One of the most impressive players on the 2024 Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles was Cooper DeJean, who, in his rookie year, was one of the best nickel corners in the NFL. His dominance in that role has Eagles fans scratching their heads after seeing that DeJean might play more safety and less cornerback in the 2025 campaign, based on what Philadelphia's defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had to say.
“We’d like to keep him at nickel, and then in our base package we’ll find a spot for him, either at corner or safety,” Fangio said of DeJean. “A lot of it will end up depending on how the other guys develop and where we most need him. It will be determined by what’s best for him and what’s best for the team — and what’s best for the team will win out in that decision. But he’s capable of playing corner and he’s capable of playing safety.”
The plan to use DeJean at safety more in 2025 highlights something that Eagles fans might not want to admit. Their secondary is not in the best shape right now.
Eagles' Cooper DeJean plan highlights underwhelming secondary
Can DeJean play safety? Almost certainly. I don't think it's a stretch to say that few defensive backs are more versatile than he is, despite his relative inexperience at the NFL level. Still, would the Eagles prefer to play him there? Probably not, especially when considering how he played as the nickel corner last season and when looking at the cornerback room.
Quinyon Mitchell starting on one side is far from problematic, even if he's making a minor switch, but fourth-round pick Kelee Ringo is likely going to be their other outside corner. He might be good, but it's hard for a team with Super Bowl aspirations to hand such massive responsibility to a fourth-round pick. As for the slot corner, chances are, one of Adoree Jackson or Parry Nickerson will get most of the reps there - that's not great. The depth behind them leaves a lot to be desired.
The Eagles needed an influx of talent in their safety room, so it's hard to blame them for playing DeJean there when he should be great, but the cornerback room is hit hard by the switch.
At the end of the day, the reigning champs couldn't retain everybody, as much as they might've wanted to. Losing Darius Slay and James Bradberry hurts a ton, especially when DeJean is moved to safety.
Chances are, DeJean will still see some, if not a substantial amount of time at the nickel position, but the Eagles even having to consider this shows how dried up their secondary depth is. That's a problem for the Eagles as they look to repeat.