Eagles' lack of depth at CB position lands high on ESPN list of the NFL's most vulnerable spots

The Eagles have a new defensive coordinator in Jonathan Gannon and that could allow for more production at the cornerback position. Slay is still among the top cornerbacks in the NFL, but the depth behind the veteran leaves a lot to be desired.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently took a look at 16 teams that have depth issues behind their stars at various positions. For Philadelphia, the biggest issue is the depth behind Slay.

Darius Slay, CB, Philadelphia Eagles
Next up: Michael Jacquet, Zech McPhearson, Kevon Seymour

Cornerback is a little different since a team will use two or three corners on any given snap, but let’s stick in the NFC East and look at a team that got what it wanted and might end up regretting it. After years of skimping on cornerbacks and emphasizing depth over top-level talent, the Eagles went out to get the No. 1 corner that fans had been clamoring for the last offseason and traded for Slay, who signed a three-year extension in the process. Slay was inconsistent in his first season with the Eagles, who fell apart around the talented corner.

Now, in part because of how much it’s paying Slay, this team is perilously thin at the corner. Hybrid defender Avonte Maddox might start in the slot, but the depth chart at cornerback around Slay is one of the weakest in the league. The Eagles are looking at replacement-level corners, practice-squad guys, and rookie fourth-round pick McPhearson to compete for jobs on the outside. Good corners can come out of nowhere sometimes, but teams don’t want to count on stumbling upon a useful player before the season begins.

If Slay is a shutdown corner in his second campaign in Philly, new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon will have to worry about one side of the field on every snap. If Slay isn’t impressive or gets hurt, there might be no place for these corners to hide, particularly in a division with wideouts such as Amari Cooper, Kenny Golladay, and Terry McLaurin.

McPhearson is a talented and intriguing cornerback, but he’s only Big-12 tested, along with being a rookie, so Philadelphia can only have tempered-down expectations at the start.

The various schemes and formations that Gannon will bring could allow Jacquet, Avonte Maddox, and others to flourish in a more player-friendly scheme than the one employed by Jim Schwartz.