Giants Loss is Eagles Gain with James Bradberry Making Big Impact on Defense
PHILADELPHIA – There was the perception that James Bradberry didn’t play well last year with the New York Giants, mainly because his Pro Football Focus grade was low.
Bradberry, though, had four interceptions on the season, and four interceptions are, well, four interceptions. The Eagles would take that.
The last time an Eagles cornerback had four picks was 2017, when, as a team, they had 19 on their way to a Super Bowl title.
Patrick Robinson led them with four that year. Cornerbacks Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby had three each and safety Rodney McLeod also contributed three.
Bradberry is up to two after four games. he has 17 in a career that began as a second-round pick in 2016 and only once in seven years now has he failed to record at least two in a season.
His two this year were game-changers.
His first was a 27-yard pick-6 in the opener vs. Detroit. He just happened to be in the right spot on that one, with LB Kyzir White deflecting a pass right to him.
His second was Sunday and it was all him. It came in the red zone with the Jaguars threatening to take the lead with a touchdown late in the third quarter.
Bradberry, 29, said he was between two receivers, one running a post and the other heading down the sideline when the ball was snapped at the Philly 16. He said you don’t see many post patterns inside the red zone and he followed QB Trevor Lawrence’s eyes.
Lawrence never looked at the post receiver, keeping his eyes on Christian Kirk. Bradberry saw that and made a soaring pick, arguably the play of the game in what became a 29-21 win for the Eagles.
Afterward, he was fielding reporters’ questions in the locker next to Darius Slay, who left after three snaps with a forearm injury and never returned.
“They asking the wrong question,” said Slay. “The right question to ask is how the Giants let you walk out of the building. That’s the question you gotta ask.”
Bradberry responded: “You gotta ask the Giants that.”
Slay said: “We appreciate it, though.
The thing about Bradberry’s presence is that, even when Slay departed, the Eagles still had a No. 1 cornerback on the field.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon was asked what Bradberry has meant to the Eagles secondary.
“I’m going to smile with that,” he said. “He was on our radar early.”
Bradberry actually came to the Eagles late, signing on May 18, just nine days after the Giants had to cut him for salary cap purposes.
After hearing from 11 teams, he agreed to come to Philly on a one-year contract for $7.5 million that could be worth up to $10M.
So far, he has been worth every penny.
“It's hard to complete balls to him," said Gannon. "He's got length. He's got range. He's sticky. He's got ball skills that you've seen. He's a corner with a very unique skill set that can kind of do it all.
"I'm really pleased with where he's at, and he's going to continue to ascend, too.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
