Philadelphia Eagles: Initial thoughts on camp’s biggest roster battles
54. . . . Cornerback. 2. player
Philadelphia Eagles: Sidney Jones versus Avonte Maddox
As much as we keep calling the cornerback position a roster battle, it seems like everything is just about set. The “Birds” figure to take six into the regular season which is right around the league average.
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Darius Slay is a lock. He’s the top man on the depth chart. Newly added Nickell Robey-Coleman is another lock and probably the favorite to take over as Philly’s starting slot man. Cre’Von LeBlanc was given an extension before he was placed on the team’s IR (injured reserve). As strange as that may sound, it’s a true story.
That leaves Rasul Douglas, Sidney Jones, and Avonte Maddox. Douglas seemingly fell out of favor with the coaches in 2019 but agreed to a restructured deal at the beginning of May. He’s a little slow and seems to be a better fit at safety but good luck selling that one to Eagles fans (or the Philly media).
Jones is in a contract season. Maddox has two years left on his rookie deal. That probably means that Craig James, Tremon Smith, Grayland Arnold, Michael Jacquet, Prince Smith, Elijah Riley, and Trevor Williams are falling victim to the numbers game unless someone can surprise us and catapult themselves onto the final 53-man roster. Arnold might be the man to do that if we’re looking for a dark horse, but that remains to be seen.
With that being said, look for LeBlanc to compete for the backup slot role and for Maddox and Jones to compete for the starting role opposite Slay. Other than that, the cornerback room seems to be about 90 percent set.