Versatility a key for Eagles' safeties; the importance of week one; analyzing the Eagles tendencies

Jim Schwartz is older than he looks. He's been coaching in the NFL since 1996 when the late Ted Marchibroda hired him to tutor the Baltimore Ravens' outside linebackers.

He remembers when there wasn't that much of a difference size-wise between the linebackers he coached and safeties. When safeties were better known for their hitting and run-stopping ability than their skill at covering receivers.

"I've been around a while, when safeties had nicknames like 'Thumper,' '' the Eagles defensive coordinator said this week. "I had a guy in Tennessee. His first name was Tank [Williams]. Tank was a helluva player. He was a 235-pound safety.

"We saw a lot of two-back sets back then. He was sort of an extra linebacker in there, even though he was pretty fast.''

That, of course, was a different time. These days, safeties the size of Clevan "Tank'' Williams are pretty much extinct.

In this era, when teams are running three-wide receiver sets 70-75 percent of the time, and you have tight ends that can run a 4.5-second 40, and tempo offense makes it difficult to change personnel, you need safeties that can drop down and cover slot receivers and tight ends.

"I need guys named 'Swifty' and 'Ball Hawk' and 'The Glove' now,'' Schwartz said. "Those are nicknames we're looking for now.''

The Eagles have five safeties on their roster. Three of them – starter Malcolm Jenkins, Corey Graham and Jaylen Watkins – have NFL experience at cornerback. A fourth, their other starter, Rodney McLeod, played corner in college at the University of Virginia.

"Jim always talks about versatility in his defensive backs,'' Eagles executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said. "Having safeties with corner background is really part of the prototype that he puts out for us when we go out and look for guys [in college and free agency].''

Jenkins, who was drafted by the Saints as a corner, has been used in the slot for the last two years, first by Schwartz's predecessor, Billy Davis, and then last year by Schwartz.

Patrick Robinson is expected to be used as the primary slot corner against "13'' personnel (three wide receivers) this season, at least early on. But Jenkins likely also will drop down, particularly on early downs.

"Malcolm's played a lot of nickel the last two years,'' said Eagles defensive backs coach Cory Undlin. "There are going to be situations where we'll want him don there.

"We like Malcolm there (in the slot) with that first group where he can be physical. Especially on first and second down; early downs when they're going to run the ball.''

Jenkins likely will spend a good amount of his time against Washington Sunday covering the Redskins' dangerous tight end, Jordan Reed.

"It's always great matchup when [Reed] gets on the field with Malcolm,'' Redskins coach Jay Gruden said. "Malcolm does as good a job against him as anybody. We'll have to see how that goes.

Graham, who is entering his 11^th season in the league, spent the last two seasons in Buffalo primarily as a safety after playing corner most of his career.

"This league has become a passing league,'' Graham said. "Your safeties have to be able to cover a lot of different guys. There are times when you're going to be out there against not only receiving tight ends, but also slots.''

Having safeties with corner-like cover ability also enables you to mask your coverages.

"From a quarterback standpoint, it's hard to know who's who,'' Jenkins said. "And from a matchup standpoint, we can always make sure we're in the best matchup. If you want me at the nickel, there's a package for that. There's a package for a different nickel.

"If we want to go dime [six defensive backs], we all those things at our disposal. We can move guys around and put them in different spots and still run the same defense.''

Chris Long spent eight seasons with the St. Louis Rams. They never made the playoffs in those eight seasons. Never won more than seven games.

Hell, it wasn't until his sixth year there that the Rams finally managed to win a season opener.

Which brings us to the significance – or insignificance –  of Sunday's game against the Washington Redskins.

Here's a few interesting statistics:

–  Since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format in 2002, just 59 of the 180 teams that lost in Week 1 went on to make the playoffs. That's just 32.8 percent.

– Since the '02 playoff-format change, there have been 78 Week 1 division matchups. Just 23 of the 78 losers of those games, or 29.5 percent, managed to recover and make the playoffs.

– Of those 23 teams that lost to a division opponent in Week 1 and still qualified for the postseason, just two were from the NFC East – the 2007 and 2011 Giants. That's the bad news. The good news: In both instances, the Giants not only made the playoffs but won the Super Bowl.

