Should Sheppard Be A Starter Over Brown?

The odds of Lito Sheppard receiving a new contract from the Eagles are pretty much null. He is currently a back-up cornerbacka€¦not too much leverage. If Sheppard was still a starting cornerback his chances for a new contract would still be slime, but at least he would have a hand to play.

Here's a question. How is Sheldon Brown a starting cornerback on the Eagles? If you had to choose between Sheppard, Asante Samuel, and Brown wouldn't you choose Sheppard and Samuel?

Sheppard is a two time Pro Bowler. Samuel has 16 interceptions and a Pro Bowl birth over the past two years. Brown has 13 interceptions in 6 years and zero Pro Bowl appearances!

I don't argue that Brown isn't a top-flight cover cornerback, an iron man, one of the leagues top hitters. But again, out of the three, isn't he the weakest link at the cornerback position?

Yes Samuel and Sheppard both play the same position of left cornerback. What Sheppard can't learn the other side? Honestly a player with his talent can't make the adjustments to also excel on the right side?

Make Brown the nickel cornerback. Rotate Brown between corner and safety like he did while at South Carolina. Give Dawkins an occasional breather; keep him fresh and healthy for 16 games. Remember Brown's hit on Reggie Bush? Safeties wish they could lay down the hammer like that! Dawkins can't play forever, make Brown the heir apparent at free safety. Outside of Dawkins, Brown could be considered the top free safety on the roster!

Starter or back-up Sheppard most likely would still be pushing the Eagles for a new deal. But this fan wonders if the drama would have been lessened if the Eagles didn't also attack Sheppard's ego with the label of back-up..... [CLICK ON LINK FOR VIDEO OF SHELDON BROWN HITS]

39 Comments On: "Should Sheppard Be A Starter Over Brown?"

 
Lito Sheppard Gives Up Big Plays And Show Does Sheldon Brown But Sheldon Is The Left Cornerback And Lito Is A Right Cornerback. The Eagles Should Not Move Sheldon To Saftey And They Will Not. Sheldon Makes Plays While Lito Gets Hurt And Sheldon Brown Needs To Be The Starter.I Would Pick Sheldon Over Lito Because Sheldon Does Not Give Up That Many Big Plays. Lito Needs To Be A Backup And If He Does Good And Stays Healthy Then You Can Talk About Lito Sheppard Being The Starter At The Left Cornerback Position.

They are virtually the same just different skill lvl between the Cb's Lito should be the second CB and Brown should be nickel which calls for more hitting which is what sheldon does best. Leave the shutdown and int for tds to lito and asante.

hey don't be dissin Sheldon, we told Lito the deal was, if he can keep his @ss healthy then maybe he can see the field. just saying Sheldon deserves the position more. Plus if Lito is the third guy, maybe he can be used more on offense and in the return game.

i would definitly choose sheldon
he is a great player, and so is lito
but you have to consider litos injury history.
If i had to let one go it would be lito.

lito gets us more tds shuts down the better wrs and picks the ball off more

yea i agree..i just think sheldon is a more complete player.
but lito is also great!

They complement each other perfectly if lito could stay healthy which I don't think is his fault since we released trotter the secondary had to do much more tackling to compensate for the weak LB core.

Its a good question. Lito has more big play capability, yet Sheldon can stay healthy. Either way you are making one CB unhappy. The FO must be thinking in terms of long play capability. Sheldon will prolly play more games over his career then Lito. Its a hard question, like i stated before.

Somebody wont be too happy either way.Asante took Lito's job and his money, do u really expect him to be a good soldier about this? The only thing left to do is to move him to the other side and piss Sheldon Brown off too. This could be the dream secondary but somehow someway some damage control needs to be done.

your right, i think the Troy/Bobby/Al situation was easier, because we had 2 established veterans who kept their jobs, and we drafted a rookie, 2 play the third spot.

I think i would start lito over sheldon to start the season and examine his performance and if he is stuggling then give sheldon a chance. Or Jim Johnson just might rotate all of them to keep them fresh idk

lito gets hurt too much and just changed agents i dont know if he wants out or what...atleast he isnt going public with it...i believe that if lito isnt traded they will find a way to work everyone in the same amount of time

yea thats what i think they will do. Lito wont get traded though

You put your best players on the field and when healthy, Lito is a better CB than Sheldon. Notice him and Dawk being out a lot last year and the Eagles not getting enough turnovers. Sheldon will be the nickel because he can cover the slot and RBs better than Lito. To say Sheldon is better than Lito because Sheldon stays healthy is stupid to me. It's about who's best when everyone is healthy. People never know....Lito could be on his way to an extension and Sheldon could be on his way out....

sheldon should be moved to free saftey and and lito should be right corner that would make the defense stronger and sure up the questionable free saftey position

some people to me are just plain stupid, lito gives up so many plays... the reason he makes "some" big plays is because he is a huge risk taker... sheldon is a shutdown lockdown throw away the key type corner lito is not

Are you kidding me? Sheldon gets burnt atleast twice a game, Plaxico owns him and he was the one two years ago was about to lose his job to william james, or whatever his last name is now. Lito is a shut down corner sheldon is not. Sheldon is a strong saftey waiting to happen. Some of you quys on here can't be watching the same games that I do calling sheldon a shut down corner. Pleeeeeeez

You should try looking at a metric or two instead of making assesments out of clear blind fanboyism.

