Mailbag of the Eagles The craziest position fight of the

Mailbag of the Eagles: The craziest position fight of the training camp

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We are nearly there. Promise.

The Eagles are reporting for training camp on Tuesday and their first practice of the summer is scheduled for Wednesday. After an exciting off-season that raised expectations, we will finally get a chance to see this talented squad on the field.

I can barely wait for it. And judging by the number of questions we’ve gotten, neither can you.

Off to the mail bag!

I can’t wait to see the competition at cornerback. Even after Craig James was axed earlier this week, the Eagles have 12(!) cornerbacks on their 90-man roster, and most of them are young and untried players. The starters are set in stone: Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox are their top three and they form an impressive trio.

Thereafter? The remaining nine cornerbacks on this team have an average age of 23.6 years.

The Eagles kept just five cornerbacks on their initial 53-man roster in 2021, but even if we expect them to keep six, that means nine players are fighting for three jobs. It should be a very tough competition. Here’s a look at these nine players and their ages.

Zech McPhearson: 24

The Eagles used fourth-round McPhearson from Texas Tech in 2021 and he served as their primary outside backup as a rookie. But because Slay and Steven Nelson remained relatively healthy, he didn’t play much. McPhearson played 184 defensive snaps, and 53 of those snaps came in the regular season finale. Still, McPhearson held his own in limited action. I would expect him to make the list and be the primary reinforcement out again.

Tay Gowan: 24

I’m really looking forward to watching Gowan in training camp. He was part of the return from trading with Zach Ertz last season. The Cardinals’ sixth-round pick from UCF has the length needed to play on the outside and has attracted some attention.

Kary Vincent Jr: 23

The Eagles traded for the LSU product in November, giving up a sixth-round pick. The Broncos fielded a seventh round against Vincent a few months earlier. Vincent is a legitimate sprinter who competed on the track at LSU. He is only 5-10 but can play indoors and outdoors.

Josiah Scott: 23

Like the two above him, the Eagles traded for Scott, sending a 2023 sixth-round pick and Jameson Houston to the Jaguars for him. Scott (5-9) is definitely a nickel-only corner, but he also showed his skills on special teams last year. Also, his nickname – “The Gnat” – is one of the best on the team.

MacMcCain III: 24

North Carolina’s A&T UDFA hopped between the Eagles and Broncos last season. When the musical chairs game ended, McCain was in Philly and signed a forward deal to return to training camp this summer.

Jimmy Moreland: 26

The Eagles already had a slew of young cornerback talent but couldn’t resist claiming Moreland when he was pealed by the Texans in May. Moreland, the oldest of that group, was drafted by Washington in 2019 in JMU’s seventh round. He also has the most experience in this group with 37 games and 10 starts. He was primarily a slots corner but can also play outside and has the ability to play to safety.

Mario Goodrich: 22

We reached the UDFAs, so I ordered them from the money guaranteed to the smallest. Goodrich, Clemson’s UDFA, received a $217,000 guarantee and a $10,000 signing bonus. The Eagles cracked down on undrafted players this year because they felt the draftable pool was much larger than the number of picks in the seven rounds.

Josh Blackwell: 23

Duke’s UDFA was guaranteed $137.5K and a $12.5K signing bonus.

Josh Jobe: 24

The Alabama-based UDFA was guaranteed $135,000 and a $10,000 signing bonus.

The Eagles won’t be able to hold all these young corners. Some of them will make the team, some will end up on the practice team, and some will likely end up elsewhere. But the competition this summer will be tough.

I’ll stay on topic here. If I had to name a guy, I would name you McPhearson. While I’m genuinely curious about Gowan, McPhearson is the one who will have the most opportunities. The Eagles were able to remain very healthy at cornerback last season; Slay and Nelson started all 16 games before the meaningless regular-season finale. It might happen again with Slay and Bradberry, but if either of them misses time, McPhearson is the next guy.

There’s a lot to like about McPhearson. The Eagles really saw that at the 2021 Hula Bowl. Here’s my story of his performance this week under head coach Rex Ryan.

Keep an eye on the receiver’s position. In my upcoming 53-man lineup projection, I have Jalen Reagor on the team partly because he was selected in the first round and partly because his cap got hit. But if he gets dubbed at camp, he’s not safe. Another mainstay of the receiver room that is in serious jeopardy is Greg Ward. He’s meant a lot to the team in recent years but it’s a deeper group now with AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Quez Watkins and Zach Pascal at the helm and exciting newcomers like Britain Covey and Devon Allen. Ward might be one of the underdogs.

No, not cheap at all. If anything, you could argue that adding color schemes could generate revenue due to merchandise sales. And this is the first season the NFL has allowed an alternate helmet. The Eagles really wanted to create a kelly green helmet so they could bring back kelly green jerseys as an alternative. But that process, Jeff Lurie explained in March, is not short. While the Eagles are working with Nike to bring back Kelly Green in 2023, they are using the rule change to have a black alternative helmet in 2022. Finally, the Eagles say they want the rule to allow for two alternate helmets. That way they could keep the black and add the kelly green.

I give you my go-to:

1. Shorti Italian Hoagie. (Oil, lettuce, tomato, onion, the new pepperoni relish and pickles on the side)

2. Small lemonade tea

3. Small Bag of Funyuns

4. When I have extra cash and need to use up all $13, I grab one of their most underrated products: the sweet cream cheese-filled pretzel under the heat lamp. Solid dessert.

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