PHILADELPHIA – After spending the offseason not upgrading their personnel at cornerback, the Philadelphia Eagles find themselves with few options going into Week 16 of the regular season.
That is why Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams will start Saturday at Washington. Fletcher had coverage on all three of Dez Bryant’s touchdown catches in Sunday night’s game against Dallas. Defensive coordinator Bill Davis switched Williams to Bryant’s side late in the game.
“There will be no further moves in the starting rotation,” head coach Chip Kelly said, when asked about potential changes in the secondary.
Asked why he wouldn’t consider a change with Fletcher, who also struggled in losses to Green Bay and Seattle, Kelly said, “I've seen Fletch compete. I think he gives you everything he has and the one thing I like about Fletch is that he's going to compete out there. He made a bad turn once on the ball. The other ball, I think if you look at it really, it was a perfect football thrown by Tony [Romo] and a great route run by Dez, and getting matched up with one of the best in the league: a big, tall, physical receiver and that's a tough matchup for anybody. But we still have confidence in Bradley and he's going to be our corner this Saturday.”
There are two candidates to replace one of the starting cornerbacks: slot cornerback Brandon Boykin and dime corner Nolan Carroll.
Carroll, the one veteran cornerback added last offseason, was said to be competing for a starting job in training camp.
“He got injured a little bit, missed some time and then we started to get settled in,” Kelly said. “He's such a valuable person for us in our dime personnel in terms of what we are doing there and we are in a lot more dime than we are in nickel now because of the loss of DeMeco [Ryans].
“Just like we consider Boykin a starter, we consider Nolan a starter because of how much we are in that scheme.”
Boykin has not been as solid as he was last season in his role in the slot. There is little reason for Kelly or defensive coordinator Bill Davis to move Boykin outside, where he’d be matched up with taller receivers.
The real issue is that the Eagles didn’t prioritize the secondary during the offseason after having the worst pass defense in the NFL. They used their first-round draft choice on linebacker Marcus Smith, who has barely played and has been moved from outside to inside linebacker.
Three cornerbacks were taken in the first round after the Eagles’ original pick, which was 22d overall. They were Michigan State’s Darqueze Dennard (Cincinnati), TCU’s Jason Verrett (San Diego) and Ohio State’s Bradley Roby (Denver).
Roby has started two games for the Broncos, who have Aqib Talib and Chris Harris Jr. as starters. The 5-foot-11, 192-pound Roby has two interceptions and a sack this season.
Verrett moved into the San Diego Chargers’ starting lineup midway through the season. He was placed on injured reserve after injuring a shoulder. Before the injury, the 5-9, 190-pound Verrett had one interception and started four games.
Dennard has not yet started in Cincinnati’s talent-laden secondary. The 5-11, 202-pound Dennard has played in every game and has one quarterback sack.
None of those three are above 6-foot tall, which the Eagles prefer in their cornerbacks. But all three have played more than Smith, and all play a position of obvious need for the Eagles.
The Eagles drafted two defensive backs this year, cornerback/safety Jaylen Watkins of Florida and safety Ed Reynolds of Stanford. Reynolds, a sixth-round pick, is on the practice squad. Watkins, a fourth-rounder, has dressed for three games this season.