Eagles have pressing need at safety

The answer to why the Eagles will or won't trade up to draft either Eric Berry or Earl Thomas is essentially the same: In a matter of six months last year, the Eagles went from a Hall of Fame-caliber free safety to a rookie who hadn't ever played the position.

That fact - and the subsequent results - would suggest doing whatever it takes to get one of the two bona-fide stud safeties in this year's draft.

But the Eagles, who have never drafted a safety in the first round under coach Andy Reid, may not see the value of expending so much for a position they devalue.

The Eagles didn't exactly draft Macho Harris last April thinking that the Virginia Tech cornerback would replace Brian Dawkins, who left for Denver via free agency. But they did believe that homegrown Quintin Demps or free agent signee Sean Jones could do the job.

When neither Demps nor Jones could nail down the spot during training camp and Harris beat out the pair before the season opener, there must have been a few snickers from the Dawkins camp.

In all fairness, Dawkins' cover skills - a discipline paramount in the Eagles' defensive scheme - had slipped. But he could still handle most of the position's other responsibilities, and the 36-year-old reached his eighth Pro Bowl - as a Bronco. The Eagles, on the other hand, missed Dawkins' consistency, not to mention his leadership.

In an era when NFL safeties are required to be more versatile than ever, the Eagles' free safeties were not. Harris was sufficient in coverage but too slight to play inside the box. Jones could tackle at the line but was too slow to run with the receivers. And the enigmatic Demps, more multifaceted than the other two, was often injured.

Those limitations had a domino effect, stifling strong safety Quintin Mikell, who therefore couldn't freelance, and in turn, the rest of a floundering defense. It's no wonder there have been rumblings about the Eagles' packaging their first two picks - Nos. 24 and 37 overall - to get either Berry or Thomas during Thursday's first round.

"Those guys are very versatile," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. "In this day and age, with the way that safeties are playing, you line up in your base defense, and they can come in and cover the slot receiver, and they give you a lot of flexibility to do both those things."

It is not like the Eagles to broadcast their innermost thoughts, so Roseman's praise of Berry and Thomas should be taken with that in mind. The GM certainly likes the Tennessee and Texas products, and he had Berry in for a workout. But they'll cost a lot when there is a number of solid safeties a little further down the board.

The Eagles could also simply select a cornerback later in the draft and convert him into a safety, as they did with Harris. They signed Marlin Jackson, a former corner with the Colts, as a free agent this off-season with the hopes that he would return from an October ACL tear and compete for the free safety position.

Because the Eagles blitz so often, their strong and free safeties - essentially interchangeable - have to be able to cover more than anything. And with many offenses leaning more on the pass, the safeties may have to line up opposite a No. 3 receiver, a tight end, and a running back all in one series.

But they still have to be able to give run support, and they still have to occasionally rush the passer.

"We've seen the evolution of the safety position to be one of the most important positions on the field," ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski said. "Old school used to be take an old corner who has lost some speed and put him at safety. That is not true anymore. It is now a specific talent that you have to have."

The Eagles are probably more old school than new school. Roseman equated the team's philosophy to its habit of drafting college tackles and moving them to guard.

"If you have a guy that's a really good tackler as a corner and shows good ball skills, he's got a chance" to move to safety, Roseman said.

There was talk that Sheldon Brown would eventually be moved to safety. But when Roseman traded the veteran cornerback to Cleveland this month, he said Brown didn't want to make the switch.

One of the problems with converting a corner into a safety is that you can lose a physical presence. Berry and Thomas are considered elite prospects because they seemingly come without a weakness. They both can run (sub-4.5 40-yard dashes), have decent size (Berry is 6-foot, 211; Thomas is 5-10, 208), and are instinctive.

Even though Berry is rated higher and could go in the top five, draft analyst Mike Mayock likes Thomas better.

"In my opinion, Earl Thomas is the most instinctive free safety that I've seen on tape in five or six years," Mayock said. "He's a playmaker. He's got loose hips. He's got the best range of any center-fielder I've seen coming out of college football in a long time."

Some teams are just as keen on Thomas, which may explain why he's moved up various mock draft boards out of the reach of the Eagles. The Eagles could trade up if they see last season's downgrade as an imperative to upgrade. Or they could use their top picks to address a host of other needs.

If the Eagles don't use their first-round pick on a safety, they could get a capable one in rounds two or three. Southern Cal's Taylor Mays' deficiencies in pass coverage may turn off the Eagles, but he is slipping and could be had at No. 37.

If Mays doesn't fit, South Florida's Nate Allen, Georgia Tech's Morgan Burnett, or LSU's Chad Jones could be available to fill a hole without costing as much as Berry or Thomas.