Philadelphia Eagles: Ronald Darby doesn’t deserve to start
By Brian Cass
Ronald Darby was back on the practice field this week for the Philadelphia Eagles, but does he deserve his starting spot back?
As we all know, the Philadelphia Eagles’ cornerback group has struggled immensely this season. Every corner on the roster, including Ronald Darby, has had their fair share of disappointment, and none of them inspire any kind of confidence heading into any matchup.
With both Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby back on the practice field, all signs are pointing towards both of them being available for this Sunday’s contest against the Dallas Cowboys.
For Mills, this will be his first time in a live-action game in nearly a year, and with how bad the secondary has played as a whole, it seems foolish to not at least give him a chance to have an impact on this game.
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Darby, on the other hand, has played this season and he didn’t play particularly well in his limited action. In his last full game as a starter against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2, he was tasked with covering wideout Calvin Ridley, and he allowed the young receiver to haul in five catches for 106 yards and a 34-yard touchdown.
After the secondary’s horrible performance last week against the Minnesota Vikings, where Rasul Douglas and Sidney Jones started on the outside, the fanbase has gone into complete panic mode.
Benching Jones for Darby would be understandable, as he’s been burnt in nearly every game he’s played in this year, but Douglas has arguably been the best corner on the roster thus far.
That may not be saying much, but benching Douglas for someone who’s struggled more than he has doesn’t seem like it would fix much of anything. Realistically, it would probably make the situation even worse. The one encouraging stat that may push defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to start both Mills and Darby is the fact that the team has gone 13-5 when that duo starts on the outside.
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The jury’s still out on this one. It’s not clear if both will even play on Sunday night, but if they do play, it’s hard to envision them completely fixing the secondary’s issues. Mills at least deserves a shot at remedying the problem, but for Darby, he hasn’t proven that he deserves his starting spot or that he’s much of an asset at all.