Second-year Eagles playing on defense that can be key contributors

Patrick Johnson and Zech McPhearson have both improved their stock ahead of the coming NFL season.

Once it was announced that the Eagles had added Kyzir White, Haason Reddick, and Nakobe Dean to the linebacker unit, some wondered if there would be room for someone like Patrick Johnson. We knew T.J. Edwards and Davion Taylor weren’t going anywhere, and it appeared that the Birds, depending on how many players they kept, were approaching gridlock, especially after selecting Kyron Johnson during the most recent NFL Draft.

Patrick Johnson has come on during camp, however. He’s extremely talented and has done enough to prove he deserves a spot on the 53-man roster. It would be a shame if Philly introduced their first and hadn’t found a way to keep him around.

Zech McPhearson, when forced into action during his rookie season, wasn’t overly-impressive which is to be expected by a first-year corner who was drafted in the fourth round, but here’s what gets lost when comments like that are made. He wasn’t awful either.

Heading into year two, it was doubtful that the Eagles would move on from the former Texas Tech Red Raider so quickly, and he’s warranted any argument to support his continued presence on the roster.

Firmly fixated as the fourth corner on the depth chart, we may not see much of Zech unless, Heaven forbid, there’s an unforeseen injury to Darius Slay or James Bradberry, but we’ve seen enough to know he’s capable. He also provides value on special teams having played 325 snaps for Michael Clay a year ago. That equated to 77 percent of the team’s total.