Sydney Brown Could Start The Season As Red Zone Specialist
Ever since the Eagles drafted Sydney Brown, Eagles fans have had a level of hype about him. If you watch his tape at Illinois, it is hard not to be excited. Sydney Brown is all over the field. It often felt like he was involved in every play at Illinois. Then he came into camp and talked about how he wanted to be a player people fear, and Eagles fans were officially in love.
Ever since Brian Dawkins, Eagles fans have been hungry for that type of Safety. Malcolm Jenkins was fantastic, but he filled a different role than Brian Dawkins did. Jenkins wasn’t running around taking people’s heads off and making big plays. But Sydney Brown could be that type of guy. Not to say he will be as good as Dawkins. Very few Safeties in NFL history are. But he could fill that role as the hard-hitting playmaking safety we have been missing for over a decade.
The issue is that his playstyle does not always fit what the Eagles want to do at Safety. For years, going back to the Jim Schwartz era, the Eagles have liked their Safeties to play a more conservative style. Nothing over their head are words that have been said on our air by many Eagles beat writers. And Sydney Brown is more the type of guy who will take a risk to make a play. Which is why many beat writers, while praising Brown, have also said the Eagles may not start him right away while they try to get him to be a bit more selective with when he takes those risks.
But Tim McManus joined us earlier this week and had an interesting idea of how the Eagles could deploy Sydney Brown early in the season.
“Sydney Brown made a heck of a play, where he went downhill like he does and blew up a play, knocking the TE down on the ground, and forcing an incompletion. It was definitely one of those wow plays, and it was in the Red Zone. I wonder if that is a hint of things to come. Give him some early reps in the red zone. He doesn’t have to worry about getting beat by the big play, and he can just let his instincts take over. I think that would be a great way to deploy him early.”
That makes a lot of sense to me. Eagles fans would probably just prefer he starts right away. But it sounds like the Eagles will be more cautious with how they deploy him, at least early in the season. But this would be a great way to utilize what he does best.
The Safety position is very much in flux for the Eagles. Reed Blankenship is locked in as one of the starters. But 4 different guys. Brown, Terrell Edmunds, KVon Wallace, and Justin Evans, have all shared time as the other starting safety. The thought is it will eventually be Sydney Brown, but as Tim mentioned to us, they may want him to get some seasoning before they fully deploy him as a starter. And this sounds like a great way to do that.
You can listen to the full conversation with Tim McManus below:
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Final Predictions For Who Will Make The Eagles 53-Man Roster
Wide Receiver (5)
- A.J. Brown
- Devonta Smith
- Quez Watkins
- Olamide Zaccheaus
- Britain Covey
Practice Squad- Joseph Ngata, Devon Allen, Greg Ward, Jadon Haselwood
Cut: Charleston Rambo
There was a chance for a few guys to maybe force the Eagles into keeping 6 guys. Joseph Ngata had the best case to be that guy. But none of them have done enough in the games to make the case to do that. Maybe if Tyrie Cleveland had stayed healthy he could be that guy. But unfortunately, he suffered a significant injury. And the Eagles being contenders makes it harder to keep a guy just to stash them if they won’t be contributing in some way, even if it is on Special teams. There should be lots of room on the practice squad for them though. And Greg Ward will likely be up on the roster for a few games here and there as usual.
(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
Offensive Line (9)
- LT- Jordan Mailata
- LG- Landon Dickerson
- C- Jason Kelce
- RG- Cam Jurgens
- RT- Lane Johnson
- Jack Driscoll
- Sua Opeta
- Tyler Steen
- Josh Sills
Practice Squad- Josh Andrews, Julian Good-Jones, Fred Johnson, Brett Toth
Cut: Dennis Kelly, Brett Toth, Roderick Johnson, Cameron Tom
It has been a disappointing camp for many of the depth guys along the Eagles’ D-Line. Only Tyler Steen has really played well from the backups. Driscoll and Opeta we give a pass because we have seen them play well in real games. Josh Sills looked awful, but they kept him through a whole legal trial, so they are probably willing to keep him after a couple of bad games.
Dennis Kelly is the real surprise. I thought they were getting a great backup with him. But he looks a bit washed and may be out of a job altogether. So at LT, there is now a concern about who would come in if Mailata gets hurt. Last year it was Andre Dillard, but he is gone. Driscoll has looked good at RT but has no experience on the left side. Their best option may be Tyler Steen, who played some LT at Alabama.
With no center, that would mean if Kelce has to go out, Cam Jurgens slides into the middle, and either Steen, Opeta, or Driscoll plays RG. The good thing is the guys they have as depth have a ton of versatility. But OL depth is not as great as we may have once thought it was.
Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Edge Rusher (6)
- Haason Reddick
- Josh Sweat
- Brandon Graham
- Nolan Smith
- Patrick Johnson
- Kyron Johnson
Practice Squad- Janarius Robinson
Cut: Tarron Jackson
Before Zech McPhearson and Shaun Bradley got hurt, Kyron Johnson may have been in danger. But after losing two of their special team’s aces, they probably have to keep him. Edge is probably their best position at this point. 3 guys had double-digit sacks last year. And Nolan Smith is a guy who could get to double digits, if not this year, then down the road.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Safety (5)
- Reed Blankenship
- Terrell Edmunds
- Sydney Brown
- K’von Wallace
- Justin Evans
Cut- Tristin McCollum
Reed is locked in as one of the starters. The question is who starts the season next to him? I still think the veteran Edmunds gets the first nod. But K’von Wallace has surprisingly come on strong in camp. Sydney Brown might eventually take over as the starter, but according to Tim McManus, the Eagles might want to give him a bit more time to adjust before they throw him in.
Justin Evans sticks around as depth for now, but like Morrow, he could be an odd man out once Ojomo is back.
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Special Teams (3)
- K- Jake Elliott
- P- Not on the Team Yet
- LS- Rick Lovato
Arryn Siposs won the battle vs Ty Zentner, but that does not mean he is a lock for the real job. Once teams make their cuts, there will be some punters out there. The fact they brought in Zentner at all tells you they don’t have full faith in Siposs. And Siposs has not exactly looked good so far. So it’s cheating, but I am putting Punter as someone who is not here yet.
(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
