The Philadelphia Eagles miss Malcolm Jenkins for one specific reason

Tight ends have the Philadelphia Eagles’ number.

Malcolm Jenkins is a very good football player.

Initially discredited as a consolation prize following the Philadelphia Eagles‘ decision to pass on top available free agents Jairus Byrd and T.J. Ward, Jenkins headlined one of the best safety tandems in the NFL from 2016-18, all the while serving as the team’s leader both on and off the field.

Headlining a, shall we say, average Eagles secondary, Jenkins did a little bit of everything as Jim Schwartz’s jack-of-all-trade defensive back. Do you want a traditional strong safety? Jenkins was your guy. What about a slot cornerback capable of manning up against receivers like Sterling Shepard? Sure, Jenkins did play cornerback at Ohio State after all. What about a dime linebacker a la Chip Kelly favorite Nolan Carroll? Yup, Jenkins could do that too. The only safety role Jenkins wasn’t particularly fond of was playing deep high, but only because it kept the defensive playmaker a bit too far off the ball for his liking.

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That was the beauty of Jenkins in Philly, and why he’s been underwhelming in New Orleans through the first four weeks of the season: He’s at his best when he’s doing more than one thing.

So understandably, when the Eagles opted to replace Jenkins and his $4.8 million cap hit for the 2020 season, it was going to be a safety-by-committee approach. It had to be. Outside of drafting a player like Xavier McKinney or Antoine Winfield in the first round, or using their second-round pick on then available players like Jeremy Chinn, Ashtyn Davis, or my personal favorite Terrell Burgess, the Eagles opted to take a by-the-numbers approach to their strong safety position.

And thus far, the results have been mixed.

Attribute it to Will Parks‘ preseason ankle injury, but none of the Eagles’ safeties appear to be playing positioned in the right position to succeed week-in and week-out. McLeod, the smallest player of the bunch, has somehow become the Eagles’ new box safety, a position he’s been alright at but noticeably undersized. Jalen Mills has played okay as the team’s strong safety-in-name-only, but it’s clear he’s better suited to play perimeter cornerback, a position he should stick at indefinitely even when Avonte Maddox returns down the line (more on that here). And as for K’Von Wallace? Well, he’s only played 28 defensive snaps through the first four games of the season, and they’ve been sort of meh.

All and all, the strong safety position hasn’t been the Eagles’ biggest issue through the first month of the season, but it’s also far from a strength for one very noticeable, maddening reason: The Eagles have no one who can confidently cover a tight end with any success.

I know, crazy right? Even as the league becomes more and more focused on three, four, sometimes even five wide receiver sets, NFL defenses still need a guy who can cover a 6-foot-5, 250 pass-catcher to be competent. Who’d have ever guessed that?

But it’s true. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Eagles have given up 276 yards and five touchdowns to opposing tight ends, lowlighted by a three-touchdown performance by Tyler Higbee in Week 2 and a 184 yard game by George Kittle in Week 4. The Eagles have tried manning up ‘coverage’ linebackers like Nathan Gerry, manning up safeties like McLeod/Wallace, using zone coverage concepts, and even double-teaming would be pass-catchers with both a linebacker and a safety, but nothing has seemed to work.

In this regard, Jenkins’ return could not be more welcomed.

Do you remember the Eagles getting torched by tight ends week after week after week over the last five-ish years? No? That’d be because Jenkins was locking said tight ends up as the Eagles’ primary coverage option.

Fun fact: Per NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank, George Kittle was the first tight end with a 100-yard game against the Eagles since Rob Gronkowski in the Super Bowl. Something tells me it’s not going to take two years for that feat to be accomplished once more.

And unfortunately, unless Parks can suddenly develop into a lockdown tight end defender when he returns… eventually, this trend is probably going to continue against promising pass catchers like Mark Andrews, Austin Hooper, Evan Engram, and… Blake Jarwin? Wait, that’s who the Cowboys are starting at tight end? *yikes*.

Sidebar: Oh gosh, who on earth is going to cover wide receiver/tight end hybrid Chase Claypool in Week 5. If he’s available in your fantasy football league, snatch him up ASAP.

dark. Next. Give Rodney McLeod the headset over Nathan Gerry

Ultimately, whether you believe the Philadelphia Eagles were right to move on from Malcolm Jenkins or believe he should have been retained for the 2020 season, it’s clear no one really thought through how the team would cover tight ends in his absence. Between an inexperienced collection of strong safeties, an out-of-position Rodney McLeod, and arguably the worst linebacking corps in the league, Jim Schwartz has his work cut out for him over the next few weeks to try to ease the near-constant bleeding brought on by opposing tight ends. *sigh* maybe the Eagles should have drafted Patrick Queen after all.

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