Walter Thurmond Deserving of Philadelphia Eagles Starting Safety Spot

Of all the Philadelphia Eagles' question marks entering the 2015 preseason, perhaps none was bigger than the one at safety.

There was Malcolm Jenkins, who proved to be an excellent fit for the defensive scheme last season, and...Walter Thurmond?

That's right. The scene was so bleak for the Eagles at safety that Thurmond asked if he could move from his natural position at cornerback after the draft. The change made sense in theory, and reports coming out of spring OTAs were glowing, but there was no way of knowing how the experiment would turn out until they got into games.

So far, preseason games have been an extension of what was reported during OTAs and what we saw all summer at training camp. Thurmond has a knack for always being around the ball.

	SNAPS	TKL	PD	INT
Wk 1 vs. IND	17	0	0	1
Wk 2 vs. BAL	19	0	1	1
Wk 3 @ GB	26	0	1	1

Thurmond recorded interceptions in each of the past two games for the Eagles. The first was a pass batted in the air by cornerback Nolan Carroll. The second was a gift thrown right into Thurmond's stomach, which the converted safety returned for a touchdown.

You could easily say Thurmond was simply in the right place at the right time on both picks. You could say that about a lot of the turnovers he generated during training camp, actually.

Then again, being in the right place at the right time isn't a bad thing. It isn't entirely about luck, either. It's a skill.

As Eagles defensive coordinator Bill Davis said last week, it speaks to Thurmond's awareness. "First thing that jumps to mind is how many turnovers and caused turnovers he's had in every practice," Davis said. "That kind of jumps out at you. He really is aware.

"I've said this from the beginning—one of the biggest reasons we moved him was because of his awareness and his vision of the whole field. He naturally took the right angles back there, so he jumped out.

"He's a ball hawk. Not only causing fumbles, but the interceptions, too."

Matt Rourke/Associated Press

Eagles head coach Chip Kelly had another word for it: intelligence.

"I think he's smart," Kelly said last week. "He always seems to be around the ball. Very rarely is he out of place. He's got an intuitive feel for where the football's going to be.

"Then he's got outstanding hands. You can see him catch the football in a wide variety of ways, and just he's really, really a smart football player, so he always seems to be around the ball."

Making the change from cornerback to safety isn't exactly unheard of. Players do it all the time, often because they're not as proficient in man-to-man coverage.

Yet that wasn't the case with Thurmond. In fact, when healthy, the former Seattle Seahawk and New York Giant was one of the best nickel cornerbacks in the NFL—which, as it turns out, is why the move made so much sense.

The Eagles often deploy their safeties in man-to-man coverage, particularly against slot receivers. That's why Jenkins, who played corner at Ohio State, was such a perfect fit in free agency last year. That's why Thurmond seemed like a logical choice to audition for the role: Only some zone-coverage concepts would be relatively new to him.

Until the offseason was said and done, the Eagles were absolutely loaded at cornerback. The club signed Byron Maxwell and E.J. Biggers along with Thurmond in free agency, selected three cornerbacks in the draft and still had Carroll and Brandon Boykin on the roster. It was unclear how Thurmond, at $3.25 million for one year, according to Spotrac, was going to get on the field.

Safety remained a disaster, however. The Eagles failed to acquire help in free agency or the draft. Longtime starter Nate Allen departed in the offseason for a big payday. The front-runner to win the job was 2013 fifth-round pick Earl Wolff, who has since been cut because he couldn't get healthy.

Thurmond came along and killed two birds with one stone, seemingly bringing stability to the safety position and cementing his role on the team.

	GMS	TKL	PD	INT	FF
2014	2	4	0	0	0
2013	12	33	6	1	1
2012	2	3	0	0	0
2011	6	12	2	0	1
2010	14	37	7	0	0

There are still questions about Thurmond, namely about his durability. Over the past four seasons, he's managed to suit up for just 27 of a possible 71 regular-season and playoff games, largely due to injuries.

2013 was Thurmond's last healthy season. He missed four games due to a suspension that year but otherwise was fine, even contributing to the Seahawks' Super Bowl championship as the primary nickel cornerback.

So it's never been a question of skill for Thurmond. Even when the move to safety was first revealed, while some skepticism was natural, it was easy to see what the Eagles were thinking.

Now that Thurmond has earned the job, the next step is playing 16 games. Depth at the position is still a little dicey, with the inexperienced Jerome Couplin and Ed Reynolds battling for the third safety job. The hope is that Thurmond has plugged the Eagles' biggest hole, although they remain one injury away from another huge question mark.

All camp observations and quotes were obtained firsthand.