DB Swap
Posted: August 27th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 40 Comments »Quiet Sunday morning? Not for the Eagles.
Roster Move: #Eagles acquire CB Dexter McDougle from New York Jets in exchange for S Terrence Brooks. #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/77hCJdai4w
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 27, 2017
Brooks is out and McDougle is in. I wasn’t sure if Brooks was going to make the roster. The top three Safeties are set with Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod and Corey Graham. Chris Maragos is mostly a STer, but is technically a S as well. I think the Eagles might have been leaning toward Jaylen Watkins, who can play both S and CB. Brooks is a pure S.
McDougle’s background info from PE.com.
A third-round pick (80th overall) in 2014 out of Maryland, the 5-10, 195-pound McDougle has played in 20 games for the Jets primarily on special teams.
He rebounded from an Achilles injury that wiped out his rookie season to contribute four tackles on special teams and one tackle on defense in 14 games in 2015. McDougle started 2016 on the Jets’ practice squad before being promoted to the active roster on November 12.
A three-year starter at Maryland, McDougle had 151 tackles, six interceptions, 22 passes defensed, and two touchdowns in 39 games (28 starts). He was an Academic All-ACC selection as a senior. Maryland honored McDougle for his leadership despite a shoulder injury in his final year with the inaugural Dexter McDougle Ultimate Team Award.
McDougle has good speed. He can play outside or in the slot. He’s got some NFL experience. He made some good plays in the slot in a preseason game.
Dexter McDougle (23) made a ton of plays this game. Another pass broken up even after the push off from the WR pic.twitter.com/wEx82QFCy8
— Joe Blewett (@joerb31) August 16, 2017
Great play by Dexter McDougle. Good break on ball, great timing with hit on WR and sticking hand in for the pass deflection pic.twitter.com/z5H8dxCi1Z
— Joe Blewett (@joerb31) August 16, 2017
So what does this mean for the DBs?
I think the Eagles like the trio of Ronald Darby, Jalen Mills and Patrick Robinson. I think they like Rasul Douglas. I see McDougle as a replacement for Aaron Grymes, Ron Brooks and CJ Smith.
Ron Brooks has had a tough time staying healthy. Can’t do that when you’re a fringe player. Grymes has flashed as a CB. I wonder if his performance on STs is the big thing hurting him. Smith has just been up and down this summer. You can still put him on the practice squad if you cut him.
McDougle is far from a sure thing. He’s had injury issues of is own and has been a disappointment so far in his career. He’s having the best summer of his young career, partly because he’s in the best shape of his life. He really dedicated himself this offseason and the results have been good so far.
The Jets needed a #3 S. The Eagles needed help at CB. Both players were having good summers, but they were caught in a numbers crunch. Now the players have a chance to actually get on the field and contribute on D and STs this season. This trade works for both teams, and both players.
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“I think the Eagles might have been leaning toward Jaylen Watkins, who can play both S and CB.”
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
Watkins is putrid. Get his toasted rear end the heck off of this roster.
If you are playing your 4/5th safety your in deep trouble anyway. While Watkins is not good, he is probably better than most of the leagues 4th safeties.
At this point i don’t have many worries on defence outside of health… our CB’s are the weak point but the rest of the D should be good enough to account for that.
Im worried about the offence far more, and getting some kind of consistency with OL in pass pro, and finding a running game.
All true, but the sight of Watkins disgusts me………so I’m not going to be happy if he’s on the team.
And I agree there are bigger fish to fry with this team.
Hypothetically, if you had to launch one person out of a cannon into the sun, would it be Watkins or Kenjon Barner?
Can I use a rocket and tie the one I don’t shoot into the sun under the rocket so he can get incinerated?
Mmmm, for the purposes of this survey, no.
Survey declined!
Great question!
It seemed fair to me.
You know, he’d be dead long before he reached the sun. Most people can only hold their breaths a few minutes.
If we have access to NFL personnel and this cannon, why not choose ODB or Dez Bryant?
