Eagles film review: Is Kelee Ringo ready to seize a leading role in Vic Fangio’s secondary?

Kelee Ringo’s audition for a significant role in the Eagles secondary will begin in earnest next week.

The third-year cornerback out of Georgia is among the leading candidates for the outside cornerback spot opposite Quinyon Mitchell in the defensive backfield, but will need to fend off veteran Adoree’ Jackson this summer for the job. Ringo spent most of last season as the No. 4 outside cornerback on the depth chart behind Mitchell, Darius Slay, and Isaiah Rodgers.

To determine what he’ll need to do to climb the depth chart, let’s review his film from last season.

At 6-foot-2, 207 pounds, Ringo’s physical profile is a large part of what makes him such a high-upside player even three years into his career. He’s built like a high-end NFL cornerback and has the straight-line speed of one as well.

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In his 69 coverage snaps last season, there were a handful of times when he lined up in press coverage at the line of scrimmage and still maintained tight coverage against wide receivers running downfield.

Against the Cowboys in Week 9 of last year, Ringo managed to slightly reroute Dallas receiver Jalen Tolbert off the line and ran stride-for-stride with him to help safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson intercept an overthrown pass from backup quarterback Trey Lance.

Especially with Eagles defensive coordinator’s Vic Fangio tendency to line up one cornerback in press coverage at times, Ringo’s ability to turn and run without a cushion should be one of his major selling points.

He showcased it against Tolbert again in the Eagles’ Week 16 win against Dallas, although the ball didn’t come his way that time.

Ringo’s comfortability running with receivers downfield also helped him defend underneath routes at times last year. Rather than giving up too much ground against comeback routes for fear of getting beaten deep, Ringo had a few snaps where he showed a willingness to sit on the comeback because of his recovery speed.

In the team’s regular-season finale against the New York Giants, Ringo logged his lone pass breakup of the year as a result of his comfortability sitting on an underneath route.

While Ringo’s long speed and physical ability in press coverage help paint the picture of the player he can become, there are areas he’ll need to improve to become a reliable contributor for the Eagles secondary.

A major reason he fell into the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft was a relative lack of polish playing the position. When asked last month how Ringo needed to improve to earn the starting job, Fangio pointed to his relative lack of time on task as the biggest hurdle.

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“He just needs reps,” Fangio said. “He needs to learn to play the game, and that comes with reps. To quote what [Eagles coach 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.”

Ringo added: “Talent only takes you so far. And just coming to the league and just seeing, of course, the talent could definitely help you be able to get places where you want to go. But taking that next step of focusing on your technique, little things of stretching, learning the playbook, all different things that could definitely help you get an edge overall, besides from your talent.”

From a technique standpoint, both Ringo’s route recognition and his quickness out of breaks will have to take a step compared to his 2024 film.

His second-longest completion allowed all year came in Week 3 against New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave. Operating out of a three-deep zone coverage, Ringo was responsible for one-third of the field and was a tick early turning his hips toward the sideline just as Olave broke toward the middle of the field. It’s fair to point out Eagles safety Reed Blankenship’s proximity makes him better-positioned to occupy the throwing window than Ringo, but Ringo’s misdiagnosis still leaves something to be desired.

Ringo got out-leveraged in a similar way against Cleveland Browns receiver Amari Cooper in Week 6 on a slant route for a costly 13-yard red-zone completion on third-and-10.

Given the physical reputation the Eagles defense earned by the end of last season, Ringo’s presence against the run and as a perimeter tackler will be another important benchmark to monitor in the preseason games during the summer.

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He had some promising moments where his size and physicality showed up and it’s worth mentioning he spent all of last year giving the Eagles solid contributions on special teams, especially as a gunner on the punt coverage units.

Against the Browns at outside corner, he flattened Cleveland running back Pierre Strong along the sideline.

He had another important, physical tackle against the Giants in Week 18, stopping Wan’Dale Robinson short of the first-down marker on third-and-9.

Still, Ringo will have to be a more consistent tackler to fully win Fangio over. Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming majority of his defensive snaps coming in meaningless games or during garbage time, but he had a few instances of falling off tackles on the perimeter.

If he can be a more steady contributor against the run and continue refining his technique, Ringo figures to earn the outside cornerback job out of training camp and run with it from there.

“I would definitely say the game is slowing down a lot more, for sure,” Ringo said in June. “Just technique wise, focusing on the little things. … Just understanding the playbook. Understanding what offenses are trying to do to you, in the scheme, and everything like that. When everything slows down for you, you’re able to play a lot faster. I’m kind of tapping into that."