Dave Spadaro Eagles Insider

Somehow, the Eagles pieced it together enough in the secondary in 2017 to win a Super Bowl. They did it with a cornerback picture that, heading into Training Camp, looked suspicious, at best. Jalen Mills, Patrick Robinson, Rasul Douglas and who? What?

A trade to acquire Ronald Darby helped immensely, and the Eagles went on to, you know, win it all. Mills started all season. Robinson had the best year of his career as the nickel cornerback. Darby came on down the stretch after suffering an ankle injury in the opening game at Washington that sidelined him for the next eight games. Douglas showed steady improvement playing in Darby’s absence.

And it all worked.

Now? New year. New challenges.

Robinson took the money and ran to New Orleans in free agency, leaving the Eagles with a gaping hole at cornerback. The Eagles acquired third-year cornerback Daryl Worley, who played his high school football at William Penn Charter in Philadelphia, in a trade that sent wide receiver Torrey Smith to the Carolina Panthers. Douglas is back for his second season. Sidney Jones, a second-round draft pick in 2017 who played only the final regular-season game against Dallas, is looking to take a quantum leap forward.

Darby and Mills are in line to enter the spring as the first-team cornerbacks on the imaginary depth chart but that means a whole lot of nothing with the Eagles’ coaching staff: The best players are going to play. Here is a breakdown of the candidates of a cornerback group that is extraordinarily young – Darby is the old man at age 24 – and very, very talented.

Ronald Darby

A full year in the program and a clean bill of health should help Darby elevate his game. He’s fast, he has a knack for the football and Darby is a competitor. He was inconsistent at times in 2017 and there’s a sense that his ankle injury never came all the way back. This year, that isn’t an issue. Darby isn’t a shutdown cornerback and he can be pushed around because of his lack of commanding size, but he gives the Eagles speed on the outside. Could he play inside? He’s got the quickness in the short area, but he isn’t the biggest guy and when you’re playing cornerback in the slot, you have to get through a lot of traffic. He’ll get a look at the nickel position.

Jalen Mills

Terrific competitor who never backs down, Mills has come a long way since he was a seventh-round draft pick in 2016. Mills played 65 percent of the defensive snaps as a rookie, 90 percent in last year’s regular season and 100 percent of the snaps in the postseason. Mills is tenacious and has improved a great deal from a technical standpoint. Mills took some reps in his first two seasons in the slot and held his own. He might be the best candidate to go inside, but Mills would have trouble matching up against the smaller, quicker slot receivers.

Sidney Jones

The most talented of all the cornerbacks on the roster, Jones would likely be the first cornerback off the board if he were in this year’s NFL draft. Prior to suffering a torn Achilles tendon only weeks before last spring’s draft, Jones was projected to be a top 10-15 draft pick. The Eagles drafted him in Round 2 and then waited patiently as he rehabbed the injury. Jones played in the regular-season finale against Dallas, all of 29 snaps, and heads into this offseason with momentum and optimism. There is the thought that he could be a top-level cornerback in this league. He’s got size and he had every bit of the package before suffering the injury. Can he get it all back? The Eagles hope so. Jones could change the entire complexion of the secondary if he’s ready to be a big-time player.

Rasul Douglas

Some think Douglas will eventually move to safety because he’s 6 feet 2 and 209 pounds. But the Eagles are keeping Douglas at the cornerback spot for now, and maybe for later. Douglas played in 41 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last year and showed improvement. He’s got length and strength and he can close. He doesn’t have great top-end speed, but the idea is for Douglas to lock down on a receiver and pin him at the line of scrimmage. Let’s see how much he’s improved from Year 1 to Year 2. Douglas does not have the classic body type to play inside and he lacks the short-area quickness to excel as the nickel cornerback.

Daryl Worley

An up-and-down two seasons with Carolina led Worley to being traded and maybe a new defense and a new environment will help get him straightened out all the way. Worley said he’s willing to play inside or outside and he will get a look at both. An intriguing candidate as a former third-round draft pick with plenty of starting experience.

The Others

You won’t know the names of De’Vante Bausby, Randall Goforth and D.J. Killings, but all three were around the Eagles last season and the team looks for great competition from all.

This is going to be a loaded, extremely competitive situation. Heading into 2017, the cornerback position was seen as a weakness. Now it could be a huge strength if some of the young cornerbacks step up and play to their full ability. *

AML1175: Cornerback Jalen Mills may be counted on for different roles in 2018. Photo by Andy Lewis/contrastphotography.com

AML_8632: Cornerback Rasul Douglas will look for more playing time next after Patrick Robinson left to play for New Orleans. Photo by Andy Lewis/contrastphotography.com