Philadelphia Eagles' Crisis at the Cornerback Position

Hobbs is done after being put on I.R. on Wednesday.


First, I received a text message telling me that Ellis Hobbs would be out for the season because he required surgery on his severely-injured neck, which was a bit of a shock because I'm not sure that most believed it to be that serious.

Then, not a half hour later, I received another text telling me that nickel-corner Joselio Hanson would miss the next four games after being suspended for testing positive for a diuretic.

And just like that, a position that was thought to be overflowing with talent was cut down just as thin as the linebacking crew, a unit that has caused the Eagles defense many problems this season.

To make matters worse, Akeem Jordan missed practice, and could miss the Chargers game with a hyperextended knee, while Moise Fokou missed practice with the flu.

To replace Hobbs, the Eagles signed cornerback—and former Mr. Irrelevant—Ramzee Robinson, who played in 19 regular season games for the Detroit Lions in 2007 and 2008.

In place of Hanson, the Eagles have called up cornerback Jack Ikegwuonu, who was a fourth-round pick of the team last season. Ikegwuonu was called the steal of the draft last year, but has suffered greatly from a torn ACL, which caused his stock to plummet in the first place.

He'll get a chance to prove his worth as the dime corner behind Robinson, who has much more playing time and experience than Ikegwuonu.

Macho Harris, who played cornerback in college, could be asked to do it again for the next month until Hanson is able to return.

Quintin Demps, who played some corner for the Eagles during his rookie year with some success, will most likely be asked to do it again in addition to taking over kick-return duties, which were formerly held by Hobbs.

Hobbs had been doing fairly well returning kicks, but if Demps can hit the hole, he is much more explosive. He has the breakaway speed that Hobbs lacked, but is really a feast or famine return man. Demps will either get you to the 20, or break it into enemy territory.

This is still a good defense, but the loss of depth at the cornerback could certainly prove to be a challenge for Sean McDermott and his crew. If the passing defense is going to be able to sustain itself for the next month, the front four are going to have to do a much better job getting pressure on their own and force some errant throws.

Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown are going to be asked to play a lot more in the base defense and the Eagles could use the nickel a lot less than usual. However, the guys they have are there because they believe they can get the job done in any situation.

Through all of the bad news, there is some good news to report.

Chris Gocong came back to practice today and is expected to play when the Eagles head west to San Diego. Akeem Jordan is questionable at this point, but it's good to have at least one of the original starters in the lineup.