3 things we'd love to see from the Eagles defense during their first preseason game of 2023
By Jake Beckman
This is a good time to see how the Eagles' backup cornerbacks produce.
James Bradberry and Darius Slay aren’t spring chickens anymore. Sometimes we wish they were, but it is what it is. Yep, you guessed it. They won't be playing on Saturday.
Young guys tend to bounce back from getting dinged up more rapidly. If either Slay or Bradberry goes down during the season, you can imagine that it might take a little bit longer for them to get back to 100 percent health. Here's the other thing. We know Slay and Bradberry will make the roster. With three preseason tilts, we'll see a lot of the guys who are competing for jobs.
James Bradberry believes game has slowed down for second year CB Josh Jobe. He’s always been athletic and physical but mental part of game has really picked up. Think it’s going to be a good year for him pic.twitter.com/ulBdlCKyVO
— Ed Kracz (@kracze) August 10, 2023
We want to see Josh Jobe, Josiah Scott, and Zech McPhearson hold their own. We want to see if Greedy Williams can show anything positive. We want to see Kelee Ringo develop during the minimal amounts playing time he gets this season (hopefully). Then, there's Eli Ricks and Mekhi Garner. Can they prove they belong on the roster?
We’ve seen Desai showcase a big nickel-style package, one that involves three safeties. It’d be fun to see some of that versus the Ravens. Think of it as an advanced screening. We doubt it will happen, but it will be nice. After all, too much of the Jonathan Gannon-esque ‘Cover 2 shell’ makes football very boring.
Those first-round picks may see some action even if it's minimal.
Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith weren’t just good in college, they were phenomenal. We’re probably not going to be seeing them going against the Ravens’ first-team offensive line, so whenever they are in against the second team, the third team, or anything deeper, they need to stand out and stand out big-time. The last thing that we want is for there to be a ‘Was he a bad pick?’ conversation to start the season.
Watch out for Nolan Smith… 😳 #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/wSvpFtWf5E
— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) August 10, 2023
You want your first-round picks to have generational talent, and quite frankly, being patient and waiting for that talent to be productive just isn't nearly as fun as seeing it immediately. How sick would it be to have our hopes instantly confirmed? Answer: Very. It'd be very very sick.
Check out a few of these Eagles stories as well.
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