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Philadelphia Eagles news and links for 6/20/25.
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NFL luxury players in 2025 season: Best slot CB, backup QB, more - ESPN
Slot cornerback: Cooper DeJean, Philadelphia Eagles. Yes, he’s already there. DeJean spent the first month of his rookie season on the sideline, but after Philadelphia’s Week 5 bye, his move into the starting lineup coincided with a massive defensive improvement. After ranking 26th in expected points added (EPA) per play on defense before the bye, the Eagles were comfortably the league’s best defense by the same metric afterward — the second-place Texans ranked closer to 13th than they did to first. It would probably be unrealistic to suggest DeJean was the single driver of those improvements, but he certainly served as a revelation in the secondary. From Week 6 onward, his minus-22.7 EPA allowed as the nearest defender in coverage ranked second in the league, with fellow rookie standout Nate Wiggins the only cornerback ahead of him, per NFL Next Gen Stats. He didn’t allow a single touchdown on 68 targets. And while he didn’t record any interceptions during the regular season, you might remember what he did to Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl. With the Eagles releasing Darius Slay, DeJean will play outside more often in 2025, as he’ll likely start outside in their base defense and work out of the slot in sub packages. He was in coverage as an outside cornerback on just six snaps last season, none of which came during the postseason. He moved all around the backfield in college at Iowa, which should help his chances of handling the added responsibilities. A dominant rookie season also bodes well for his chances of being a great NFL cornerback regardless of where he lines up pre-snap.
14 winners from the Eagles’ spring practices - BGN
CB COOPER DEJEAN: The Eagles clearly want DeJean on the field for 100% of their defensive snaps. This spring, he was the starting outside cornerback opposite from Quinyon Mitchell in Philly’s base defense. Vic Fangio even talked about him potentially playing safety, though he took zero snaps there during media-attendance practices. The expectation here is that DeJean will mostly serve as the Eagles’ nickel cornerback. And when he’s not playing in the slot, he’ll still be on the field in some other capacity.
Spring thoughts on Eagles secondary: Cooper DeJean could have dual role; Replacing C.J. Gardner-Johnson - Inquirer
Vic Fangio understandably wants DeJean on the field as much as possible. It seemed like having him start at outside cornerback in base personnel would be the most obvious way. But Fangio added another idea to the mix during his spring press conference. “I think he would play very well at safety,” Fangio said of DeJean. “I think it suits his skill set, things that he does well. I just think he would do very well in there. [...] “We played 21 games last year. How many base snaps do you guys...
