Craig James, Marcus Epps, Rudy Ford Take Flight with Eagles
PHILADELPHIA — Three defensive backs on the Eagles' initial 53-man roster surprised a lot of people outside the NovaCare Complex.
Inside the building coaches like Jim Schwartz and Dave Fipp understood the value of cornerback Craig James and safeties Rudy Ford and Marcus Epps.
James and Ford are expected to be the first-team gunners on punt coverage and Epps might be the third safety Schwartz turns to during Sunday's season-opener in Washington now that Will Parks has been ruled out for at least three games with a hamstring issue.
Conventional wisdom had James stuck behind bigger names like Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas on Philadelphia's CB depth chart but pedigree has long left the equation for Schwartz when it came to the 2017 premium picks.
James' hard-nosed mentality and confidence, in particular, carried the day.
"I think Craig was one of our most improved players," said Schwartz on Tuesday. "He went from being sort of a special teams only guy last year.
"He did have to start against the Jets, but he was more of a niche special teams (player) for us this year, and came in from the first day of training camp and really looked like a different guy."
An understanding of what the Eagles' defensive coordinator was expecting and perhaps a psyche not beaten down by paralysis by analysis like Jones and Douglas helped James, a University of Minnesota product who transferred to finish his college ball Southern Illinois, separate himself.
"Cover skills were outstanding; knowledge of our scheme was outstanding; gave us some versatility," Schwartz said of James, who started his pro career under well-regarded defensive coach Mike Zimmer in Minnesota. "And he did all this with also - I don't mean to speak for Fipp (special teams coordinator Dave Fipp), but I saw him as an improved special teams player.
"So we were really excited about Craig and what he can do. He's tough. He's fast. Now he has a little bit of experience in our scheme."
Schwartz put Epps, also a former Vikings defender, in the same category as James.
"Came to us middle of the year last year," said the DC. "We plugged him in some of our dime packages, but we limited what he was asked to do in our defense. He played a lot in the post and the other guys, like (S) Rodney (McLeod) and Malcolm (Jenkins), sort of covered up."
More immersed in the system, the instinctive Epps became an organizational favorite who flew under the radar because he missed several practices in training camp while dealing with an injury.
A lot of people who didn't understand that the Eagles had significant interest in Epps in the 2019 draft before Minnesota took him in the sixth round wrote Epps off when he was on the sidelines.
The defensive coaching staff had grown enamored with the University of Wyoming product, however, and chalked him up as part of the team.
"With with the whole gaining some experience last year and just adding another year in the same system, from the very first day of training camp not only has he improved mentally - and he's been always good that way - but just understanding and the little intricacies," said Schwartz. "But he was improved physically, too. Was faster, more explosive.
"... I saw (James and Epps) as really improved players for us, and I think both of those guys will play a big part in our effort this year."
Schwartz noted that it's not his job to pick the final 53, but it's clear that he's got a big say on who stays on the defensive side of the football and felt more than comfortable with James, along with veteran slot CBs Nickell Robey-Coleman and Cre'Von LeBlanc handling outside work if needed.
"I'm not privy to all those decisions that go into our final 53 and things like that, but I can speak of how we're prepared and just different things like that," said Schwartz. "I would probably put Cre'Von LeBlanc in a similar category I talked about with Craig and Epps.
"We sort of always viewed Cre as just a nickel, even though against the Giants a couple years ago he had to go and play outside corner for almost a whole half and really did well for us. But in his career, NFL career, he's really been more of a nickel slot. We moved him around a lot and we like his versatility. We think he can handle a lot of different roles, and we're comfortable with him outside."
The same holds true with NRC.
"We also used Robey outside a lot," said Schwartz. "Those guys are both a little bit different depending on the matchup we would have in a game if we got to have to use a fourth corner, we would be able to match it.
"Cre is a little bit bigger, stronger, and Robey has probably got a little bit more quickness, a little bit smaller. But it does give us the ability to be able to handle in-game injuries and things like that."
Fipp was more forthcoming on the collaborative process that the coaches are involved in as GM Howie Roseman cuts to 53.
"I would say one great thing about this organization is we got great leadership in Howie and coach (Doug) Pederson and those guys, and we do have a lot of collaboration," the special teams coordinator said. "I think for myself, I obviously appreciate that. I think we have a voice. For myself individually, I definitely don't make the cuts and the final decisions, but we definitely have a voice."
With Ford, he's more of a natural special teamer and not expected to help a ton on defense while with Epps it's vice versa. James is a bit in between and able to help in both aspects.
"I think some of these guys maybe played better on special teams than on offense or defense, and maybe the back end of the roster, some of those guys maybe have more of special teams role," said Fipp. "Then obviously the front of the roster is the opposite of that. The higher up the guy is, the less special teams role he has, the more his value on offense and defense probably plays into these things."
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Monday and Friday on SIRIUSXM and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
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