Latest news with #DefensiveRookieoftheYearAward
USA Today
19 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Cooper DeJean embracing vocal leadership role in his second Eagles season
Cooper DeJean, in year two, is ready to lead Eagles defense from the front. You could watch football for another 30 years, and you may not see a more meteoric rise than we saw from Philadelphia Eagles star Cooper DeJean as a rookie. He went from being injured and unable to practice to stepping into the starting lineup after the bye week and crushing it. Seriously, we knew he was good. We had no idea that he would be this good. Throughout a magical ride of a campaign, he buried Derrick Henry in the open field in a one-on-one, mano-a-mano meeting of alpha males. In the Eagles' final game, one played on football's grandest stage, he housed a pick-six interception off the arm of the man seen as the best quarterback of his generation. That put the Eagles up 16-0 vs. the two-time defending Super Bowl champions. One could have placed him in the Super Bowl MVP conversation with Josh Sweat after that, as far as we're concerned. Then, Jalen Hurts threw 'the dagger' to DeVonta Smith, putting a capper on his night, and that took care of that. Make no mistake, though, DeJean, a finalist for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award along with teammate Quinyon Mitchell this past season, is off to a hellacious start, and he's just scratching the surface of how good he can be. Cooper DeJean wants to be more of a vocal leader in his second Eagles season. One of the first things noticed about Philadelphia's defense is it's young. So many of its players are still enjoying their rookie contracts. The leaders are young, and that's a good thing. It will be fun to watch so much of this young talent grow up together, as they are still in their prime, yet. Sign DeJean up for one of those leadership roles. He wants to be more vocal in his second year. Something tells us he'll be a natural. He and his teammate and friend, Reed Blankenship, host their podcast, Exciting Mics, weekly. As the Eagles enjoyed their fourth training camp practice, we learned that he cracked the NFL's Top 100 Players list, a ranking compiled through players' votes. In other words, he has the respect of his peers. That's pretty awesome. IN 2023, DeJean was named a Unanimous All-American and as both the Big Ten's Defensive Back and Return Specialist of the Year. He also earned his second First-team All-Big Ten mention after previously winning the award a year earlier. Year one in the NFL landed him on the PFWA All-Rookie Team. We'll love seeing what he does for an encore. Big things are expected and rightfully so.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Eagles camp opens with a wake-up call for Kelee Ringo
Day 1 of Eagles training camp practice was a rough one for veteran DB Kelee Ringo. Since March, it has been billed as one of the top training camp battles to monitor during the Philadelphia Eagles' summer. Who will win the starting cornerback job across the formation from Quinyon Mitchell? Darius Slay is gone. So is Isaiah Rodgers and Avonte Maddox. That makes guys like Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown the elder statesmen. Mitchell impressed as a rookie. He and Cooper DeJean were finalists for the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. They'll both start. DeJean will handle slot duty, which begs the question. Who will handle starting duties at the other outside position? The front-runners are Adoree' Jackson and Kelee Ringo. Jackson comes to Philadelphia after a four-year run with the rival New York Giants. The latter enters year three, hoping to finally crack the Eagles' starting lineup. Day 1 of Eagles camp offers some early adversity for Kelee Ringo It's okay to be a tad rusty when training camp begins. Heck, those are the types of kinks that camp is supposed to work out, but everyone wants to put their best foot forward. Unfortunately, most of the Kelee Ringo mentions have come for negative reasons. Cayden Steele offered a detailed explanation of some tough sledding at practice. Here's what was provided on the topic of conversation. "Toward the end of the Eagles' first training camp practice on Wednesday, cornerback Kelee Ringo expressed his frustration by smacking his hands together. He was in good position on wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. near the left sideline, but he couldn't knock it away from Marshall's hands and gave up his third big catch of the day." While it's great to hear that Terrace Marshall has put on a show, someone has to be on the other end of those highlight-reel moments. Unfortunately for Mr. Ringo, he provided a couple of the assists. "During the team's first seven-on-seven session, Marshall ran past Ringo down the right sideline and snagged quarterback Tanner McKee's accurate deep ball for a touchdown, the first play Ringo allowed. On the second big catch, Ringo had tight coverage on A.J. Brown, but he lost the rep when quarterback Jalen Hurts placed the back-shoulder ball out of his reach. Nine-year veteran Adoree' Jackson subbing in for Ringo afterwards was notable, and it will be interesting to see who starts tomorrow." Losing on a rep to A.J. Brown is hardly a cause for concern. It has happened to many of the game's greats. It is, however, interesting that we're discussing lost reps vs. Terrace Marshall, who, at best, will be the fourth or fifth wide receiver on Philly's depth chart... and that's if he's fortunate enough to win a roster spot. All of this is hardly cause for concern. Again, it's day one of camp. The expectation is that Ringo will settle in. As Steele puts it, he was never "egregiously beaten on his three losses". This allows him to fine-tune some things and sharpen his skills. This is the best shot he has had at winning a starter's role since his arrival, and no one expects a tough start to make him crumble under some adversity.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
