As the offseason rolls on, things have partially settled down with trade rumors involving a few offensive stars of the team. It is now time to look at a defensive player for the Eagles. The defensive player that will be spotlighted in this article is Eagles corner back Darius Slay. Slay just finished up his first year as an Eagle and put together a pretty solid campaign. This is an Eagles player spotlight on Darius Slay.
Slay started his college career at Itawamba Community College in Fulton Mississippi, where he played two years of college football. Slay then transferred to Mississippi State where he began his division one college career in 2011. During the season he racked up 16 tackles, one forced fumble, and an interception. This is pretty good considering it was his first season at a big college football program. Slay put in an even better campaign at Mississippi State in 2012. He had 24 tackles and 16 assisted tackles. Slay almost doubled his tackle total from his 2011 season. He also improved greatly on his interception total in 2012 with six interceptions.
Photo Courtesy of Mississippi State Media Relations
After his college football career, Slay declared for the NFL Draft in 2013. He was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Lions. During his seven years as corner back with the Lions, he had 292 tackles, 50 tackle assists, along with 19 interceptions. Slay had a pretty solid career as a Lion and has proven that he can help an NFL defense. He got traded to the Eagles in 2020 along with a three year contract worth around 50 million dollars.
Slay’s first year with the Eagles was pretty solid. He totaled 53 solo tackles along with six assisted tackles. The Eagles cornerback also has hands to get a good amount of interceptions. Slay has 20 interceptions in his career. Slay’s career high interception total came in 2017, where he totaled eight interceptions with the Detroit Lions. Another attribute Slay is known for is his speed. He has the ability to keep up with wide receivers in the league as he ran a speedy 4.36 in the draft combine at the beginning of his NFL journey. His speed gives him the ability to jump routes causing either turnovers or incomplete passes.
Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
What makes Slay such as solid corner for the Eagles is his ability to line up anywhere as corner back and be spectacular at it. He can line up with any receiver, whether it is in the slot or cover the receivers that are closest to the side lines. This is hard because covering different wide receivers in positions on the field can change how the corner plays the receiver. Another great attribute is his tackling. As said earlier, Slay racks up a lot of tackles during an NFL Season. He can make touchdown saving plays and possibly keep points off the board.
Darius Slay is a great veteran corner back for the Eagles. As he has all the skills necessary to help the Eagles out with pass protection and tackling. The only worry that could possibly hurt Slay’s future as an Eagle is that he is an expensive corner back to acquire. The Eagles might think about trading him to have some more cap space to improve their team in free agency and the draft. Hopefully the Eagles keep him as he is another important chess piece that will do wonders for the Eagles defensively in the future. This is an Eagles player spotlight on Darius Slay.
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