Quinyon Mitchell Could Force Eagles To Keep Him Outside
Coming into the year, it looked like Quinyon Mitchell would be the Nickel Cornerback. The plan was for for him to play inside in the Nickel and Dime packages, and then move outside in the base packages. Isaiah Rodgers getting hurt changed that plan for week 1. Quinyon played outside as the CB2 across from Darius Slay all game long vs the Packers, with Avonte Maddox playing most of the snaps inside.
He looked the part. He made several impressive plays, including breaking up a would-be TD in the End Zone. Yes, he got beat a couple of times, growing pains are to be expected with a rookie. The important part was he looked like he belonged. He had the look and attitude of a star corner.
He allowed just 4 catches on 9 targets and had a passer rating allowed of 66.9. He also had a pass breakup on 3 of those 5 incompletions. The Packers tested him deep early, and the rookie did not blink.
The question is, now that they have put him outside, and he looked so good, will the Eagles go back? We don’t know yet if Isaiah Rodgers will be back in week 2. But even if he is, will he regain his CB2 job?
Tim McManus joined The Best Show Ever this week, and he told us that it will be hard for the Eagles to go back now after how good Quinyon Mitchell looked.
“I don’t know how you move him. Fangio wants to get the best three on the field, and that’s why he was saying maybe I have to play Quinyon Mitchell in the slot. But I mean, after watching him get challenged right out of the chute… It’s right to be very encouraged by what you see out of Mitchell. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s going to be on the field for every snap moving forward, barring injury. If I’m Fangio I keep him out there. I don’t know how you don’t.”
Do The Eagles Have Another Nickel Cornerback If Quinyon Mitchell Moves Outside?
The one thing that might keep Mitchell from being the CB2 going forward, is that he is the Eagles best option inside. Avonte Maddox has been a very good Nickel Corner for them over the years, but not in week 1. The Packers picked on him all night. After him, they have Eli Ricks, who did not look great there last year, and Cooper DeJean, who is not yet ready to play.
Once DeJean is acclimated, it is easy to see him being the Nickel. That was the plan coming into camp before an injury derailed him. But Fangio has been clear that DeJean is not ready yet.
If they want to get their 3 best Corners on the field, it is Slay, Mitchell, and Rodgers. Rodgers does not have the inside-outside versatility that Mitchell does. Mitchell being so great could be what keeps him from being the other outside corner for the time being.
That is the end goal. They did not draft him to play inside, and now that we saw how good he is outside the cat is out of the bag.
Until Cooper Dejean is ready to play inside, Mitchell might be the Nickel by default, provided Isaiah Rodgers is healthy. That said, they might just say screw it and keep him outside. Because he is that good, and Fangio thinks very highly of him. This is what Tim McManus said about how Fangio views Mitchell.
“We know that Fangio is not just throwing him out there to throw him out there. They spent that money on (Devin) White, and look what’s happening there. They spent a lot of money on Bryce Huff and he’s he shared snaps with with with BG and Nolan Smith. He’s not going to be one that is beholden to where you got picked or how much you’re making. It’s whether you can produce and the fact that he had enough confidence in him throughout the summer to not only elevate him up the depth chart but also play him in multiple positions, tells you a lot about Mitchell and just how high of a ceiling he has.”
Like McManus said earlier, I don’t see how you move him back. He was too good outside. I will get it if they do, because if the lack of depth at Nickel behind Quinyon Mitchell. But for me, I want my best two corners outside, and Mitchell is clearly one of your two best, and he might even be your best by the time the season is over.
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7 Numbers That Tell the Story of The Eagles Win In Brazil
4,795
Let’s start with the fact that it was not your typical trip. They weren’t driving up the turnpike, flying to Dallas, or even flying cross country for a West Coast road trip. Those trips would all be easy compared to the flight to Sao Paulo. The flight from Philly to Sao Paulo took about 10 hours and traveled 4,795 miles. For reference, a Flight to Los Angeles and back would be 4,776 miles, and take just over 10 hours. Not one way, round trip. A flight from Philly to London takes about 7 hours, and you travel 3,545 miles.
This is one of the most brutal trips a team has ever had to take. Combine that with it being week 1, and the field being terrible, sloppiness is not surprising. That is not an excuse, it is just acknowledging the situation. The Packers went through it too, in fact their trip was e. Most people assume the Packers will be a great team, and they looked worse than the Eagles. At least the Eagles survived to learn from that mistake. The Packers not only lost, but Jordan Love will now miss a few weeks. We will see over the next few weeks how much the trip had to do with it. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. But these International games tend to be a bit sloppy. And this trip was worse than almost any other in NFL history.
1
A few people on defense are getting their flowers after week 1. Quinyon Mitchell is getting praise for an impressive debut. People have lauded Zack Baun, who looked great. But Slay deserves his flowers too. People kind of take him for granted, but even at 33 years old, he is still an elite corner.
Slay allowed 1 catch all game long. They hardly threw his way all game long. That is the type of thing I like to see from my CB1, that they are so shutdown the ball is not even thrown their way. It is why with many great corners, you see their takeaways go down. Teams stop throwing their way. Slay took his side of the field out of the game. I think in general Slay gets underrated in Philly. But he was great in week 1.
