MVN - Most Valuable Network

Positional Breakdown #9: Safeties

Things are in long-term flux at the safety position for the Eagles. For the upcoming season, Brian Dawkins could be playing his final games (at least as an Eagle) as the starting free safety. He was dinged up last year, and has probably lost a bit of his quickness as he enters his mid-30s, but he can compensate with his years of experience. At strong safety, Quintin Mikell outplayed Sean Considine, whom he replaced after Considine went on IR. Jim Johnson will no doubt talk up competition for the starting spot, but it seems to be Mikell’s to lose. Playing in place of Dawk for a couple of games, J.R. Reed performed surprisingly well, especially considering he was re-signed to the roster primarily to return kicks.

So you could argue that if everyone stays healthy, you already have your four safeties on the roster. But that doesn’t address the fact that Dawkins is probably not on the roster in 2009. If the Eagles think Mikell can slide over and play free safety, then you need to address the strong safety position. If not, then they need to figure out who they’re going to get as their next free safety. There was talk that part of the reason the Eagles traded out of the first round of last year’s draft was because top safety prospect Brandon Meriweather was already off the board. Unfortunately, this draft is being viewed as a weak one for safeties, with another Miami Hurricanes prospect, Kenny Phillips, being the only one with a first-round grade. Phillips could be available when the Eagles pick, and they may even be able to trade down in the first round and still get him if they wanted to; he’s been slipping a little bit on some draft boards, in part because he didn’t have a great junior season last year. If the Birds did grab him, however, he would have a year to learn under one of the best safeties in recent NFL history.

The Eagles could also try to repeat their (failed) experiment from last year, when they selected a raw prospect (C.J. Gaddis) in the late rounds with the hope he could be a sleeper. Or they could do what they did when they picked Dawkins way back when—look to the second round. A couple of guys who could be available when the team picks in round 2 include North Carolina State’s DaJuan Morgan or Arizona State’s Josh Barrett. The Eagles also could roll the dice and wait until the 2009 draft in the hopes of landing a better talent in the first round, but I’d guess they’ll select a safety at some point in this year’s draft. If they do, Reed or Considine may be in jeopardy of losing his spot. While Reed has less experience, he showed he could be a big hitter. Considine has been inconsistent and may be too undersized to play strong safety, but the Eagles appear to like him more than the fan base.

One other option that has floated around a lot since the Birds signed Asante Samuel is that they could move Sheldon Brown to safety. I’m not really convinced that this makes a lot of sense, especially for the upcoming season. He’s not going to unseat Mikell, given his limited experience at the position, and it’s far more likely that the team will deal Lito Sheppard, which would leave Brown once again as a starting corner. In the unlikely event that the Eagles  keep Sheppard, Brown could move to safety in a pinch, but he’d still be far more valuable as a nickel corner.

Should the Eagles address the safety position in the upcoming draft? If so, who do you think should lose their roster spot if that draft pick makes the roster? Let Eagles Eye know what you think.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 am and is filed under Offseason. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.