Examining the NFC East: Safeties
Our daily series examining the NFC East from a positional perspective with the help of league personnel sources continues on the back end of the defense, this time focusing on the last line of support, the safeties.
The position-less player narrative was a big one for the Eagles in the offseason and at least part of that stems from being spoiled by Malcolm Jenkins over the past number of seasons.
“Believe me I understand what they were trying to do and why they did it,” a former AFC personnel executive told SI.com when asked about the decision to move on from Jenkins, a three-time Pro Bowl selection in Philadelphia and a team leader on and off the field.
“It’s the better to give up on a player a year early than a year late sentiment and there’s a lot of tread off that tire at 32 with how much he’s played," the exec said. "But, that’s a really difficult player to replace.”
Jenkins was the Swiss Army knife on Jim Schwartz’s defense, a player who not only could play multiple positions - all seven on the back end over the past few seasons, according to Schwartz himself - but embraced it.
Pittsburgh star Minkah Fitzpatrick, for instance, has the kind of well-rounded skill set to do everything in the modern game but forced his way out of Miami because the Dolphins wanted him to learn so many positions and he wanted to focus on one.
Jenkins is a rare breed and the Eagles have taken a layered approach to replace him by moving Jalen Mills from cornerback to safety, signing Philadelphia native Will Parks in free agency, drafting a safety with upside in K’Von Wallace and also bringing in a high-level undrafted free agent in Baylor’s Grayland Arnold.
All have at least safety/slot versatility and you can add outside corner to that list when it comes to Mills.
As for the linebacker-like run support Jenkins could provide at times that’s now up to a host of young, athletic players at that particular position like Nate Gerry, rookies Davion Taylor and Shaun Bradley and perhaps Jatavis Brown.
It will take a village to replace Malcolm.
“One guy isn’t taking on that load I can tell you that,” the executive said.
No. 4 - Philadelphia Eagles - Once the Eagles decided on Jenkins, the push was on to re-sign Rodney McLeod to keep some stability with all the moving parts in the secondary.
If things go as planned, Philadelphia will have only two new starters in the secondary (outside corner Darius Slay and slot CB Nickell Robey-Coleman) but four manning new positions for a new secondary coach in Marquand Manuel. Avonte Maddox will move from the slot to the outside and Mills moves from outside CB back to box safety to replace Jenkins.
The veteran McLeod is expected to play traffic director and on-field leader after interning under Jenkins. As a center fielder, however, McLeod lacks range.
Mills, meanwhile, is a tough-minded, aggressive player that Schwartz loves but he lacks the long speed to hold up consistently outside so a move inside is a natural one. Mills, though, hasn’t played safety since LSU and had balked about a potential move in the past.
Wallace, a fourth-round pick out of Clemson, was a tremendous value, but the virtual offseason is expected to slow down the trajectory for most rookies. He will have a chance to start by 2021.
“I love the Wallace kid,” said a former NFC scout. “In a normal environment I could see him pushing for playing time. It’s not a talented group (safety group).”
No. 3 - Dallas Cowboys - Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix returns to the division after a one-year sojourn to Chicago to team up with Xavier Woods on the back end in Dallas.
WWE has its own Xavier Woods, who is a part of one of the greatest tag-teams of all-time in that industry “The New Day.” It’s doubtful that the Cowboys duo can live up to that billing but it should be a component setup.
“Ha-Ha bounces around because he can’t tackle but he can cover and that’s more important in today’s game,” a former NFC scout said. “You have to almost bake in some of that. Woods is just a solid guy but he’s not wowing you.”
The depth is virtually non-existent for the Cowboys, however, with Darian Thompson, Donovan Wilson, and undrafted free agent Luther Kirk the current options after Jeff Heath left for Las Vegas.
No. 2 - New York Giants - The Giants’ curve is on the ascent at the position as they added second-round pick Xavier McKinney to a mix that already includes Jabrill Peppers, a former first-rounder, and Julian Love, a former corner at Notre Dame turned coverage safety.
McKinney had a first-round grade from many teams and essentially took over the Fitzpatrick role at Alabama. He’s not as physically gifted as the Pittsburgh star but he’s every bit as versatile so he could be the moving piece on the chessboard for new coach Joe Judge and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
The best-case scenario would be McKinney taking over and allowing Love to move into the nickel spot, but the stunted offseason could slow that timeline. Long-term, the Peppers-McKinney tandem might be the best in the division sooner rather than later.
The depth from there is mainly special-teams options like Sean Chandler and Nate Ebner.
“I like McKinney. That’s a first-round player pushed down a bit by position,” an ex-AFC scout said. “He played all over at Alabama and with (Nick) Saban you know that means high football IQ. The only concern is run support.”
No. 1 - Washington Redskins - Veteran box safety Landon Collins figures to be the leader of the secondary in Washington and he’s the type of player you try to manipulate as an offensive coordinator by putting him in space against an athlete. Conversely, Collins can blow things up in his comfort zone.
Sean Davis was brought in from Pittsburgh to handle the deep safety role while Montae Nicholson was released. The depth is relatively solid with Deshazoe Everett, Trop Apke, and Simeon Thomas.
“Collins is the most accomplished safety in the division,” a former league scout said. “He’s an interesting player because he’s so good at what he does, but you also game plan for the deficiencies, at least the smart teams do,”
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’s Tony Bruno Show with Harry Mayes, and every Tuesday and Thursday with Eytan Shander on SBNation Radio. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
