At the NFL combine, Eagles building connections with safeties and versatile defensive backs

INDIANAPOLIS — The Eagles defense needs major upgrades to become a top unit again next season — and it begins with the secondary.

As it stands, the team is lacking that true center fielder type of safety who can erase vertical concepts at a consistent rate. Finding one through the draft, at a position valued on Day 2, should be a strong consideration for the Eagles.

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With plenty of intriguing options at the top of the class, the Eagles have made connections with several safeties, including Miami’s Kamren Kinchens and Southern Cal’s Calen Bullock.

Kinchens, a two-year full-time starter for the Hurricanes, told reporters that he had a meeting with the Eagles this week. A ball hawk with range to cover sideline-to-sideline from single-high and two-high safety alignments, Kinchens credits his instincts and anticipation for being able to create turnovers or pass breakups.

“The film makes me aggressive because I feel confident in what’s going on,” Kinchens said Thursday. “My college coaches helped me every day, just feeling the flow of the game and just when to know to take those chances.”

Over the last two seasons, Kinchens has compiled 11 interceptions and 22 passes defended. His tackling must become more consistent in the open field, with a 13.7 percent missed tackle rate at Pro Football Focus, but Kinchens is an impressive coverage safety.

Trojans standout safety Bullock, who was repping his late father and grandmother on his chains at the podium, said he got a chance to go through his film with the Eagles. The meeting also included a best-of-three basketball shooting game, allowing Bullock and the Eagles brass to connect.

Like Kinchens, Bullock is a player who has natural range and instincts in coverage, quickly diagnosing and closing on vertical concepts. The rangy safety has seven interceptions and 12 pass breakups over his last two seasons and credited his ability to read a quarterback’s shoulders as a key to getting an early break on the football.

“I know I have to watch film, I know I have to get a head start because if I don’t watch the film, I can’t make the plays I make,” Bullock explained. So I have to go and watch film, read quarterbacks, their dropbacks [and] read their shoulders [to] give me a head start.”

In addition to Kinchens, the Eagles also met at the combine with Washington State’s Jaden Hicks and Minnesota’s Tyler Nubin and talked with Texas Tech’s Dadrion Taylor-Demerson at the Shrine Bowl a few months ago, making it clear the Eagles are doing their homework on this safety class.

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The nickel corner position is becoming a critical part of the modern NFL game. The Eagles have relied largely on Avonte Maddox when he’s healthy, but it’s time for an infusion of youth at that position.

Having positional versatility allows teams to be creative, which is why a player like Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw was connected to the Eagles before the combine. Rakestraw, an outside corner with blazing speed and the ability to challenge wide receivers at the line of scrimmage has played both as a nickel and outside corner in his career.

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Rakestraw had 100 snaps at nickel in each of the last two seasons, according to PFF, although the majority of his snaps came from the outside corner. Rakestraw didn’t say whether he has met with the Eagles but took some time explaining how his mindset changes when he’s lined up at nickel vs. outside corner.

In the nickel in the NFL, Rakestraw said, “because the hashes are so much tighter, everything’s pretty much [going] into the field. So even in the boundary going towards the field, I learned to have great spacing and great leverage and that’s what helps me at nickel.

“[At outside corner] I use my physical tools, hands to get the receiver off their timing and make them get in their route right away, or you can erase the route. So my goal is to use my speed very minimally.”

At the Senior Bowl, the Eagles met with Kentucky corner Andru Phillips, who, like Rakestraw, played both outside and nickel back. The junior became a full-time starter this season at outside corner for the Wildcats, compiling 47 tackles and five passes defensed, playing over 400 snaps as a traditional corner and 200 at nickel.

Competitive at the catch point, Phillips excels at undercutting routes going across the middle of the field. Though he needs to find the ball more consistently in the air, he flashes nice finishing ability in contested catch situations. Phillips told The Inquirer that playing with pace allows him to anticipate and break up passes.

“It’s more about tempo because if you get out too fast, sometimes there’s too much separation,” Phillips said. The more you play in the SEC and you [understand] tempos and you can play off it, that’s how clean your breaks will be, and that showed [for me] by the end of last season, I could just be more fluid.”

The tight end class isn’t strong as a group, but a few players near the top have received interest from the Eagles.

Texas’ Ja’Tavion Sanders, a versatile, vertical threat told reporters Thursday that he met with the Eagles. Sanders, who compiled 45 catches for 682 yards and two touchdowns, played a jump shot game with the Birds, making two of three shots.

Penn State tight end Theo Johnson, whom we profiled during Senior Bowl week where he showed his skill set, also met with the Eagles at the combine. Johnson finished the 2023 season with 34 catches for 341 yards and seven touchdowns.