49ers EDGE draws massive respect in exec, coach, scout positional rankings for 2025
The San Francisco 49ers have a ton of talented players on their roster, but defensive end Nick Bosa may be the best that they send out each week. Bosa, 27, played collegiately at Ohio Sate from 2016-18, winning Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year and earning All-Big Ten and All-American honors in 2017. The 49ers took him in the first round (No. 2 overall) of the 2019 NFL draft, and since then he's racked up five Pro Bowls, one All-Pro selection, a Defensive Rookie of the Year Award and Defensive Player of the Year Award. He's also totaled 261 tackles (87 for a loss), 165 quarterback hits, 62.5 sacks, 11 forced fumbles, nine passes defensed, four fumble recoveries and two interceptions. On Wednesday, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler released the results of his annual EDGE rankings with votes from NFL executives, coaches and scouts. In that poll, Bosa was ranked as the fifth-best EDGE in the league. "His leverage, explosiveness, power and polished rush arsenal are unmatched," an NFL personnel director said. "He has the same rush moves as [brother] Joey Bosa but with better play strength to win in a variety of ways." Ahead of Bosa in these rankings are Cleveland's Myles Garrett, Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt, Dallas' Micah Parsons and Las Vegas' Maxx Crosby while Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson, Detroit's Aidan Hutchinson, Houston's Will Anderson, Houston's Danielle Hunter and Los Angeles' Jared Verse round out the top 10. Bosa was ranked fourth in the league heading into 2024, but he missed three games last season and finished with his fewest quarterback hits and sacks since 2020 when he played in just two games due to a torn ACL. The 49ers are going to need Bosa to be the best version of himself if they want to succeed in 2025, and if he can accomplish that feat, he could move back up in these rankings ahead of the 2026 NFL season. More 49ers: 49ers named best landing spot for 2-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in trade
USA Today
29-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cooper DeJean's exceptional athletic ability is becoming harder to overlook.
Okay, serious question. Is there anything that Cooper DeJean can't do? When the 2024 NFL Draft rolled around, and we began tossing around ideas about possible cornerback options, most thought Quinyon Mitchell would be long gone before the Philadelphia Eagles were on the clock in Round 1. What a surprise! He was still available at 22. Perhaps, sometimes, it's better to be fortunate than prepared. Cooper DeJean appeared to be a more realistic option for the first round, but there was some discussion about trading back to avoid 'reaching' in Round 1. No one expected him to still be available when the Eagles made their selection in Round 2. Fortunate fell on the prepared again. Howie Roseman traded up and got his guy. Fortune had again fallen on the well-prepared. DeJean and Mitchell were both finalists for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. It was given to a friend of the Eagles' organization, Jared Verse, of the Los Angeles Rams. Philadelphia's future at cornerback looks bright thanks to these two. They are technicians who play like polished veterans five years their senior. We seemingly learn something else about Cooper DeJean's athleticism every few months. Okay, let's take some inventory. We've seen Cooper DeJean bury Derrick Henry with one of the most sound tackles of the Eagles' 2024-25 season. He picked off Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl and returned it for six points. That one doubles as the first interception by an Eagles player on football's biggest stage. More importantly, he helped the Eagles blow the game open en route to an exhilarating and lopsided victory. DeJean can dunk. We learned that by watching some social media clips, we saw him throw down an alley-oop pass from Saquon Barkley. He was one of the attendees at the Fourth Annual DeVonta Smith Celebrity Softball All-Star game at Coca-Cola Park, and he's the event's home-run king after snatching the crown from last year's champion, former teammate Isaiah Rodgers. Who knew? Then again, maybe we should have. There seemingly isn't anything that he can't do athletically. Keep this in mind as we near 'Red October'. If the Phillies need another bat, we may have found one.
