Philadelphia Eagles: Evaluating Zech McPhearson’s rookie season

Who will be the Philadelphia Eagles‘ second starting perimeter cornerback when Week 1 rolls around?

Will it be Tay Gowan? A veteran free agent? Or what about one of the undrafted free agents Howie Roseman signed up after the draft; Josh Jobe and Mario Goodrich? After failing to secure a top-100 talent for the fifth time since 2017, maybe Philly will finally capture lightning in a bottle and secure a long-term starter from the UDFA market.

Or maybe it’ll be Zech McPhearson.

I mean, think about it. The 125th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft already has one year of experience in Jonathan Gannon’s scheme and appeared in 16 of the team’s games with one start. Why shouldn’t he be the in-house favorite to win the Philadelphia Eagles’ CB2 competition?

Zech McPhearson played fairly well for the Philadelphia Eagles as a rookie.

Zech McPhearson played 504 snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, 179 on defense, and 325 on special teams.

Though arguably his contributions to the Birds came on special teams, where the pride of Penn State/Texas Tech finished first on the team in snaps and served as one of their primary gunners opposite Andre Chachere, he was subbed in on defense in seven of his 16 games and played fairly well in limited action.

Now granted, most of McPhearson’s defensive action came as a spot-up reserve, as he only played 50-plus percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps on two occasions, but even in limited action, the former fourth-round pick held up fairly well.

Of the 124 snaps he faced versus the pass, McPhearson was targeted 17 times by opposing quarterbacks and allowed just nine catches for 96 yards. McPhearson largely kept his man in front of him vertically and laterally, contested one of the passes thrown his way, and most importantly of all, kept opposing players out of the endzone, as he didn’t allow a single touchdown in coverage.

If McPhearson can take a step forward heading into his second professional season, there’s little reason to believe he couldn’t be at least an average starter opposite Darius Slay, which might just be enough to win the coveted CB2 spot, as his perceived primary opponent for the role, Tay Gowan, is more of a height-weight-speed project than a ready-made, battle-tested outside corner ready to take on any route thrown his way.

Sidebar: While some will call McPhearson a poor fit in Jonathan Gannon’s scheme due to his average to below-average height, wingspan, and 40 time, his 20-yard shuttle, 3-cone drill, 10-yard split, 20-yard split, vertical jump, and broad jump all rank in the 65th or higher percentile according to Mockdraftable, so there is some legitimately mineable athletic upside for the Eagles’ coach staff to unlock.

Last summer, Zech McPhearson was the talk of Philadelphia Eagles training camp. He was picking off passes, recording pick-sixes, and looked like a potential long-term answer opposite Darius Slay. Unfortunately, McPhearson had some tough games in the preseason that led some to question his long-term potential and his rookie season was largely overcast by that shadow. But now? In 2023? Well, McPhearson has a chance to make good on his potential and prove that last summer wasn’t a fluke.