Philadelphia Eagles: Andrew Booth deserves a serious look at 18

The Philadelphia Eagles are a team in need of another cornerback.

No offense to Zech McPhearson, Tay Gowan, or any of the in-house options the Birds have to offer, but the Eagles had to turn to Steven Nelson deep into the summer for a reason last season, and now that he’s a member of the Houston Texans, that safety valve is no longer an option.

Fortunately, the 2022 NFL Draft has quite a few cornerbacks who could conceivably step onto the field in Week 1 and look darn good, with as many as three cornerbacks who could come off the board within the first 15 picks in the first round alone. Do you want an all-around cornerback who can literally do it all? Derek Stingley Jr. is your guy. How about a man-press master? Then Sauce Gardner is your guy. While Trent McDuffie isn’t for everyone, he’s going to be giving opposing receivers fits for years to come and excel in a compatible scheme.

Now granted, could a team get lucky with a Day 2 option like Alabama’s Jalyn Armour-Davis, Nebraska’s Cam Taylor-Britt, Mississippi State’s Martin Emerson, or even Penn State’s Tariq Castro-Fields? For sure, heck, some have even suggested playing Michigan free safety Daxton Hill on the perimeter to extenuate his natural athleticism, but betting on a project-y player to make an immediate impact as a starter is a tough ask, especially at a position like cornerback where a single mistake can result in six points on the board in a matter of seconds.

But what if the Philadelphia Eagles go on the clock at 15, and all three of those options are gone? Is Jonathan Gannon’s defense doomed to a roulette of Day 2 options? Or will the team have to sign one of the few veteran cornerbacks left on the free agent market to compete with their on-roster options? Well, fear not, for there are quite a few more solid cornerbacks who are worthy of being dubbed first-round talents in this year’s class, none the more intriguing than Clemson’s Andrew Booth.

Andrew Booth should be in play for the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round.

If you were to look up the prototypical 2022 NFL cornerback in the football almanac, you’d find a picture of Andrew Booth.

Measuring in at an even 6-foot, 200 pounds, Booth has an above-average wingspan, big hands, and the athletic profile teams look for regardless of whether they play man or zone, on or off coverage. Though he didn’t run or jump at the 2022 NFL Draft Combine due to an ankle injury, Booth’s tape is filled with athletic plays both on and off the ball, and it’s hard to imagine he wouldn’t have been at least an above-average performer when compared to his peers.

Do you want a cornerback who can press at the line of scrimmage? Booth is one of the better pressers in this year’s class and did put hands on opposing cornerbacks on 29 percent of his snaps at Clemson in 2022. How about a cornerback who has experience playing both man and zone coverage? While Clemson was mostly a zone coverage team, Booth did man up roughly 20 percent of the time in 2021 and looked very good doing so.

Goodness, while Booth’s stats don’t show it, he was quietly one of the better ballhawks in the nation over the past few seasons, as he would constantly attack the pass while it was still in the air and contest it one way or another. After increasing his interceptions and passes defended totals in each of the past three seasons, there’s little reason to believe Booth couldn’t maintain his positive takeaways-giveaways ratio from the college ranks to the pros.

Really, Booth’s biggest issue coming out of college – outside of his lack of man reps – is his aggressiveness as a tackler, as he’s routinely looking for the home run hit and that sometimes results in a miss that turns a small gain into a bigger one or even worse. He can get a bit too handsy at times and thus get out of position as a result, but at a position like cornerback, where having an “alpha” personality is crucial, Booth’s gamesmanship and “my ball” mentality make him a fun player to watch and the sort of corner that will fast become a favorite of whichever assistant has the privilege of coaching him up over the next four-plus years.

Could that coach be Dennard Wilson? Why yes, yes he could.

In the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive scheme, Booth would immediately slot in at CB2 opposite Darius Slay. While he may take a few lumps this fall as all rookie cornerbacks do, his game should be translated immediately from Clemson to the pros and at least match the level of production the Birds got from Steven Nelson in 2021, though hopefully with less than five interceptions surrendered. His ability to press will help Jonathan Gannon to hide his coverages before the ball is snapped, and his instincts, when coupled with a pension for highlight-reel catches, could make him a clear upgrade in the zone looks the team ran on roughly half of their plays last season.

While Booth’s ceiling might not be perceived as being as high as Sauce Gardner or Derek Stingley Jr., his floor is similar, which, for a team looking to take a step forward in 2022, is very important indeed.

Who knows, maybe this is all for not. Maybe the Philadelphia Eagles will go out and sign or even trade for a veteran cornerback tomorrow and their biggest need heading into Week 1 will fully shift over to wide receiver. Stranger things have happened before, and considering the level of player movement that has already taken place this offseason, I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more marquee moves before draft weekend is over. But even if that were to come to pass, the idea of adding a top-flight perimeter option like Andrew Booth should remain at the top of Howie Roseman’s wish list, as the team only has two cornerbacks they drafted on their roster, and both are better fits in the slot than on the outside. After failing to draft a cornerback in the first round since Lito Shepard in 2022, bringing Booth to South Philly would break that drought in a very big way.