Philadelphia Eagles Dangerously Low on Talent, Experience at Safety

The good news for the Philadelphia Eagles as the team prepares to open training camp is they may have identified a makeshift safety in Walter Thurmond. On the other hand, the fact that a converted cornerback who never played his new position in college or professionally is the front-runner to win the job only serves to highlight the problem this defense is facing.

Aside from Malcolm Jenkins, the Eagles are woefully short on talent and experience in the back end of the secondary. And barring a hidden gem emerging from the 90-man roster or on waivers, or an unexpected trade, there's not much that can be done to address the issue at this late date.

For the time being, all the eggs appear to be in the Thurmond basket, which may work, mind you. The sixth-year veteran has mostly lined up as a nickel cornerback during his NFL career, and Eagles safeties are deployed in man coverage against slot receivers with some frequency, so it's not as if the roles are completely foreign. Plus, for the $3.25 million the club is paying Thurmond in 2015, according to Spotrac, it's a good thing they found a home for him.

YR	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

Yet in addition to having never played the position, Thurmond isn't exactly reliable. He's been exceptional when on the field, but it just happens so rarely. Over the past four seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants, Thurmond has managed to suit up for 27 of a possible 71 regular-season and playoff games.

Assuming Thurmond does win the job, who's the replacement when he inevitably is unavailable?

Which brings us back to the dearth of talent. It's not like the Eagles haven't tried to improve their safety depth. They simply have not been successful.

Michael Perez/Associated Press

Popular thinking after the draft had Earl Wolff penciled in across from Jenkins. A 2013 fifth-round draft pick, Wolff appeared in 11 games for Philadelphia his rookie year, including six starts, and seemed competent. However, a knee injury that eventually required surgery hobbled him last season, and as of June, he still wasn't a full participant at practice.

Wolff was far from a convincing solution in the first place. He didn't kill the Eagles when he was in the lineup, nor did he show enough that he deserved to be handed a job. Now his roster spot could be in jeopardy.

The Eagles attempted to comb the mid-to-late rounds of the 2014 draft for secondary help as well, using a fourth-round pick on Jaylen Watkins and a fifth on Ed Reynolds. It's only been one year, but so far, the club has little to nothing to show from its investment.

Watkins appeared in one game on defense last season, at cornerback in Week 17. While he has some experience at safety, the Eagles haven't pushed him as a serious contender for a role there.

Reynolds, meanwhile, spent all of his rookie season on the practice squad, and once again seems a stretch to make the 53-man roster. In fact, neither Reynolds nor Watkins is a lock to be around come September.

PLAYER	AGE	EXP	GMS	STARTS
J. Couplin	23	1	8	0
R. Evans	23	0	0	0
C. Maragos	28	5	62	0
C. Prosinski	28	5	56	9
D. Rice	22	0	0	0
E. Rowe	22	0	0	0
J. Shepherd	22	0	0	0
J. Watkins	23	1	4	0
E. Wolff	25	2	18	7

There is some hope the Eagles unearthed a diamond in the rough this past December when the club signed Jerome Couplin off of the Detroit Lions practice squad. Couplin's impressive measureables have turned him into a prospect of intrigue and fan favorite of sorts—he's 6'2", 215 pounds with 4.5 speed, 41.5-inch vertical and an astounding 81-inch wingspan, per Geoff Mosher for CSNPhilly.com.

Of course, there's a reason the undrafted free agent out of William & Mary was available. Couplin is raw, and just because a guy has the size, speed and strength to play in the NFL doesn't mean he can hone the finer points of the game.

One of the few names we know will make the cut is Chris Maragos. A special teams ace, Maragos' spot is all but assured, but as far as playing safety, who knows how helpful he would be if called upon. The 28-year-old has never started a game in five NFL seasons.

Fellow special teams standout Chris Prosinski, another late-2014 addition, is in a similar boat. He could hang around when the dust settles in September, but even the Jacksonville Jaguars felt they had seen enough after nine career starts at safety.

Despite the unimpressive group before us, it's not as if the Eagles were inactive this offseason. Eliot Shorr-Parks for NJ.com reported the team chased Devin McCourty during free agency, but he ultimately chose to re-sign with the New England Patriots. In the meantime, incumbent Nate Allen tested the waters and signed an outlandish long-term contract with the Oakland Raiders.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

Unfortunately, while the Eagles came away with a number of corners in the 2015 draft, it was deemed a weak class at safety, so the club ultimately passed on the choices there. Second-round selection Eric Rowe actually played safety three of his four seasons at Utah, but the coaches prefer him on the outside for now. Corners by trade, sixth-round rookies JaCorey Shepherd and Randall Evans are simply listed as defensive backs on the roster, for whatever that's worth, as is undrafted free agent Denzel Rice.

As far as 2015 is concerned, it simply wasn't a situation the Eagles could easily fix. At least they have plenty of options to sort through, and who knows, Thurmond could potentially solidify the back end.

Then again, from the looks of things, the Eagles are playing a dangerous game with their last line of defense. There are a lot of question marks no matter who starts alongside Jenkins, and at best, they're an injury away from plugging in a total unknown.