Lost to the Cowboys, 45-35, in Week 1 in '07, made the playoffs as a 10-6 wildcard, then beat the Patriots, 17-14, in Super Bowl XXLI.

Lost to the Redskins, 28-14, in Week 1 in '11, won the division by a game with a 9-7 record and beat the Patriots again, 21-17, in Super Bowl XLVI.

Since the NFL went to a 12-team playoff format, the Eagles have won their season opener nine times in 15 years, including five of the last six years.

They've qualified for the playoffs in five of the nine years they've won their first game (*) , but just once (2013) the last five times it's happened.

"You just need to take it for what it is,'' Long said. "[Sunday's game against the Redskins] is a big game against a division opponent. But either way, it's not the end-all-be-all.

"If we play well and we win Sunday, we're not going to think we've arrived. It's part of the process. The way you look in Week 1 is not the way you're going to look in Week 16.''

When you're considering taking Opie from Bismark with the second pick in the draft and handing him the keys to a franchise that is worth $1.2 billion, and that hundreds of thousands of Philadelphians live and die with, you need to be confident that he can handle everything that goes with the job of being the starting quarterback in a football-crazy town.

"It's a big responsibility being a first-round pick for the Philadelphia Eagles,'' football operations chief Howie Roseman said. "High expectations. When we met with Carson [Wentz], part of that was how much his life was going to change.''

Except Wentz didn't feel then, and still doesn't feel now, that his life really has changed all that much. Or at least the way he deals with it all hasn't changed.

To him, pressure is pressure, whether he's the starting quarterback at FCS dynasty North Dakota State or with the Eagles.

"I remember seeing a special on him the week before the draft,'' Roseman said. "They were saying nobody's life may change more dramatically than Carson Wentz's.

"When we sat down with him in North Dakota [four weeks before the draft], we asked him, 'Would you feel any pressure coming to a big city like Philadelphia?' And his answer was, 'I play in front of a sold-out crowd every week [at North Dakota State]. I played in national championship games. What's the difference going to be?'

"I remember thinking, 'Wow, he doesn't really have any idea [what it's going to be like]. But after I spent more time around him, I realized, that's really how he feels. He really feels like it's just a game. [He says] 'I'm playing a game. I'm playing in front of rabid fans.' And he has fun with that.

"That's why it's so much fun to watch him play. Because you can tell he's having fun playing the game.''

– The Eagles blitzed just 21.1 percent of the time on pass plays last season. Interestingly, their highest blitz percentage came in their 27-22 Week 14 loss to the Redskins. They sent extra rushers after Kirk Cousins on 13 of 23 pass plays (56.5 percent). Cousins was 5-for-11 for 45 yards, one TD and one interception and sacked twice when the Eagles blitzed. In their 27-20 Week 6 loss to Washington, the Eagles blitzed Cousins on just six of 34 pass plays. Cousins was 3-for-6 for 85 yards with no TDs, interceptions or sacks against extra rushers.

– The Eagles ran 420 offensive plays on first-and-10 last season. Only 194 of them (41.6 percent) were runs. That was the lowest run percentage on first-and-10 in the NFC East, and the 12^th lowest in the league. The Eagles were 17^th in overall run percentage (40.6). A run-pass breakdown of the division last season on first-and-10:

– The Eagles won't miss former Redskins wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson. In six games against the Eagles over the last three seasons, Garcon had 40 catches for 470 yards and four touchdowns. Those 40 receptions included 29 that resulted in first downs and 10 third-down catches. In five games over the last three seasons, Jackson averaged 24.0 yards per catch against his old team. Fourteen of his 20 receptions went for first downs.

–  Zach Ertz has 247 receptions in his first four seasons, but only 13 touchdowns. That's an average of just one touchdown every 19 catches. Eighteen other tight ends in the league with at least 200 career receptions have a better touchdown percentage.

–  The Eagles finished 16^th in scoring last season, averaging just 22.9 points per game. A breakdown of their scoring by quarter and where it ranked leaguewide: 1Q – 3.5 (24^th), 2Q – 7.4 (11^th), 3Q – 5.9 (8^th), 4Q – 6.1 (21^st).

