More OTAs Talk

The Eagles secondary was not good last year. That’s putting it mildly, to be honest. There were times when the secondary was a mess. The team really focused on that position in the offseason and that is paying off.

Look at this item from Brandon Lee Gowton’s practice notes.

With no CJGJ, Slay, or Bradberry, the first-team secondary looked like this: Isaiah Rodgers at left cornerback, Kelee Ringo at right cornerback, Tyler Hall at nickel cornerback, Reed Blankenship and Avonte Maddox back at safety. The second-team secondary featured Quinyon Mitchell at left cornerback, Eli Ricks at right cornerback, and Cooper DeJean at nickel. Devin White and Zack Baun were the first linebackers up in 7-on-7 but Dean rotated in for Baun. Later on, the Eagles held an 11-on-11 period where Dean rotated in for White.

The Eagles were missing their best safety and corner, but still had enough quality bodies to have a good first team group of S/CBs and a good second group of CBs. That is impressive depth.

Here is BLG on Rodgers.

• The aforementioned Isaiah Rodgers has looked good through two media-attended OTA practices. He made a play on the ball last week and he flashed again on Thursday with the biggest highlight of the day. Rodgers perfectly jumped a route on a short throw by Hurts for a pick six. A year off from football clearly hasn’t prevented Rodgers from shining. There’s plenty of offseason left for things to change but, as it currently stands, he’s seriously challenging to start at cornerback across from Slay.

Rodgers was suspended for all of 2023, but he worked hard so he would be ready for this year. He talked about mirroring his workouts to an NFL schedule. Football players are creatures of habit. I think having a set schedule that he was used to helped him to stay focused and to keep the right mindset. Rodgers had his career snatched from him (it was his fault) and now he’s got a chance to get it back. He seems very driven. By all reports, Rodgers has looked good so far.

It is still way early, but we could see Rodgers and Slay as the starting CBs. That would give Quinyon Mitchell and Kelee Ringo more time to develop. Cooper DeJean could stay focused on learning to play in the slot.

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Lane Johnson is skipping the voluntary OTAs. Mekhi Becton is getting snaps at RT in his place. While this isn’t 100 percent live football, the extra reps with the starters should be good for Becton. He has talent and experience, but has been an underachiever. The more snaps he gets the more tape there is for him and Jeff Stoutland to study. Players will tell you that watching themselves in action is a great way to learn. You can watch tape of others. You can get instruction. When you see yourself, good and bad, it adds clarity and can help the player really learn.

History tells us Johnson will miss a game or two. Becton needs to be ready to step in. Every rep will help him get better prepared for that.

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Jordan Davis is 350 pounds. But he’s a sleeker 350 than in the past. He gave up juices and focused on a healthier diet. I was encouraged by what Davis said in his press conference. He got better from Year 1 to Year 2. He knows he has to take a major step forward this year. Fletcher Cox is gone and the defense had a disappointing season. The pressure is on him and all of the key defenders to take things up a notch. Davis said he’s good with Vic Fangio and isn’t afraid of hard coaching. That’s exactly what you want to hear from someone who was part of an underachieving defense.

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John Ross isn’t a player I paid much attention to. Yes, he was a Top Ten pick. Yes, he held the Combine record for the fastest 40. While that sounds good, the harsh reality is that Ross was a major disappointment. He struggled to stay healthy and wasn’t much of a factor when he was healthy. He played in 37 games between 2017 and 2021, catching 11 TDs.

Ross got a spot in the rookie tryout camp and then got signed after legendary Eagle DeVante Parker retired. Ross spoke to the media on Thursday and said a lot of interesting things. I’ll be taking him more seriously after hearing what he had to say. Ross understands the opportunity he’s been given and is going to do everything he can to take advantage of it. He’s hungry. Ross wants to play football. He wants to be an Eagle (he said he grew up rooting for the team).

Saying all the right things is great, but he still has to show what he can do on the field.

Here is a blurb from Jimmy Bama.

• It was fun watching John Ross run routes. He can still run very fast. On the aforementioned deep ball that Pickett underthrew, it may have been because Ross got down the field so quickly. He was open. Ross also made a nice catch over the middle on a ball behind him from Pickett.

And here he is in action.

New #Eagles WR John Ross: pic.twitter.com/2nt8ASRN8P

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) May 30, 2024

Ross has a long way to go. I do think he’s off to an encouraging start. The most important thing is for him to keep an underdog mentality and keep grinding each day. You can see the difference in him and a guy like Parker. Ross left the game at age 26. He signed with the Eagles at 28 and with something to prove. Parker came to the Eagles at age 31, thinking about making the transition to being a role player. He decided that wasn’t for him. Ross is coming off the street and has everything in the world to prove.

Here is his PC.

I’ll be pulling for him to make it.

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Another player I hadn’t paid much attention to is TE E.J. Jenkins. He was mentioned after a couple of nice plays last week. BLG had this nugget on him from Thursday.

• E.J. Jenkins jumped high to make a contested catch on a Tanner McKee throw over the middle. Through two OTA practices, I feel like Jenkins has offered more intrigue than Grant Calcaterra has in a long time. Maybe he can push for a backup tight end job.

Jenkins is 6-6, 245. He played WR in college. His first two years were at St. Francis. He then transfered to South Carolina and finished at Georgia Tech. He didn’t do much in college, but had a strong showing at the GT Pro Day and got on the NFL’s radar. Jenkins signed with the Jets in the spring of 2023. The Eagles added him to their practice squad last year. It sounds like the light has gone on for him this spring and he’s starting to show what he’s capable of. I don’t know that he’ll beat out Grant Calcaterra, but Jenkins is getting peoples attention. Good for him.

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Go check out the notes below if you want even more depth chart info.

BLG

James Bama

Jeff McLane

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