PHILADELPHIA — Safety is one of the biggest question marks on the Philadelphia Eagles defense, a void unfulfilled thanks to the offseason trade of C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans.
Gardner-Johnson’s departure created a competition at safety opposite of Reed Blankenship. Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said the battle is between Sydney Brown, rookie Andrew Mukuba and Tristin McCollum for the job.
There’s another name added to the mix — Cooper DeJean.
Fangio name dropped DeJean when speaking at the NovaCare Complex on Wednesday, mentioning safety when being asked about the second-year cornerback getting looks on the outside opposite Quinyon Mitchell in base defense.
“We’d like to keep him at nickel,” Fangio said. “And then in our base package, we’ll find a spot for him either at corner or safety.”
The Eagles want to keep DeJean on the field at all times, and safety could be a way for them to accomplish that. Based on how the cornerback situation plays out on the outside between Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson, Fangio could move DeJean to safety in base defense to pair with Blankenship.
The catch to all of this? The Eagles don’t actually go in base defense much, only running it less than 10% of the time last season. Fangio even asked reporters how many times they thought the Eagles were in base defense last season through 21 games.
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The answer was 160 snaps.
“In last year’s case, we evolved to that because once Cooper started to play very well, it got him on the field more,” Fangio said. “It was a much better fit for our edge…
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