–  Running back Darren Sproles didn't play a down in the preseason even though he was completely healthy. Last summer, he played just 18 snaps in the preseason and had a total of four touches.

THIS AND THAT

– Last year, the Rams traded up from 15 to 1 to get Jared Goff, and the Eagles traded up from 13 to 8 to 2 to get Carson Wentz. This year, the Bears traded three draft picks to move up one spot and make sure they got Mitch Trubisky, and the Chiefs traded up from 27 to 10 to get strong-armed Patrick Mahomes.

For the last several weeks, the Bills have been holding fire sales for the purpose of stockpiling draft picks, presumably so they can get their hands on one of the top three quarterbacks in next year's draft – USC's Sam Darnold, UCLA's Josh Rosen or Wyoming's Josh Allen.

It's all about getting a franchise quarterback, kids. If you don't have one, you've got to do whatever it takes to get one, even if there's at least a 50 percent chance that the guy you take is going to be a bust.

"Look what Chicago did,'' NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said. "You can question whether or not they needed to trade up [from 3 to 2] to get Trubisky. But at the end of the day, if you don't have a franchise quarterback and you believe you can get one, you've got to do it. We can argue about any of these kids all day long as far as whether you like them or not. But at the end of the day, if you don't have one, you'd better go get one. Because if you don't have one, you're just another day closer to getting fired.''

–  At the behest of his position coach, Duce Staley, rookie running back Corey Clement went on a diet this spring. Clement's playing weight at Wisconsin was somewhere in the 225-230 pound range. Staley told him he needed to be leaner and faster. "I went back and looked at a lot of film and told him my thoughts,'' Staley said. "I said, 'My opinion [is] you should cut that down a little bit. He came back [for training camp] around 214-216. You saw a different player. Same power, but a little quicker.''

–  One of the many things that appealed to the Eagles about Carson Wentz over Jared Goff? His familiarity with cold weather. Goff is from Northern California. Wentz, of course, is from North Dakota, where long johns are a popular Christmas present. "Him having that cold-weather experience was important,'' Howie Roseman said.

– "I'll take the over. I had a roster there [in 2014] that people were trying to lose with and we still won four games. There's no way this roster is that bad. Remember, we had no corners. We had nothing. You're able to stumble into four wins. I think this team will be better than that.'' – ESPN analyst and former Jets coach Rex Ryan on Vegas' four-win over/under for his former team

–  "I have nothing planned. I really hadn't thought about it. But I think the rule's great. I think it gives the fans what they want to see. I'm excited. I'm excited to see what people got.'' – Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski on the league's decision to liberalize restrictions on touchdown celebrations

– "I prayed about it, and I do believe that the Lord, at least in my life, likes to use one-year contracts and not long-term contracts. He likes to take me to the edge of the Red Sea and have me see there is water in front of me, there are mountains on either side, and there are Egyptians chasing me from behind.'' – Redskins QB Kirk Cousins, who has played the last two seasons for the one-year franchise-player tender 

– Incredibly, the 49ers have the league's longest active Week 1 win streak. They've won six season-openers in a row.

–  Aaron Rodgers has thrown 297 career touchdown passes and just 72 interceptions in 12 seasons. He needs three more TD passes to become the first quarterback in league history to reach 300 TD passes (10 others have done it) with fewer than 100 interceptions.

–  Since 2008, 19 rookie quarterbacks have started in Week 1, including the Eagles' Carson Wentz last year. The most in a single year during that period was five, in 2012 – Robert Griffin III (Redskins), Andrew Luck (Colts), Ryan Tannehill (Dolphins), Brandon Weeden (Browns) and Russell Wilson (Seahawks).

–  Rookie DeShone Kizer, who will make his NFL debut Sunday against Pittsburgh, will be the Browns' 27^th different starting quarterback since their 1999 return to the league. Eagles coach Doug Pederson was one of the previous 26 Browns starters. He started eight games for them in 2000. They were 1-7 in his eight starts.