Philadelphia Eagles: Alex Singleton has finally proven he belongs
Alex Singleton belongs with the Philadelphia Eagles.
When Alex Singleton took down Alex Smith for a second-quarter sack – only the second sack of his young NFL career – it served as an exclamation mark on an otherwise exemplary sophomore season for the Philadelphia Eagles‘ Sam linebacker.
Despite being a favorite to make the Eagles’ opening day roster one year removed from having to work his way to the NFL the hard way through the practice squad, the former CFL star was mostly projected to be a special teams ace who rarely saw the field at his chosen position.
While this was presumably fine with the then-26-year-old second-year player – it’s certainly better than earning roughly $8,000 a week on a non-guaranteed practice squad contract after all – surely Singleton wanted a chance to prove his worth at the game’s highest level, regardless of how the team wanted to go about it.
More from Section 215
- 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
- Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
- 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
- Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
- Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles
That opportunity would eventually come at the expense of a Nathan Gerry injury – much to the delight of fans in the 215.
That’s right, after playing some truly perplexing football over the first half of the season, Gerry was eventually placed on IR with an ankle injury – an ankle injury that he’d reportedly been struggling with all season long. While this certainly made things tricky for Jim Schwartz and the entire defensive coaching staff, as Gerry was the team’s headset wearer and defacto quarterback, his absence left an opening for Singleton to see the field in a more expansive role.
By Week 10, his fourth straight start of the season, Singleton was playing 100 percent of the team’s defensive snaps as an every-down linebacker – remaining on the field regardless of down, distance, or defensive subpackage (duh).
Was it perfect? Goodness no. Singleton gave up 30 catches on 40 targets for 227 yards and three touchdowns in coverage, but to be fair, none of the Eagles’ linebackers played particularly well while dropping into coverage in 2020. Even if Singleton’s athleticism isn’t particularly bad – running a 4.65 40 at his Montana State Pro Day – he’s far more of a between-the-tackles thumper than a coast-to-coast Deion Jones-type who can cover like a safety.
With that being said, Singleton tried really, really hard every time he saw the field. In only 748 defensive snaps – good for 67.8 percent of the team’s defensive snaps – Singleton racked up 120 combined tackles, the most any Eagles defender had amassed since DeMeco Ryans in 2013.
Sidebar: Ah, remember when DeMeco Ryans and Jordan Hicks had that fun Mufasa-Simba dynamic back in 2015? Boy, the Eagles could really use a certified ballhawk like Hicks right about now.
Call it a fortunate byproduct of playing three full seasons as an every-down performer with the Calgary Stampede – which, fun fact, is a wrestling reference – but Singleton played like a grizzled veteran in the field in his first true chance to start – showing solid field vision, good poise, and the zone instincts of a player with his age, not his experience. Had Singleton been allowed to start a full 16 game season, it’s very possible we could be looking at a 150 tackler performer – which, regardless of the team’s record, would have been pretty darn cool.
And the best part? Alex Singleton is an exclusive rights free agent, which means he’ll all but surely be back next season on a bargain-bin contract.
Next. The case to re-sign Jalen Mills is strong. dark
In a perfect world, the Philadelphia Eagles should upgrade their linebacking corps considerably to fit whatever scheme their defensive coordinator runs. They’d draft a player like Micah Parsons sixth overall, or at worst, a player like Dylan Moses at the top of the second round, and building a force in the middle of their new-look defense the likes of which Philly hasn’t had since Jordan Hicks was gainfully employed by the team. But even if that happens, and Howie Roseman goes against his better interests to draft a premier linebacker, that doesn’t mean Alex Singleton wouldn’t still have a place on the field with regularity. If anything, 2020 closed the book on whether or not Singleton is a starting-caliber NFL linebacker; he is without question and will be for the foreseeable future.