James Bradberry film: Why he should be a fit for the Eagles’ scheme

Of the 72 NFL cornerbacks who lined up for 50% or more of 844 coverage snaps last season, only six played in zone coverage more than James Bradberry did for the New York Giants

While his usage was based partially on defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s schematic preferences, the veteran was also primarily a zone corner in his first four seasons with the Carolina Panthers.

The reason was obvious: He performed better in zone than in man coverage. That isn’t to say Bradberry can’t press wide receivers at the line and run step for step with them. He can do that, as well, and do it capably.

But when the 28-year-old signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract with the Eagles last week, it was reported that Jonathan Gannon’s zone-heavy scheme was a motivating factor in Bradberry’s decision.

“I like the play of the defense,” Bradberry confirmed Tuesday at the NovaCare Complex. “A multiple look, play zone and man, and I think I make a lot of plays in both. That’s the reason why I like the scheme.”

In general terms, the Eagles do play a combination of both, but so does every team. Only Las Vegas, Washington, Tampa Bay and the Giants, though, played more zone than the Eagles did in Gannon’s first season as coordinator.

There are, of course, many kinds of zones, and Gannon employed almost all of them. He favored two-deep safety looks, partly to account for his personnel, and partly because the Eagles faced so many explosive offenses, particularly in the first half of the season.

But he was also limited in terms of the complexity of his presnap disguises. Some of those constraints came from the Eagles’ significant shift in scheme and not having the necessary pieces, especially up front. It’s a numbers game, and Gannon often had to steal from the back to help the front.

To address the deficiency, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, true to form, spent more of his offseason capital on the line, signing free-agent edge rusher Haason Reddick and drafting defensive tackle Jordan Davis in the first round. He even dipped into his pockets for the usually neglected off-ball linebacker position by signing Kyzir White and drafting Nakobe Dean.

But Roseman did virtually nothing in the secondary in the first two months of the new league year. His patience, though, was eventually rewarded when the Giants released Bradberry after the draft rather than pay his $13.5 million salary.

As with any discarded player, the question of why he was available has to be asked. Bradberry seemingly underperformed last season, at least not at a standard that would have justified a $21.7 million salary cap hit for 2022. But his contract also made it impossible to trade him, even as long as the Giants waited.

“First of all, I understand that it’s a business,” Bradberry said when asked about the timing of his release. “So I was putting my business cap on first and understanding that I’m an asset. So I understand that they want something for me. That was part of the game.

“Personally, I didn’t necessarily like it.”

Bradberry’s market wasn’t exactly dry. There were still cornerback-needy teams interested. But he would have to agree to a one-year, “show-me” deal, which for Eagles’ purposes buys their youth time and more importantly, gives them a strong complement to Pro Bowler Darius Slay for at least one season.

“He’s a very versatile player,” Gannon said of Bradberry. “Smart, tough, physical. Can get the ball. Can cover. So anytime you have that type of skill set with your outside corner, it’s a good asset to have. He allows us to play certain things predicated on what we’re trying to stop that week, as Slay does.

“That’s why you look for complete players. Can they play off? Can they press? Can they play with vision? Can they play with ‘man’ eyes? He does all that. With that type of player, it gives you flexibility with some of the coverages that you can play.”

Gannon said he was able to call many coverages last season, but multiplicity isn’t diversity. He wants to be able to run various coverages from one look, and having adaptable corners like Bradberry with the football intelligence to handle various calls within a play should give top-tier quarterbacks more to think about pre- and postsnap.

Slay built his reputation upon following an opponent’s top receiver in man coverage, but he was rarely asked to do so last season, even opposite the lesser Steven Nelson. Gannon had him trail Panthers receiver DJ Moore with great results, but to do so on a week-to-week basis was deemed too predictable and sometimes unnecessary vs. certain offenses.

The 31-year-old Slay was just as efficient in zone and still had a great season. But acquiring Bradberry should give Gannon more freedom to utilize split coverages and could give the Eagles their best cornerback combination — at least on paper — in years.

“Potential only gets you so far, so I don’t really want to speak on potential,” Bradberry said of his pairing with Slay. “I just know that individually we’re pretty good. So the goal is to be great together.”

Here’s a closer look at Bradberry’s film from last season with the Giants, the highs, the lows, and why he should be a scheme fit for the Eagles:

Bradberry played in zone coverages about two-thirds of the time last season. Naturally, he would have more production when in zone, but only one of his four interceptions and one of his 12 pass breakups last season came in man coverage, according to Pro Football Focus.

Playing in zone often allows for Bradberry to see the field with eyes on the quarterback, which enables him to use his knowledge of route concepts to disrupt the passing game.

“I feel like I’m a smart player and I feel like I can read concepts,” Bradberry said.

This pass breakup against the Chargers offered the perfect example of how Bradberry (No. 24) was able to distribute the routes in the Giants’ zone, read a quarterback eyes — Justin Herbert, in this case — and make plays on the ball.