How are you an Eagles fan? Go punch yourself in the face already and save us all the hassle. Your posts are pathetic and usually sound like you are having a conversation with yourself. Which, probably isn't too far outside the realm of possibilty.

lets take a look... lito is a good corner dont get me wrong saying that he is almost ALWAYS hurt, he always takes a risk trying to make the big play and that can be good but then again he often makes mistakes because of it... not to mention he also is very unhappy with his contract

sheldon on the other hand RARELY makes a mistake trying to jump a route, he is a sure tackler and is never injured... he is happy with his contract and is a top 5 underrated corner in the league... if we keep lito at nickle he can blitz from there or jump routes all he wants cause most of the time people will be over the top to make the play

Three things: #1 Sheldon isn't all that happy with his contract either. It just happens to be that he's not a star CB like Lito. #2 A CB known for good tackling isn't necessarily a good thing being that it usually means he allowed a reception first. #3 Sheldon is a better blitzer(in addition to being a good tackler) so it would make more sense to make him the nickel corner(I love debating!!!)

Dude, you have to be like 15 years old or something.

Brown and Asante is the correct choice. Brown as a hybrid type CB--solid in coverage and can chop some wood like a strong safety--is the perfect complement to a faster, more free Samuels. Brown is also a perfect complement to Lito as well. The problem has always been Lito's inconsistent availability due to injuries. No such problems with either Asante or Sheldon. The best team the Eagles can have this year puts Brown and Samuels at the corners.
However if the Eagles do manage to keep Lito this year Johnson has promised using all three in a sort of rotation, meaning on 2 CB sets, not just nickel and dime packages. So maybe all of this is moot. Frankly I read that statement from JJ as a stratagem for keeping Lito around.

When Sheldon and Lito play together, Sheldon probably looks like a better cover corner because he's COVERING THE #2 RECEIVER!!! Lito is always put on the top WR when he's playing therefore he has more passes thrown his way to deal with. The best way to look at this is by viewing both games vs the Cowboys last year. Game 1: Lito left early with an ankle sprain(but not before getting an INT) which left Sheldon cover T.O. who ended up with 10 receptions for 174 yards(including a 45 yd TD). Game 2: Lito plays the whole game, gets another INT, and T.O. finishes with 2 receptions for 37 yards. Also, let's look at the game against New England. Lito holds the games best WR to 5 rec for 43 yards forcing Brady to the other side of the field(covered by Sheldon) to Wes Welker(13 rec, 149yds) and Eagle cut Jabar Gafney(6 rec, 87 yds, 1 TD). The Eagles are focusing their D on getting more turnovers this year and Lito is one of the best in the league at getting INTs. Putting him on the other side of Asante with that speedy front seven blitzing up front will cause major havoc. A healthy Lito starts over Sheldon any day!! Still not convinced?? Google: PLAXICO BURRESS!!!

Wes Welker was not covered by any one person that game. Neither was Randy Moss entirely.

Lito was covering Moss most of the time, but he always had help over the top at least.

All teams do that with Moss, but not all teams limit him to slot receiver numbers. Give Lito his props.

true

Asante Starting Left, Lito starting right, and Brown Nickel (brown is also a good blitzer so it helps to have him closer to the QB, and sheppard is a better playmaker.

Sheldon is a beast, but when you have a player like Lito that is known for killing a division opponent everytime he plays? you can't give that up, he has to start

we all can pretty much agree that Lito and Asante SHOULD be the starters. So can anyone think of why Lito is the third?

Is he really the third?? I don't think that's going to last.

on the depth chart yes. But when it comes down 2 it on gameday, they'll probably look for good matchups there, and the depth chart will be cast aside.

I Agree

I hope he doesnt start the season as nickle, he i the better playmaker but not only will Lito still be upset, Sheldon will probably be offended by this move also. If Sheldon plays nickle.

Sheldon has gotten toasted the most out of the 3 and should understand he's the one who's best fitted for playing nickelback. Besides, outside of safeties and linebackers being named a starter is almost irrelevant because to CBs and linemen are going to be rotated and playing constantly.

And for the record, because I'm tired of people throwing out uninformed stuff...

As Per KC Joyner's Metrics:
Sheldon Brown: 16 Games, 41 Completions, 82 Attempts for 614 Yards
Lito Sheppard: 11 Games, 36 Compleions, 62 Attempts for 505 Yards

As Per Football Outsider's Metrics:
Sheldon Brown: 16 Games, 39 "Sucessful" Completions, 83 Attempts for 630 Yards
Lito Sheppard: 11 Games, 40 "Successful" Completions, 61 Attetmpts for 542 Yards

Keep in mind the Eagles have never ranked higher than 20th in terms of % of plays in which the #1 Corner lined up vs. the #1 Wide Receiver(finishing at 42% last season)

For the record, IT HAS LOOKED LIKE THIS(GIVE OR TAKE A FEW CHANGES IN NUMBERS) EVERY YEAR EXCEPT FOR 2005... I DON'T SEE HOW ANYONE CAN REALLY BELIEVE THAT SHEPPARD IS BETTER THAN BROWN

htkrocks... please learn what you're talking about or at least do some research. Sheldon Brown is the most technically sound of the three and is the only true Man Corner of the three. While Asante Samuel and Lito Sheppard spend most of their time on Zone Coverage Islands Brown locks up in Man Coverage almost all the time in the Birds' zone blitz scheme. He's allowed less yardage, touchdowns and completions than Lito and Asante over the past 4 years where as they get the more gamechanging interceptions. Sheldon is the closest to a shutdown corner the Eagles have. He needs to, and will, remain the Eagles RCB because the RCB in the Birds' system is the Man Corner.

Oh yeah, not to mention that Sheldon Brown, while making a lot of tackles, has one of the lower Completed Tackle Percentages of all CornerBacks as per the Elias Sports Bureau and STATS, LLC(I believe it was 91.9%). Best Tackler of the three, but he misses some at times.

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