Cooper DeJean will ‘be a good safety’ if the Eagles need him there, Vic Fangio says

Nine practices into training camp, Vic Fangio has come to the not-so-shocking conclusion that Cooper DeJean can be a good safety.

The Eagles defensive coordinator hadn’t seen enough of DeJean at his part-time safety position to make that claim one week ago. After all, the 22-year-old defensive back is still primarily playing in the slot in nickel packages.

But on Monday, Fangio shared a recent play that confirmed his hunch about his second-year player, which prompted him to try DeJean at safety in the first place.

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“Just the other day, we had a route that we struggled with last year in games to pick up,” Fangio said. “He did it like he’d been a safety his whole life. Yeah, he’ll be a good safety if we need him there.”

The Eagles could very well need him there. Fangio is still mulling his options to fill the starting safety spot vacated by C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was traded to the Houston Texans in March. Safety isn’t the only position undergoing a revamp: The Eagles also have an opening at outside cornerback following the release of Darius Slay.

One way or another, DeJean is going to get on the field more frequently than he did as a rookie. In base defense, he will either slot in at safety or outside cornerback, then slide into the slot in nickel. The position he plays in base will depend on how the competition pans out at corner (between Kelee Ringo and Adoree’ Jackson) and safety (among Sydney Brown, Andrew Mukuba, and possibly Tristin McCollum).

Two weeks into training camp, though, DeJean has exclusively taken safety snaps in the base defense. With the benefit of more reps, DeJean said he feels “more comfortable” at safety now than he did at the start of training camp.

“It took a few practices to get comfortable back there, to understand how much space you’re working with,” DeJean said. “Reading run-pass from a different perspective.”

DeJean said that when he’s rolling down from his post at safety, some of the responsibilities of the role are similar to those of a slot cornerback.

His experience playing 550 snaps at nickel cornerback in his rookie season, according to Pro Football Focus, is aiding his transition to safety, especially when it comes to route recognition.

“I feel like when you’re playing nickel, you’re matching a lot of routes and you kind of get the feel for which way they’re going at the top of routes based on how they’re breaking down,” DeJean said. “And from safety, you’re coming from depth, so you can see it from depth, which allows you more time to break on it.”

That experience playing nickel helped DeJean pick up the aforementioned route that Fangio had been so impressed with in a recent practice, according to defensive backs coach Christian Parker.

“When you’re playing the nickel position, a lot of it is how easy you can make the safety’s job in certain coverages,” Parker said. “Based off your drop, your depth, and everything else. So him knowing what he would want that guy underneath him to do has helped him be at that position as well, because then he can kind of know where his help is, where it isn’t, what he has to be faster to, who he’s connected to, and it all kind of works together.”

DeJean’s foray at safety is just an extension of the work he did with Parker last season. As the nickel cornerback, DeJean learned the responsibilities of all the positions in the second and third levels of the defense. Parker said that education helped him understand the “full picture” of the defense.

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“At that nickel position, you know what the corners [are] doing, the ‘backers [are] doing, the safeties [are] doing, because you’re tied into all of them,” Parker said. “So because that position is so versatile, it makes it easy for him to go to another spot, because he already has that knowledge. So it’s really just continuing that process.”

Fangio said that DeJean is “possibly” someone he would like to see play at safety in Thursday’s preseason opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, although it’s difficult to fathom that he would want one of his valued starters out there for extended playing time.

Regardless, safety may not end up being DeJean’s home in base defense by the end of training camp. Fangio has said that he wants to try DeJean at outside cornerback, too. No matter what is asked of him, DeJean is prepared to take on any position in the defense.

“From Day 1, I’ve tried to learn all three positions,” DeJean said. “I’ve played all three positions at this point. So if it comes to a point where they put me out there, I feel prepared to do that.”