Philadelphia Eagles: Questions in the Secondary

There was no doubt going into this offseason that the secondary competition in Eagles training camp was going to be something everyone would be watching. However, with certain developments taking place this week, the competition may be more interesting than we first expected.

Macho Harris, who was thought to be in the free safety competition, is now taking reps at cornerback, opposite Asante Samuel.

The Eagles have Marlin Jackson running with the first team at free safety with Nate Allen running with the second team.

Jackson has primarily played corner in the NFL, but the Eagles brought him in with the intention of lining him up at safety.

There is all sorts of shuffling going on right now and this will likely continue through training camp.

The Eagles have players that can play multiple positions, which isn’t a bad thing at all. However, I want them to make some choices so players can take reps at one position; I’d rather see players focus on one position instead of spending time learning two.

As far as Macho Harris goes, I’d like to see him stay focused on the corner position. This is where he played in college, and he didn't excite anyone with his safety play last year.

I’m not convinced he’s a starter, but I think he can compete for the spot. Last year he spent time covering tight ends, so this could be another option to use him as well.

With Jackson, you have to be nervous about his knees. He’s still showing signs that he’s not fully recovered and I could see him being a complete bust.

I’d really like him to contribute to this team, but I’m not convinced he’s going to be able. This puts a lot of pressure on Allen to step up and start from day one.

Allen doesn’t have a whole lot of competition, so if he can play well enough in training camp, he could be the starter in the opener.

There are plenty of other guys on the roster that will compete for starting jobs and depth spots, but none of them excite me.

The secondary is definitely going to be something to watch over the next few months.