Eagles Add Cooper DeJean in 2nd Round To Completely Reshape Secondary

Eagles fans came into the draft hoping the Eagles would come away with one of the top corners. They did that by adding Quinyon Mitchell on day 1. But Howie was not done there. Because he shocked us even more on day 2 by trading up and grabbing Cooper Dejean as well.

The Eagles secondary was in shambles by the end of 2023. They were among the worst in the league in every pass defense category. Their secondary was made of aging veterans, UDFAs, and day 3 picks. It badly needed an infusion of not just talent, but youth.

Well check and check. Eagles fans would have been happy with DeJean or Mitchell in the 1st round. They got both.

Quinyon Mitchell played some slot CB in college, but he is going to be an outside corner for the Eagles. He is a near-lock to be the 2nd starter alongside Darius Slay.

With Dejean they have options though. He can play outside, inside, and Safety. The latter may be what makes the most sense. They added CJ Gardner Johnson to take up one of the Safety spots, but the other starter is a question mark.

Reed Blankenship struggled in his 2nd season. Sydney Brown will miss the start of the season. Beyond them, there is not much else. Add on the fact that new DC Vic Fangio loves using 3 Safety packages, he can definitely get on the field as a Safety year 1.

We might see 4 different starters in the secondary this year. Quinyon Mitchell replaces James Bradberry. CJGJ replaces one of the Safeties. Cooper Dejean might replace the other Safety. And it is no lock yet that Avonte Maddox is in the slot. That could even be Cooper DeJean.

It was a badly needed transformation. They went from having one of the worst in the league, to adding 3 dynamic playmakers. A weakness could flip into one of their strengths, provided the two rookies live up to their hype.

We all know by this point that the Eagles hadn't drafted a CB in the 1st round since 2002 when they took Lito Shepard. That changed this year.

But oddly enough that same year, they started with two 2nd round picks, just like this year. And in the draft, they used 1 of those 2nd round picks to take Sheldon Brown, creating one of the best CB duos the Eagles ever had.

It seems history repeats itself. We do not yet know if Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper Dejean will be as great as Shepard and Brown. But they used this draft to reshape their secondary, just like that Eagles team did.

In 2002 the Eagles already had a prolific CB duo in Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. The Eagles are a year removed from Darius Slay and James Bradberry making up a fairly elite CB duo.

Both pairs of corners were aging though, and we saw last year age take its toll on Bradberry. Slay could see a similar drop at some point, though he still played at a high-level last year.

In 2002 the Eagles saw the writing on the wall and brought in two young corners to eventually replace their aging stars. The Eagles might have just been a year late of doing the same thing, but better late than never.

It would be hard for the draft to go any better for the Eagles on day 1. Quinyon Mitchell was a guy we had dreams of the Eagles trading up for. Turns out, they didn't have to. Quinyon fell right into their lap at pick 22, and they walked away not only addressing their biggest need, but getting one of the best players in the draft.

Nothing makes NFL teams more desperate than needing a QB. 6 went in the first 12 picks.

We figured Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye would all go early. JJ McCarthy was a late riser too, though he wound up falling to 10 for the Vikings. But two other teams decide to go reaching.

The Falcons, despite just handing Kirk Cousins a massive contract, drafted Michael Pennix Jr. They could have fortified the defense, got him another WR, or given him better protection up front. Instead, they used the 8th overall pick to draft his competition.

Later Bo Nix went off the board to the QB-hungry Broncos. Making 6 Qbs taken in the first 12 picks.

All 12 of those picks were offensive players. 6 QBs, 3 WRs, and 3 OTs. It was about that time you started to dream that maybe one of the top corners would fall to the Eagles. Especially when picks 13 and 14 were also on the offensive side.

Pick after pick went by, and the corners were still there. By the time the Eagles were on the board at pick 22, both Quinyon Mitchell and Terrion Arnold were there for them. They went for the blazing speedster over the multiyear standout from Alabama. It would be hard to argue with either pick though.

Obviously with such a turn of events, it set Eagles' Twitter on fire. But what were the best reactions to the pick?

Last year we got to see Micah Parsons melt down when the Eagles took Jalen Carter. This year, he was very upset again after the Eagles pick. Mitchell was evidently Parson's favorite player, just like Carter was in 2023. The pick is great enough. The fact it made a Cowboys player that grumpy, just makes it a bit sweeter.

Parsons could always join him in a year or two if he wants.

Philly native Kevin Negandhi is out in Detroit covering the draft for ESPN. And he loved the pick. He even came with stats to back it up. 0 Tds allowed in 2023. a 4.33 40. And 7 more pass breakups than any other FBS player. Not too bad.

As mentioned, no corners in the 1st round since 2002. But that drought is over, as Tyrone Johnson pointed out here. Tyrone had been pushing the need for the Eagles to address their defense,a nd to get  player who helps them win next year. And that is exactly what they did.

Ignoring the name of the person Slay responded too here, this is cool to see. Slay wants Mitchell to come and compete with him. He seems ready to be a mentor and teach Mitchell how to be an NFL corner. Not many better guys to learn from, as Parsons mentioned in his angry tirade. Thank you as always Slay for being a true pro.

For the first time in over two decades, Bill Belichick was not one of the people making picks. Instead, he joined Pat McAfee to cover the draft. And he gave this pick his seal of approval. He expressed some concern about his lack of experience playing man-to-man against elite competition but seemed confident the Eagles could help him develop that skillset.

Quinyon told his Toldeo coaches he wanted to be coached hard. They obliged, and he turned into a 1st round QB. he rewarded Toldeo by sticking with them even when there were opportunities to transfer to bigger programs. Now he is an Eagle and wants his new coaches to keep coaching him hard.

I don't think work ethic or loyalty, is going to be an issue for the newest Eagle.

We don't like Chris Simms. The guy has been a Jalen Hurts hater from day 1. even after Hurts went out and proved he belonged, Simms kept hating. But even he had to give the Eagles major props for how great this pick was.

The draft went perfectly for the Eagles. And it ended the perfect day. The Phillies won. The Sixers won game 3, with Embiid dropping 50. Now this? Connor is right. That was a beautiful night.

I am just gonna share this again because I love it so much. Parsons is so mad. It doesn't help that Eagles fan Adam Lefkoe is there to run his face in it. Just a beautiful thing to tack onto an amazing night for the Eagles.