Look, getting Twitter followers is hard. Some people are good at it, I’m personally horrible at it, and in a world where social media rules supreme, climbing the proverbial mountain can feel impossible.
Enter Tay Gowan, who just swooped in and offered up some help in these trying times.
That’s right, for the price of a like and follow of your own, you can be followed by the Philadelphia Eagles‘ potential CB2 heading into the regular season, even if that could change in a hurry based on how the rest of free agency and the draft shake out.
https://twitter.com/focused_4/status/1508103058361827330?t=wvNF11dLc3AhF2iAY4autA&s=19
Is this, like, news news? No, not necessarily, but hey, don’t fault the messenger for passing along some interesting news. If anything, you might come away from this story with a newfound appreciation for the former Arizona Cardinals cornerback, a new Twitter follower, and a fun story to tell your friends.
Tay Gowan is an intriguing Philadelphia Eagles player to watch this summer.
When the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft rolled around, Tay Gowan thought he was going to be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
While that didn’t ultimately come to fruition, as he was selected by the Arizona Cardinals one pick before the Eagles went on the clock at 224, things ultimately worked out in both partys’ favor, as Gowan was acquired by the Birds alongside a 2022 fifth-round pick in the midseason Zach Ertz trade.
Fun fact: Do you know who the Eagles picked instead of Gowan? That would be JaColby Stevens, who ultimately spent the majority of the regular season on the practice squad.
Measuring in at 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, Gowan is a raw prospect, but one with the athletic measurables the Eagles look for in a perimeter cornerback. He has solid speed, an appropriate wingspan, and above-average testing numbers at the 20-yard splits and 3-cone drill, according to Mockdraftable, both of which are useful for playing the cornerback position. Though some knocked his tape coming out of Central Florida and for being only a one-year starter with the Knights, he turned heads among Cardinals fans during the 2021 preseason and led many a fan to wonder if Arizona secured a steal in the back end of the draft.
Could Gowan ultimately prove to be a steal? Sure, but it won’t be for Arizona.
Once he arrived back in the City of Brotherly Love, where he actually played some high school ball back in the day, Gowan was largely held out of on-field action, only appearing in a Week 8 bout against the Detroit Lions and in Week 18 versus Dallas. While that limited action may have bummed out the player in question, he was still able to commit 44 defensive snaps to tape and allowed only one of the two balls thrown his way to be completed for eight yards.
… now granted, that one catch was a touchdown, but hey, one mistake is better than two, right?
Fast forward to today, roughly two weeks after the official start of free agency, and Gowan sits in a pretty good spot on the Eagles’ depth chart. With Steven Nelson a free agent and no other player signed to take his place, he’s currently locked in a competition with Zech McPhearson to start on the outside opposite Darius Slay. Now granted, that will probably change, as there are plenty of quality cornerbacks available in the 2022 NFL Draft who could start as a rookie and plenty of veteran corners who could sign as stop gaps if the draft doesn’t shake out well but still, with three years left on his contract, it’s safe to say Gowan isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
With that in mind, why not like and follow Tay Gowan on Twitter – and Instagram- and see what happens? I mean, he hasn’t followed me back yet, but hey, there’s still time; if things shake out in a very particular way, we all might have the Philadelphia Eagles’ CB2 as a Twitter mutual before April Fool’s Day. That would be a pretty cool way to spend a Sunday.