Led by starting safeties Brian Dawkins, Quintin Mikell and cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Sheldon Brown, the Eagles secondary is part of a defense that held opposing quarterbacks to a 54.1 completion percentage, tops in Johnson's tenure, and allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game.While there are dissenting opinions on whether this is Johnson's top group, there is consensus on one point.
"It's the deepest secondary, there's no question about it," Johnson said. "With Lito [Sheppard]in a backup role and [Joselio] Hanson in the nickel and the safeties, it has very good depth. If you have an injury, you can plug in another guy. We've had some good secondaries here, too, so I'm not going to rate them right now."
Last year, Johnson's unit gave up the most passing yards aside from his first season here in 1999 when he began rebuilding and installing his aggressive defense. They were statistically average in most other categories, but felt the need to upgrade the defensive backfield by signing Samuel, as a free agent, to a 6-year, $57 million contract. The move created a logjam with Samuel and veteran stalwarts Brown and Sheppard competing for the two corner positions. Sheppard eventually became the odd man out and has even fallen behind Hanson when the Eagles go to their nickel package.
Throw in that free safety Dawkins is headed back to the Pro Bowl, strong safety Mikell had his best season and rookie free safety Quintin Demps has showed steady improvement and you can see why this year's unit is regarded as the deepest secondary the Eagles have had.
"I would say so," head coach Andy Reid said. "I would say it's a good group. When you've got Lito and Jose back there and guys that can step in and do certain things for you, I think that's a tribute to the depth of the crew."
