Slightly Intrigued By This Signing

On a scale of one to ten, the news that the Eagles signed CB Tanard Davis off the Panthers' practice squad rated about a negative six.  The odds of any late-season pick-up sticking around for long -- let alone making an impact -- aren't that great. 

Still, I'm mildly intrigued by this signing.  Heading into 2008, the Eagles have a very unsettled secondary.  Sheldon Brown is probably the only guy we can really count on.  Since taking over as the starter for the 2004 season, Sheldon has never missed a game.  He continues to be solid, unspectacular and (now that his shoulder is healed) once again a very good tackler. 

I'm not sure fans totally realize how much Jim Johnson moves Sheldon around.  He plays outside in the base defense, typically slides into the slot in the nickel (although less so when it's Hanson, rather than James outside), and even plays the deep center field position when Johnson goes to his strong look with both safeties walked up tight (the formation out of which Mikell, Considine and Dawkins frequently blitz).  My personal opinion is that Brown is actually better in those other positions than he is matched up on speedsters outside, but the point remains that we know exactly what we're going to get from him next year. 

You can't say the same thing about any of the other secondary positions.  Lito is great, but he's missed 13 games in the last three years.  Everyone's finally gotten around to noticing that Dawk had a pretty crummy year and at his age, we'll see just how well he's able to re-build his body this offseason.  Even for a specimen like Dawk, you never know when it's gonna go.

Then things get really interesting.  Sean Considine is unfairly maligned by those who judge safeties only by how hard they can hit a defenseless receiver, but it's certainly true that the guy hasn't been able to stay healthy and at 6-0, 212 pounds, just may not have an every-down NFL body.  Quintin Mikell is great playing close to the line of scrimmage, but he struggles some in pass coverage down the field.  Erstwhile return man J.R. Reed certainly brings the wood when he plays, but we've seen very little of him so far and there's always the drop foot question with him.

At corner, I think we can safely say that William James is highly overrated, particularly in his own mind.  Joselio Hanson isn't bad, but I'd rather see him at the dime position (where he'd still end up getting plenty of playing time, given Lito's injury history).  Besides, the Eagles really need a faster #3 CB who can line up outside and let Sheldon mix it up in the interior. 

So that's one reason I'm intrigued by this Davis signing.  Not because I think there's much chance he can make an impact as a cornerback (you won't even find his name listed Miami's team statistics his senior year), but because the Eagles have proved that's one position where they're willing to carry a few extra bodies and the cupboard's looking a little bare right now anyway.

The much more interesting reason, however, is that this guy is a former 60-meter NCAA champ and actually outran Devin Hester at the U's "Pro Day" two years ago:

But Hester wasn't the fastest Hurricane working out for the pros on Sunday (by the way, all 32 teams were present, over 100 scouts and four executives). I'm betting you can't guess who was? It was reserve cornerback Tanard Davis, also a UM standout track athlete.  Davis had an excellent workout. He ran a 4.25  40-time, posted a 41 1/2 inch vertical and benched 225 16-times, which is pretty good for a defensive back. I often wonder how well he would have performed if the NCAA allowed him to transfer to Howard last season and keep his scholarship because he's a good athlete.

Now I'm not saying that the Eagles just signed another Devin Hester.  But if the reason they brought this kid in is to see what he can do as a return man, and if the summer mini-camp work proves he's got some potential there, well then this could be exactly the kind of move they need to finally spark the special teams that have languished at the bottom of the league barrel all season.

Or he could get cut next week.

Comments

[Jay]

I think our secondary is the biggest concern for our defense in the offseason. I wonder if the birds might consider going after a corner in free agency and move S. Brown to safety.
Domowitch mentioned this Brown idea the other day.
Its an interesting thought.
Brown does seem to posses the attributes necessary to be a pretty good safety and I believe there are three top notch corners that will be free agents.