USA Today
31-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Jihaad Campbell lands behind Eagles rival in early ranking of DROY candidates
Jihaad Campbell lands behind Eagles rival in early ranking of DROY candidates Jihaad Campbell lands behind an Eagles' rival in an early ranking of early DROY favorites. If you're a Philadelphia Eagles rival, you're probably hoping that Howie Roseman's luck will run out and, at some point, things will stop breaking his way. If you're a Birds fan, you're probably hoping that never happens. You have to love what you've been seeing, especially recently. Whether it's the trade that brought A.J. Brown to town (or one that shipped Bryce Huff elsewhere), the Eagles' GM seems to be made of magic. Howie seems to have mastered the salary cap and the NFL Draft. He navigates both like he invented them. Let's discuss the past three offseasons. First, he landed Jalen Carter as a ninth-overall selection. No one said much because we were aware of the circumstances. The winning streak continued. Somehow, in that same draft, he also landed Nolan Smith in Round 1. Fast forward to 2024. It seemed impossible that Philadelphia would have a shot at acquiring Quinyon Mitchell because they were picking so late in Round 1. They landed him with the 22nd-overall selection. Then, they also added Cooper DeJean. Wait! How did they get both guys? And, while we're on the subject, how did the Eagles wind up with Jihaad Campbell this past April at 31? Some projected him as a top-15 selection. The answers are simple. Howie is a genius. Sometimes, teams get lucky. Fortune falls on the well-prepared. Jihaad Campbell named among five Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates. If there's one knock on Campbell, it's the injury history. There are discussions about past shoulder and knee injuries. He underwent labrum surgery this past March, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to deduce that's what wound up influencing his Round 1 slide. No one seems to be worried, though. Philadelphia is home to one of the league's best medical teams. If they're willing to give Campbell a passing grade, there is seemingly no need to argue, so the focus can be shifted to how much he'll be asked to do as a rookie and how high he can soar. Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano recently stacked five candidates for the 2025 Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Campbell ranks second, right behind a rival on the New York Giants' roster, edge rusher Abdul Carter. Here's some of the explanation: "It bodes well that one of the most successful GMs of the past decade did everything he could to ensure Campbell landed in Philadelphia. Strangely, some teams don't value off-ball linebackers as high as other positions, but that ended up being a benefit for GM Howie Roseman, who only needed to trade up one spot after surprisingly seeing Campbell still available at No. 31." Here's more: "Roseman reportedly had multiple failed attempts to go up higher to nab the versatile playmaker from Alabama. Campbell could have a dominant rookie season playing for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, while lining up next to first-team All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun and behind dominant defensive tackle Jalen Carter. Teams might be kicking themselves for allowing Campbell to fall to the defending Super Bowl champions." Two things are interesting. One, Malaki Starks, someone the Birds' fans hoped would land, wasn't on this list. James Pearce Jr. (Atlanta Falcons), Nick Emmanwori (Seattle Seahawks), and Will Johnson (Arizona Cardinals) round out the top five. Another interesting fact is unrelated to the ranking. It's more about Carter landing with the hated Giants. Carter is from Philly. He grew up an Eagles fan and attended Penn State. Sadly, he's now the enemy. Oh well... Maybe the G-Men hold on to Joe Schoen. Maybe he screws everything up when Carter becomes eligible for free agency. That way, he can come to Philadelphia and terrorize Big Blue a la James Bradberry (in 2022), Saquon Barkley, and, hopefully, Azeez Ojulari.
