Young Eagles defenders expected to make huge strides in 2022

Marcus Epps will have to grow up for this Eagles defense in a hurry.

By now, you’ve followed the Philadelphia Eagles long enough to know that, whenever there’s any rumor of a great player potentially leaving his current organization to find greener pastures elsewhere, dots will be connected between the said player and the Birds. Most often, those theories don’t amount to much.

This offseason, something clicked, and the smoke led to a fire. Howie Roseman landed James Bradberry, but so far, there’s been no news on the Jessie Bates front, and that means, if the offseason maintains its current course, Philly is going to walk into the regular season with Anthony Harris and Marcus Epps as their starting safety tandem. That means, more than likely, K’Von Wallace and Andre Chachere will be handling reserve duty.

There have been questions about whether or not Epps is ready. Let’s clear this up now. He is!

His snap count on defense has increased since joining the team in 2019. He appeared in 38 percent of the team’s total snaps in 2020 (364) and 48 percent last season (505). He’s also been a special teams mainstay, appearing on the field for 245 special teams snaps in 2020 and 244 snaps in 2021. That equates to 64 and 59 percent of Philly’s total.

Epps has tallied 109 total tackles, three interceptions, and nine pass breakups since 2019, and he rarely lets his team down when he’s on the field. The increased snap count will lead to a breakout season in 2022.