Spring thoughts on Eagles secondary: Cooper DeJean could have dual role; Replacing C.J. Gardner-Johnson

When the Eagles drafted Cooper DeJean, there were a lot of questions about where he would end up. The slot? Outside cornerback? Safety?

Being versatile has many benefits, but the Eagles didn’t want to overburden DeJean in his first season. They trained him in the slot, and that’s where he remained, even if they added punt returning duties when Britain Covey got hurt.

Vic Fangio understandably wants DeJean on the field as much as possible. It seemed like having him start at outside cornerback in base personnel would be the most obvious way. But Fangio added another idea to the mix during his spring press conference.

“I think he would play very well at safety,” Fangio said of DeJean. “I think it suits his skill set, things that he does well. I just think he would do very well in there.

“We played 21 games last year. How many base snaps do you guys think we played? About 160 in total.”

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That equated to 12% of the total number of defensive snaps. In other words, not a heck of a lot. But it would require DeJean to learn multiple positions. He seems up to the task.

“On the inside, you got to prepare more to fit the run and be able to cover and do all those things,” DeJean said of playing safety. “Corner it’s more worrying about covering the top guy, top receiver with a lot of space. But I did a little bit in college. I’ve been doing it a little bit early on in OTAs. Wherever they need me to be, that’s what I’ll do.”

Fangio still doesn’t know who will fill key spots when the Eagles are in nickel. Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson are the main competitors for the outside cornerback spot occupied by Darius Slay in the previous five seasons.

» READ MORE: Adoree’ Jackson faces a fight to start at cornerback for the Eagles, but ‘I’m always competing’

Ringo played about 300 snaps on the outside in his first two seasons. But Fangio pointed out it’s not enough to merely hand the former fourth-round draft pick the job.

“He just needs reps,” Fangio said of Ringo. “He needs to learn to play the game, and that comes with reps. To quote what Nick [Sirianni] said in a meeting recently, ‘Repetition is the burden of leadership.’ It’s up to us to get him enough reps in practice, expose him to all the things he needs to be exposed to so he can play a full NFL game. When I say ‘full,’ not physically conditioning-wise, but be a competent corner throughout a full game in a full season.”

Jackson is a nine-year vet. He was signed to a one-year contract to push Ringo, but he could also win the spot. The tale of the tape shows two different cornerbacks in terms of size and technique. Jackson is three inches and 22 pounds lighter than Ringo. Ringo is 6-foot-2, 207 pounds. Jackson has 82 career starts with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, but he knows what he’s up against, even if the 22-year-old Ringo lacks experience.

“What stands most out about Kelee Ringo is he’s a freak of nature,” Jackson said. “Just his tangibles — being that tall, being able to have speed, his movement.

“He’s my locker-mate, so to be able to talk to him, he’s a funny dude. Good people. And that’s one thing I would say about everybody here. Coming in, I didn’t know how I would be accepted or how they would gravitate towards me or how I would gravitate towards them. For me coming in, open arms and them the same way, welcoming me, making me feel at home, I’m appreciative of that.”

There’s another major hole to fill: the second safety spot. It opened up when C.J. Gardner-Johnson was traded to Houston.

Sydney Brown is a candidate to step in. The Eagles envisioned him as a future starter at safety when they drafted him early in the third round two years ago. But a torn ACL in the season finale of his rookie year set him back in 2024. He also had to learn a new system.

Fangio was asked last week how Brown’s “experience” might help him in his competition for the open safety job vs. rookie Andrew Mukuba. But Fangio downplayed the notion.

“His experience came in ‘23, not ‘24,” Fangio said. “Last year at this time, he wasn’t doing anything and didn’t do anything really until the middle of October. So he lost all this time of year, training camp, early part of the season, and really never got many reps with us defensively. He did play in the last game against the Giants and did fine, but it’s a new system from what he had in ‘23. So yes, he’s sitting in meetings, but that only goes so far. You’ve got to get out there and experience it and build on it, and he lost that last year, so he’s going through that process now and he’s doing fine.”

“Doing fine” isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement, but then again, Fangio doesn’t always toss bouquets out to his players. That being said, the veteran coach wasn’t on staff when Brown was drafted. He was obviously when the Eagles selected Mukuba late in the second round of April’s draft.

Fangio’s voice carries a lot of weight with Howie Roseman. So there’s that component when it comes to safety competition. But there’s also stylistic and size differences between Brown and Mukuba. Brown was more of a box safety in college. Mukuba played more in the post. In Fangio’s scheme, you have to be able to do both but often he employs a lot of two-high safety shells in coverages and it takes discipline to play there.

» READ MORE: Eagles film: Sizing up Andrew Mukuba at Texas, can he earn a starting spot in Vic Fangio’s secondary?

Either way, Fangio said it’s going to take time to sort out who will start next to Reed Blankenship. He also inserted Trisitin McCollum into the conversation. McCollum was ahead of Brown on the depth chart last season.

“It’s a competition that is going to take a training camp, a few preseason games to sort out.”

It’s important to remember that even though safety is now a pressing need, the Eagles weren’t necessarily forced into having to find a replacement. Gardner-Johnson was under contract for next season and wasn’t exactly getting paid an exorbitant amount at $8.5 million. But money was Roseman’s rationale for trading the brash player.

I asked Fangio where he stood on the move.

“That was a salary cap-type thing, and Howie made that decision,” he said. “I was fine with it.”

I didn’t exactly expect him to say he wasn’t on board. But there were some within the building who weren’t entirely enthused about losing a player who brought physicality and swagger to the secondary. Gardner-Johnson made his share of big plays to go along with the big hits and led the Eagles with six interceptions. Those were the pros. The cons were that he didn’t always play within the structure of Fangio’s scheme and he struggled in the red zone.

Gardner-Johnson recently disputed the claim that his departure had anything to do with money. But during the offseason, he said he understood the decision and that the Eagles needed to pay younger players.

“I think it was a great move for me,” Gardner-Johnson told reporters. “The emotional state for me right now, it’s cool. I mean, you can’t get too much business. But I know there’s other guys that’s depending on me when I get to the team, so I’ve got to make sure that I’m where my feet are and mentally. I’m doing what I need to do.”

Gardner-Johnson required a little extra maintenance, but the Eagles thought he was worth the effort when they brought him back last offseason. But he clearly overstayed his welcome again.

Gardner-Johnson left a champion. Where does that leave the Eagles? Again, training camp will give us a clearer idea whether Roseman and the Eagles hedged the right bet.