‘Growing through the journey:’ Why historically young Eagles defense has huge upside

‘Growing through the journey:’ Why historically young Eagles defense has huge upside originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

You go through some of the names and ask yourself, “Were those guys all really here just last year?”

Nicholas Morrow.
Zach Cunningham.
Justin Evans.
Shaquille Leonard.
James Bradberry.
Kevin Byard.

No wonder the Eagles’ defense fell apart.

The nucleus of the 2023 Eagles defense was a group of older veteran guys, most of whom had little connection to the team or the city and were just passing through and collecting paychecks on their way to their next stop.

All those guys are gone, along with Haason Reddick, who was very good but was also an older player, and Bradberry, who’s technically still on Injured Reserve but with no apparent future here. Leonard, Cunningham and Evans never found another NFL job.

In all, the Eagles had 11 players 28 or older play at least 150 defensive snaps last year. Of that group, only Darius Slay and Brandon Graham are still on the roster.

The defense has gone from one of the oldest in the league to one of the youngest.

There are still issues and concerns, but unlike last year they seem fixable as this young group grows and learns.

“I think the biggest part is our maturity,” said 3rd-year safety Reed Blankenship, still only 25. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a rookie or second- or third-year guy. We have players that understand football. Yeah, they may not have experience like Slay or B.G., but we learn from them and we learn from our own mistakes pretty fast.

“Don’t make the mistake twice. We’ve got some smart guys. That’s the biggest thing.”

The defensive guys who started at least 10 games last year averaged 28.0 years old. The defensive guys who started against the Browns Sunday averaged 25.5 years old.

That’s an astonishing difference.

The Eagles on Sunday started six defensive players who are 25 or younger, including promising rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. Only the Lions and…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/growing-journey-why-historically-young-140428962.html

Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2024-10-17 14:04:28

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