Day 16 Of Eagles Camp Brings An Experiment At Outside Cornerback

Only one preseason game and two days of training remain, and the Eagles still have yet to identify their second starting cornerback. Day 16 brought a new experiment on the outside – Cooper DeJean.

Vic Fangio said there hasn’t been any separation with the players who are vying for that job – Adoree Jackson, Kelee Ringo, rookie Mac McWilliams, and newcomer Jakorian Bennett.

“I think all the guys are pretty even right now and Jakorian just got here,” said the defensive coordinator. “He got a full week last week, and we need to give him a full opportunity with the other guys.”

DeJean could be the player who emerges, and just how valuable is last year’s second-round pick the Eagles trade far up the draft board to make sure they got 40th overall? Well, he played nickel last year, was getting nickel reps this year, but safety duties were added to his plate early in camp. Now, he’s getting outside reps at cornerback.

Fangio, of course, isn’t ready to commit to DeJean being the outside corner on opening night against the Cowboys. Asked what it would take for that to happen, he said, “Someone to develop at the nickel position and someone not to develop at the corner position. We haven’t seen Cooper play corner, either, other than NC2A ball (at Iowa), so there’s a lot of unknowns there to be answered, yet.”

That it’s even being tried at this stage, with just over two weeks to go before the curtain rises on the season, could be a concern.

“Usually it does become pretty obvious to everybody as to who’s going to win the job,” said Fangio. “It hasn’t happened yet. I think they’ve all done a good job in their own way. Had good moments, not so good moments, so we haven’t reach that conclusion yet.”

Versatile Cooper DeJean Thrown Into Mix At Outside Cornerback