4 former Philadelphia Eagles this team could really use right now
49. . . . Rasul Douglas, cornerback. . player
Rasul Douglas appears to be thriving now that he’s left the Eagles.
Former Eagles third-round draft choice Rasul Douglas has seen both the highs and lows of being a part of this Eagles franchise. He’s had some nice moments. He’s been on the wrong side of a few highlight-reel moments by other offenses versus the Philly defense.
No one seems to want to agree with this theory, but Rasul probably should have been a reserve safety. He was too slow to be a cornerback and was probably a better option to fill the void Malcolm Jenkins left than Jalen Mills was.
Douglas has seen five different locker rooms since 2020 which further demonstrates that Philly wasn’t necessarily braindead by letting him get out of the door, but hard work and perseverance seem to have paid off. So has the fact that he’s found a scheme and staff that seems to know how to utilize was he does do well.
With Jaire Alexander being placed on the Green Bay’s injured reserve after Week 4 on October 9th because of a shoulder injury, the Packers signed Rasul off of the Cardinals’ practice squad on October 6th. By October 28th, he was on the field again.
In Week 8, Douglas intercepted a pass by Kyler Murray that closed the door on the Arizona Cardinals and sealed a 24-21 win. In Week 12 on November 28th, he picked off Matthew Stafford and returned that one 33 yards to seal a 36-28 win over the Los Angeles Rams. That one also doubles as his first career defensive touchdown.
Douglas received his first NFC Defensive Player of the Week honor after that. Sure, had he been making those types of plays in Philadelphia, he might still be around, but here’s another side of the same coin.
Philly invested a lot in the likes of Grayland Arnold, Michael Jacquet, Ronald Darby, and Will Parks among others. Douglas was probably potentially better than all of those guys. Maybe the real problem is this team, at some point, has to start coaching these guys up. Why is it that they can’t get Zech McPhearson on the field? At what point do we start talking about coaching?