Philadelphia Eagles debate table: Which 2000s cornerback duo was better?

Remember when those Philadelphia Eagles cornerbacks were never an issue?

The Philadelphia Eagles are entering the 2020s with a new approach in the secondary. It is one that is more of a hybrid, almost position-less group with just about every member of the unit able to fill in at more than one area.

They are also entering the decade, as is the world, amidst a global pandemic, leaving everything to question, including the NFL. The Eagles have also seemingly had something of a pandemic with their starting corners throughout the 2010s.  Sure, they won a Super Bowl with Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby, and some see Asante Samuel was one of the best corners in the history of the franchise, but the decade was mostly filled with guys like Dimitri Patterson, Bradley Fletcher, Cary Williams, Nolan Carroll, and Leodis McKelvin.

One would also be remiss without bringing up the unholy trinity of swing-and-miss acquisitions in the decade of Dominque Rogers-Cromartie, Byron Maxwell, and, dare we say it, Nnamdi Asomugha.

In the 2000s, or ‘the aughts’ for those hip to the jive, the Eagles experienced something of a golden age at the cornerback position. The twilight of the Buddy Ryan’s ‘Gang Green’ era and its subsequent aftermath ushered in two of the greatest cornerback tandems in Eagles history. There was Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent, who were together from 1996 to 2003, and Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown, who started alongside one another between 2004 and 2007. Today’s debate table is loaded with one of those questions that could have ‘Birds’ fans arguing for weeks. Which of those is the superior tandem? Let’s dive in.