Over the last couple of weeks (basically whenever there wasn’t other news to cover), we’ve been taking a look at every player on the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster, and how they fit with the team heading into training camp. Today we’ll look at the cornerbacks.
Previous training camp previews
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver
Tight end / Fullback | Offensive tackle | Guard | Center
EDGE | Interior DL | Linebacker
The depth chart:
| Cornerback | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| CB | Quinyon Mitchell | Eli Ricks | Tariq Castro-Fields | BJ Mayes |
| CB | Kelee Ringo | Adoree’Jackson | A.J. Woods | |
| Slot CB | Cooper DeJean | Mac McWilliams | Parry Nickerson | Brandon Johnson |
Quinyon Mitchell
The Eagles selected Mitchell with their first-round pick in 2024 and it was pretty clear as early as Eagles spring practices that he could play. He worked his way up the depth chart from the spring into training camp, and by the time the season rolled around there was little doubt that he was going to start and probably play well.
Mitchell finished the regular season with 46 tackles and 12 pass breakups. He did not have a regular season INT, but he collected his first pick in the playoffs against the Packers, and added another against the Commanders in the NFC Championship Game.
If NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors were decided on regular season plus playoff performances, Mitchell probably would’ve won. As is, he finished second behind Rams edge defender Jared Verse. Mitchell will be the Eagles’ CB1, and should be a shutdown corner for the foreseeable future.
Cooper DeJean
DeJean’s 2023 season at Iowa was cut short when he fractured his right fibula in practice. He missed most of the pre-draft process, and he no doubt slid in the draft as a result. The Eagles took advantage. After selecting Mitchell in the first round of the 2024 draft, the Eagles then traded up in the second round and snagged DeJean, who has already proven to be a steal.
DeJean’s rookie season didn’t get off to an ideal start. Before the start of training camp, DeJean injured his hamstring, landed on the NFI list, and missed the first dozen practices, forcing him to play catchup deep into camp. He then played just eight snaps in the regular defense over the first four games of the season.
But after the Week 5 bye, DeJean entered the starting lineup, replacing Avonte Maddox, and his presence in the secondary helped turn the season around. Like Mitchell above, DeJean didn’t have a regular season INT, but he had 51 tackles, a forced fumble, and six pass breakups while solidifying the slot corner spot in the Eagles’ defense, both in coverage and as a tackler.
Also like Mitchell, DeJean saved his biggest moments for the playoffs, with his interception of Patrick Mahomes serving as the signature play of Super Bowl LIX.
DeJean will likely resume his role in the slot for the Eagles in 2025, and I imagine he’ll stay on the field and play outside corner on the rare occasions the Eagles are in their base defense. Vic Fangio noted during the spring that DeJean could also potentially play safety in the base defense, but the safeties on the roster would have to have pretty awful camps for that to happen.
Kelee Ringo
Ringo played just 234 snaps in the regular defense as a rookie, and 127 defensive snaps in his second year in 2024. He was the CB5 behind Darius Slay, Mitchell, DeJean, and Isaiah Rodgers. And if the Eagles needed someone to fill in for DeJean, it would be Avonte Maddox.
With the release of Slay and the losses of Rodgers and Maddox in free agency, Ringo has an opportunity to make a major climb up the cornerback totem pole. He is the favorite to earn the starting spot opposite Mitchell, or perhaps more accurately, the Eagles no doubt want him to earn that spot.
Ringo’s 2024 tape was limited, but we cut up his notable moments, and I was encouraged by what I saw. He also had an impressive spring, getting hands on a lot of passes, and sticking with receivers deep down the field.
Adoree’ Jackson
The Eagles signed Jackson during free agency. Now 29, Jackson was a Titans first-round pick (18th overall) in 2017. He played his first four seasons in the NFL with the Titans, and his last four with the Giants. Over his eight-year career, Jackson has appeared in 97 games, with 82 starts.
Jackson only has four career INTs, though one of them was a pick-six off of Jalen Hurts in 2023:
After releasing Darius Slay and losing Isaiah Rodgers in free agency, the Eagles needed to regain some depth at cornerback. Jackson is an experienced corner who can give Ringo some competition for the third starting cornerback spot.
Mac McWilliams
At UCF, McWilliams was an inside-outside versatile corner who projects to the slot in the NFL. He has some speed (4.41 at the Combine), and his calling card is that he is a feisty, tough corner against the run.
For what it’s worth, he also received glowing grades for his zone coverage from PFF, and he stood out at the Senior Bowl in his man coverage reps.
McWilliams originally enrolled at UAB, but transferred to UCF for his final season, where he welcomed the opportunity to man up against a laundry list of future NFL receivers.
McWilliams had a strong spring, as he was one of five players who earned “stock up” mentions.
Eli Ricks
After a good showing in the Eagles’ preseason games in 2023, Ricks made the team as an undrafted rookie free agent, and he got playing time in the slot out of necessity early in the season. He had some nice moments in the Eagles’ win over Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins, but he also had a brutally bad game against the 49ers when he only played five snaps, and managed to give up three completions on three targets for 44 yards and a TD. He appeared in 16 games and played 301 defensive snaps his rookie season.
In 2024, Ricks appeared in just seven games with 14 defensive snaps. He was buried behind a long list of good cornerbacks, but the Eagles thought enough of him to carry him on the 53-man roster for the entirety of the season.
Parry Nickerson
Nickerson played for Vic Fangio in Miami in 2023, so he made some sense as a practice squad guy, ready to be called up if needed, but the Eagles never needed to dip that far into their reserves.
Tariq Castro-Fields
Castro-Fields was a 49ers sixth-round pick in 2022 out of Penn State. He has since been with the Commanders, Panthers, and now the Eagles. He has appeared in 12 career games, 4 tackles.
A.J. Woods
Woods is a small second-year DB out of Pitt at 5’9, 186. His best college season was in 2022, when he had 28 tackles, one INT, and 13 PBUs.
BJ Mayes
Mayes is a slot corner prospect who played for Incarnate Word in 2022, AUB in 2023, and Texas A&M in 2024. He got hands on footballs at all three stops.
• 2022: 1 INT, 11 PBUs
• 2023: 2 INTs, 10 PBUs
• 2024: 4 INTs, 5 PBUs
In a big win over LSU in 2024, he picked off projected 2026 first-round QB Garrett Nussmeier twice:
Mayes has some inside-outside versatility.
Brandon Johnson
Johnson is another slot corner to add to the mix. He played three seasons at Duke before transferring to Oregon. The standout stat on his resume is that he had 5.5 sacks in 2022 at Duke, to go along with two INTs, two forced fumbles, and seven pass breakups. 2024 highlight reel:
Johnson is 5’9, so he’ll obviously be giving up a lot of size to most NFL receivers.
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