The play above also highlighted Bradberry’s considerable range. He ranked somewhere in the 40-60th percentile in most drills run at the NFL combine before the 2016 draft, but his size (6-foot-1, 212 pounds) and arm length (33-⅜ inches) were 80 percent or higher compared to other cornerback prospects.

It helps to have two-deep safety help over top. Graham ran a lot of Cover-3 or single-high safety coverages, though, with Bradberry responsible for a deep third of the field.

Bradberry’s sound technique vs. Bears receiver Allen Robinson (No. 12) played a role in his interception. He played inside leverage, but was still able to transition to cut off Robinson’s dig route. Quarterback Andy Dalton’s decision making was dubious, but Bradberry still had to react and finish.

No cornerback is perfect, of course, especially in today’s pass-happy, pass-friendly NFL. Bradberry was often tasked, he said, with covering an opponent’s top receiver.

“Typically, I had the top guy,” Bradberry said. “I know sometimes we would play the boundary field just based on the team. … But most of the time in this division I played the top guy.”

He had his ups and downs against the NFC East’s best. Washington’s Terry McLaurin (No. 17) turned Bradberry around on the below comeback route.

But he would have his revenge later in that Week 2 meeting, despite an eventual 30-29 loss. Bradberry, again, displayed his knack for diagnosing a route concept when dropping into zone. He read quarterback Taylor Heinicke’s eyes and jumped McLaurin’s curl route for a pick.

Bradberry played man coverage about a quarter of the time, often pressing at the line. He wasn’t afraid of getting physical with receivers, although he drew a penalty here when he dragged McLaurin to the ground.

His long levers came in handy in press-man as he showed here when he got his hands on Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman (No. 17, near) early in his route.

Bradberry had one of his better outings vs. the Eagles in Week 12 when he followed receiver DeVonta Smith. Quarterback Jalen Hurts had perhaps his worst game of the season, but the Giants cornerback kept Smith in check throughout most of the game.

He did lose the rookie receiver on this shallow cross on the last play of the game. Smith (No. 6) and receiver Quez Watkins (No. 16) were supposed to run their routes closer to execute the rub on the mesh concept, but Bradberry did well to undercut the route.

Hurts paused and then looked away from Smith before tossing a jump ball pass that receiver Jalen Reagor (No. 18) dropped.

Bradberry got burned on a couple deep passes early last season. It happens to the best of cornerbacks, especially in single-high safety looks. But he got caught playing outside leverage vs. a Saints shot play that baited the post safety with an underneath crosser.

Despite the above error, Bradberry excels in off coverage. It helps to have advantageous down and distance as he did here against Smith (near) on this third and long play that resulted in a short Hurts scramble.

In this press-man scenario, Bradberry would have likely wanted a redo on his technique at the line. He gave CeeDee Lamb a free release, and the Cowboys receiver was able to pull away before the post safety arrived.

Bradberry disputed the notion that he struggled last season, though.

“I think last year was comparable to a couple other seasons that I had,” Bradberry said. “We didn’t do too well overall and I tried to do my best and I tried to make plays.”

He won’t often likely be asked by Gannon to cover the deep third in Cover 1. With Reddick, Davis and the return of defensive end Brandon Graham, the coordinator should have even more ammo up front to keep the back stacked.

But Bradberry, more than anything, wants a coordinator that is himself adaptable.

“Just based off the two days that I’ve been … he’s willing to make changes based off the players’ needs and wants,” Bradberry said of Gannon. “I think as a coach you should just be open to what a player likes. Like I said, I like to play man and zone that requires me to sometimes play on and sometimes play off.

“Just be flexible within the scheme and the technique the player uses.”

Cornerbacks are paid to cover, but tackling is still a necessary job requirement. Bradberry finished somewhere in the middle of the pack in missed tackle percentage while with the Panthers, but he was among the lowest-rated cornerbacks the last two seasons.

In 2021, he missed 14 tackle attempts, per PFF, and was last in the league in missed tackle percentage (22.6) among qualifying cornerbacks.

But Gannon and the Eagles will overlook the occasional whiff in exchange for Braberry’s playmaking abilities. And in many cases, what has separated him from other outside cornerbacks has been his ability to recognize routes in zone and disrupt concepts.

Bradberry doesn’t come without concerns about long speed, tackling, and last season’s regression. The Eagles also aren’t exactly stacked at safety. But Bradberry should benefit from the Eagles’ zone-heavy scheme and the seventh-year corner should allow for Gannon to be more diverse with his coverage looks.

“We played a lot of coverages last year and they did a pretty good job with it,” Gannon said. “We’re going to play those same coverages this year and you’d like to be able to pick and choose when you would like to play them vs. certain people, certain quarterbacks, certain teams, how they’re trying to attack you.

“That’s why I Iike smart players because we get in and out stuff pretty quick and they got to be able to adapt and think on their feet quickly and execute.”