team’s primary slot option. While LeBlanc didn’t log a single sack, interception, or forced fumble, he only allowed one touchdown in coverage down the stretch and was generally regarded as the lone bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming cornerbacks group.

LeBlanc’s legend grew even larger when Pro Football Focus named him the second highest-graded cornerback in the 2018 playoffs, an accolade that has stuck surprisingly well to the 26-year-old two years later. Granted, LeBlanc’s PFF grade dropped down into the low 70s during an injury-stifled 2019 season, but 2020 looked like his year, even with the addition of Nickell Robey-Coleman all but certainly kicking him from the starting lineup to the bench.

Whether because of his swagger, his positivity, or his willingness to actually communicate with fans, LeBlanc has rapidly become one of Philly’s favorite under-the-national-radar players, a one-of-us in a sport that oftentimes feels all too impersonal. Heck, one ambitious group of fans even went so far as to write a rap theme song for LeBlanc understandably called  ‘Strap’ which you can check out here if you so wish.

Will said fans be disappointed when LeBlanc averages sub-20 defensive snaps a game this fall stuck behind interior options like NRC, Jalen Mills, K’Von Wallace, and eventually Will Parks? Maybe so but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

In a weird way, LeBlanc’s rabid fanbase of cornerback-loving Philly fans is oddly reminiscent of the Mike Scott Hive, a fan club of sorts formed midway through the 2018-19 NBA season by similarly passionate Sixers fans. Like LeBlanc, Scott joined the team midway through the season, brought a certain attitude to the game his team was desperately lacking and captured the hearts of Philly fans the world over. While LeBlanc’s posse doesn’t have a defined name as far as I know, and they haven’t had any in-person meetups to congregate around their favorite player, maybe they will in 2021 if we can have more in-person interactions.

So there you go, Philadelphia Eagles fans. If you didn’t know Cre’Von ‘Strap’ LeBlanc before today now you know, and hopefully you are better for it.