Eagles Try the Positionless Player Route with JaCoby Stevens
PHILADELPHIA - The Eagles mined a diamond in the seventh round of the 2016 draft by turning to LSU for a versatile defensive back.
Jalen Mills was never Deion Sanders in Philadelphia but he was by definition a cornerback good enough to win a Super Bowl with by his sophomore season with the Eagles and by 2020 a move to the back end, along with Mills’ leadership skills, impressed Bill Belichick enough that the legendary New England coach gave the Dallas native a nice little free agent deal to take his talents to Foxborough.
Enter JaCoby Stevens, Philadelphia’s sixth-round pick at No. 224 overall on Saturday in the 2021 selection process. Stevens is also a defensive back from Baton Rouge, who was brought to Philadelphia for his versatility and leadership skills.
Stevens wasn’t brought in to replace Mills on the field, but perhaps the goal is to replace some of Mills' presence off it.
A team captain between the lines at LSU, Stevens was just as active off of the field.
He was nominated for LSU’s Good Works Team and the Wuerffel Award in 2020 for his commitment to community service, some of which including overseeing a voting initiative that led to the entire Tigers team registering to vote.
Stevens was also involved in social justice efforts, organized a drive that contributed supplies, such as water and other essential items for victims of Hurricane Laura in September of 2020.
On the field, at 6-foot-1 and 212 pounds, he was a safety who often doubled as a linebacker. The Eagles, meanwhile, listed Stevens as a LB when drafting him.
To Stevens, however, labels don’t matter.
“That's what I really did at LSU,” he said. “At LSU I really did some of that. I just had the safety title. I have - you know, before LSU, before the draft process, I always have a theory of where - football is kind of like basketball in a sense where it's all about matchups and all about getting this guy on another guy.”
The positionless player narrative is one that is gaining steam around the NFL and a pool the previous Eagles defensive coaching staff dipped its toes in with Malcolm Jenkins and then Mills, who lined up at five different positions in 2020, free safety, box safety, outside corner, slot CB and on the defensive line.
Stevens is projected to rotate between LB and safety and maybe some of that D-Line work in short-yardage if things work out well.
“Now defenses are getting guys that can do just about a little bit of everything and it's getting to the point now where all these guys are playing different positions and you don't know what to call them,” Stevens said.
“I don't get into the label. At the end of the day, the Eagles organization and hopefully when I come to Philadelphia the fans know I'm a football player. I love football. You can label me as a D-tackle, but at the end of the day, I'm on the football field hopefully making plays.”
Anyone who’s been around the NFL for a day or two understands the LSU community is a tight-knit one and Mills would often return to Baton Rouge when he could to pay forward what the program did for me.
Stevens was one of the players the ex-Eagle touched.
“Jalen, he always came back to LSU and always talked and spoke his mind,” Stevens told Si.com’s Eagle Maven. “I remember Jalen came back, and I want to say this was my sophomore year and we were good, but Jalen basically pointed out things that we didn't even think about how we carried ourselves and how all that stuff has something to do with on the field.
“He talked about us parking in handicap [spots] and parking where we're not supposed to be and how really and truly all those little things carry on to the field. You know, things like that are what stuck out to me when Jalen came back. Of course, he taught us technique, things he learned in the NFL, but it was little things like that that can separate you not only as a guy on the field but as a person off the field.”
Lightning may not strike twice in the same place, but there have been plenty of diamonds found at LSU over the years and the Eagles are counting on a seamless transition from one Tiger to another.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.g
