Central Florida Could Provide Secondary Help Eagles Need

The Eagles did a little shopping in the safety market during the offseason but didn’t find much in the way of long-term shelf life, settling instead on a pair of players with one-year expiration dates.

They tried shopping in the cornerback aisle, too but found it closed when Adoree Jackson signed with the New York Giants. That doesn’t mean the Eagles are done browsing, with some names like Steven Nelson and Gareon Conley still hanging around.

Perhaps the future of both positions will arrive in the rapidly approaching 2021 NFL Draft later this month.

Perhaps the future is stashed at the University of Central Florida, where two players roamed those fields in Orlando and are ranked first at their respective positions by the NFL Draft Bible, which released its final position rankings and much more on Thursday.

Those players are cornerback Aaron Robinson and safety Richie Grant.

Robinson is the No. 1-ranked slot corner in the draft and Grant is ranked the top free safety, per NFL Draft Bible, which also has Grant ranked as its 33rd top player overall and Robinson the 70th.

Both players participated in UCF’s Pro Day on Thursday.

Grant measured 5-11, 197 pounds, ran the 40 in 4.54, had a 10-9 broad jump, and recorded 12 bench press reps.

Robinson is 5-11, 186 pounds, ran a 4.39, with a 10-3 broad jump and 15 bench reps.

The Eagles are in need of long-term solutions at both positions, and one or the other or both could possibly fit the bill.

At safety, Rodney McLeod has one year left on his contract and coming off a late-season torn ACL. The two players acquired as free agents in the offseason – Anthony Harris and Andrew Adams – were signed only to one-year deals.

K’Von Wallace came in the fourth-round last year and will aim to prove he is a fit in Jonathan Gannon’s defense.

Grant is a playmaking ballhawk, recording nine interceptions in four years with five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 290 tackles.

“The film speaks for itself,” said Grant following his pro-day workout. “You can go back as far as you want to, to my first season ever playing football at 10-years old. I’ve been productive. I’ve always been one of the smarter guys on the field, I’ve always been a leader, all those qualities you want from a guy on the back end whose job is to save the defense most of the time.

“I don’t doubt myself at all on the next level. I feel like whoever gets me, they’re going to be stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been telling coaches that. They’ll never find any reason to cut me.”

Robinson, whose career began at Alabama where he played four games as a freshman, can play inside and out, the kind of versatility that should allow him to find a home in the NFL.

“I take coaching from every angle,” Robinson said. “I’m ready to come in and play immediately wherever that may be. I’m also a guy willing to bring along other guys and try to learn from the best, take it from everyone in the building to help myself succeed. I’m a guy willing to come in the first day ready to compete, ready to do it.”

Grant and Robinson had stellar weeks at the Senior Bowl, and it was likely there that vaulted them both into consideration to be selected perhaps somewhere in the second round.

“Me and Aaron Robinson had a chip on our shoulder because being at UCF, people feel like we don’t have any competition, your stats don’t matter, the people you played don’t matter,” said Grant. “They kind of leave us out of the conversation, so we went in there with the mindset that we don’t care who’s out there, we don’t care what the logo is, we’re just going to play ball.”

Maybe at least one will be playing it in Philadelphia.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.

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