Eagles film review: How will new CB Darius Slay match up against top NFC East receivers?

Darius Slay is of a dying breed: the NFL cornerback who can travel with one wide receiver — typically an opponent’s best — for an entire game.

“I love the challenge,” Slay said. “I kind of ask for it a lot because the fact is that I want the game on me, and I want to help win the game. And if that’s the best way to go about it — me traveling with a guy — I’ll do it.”

Will he get that opportunity with the Eagles? Jim Schwartz has rarely had one of his cornerbacks follow a single receiver during his four seasons as defensive coordinator. In most cases, his outside corners have played exclusively on sides — in the last three seasons, it was usually Jalen Mills on the left and Ronald Darby on the right.

But Schwartz has never had someone as talented as Slay or a corner as experienced in the art of man-to-man coverage.

“I wouldn’t say he didn’t have a cornerback that couldn’t do it,” Slay said Thursday during a conference call. “Maybe he just felt better that some guys like to play only one side. … I’ve been doing this for the past four or five years. I’ve been very, very successful at it. And if they need me to continue doing it, that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Schwartz was head coach when the Lions drafted Slay in the second round in 2013, but the then-rookie had yet to win a starting role and was still years away from sharpening his craft. The defensive coordinator won’t be available to reporters any time soon, and even if he was, it’s doubtful he would divulge much about his plans.

But Eagles general manager Howie Roseman did suggest last week that the addition of Slay would increase Schwartz’s use of man coverage and give him at least the option to match the veteran up against No. 1 receivers.

“We wanted to find a way to get a corner who could really match up with the best players in the league,” Roseman said in explaining the March 19 trade for Slay, “and we feel we did that.”

If Slay is to travel with top receivers, he’ll likely see a lot of the Cowboys’ Amari Cooper and the Redskins’ Terry McLaurin over the next several seasons. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll be matched up against the young and dangerous ball catchers a significant amount of the time.

Last season, Slay was tasked with following both for most of the Lions’ two games against the NFC East teams. The results were mixed. Cooper was kept in check for most of a game the Cowboys would eventually win, while McLaurin ran free repeatedly and caught the pass that would set up the Redskins’ game-winning field goal.

Slay called McLaurin “one of his toughest challenges” of 2019 and admitted that he wasn’t quite ready for the rookie. He had practiced against Cooper before, though, and had years of film to study.

“Coop was tough, but I just got the upper hand because … I knew what type of guy he was,” Slay said.

Some evaluators, like Pro Football Focus, gave Slay uncharacteristically down marks for last season. But his performance can’t be viewed in a vacuum partly because he spent so much time covering elite receivers. Still, at 29, there are concerns that he has begun to regress.

“I had a great year, in my opinion,” Slay said. “I don’t know what [critics were] thinking about just because of [interceptions]. I wasn’t getting the targets as much as I was way before then. Other than that, I think I played freaking fantastic. I’m not going to say like an excellent level, but it was dang sure good enough to make a Pro Bowl three [years] in a row.”

Slay had only two interceptions last year, but aside from 2017 when he had eight, he’s never had more than three in a season. He was targeted more in 2019 (6.0 a game) than he was in 2018 (5.7), however, and only marginally less than in 2017 (6.6).

In terms of ball production, Slay had his worst season since he became a full-time starter in 2014. Of 84 targets, he had a total of 15 plays with either a pass breakup (13) or interceptions (2) for a rate of 17.9%. His rates in the previous five seasons from 2014-18, were 18.1%, 20.5%, 22.4%, 32.1%, and 23.3%, respectively.

Was it just an anomalous season, or had the weight of playing for Matt Patricia -- a coach with whom he was clearly at odds -- affected his play? As Slay said, the film does paint a better picture of his season.

He was still quick and athletic. He was still “sticky” in man coverage. And he still embraced the challenge of mirroring an offense’s best receiver and using his various techniques, his knowledge of the game, and his confidence to shadow him.

“I can get up in a guy’s face for the whole game. I can switch up my techniques from off to press. I’m comfortable in any one I’m doing,” Slay said. “And I’m just consistent. … I’m not a cocky guy, just a confident guy. I just like to go play ball.”

The Eagles surely could have used Slay last season, especially against McLaurin, who caught 10-of-12 targets for 255 yards and two touchdowns in two games. Cooper was held in check in a pivotal December meeting — he caught only 4-of-12 passes for 24 yards — but in his three other games against the Eagles over the two seasons, he caught 21-of-28 targets for 398 yards and three scores.

One game is just a small sample, but Slay’s performance against Cooper does bode well for the future. Of course, the same could be said of his outing against McLaurin. But he was ready for Cooper, against whom he had lined up three years ago when the Lions and Raiders held inter-squad practices.

“I watched him over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over and kind of got a handle on what he liked to do,” Slay said. “Just erase away what he did best and compete on every play.”

Slay (No. 23) had his best results vs. Cooper’s comeback, go, and fade routes. The Cowboys went to their top receiver on their first play and on their second third down, and Slay was up for the challenge each time, bottling up Cooper (No. 19) on shorter routes.

A quarter later, Cooper tested Slay on a fade, but he never let the receiver get behind and Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott threw out of bounds.

Slay is an instinctive defender. On this first down in the red zone, he appeared to identify Cooper’s route pre-snap and motioned to the safety. Knowing that he had inside help in the post, Slay played outside leverage. Prescott, again, didn’t have his receiver open and threw an uncatchable pass.

Cooper did win a few. He caught 3-of-6 targets for 38 yards vs. Slay. His lone first-down grab came out of the slot on an out route. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a receiver, especially one as skilled as Cooper.

Slay wasn’t as productive vs. Cowboys receiver Michael Gallup (No. 13), who pulled in 2-of-2 passes for 30 yards. Both catches came vs. zone coverage. Slay can certainly cover in zone and will have to in Schwartz’s scheme, but will it play to his strengths? Defensive coordinators often have to mix up and disguise their defenses to keep today’s savvy quarterbacks off balance.

McLaurin (No. 17) caught only 3-of-10 targets for 42 yards when matched up against Slay a week later. But he could have had four more receptions — two for touchdowns — had Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins not overthrown him.

“The rook kind of surprised me. He was a lot faster than I thought on the film,” Slay said. “I ain’t going to say I underestimated him, but I was like, ‘OK, this is a young guy that can run, so he’s just going to run-run every play.’”

Slay battled. He recorded two pass breakups, the second at the beginning of the Redskins’ final drive.

But McLaurin had more in his bag of tricks than just speed routes. The Redskins used bunch formations vs. the Lions’ man coverage to sometimes rub Slay out of plays. The crossing routes took a toll on the corner, and when Washington needed to get into makeable field-goal range, Haskins hit McLaurin for 17 yards on third-and-5 with 26 seconds left.

“He was a true competitor,” Slay said. “That’s what I didn’t see or know about him. But going against him, he competed every play.”

Slay will get another opportunity to atone in the rematch this season, whether he’s asked to exclusively trail McLaurin or not.