Eagles narrow Cooper DeJean’s focus down to 1 position originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
When the Eagles drafted Cooper DeJean in the second round in April, they listed him as a defensive back — a nod to his versatility.
But now they’ve narrowed his focus.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Thursday confirmed that the Eagles are concentrating all of DeJean’s snaps at one position: Nickel cornerback.
“Yeah, right now he’s the backup nickel,” Fangio said. “We’re trying to focus him on the nickel position. For the first week, he was starting in dime, as the dime DB. So he was having to learn the dime and be the backup nickel. With all the time he’s lost, we’re going to focus him at nickel right now and see if he can make good enough progress there.”
In Week 1 in Brazil, as Fangio mentioned, it was DeJean who came on the field in the dime package and played six defensive snaps. But that role in Week 2 went to Kelee Ringo, who now finds himself buried on the depth chart at outside cornerback.
That meant that against the Falcons on Monday night, DeJean played just one single defensive snap and it came when Avonte Maddox got banged up and had to leave the field.
“It’s good to be able to focus on one spot, kind of get settled in there a little bit,” DeJean said on Thursday. “It’s been good for me. I’m feeling pretty comfortable at that position now that I’m just focusing on it. That’s been good.”
Eventually, there’s a good chance the DeJean wrestles away that starting nickel job from the veteran Maddox. Heck, had DeJean not missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury, that job might already be his.
The news that C.J. Gardner-Johnson missed practice on Thursday with a foot injury could be big for DeJean. Because if Gardner-Johnson misses Sunday’s game in New Orleans, one of the Eagles’ options would be to play Maddox at safety and DeJean in the slot. Maddox was the Eagles’ top backup safety during the summer.
But if that doesn’t happen, DeJean is going to have a minimal role again.
Playing so few defensive snaps is a little weird for DeJean, who was a do-it-all starting defensive back for the Iowa defense over the last two years.
“It’s a little bit different, yeah,” DeJean said with a smile. “Obviously, I’m a competitor so I want to be out there but I understand I’m a young guy, I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m just trying to take it all in right now. When my opportunity comes, I want to be able to take full advantage of it.”
Fangio admitted last week that DeJean is behind after missing much of training camp but the Eagles have been giving him a bunch of reps to catch up. He has been the backup nickel in practice but also gets some reps as the nickel in scout team. The practice reps during the season are a little different than the ones in training camp because now the Eagles are game planning for each upcoming opponent. But they all help the young rookie.
Now all of his reps are now coming at the nickel and that narrowed focus is helping. When DeJean was playing a bunch of different spots, it was a lot on his plate.
“They all kind of run together,” he explained. “I wouldn’t say as comfortable on the field when you’re moving all over the place, playing different positions. So being able to focus on just one spot allows me and whoever else to be at the best of their ability at that one spot.”
Even when DeJean was getting reps at a few different spots, he was still majoring in nickel. The only difference now is that it’s all he has to worry about.
During the summer, we learned just how much of a resource Maddox has been for DeJean since getting drafted. That has continued into the season.
“We play the same position so I’m always asking him questions,” DeJean said. “Just talking about things that we see on the field, which is good. It’s good to have him. He’s been in the league for a while now so it’s good to have him as a resource for me outside of the coaching staff.”
It seems likely that at some point this season, DeJean will ascend to the top nickel cornerback spot. It won’t be easy to unseat the veteran Maddox but the Eagles drafted DeJean for a reason.
Last week, Fangio was asked if there might come a time when the Eagles’ best combination of cornerbacks would be with the first-round pick Quinyon Mitchell on the outside and DeJean in the slot. And Fangio didn’t shoot it down.
“Possibly,” he said.
It seems like that possibility gets a little closer every week.
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