I think we need a rating system so that we understand the relative hate for the various players who have tickled his fancy. Something like a Game of Thrones scale. I’m guessing Barner starts off at “Ramsey Bolton”, with Watkins maybe being like one of the shitty Frey sons.
Watkins is a better CB than safety.
Being versatle to play either CB or S means there is the option to carry one less DB & go heavier at anther position where the Eagles don’t want to lo lose a player; i. e., keep Watkins (S/CB) instead of both T. Brooks (S) & Smith (CB) in order to be able to keep, say, a 4th TE like Brown.
So go 10 at DB
Darby, Mills, Robinson, Douglas, McDougle, one of Grymes/Smith/Brooks
Jenkins, McLeod, Corey Graham, and Maragos,
No so sure mcdougle is more than 50/50 to make it
Seems odd to trade a keeper S for a guy who won’t make it. I liked how Brooks played down the stretch last year.
Can’t disagree. We’ll see how it pans out. I too liked Brooks, but mostly compared to everything else we tried at third safety recently which is not saying anything.
I heard Brooks is liability in coverage, more a LB type….
He didn’t look like a liability in coverage when he was picking off passes last year down the stretch however.
Should we say the same of Kendricks? I know, preseason, but still…
Ha ha ha ha ha. I’ve seen enough of Kendricks blowing coverages in regular season games to not let any pre-season foolishness sway me.
Precisely. Point being, one pick does not make a good cover guy.
Oh, I agree. But I don’t think I saw a single negative play made by Brooks last season.
Is Jones going to be on IR?
I’d assume PUP until week 10 or whatever and then off to the IR. If he’s as good as we all hope, I’d prefer him on cheapo wages through the end of 2021.
Might be good to get Jones some limited action late in the year. Skills can get rusty. He can stay on the PUP through week 14, if need by. (Well.. he has to come off the PUP after week 11 I think, then the Eagles have three weeks to let him practice, then decide on active roster or IR.)
He’s a gunner I presume. I think it is more about what he provides Fipp at the bottom of the roster as much as it is about challenging in the slot.
I think part of this deal may be winning points with the players. Rather than cutting them after game 4, which was clearly in the cards for both guys, Howie finds each of them a tryout with better odds. As a fringe veteran or UDFA, that might sway me towards signing here, everything else being equal.
That said, if they already decided Brooks wasn’t making the team, there is no downside here. Churning those last few spots, good work.
I think the churn is wise if they were cutting Brooks. If they were keeping Watkins to cut Brooks anyway, I question the intelligence of those involved.
I think Watkins is pretty much converted to corner now, but with the option of being an emergency safety, if he makes the team at all.
Notwithstanding the merits of this move, I am encouraged by the continual attention to our defensive secondary. I don’t think any DB can relax, and that is a good thing.
I just think we don’t like what we’re seeing out of Grymes, Smith and Brooks. None of the really fringe guys after those three have shown much.
The rare player for player swap. This is Howie do it.
Meme-worthy!
Fun fact, Brooks was taken one spot ahead of McDougle in the draft. Howie is downgrading our DB depth so we need to fire him!!
Guess you *trade* for a position of need… 😉
I believe the Jets also threw in an almost new mouth guard, so it evens out.
Didn’t the jets just have an all safety draft?
ROWE WATCH II: NE played most of first half w/ 5 or 6 DB’s, so Rowe was generally on the field, mostly at RCB but sometimes against slot receiver. He seemed to always be in a press position and continued to touch-down a prone receiver as his preferred method of tackling. There were some positives for him – broke up short pass over the middle, didn’t give up deep pass along the sideline, and had an interception. On the deep pass, Rowe did not bat down the ball or subtlety ride the WR out of bounds, but rather benefitted from the WR not controlling the ball to the ground. On the interception, he was in the right place to get a tipped ball (much like Kendrcks). So good results but not necessarily doe to his great play. Didn’t see him in second half. Trade looks to remain a 4th at this point.
Good lookin out. Thanks.