Eagles' Rowe, Shepherd in jeopardy at CB? A look at the depth chart

Everything anybody ever needed to know about team-issued depth charts was revealed two years ago, when Chip Kelly was asked a question about the one the Eagles published in advance of their first preseason game.

"I think [Eagles PR Director] Derek [Boyko] did it," Kelly said. "I mean, it's absolutely nothing. I know we're going to get questions on it, and I'll be honest with you, I do not care. . .The depth chart means absolutely nothing. The only reason we make one is because they tell us to make one."

Given their personalities, I suspect Doug Pederson had more input than Chip Kelly in the composition of the depth chart, even if it was a simple casual conversation with the PR staff. At the very least, it is highly unlikely that the PR staff published this thing without Pederson taking a quick look at it and giving his approval. All information is relevant when viewed within the context in which it was disseminated.

With that in mind, here are a few things that jumped out to me in the defensive backfield (the full depth chart is below):

1) JaCorey Shepherd listed as being no higher than seventh at cornerback.

Over the last year-and-a-half, Shepherd has gotten more press than any sixth round draft pick who has never taken an NFL snap. When the Eagles released Brandon Boykin last summer, Shepherd was working as the Eagles' starting nickel back, and throughout OTAs and the early part of training camp, it was easy to see why. The thing that stood out most about the former Kansas State star was his lateral quickness and the fluidity with which he changed directions, both of which are obviously hugely important traits at a position where a player is charged with shadowing a wide receiver who is sprinting and stopping and breaking in directions known only to him. I watched Shepherd a lot during the first few days of training camp and he was clearly lacking that split-second change-of-direction ability that he showed before he went down with an ACL tear at the start of last year's training camp. It's my belief that defensive back is the position where it is most difficult to return from a knee injury, as well as the position in which healthy, fully-functioning knees are most critical to success. It's the position where the biomechanic movements are most similar to those demanded on a basketball court, and everybody who follows basketball knows A) how hard it is on the knees and core, and, B) how fast players fade once their knees begin to go. Danny Granger and Brandon Roy, meet Earl Wolff and Nate Allen (we're scaling our talent levels in this comparison…at least we didn't cite Derrick Rose).

The most recent local example of the impact a knee injury can have on a player who relies heavily on lateral quickness is Kiko Alonso. There were times last year when it was painfully obvious that the linebacker was struggling to plant and push off laterally after he reinjured his surgically-repaired knee early in September.

And it isn't just the structural health/performance of the knee that can sink a player's season before it starts. Optimizing one's body for 17 weeks of football is a year-round job, and when a player is recovering from a knee injury, it has a huge effect on his ability to perform the kinds of dynamic exercises that modern athletes use to build strength/endurance/quickness in their core. Athletic trainers use the term "kinetic chain" to refer to the symbiotic relationship between the joints, muscles and bones in athletic movements. Take the act of jumping, for example, which requires a rapid fire flexion and extension of the ankles, knees and hips to load and fire the muscles surrounding each of those joints down to the ground and back up along a pathway of tendons, ligaments and tissue that includes the calves, hamstrings, thighs, buttocks, abdominals and lower back. If any one of those parts of the chain is out of sync with the others, not only does the end-result (jump height/quickness) suffer, but the rest of the components of the chain are recruited by the mind/body in an attempt to compensate, which can lead to a situation in which those parts are being asked to do more than they are capable of, which puts them at risk of degradation or trauma. If you've ever had a cast on your leg for an extended period of time, you can probably attest to the frustrating imbalance that occurs throughout your body once that cast is removed and your muscle memory attempts to pick up where it left off. Your body literally needs to learn how to walk again.

Now imagine taking your cast off and attempting to perform box jumps or resistance sprints or defensive slides. Even if Shepherd's knee is completely healthy, there's a good chance his core strength is not what it was last year. A player's speed and quickness comes from his core, and Shepherd plays a position where a tenth of a second less reaction time can mean the difference between perfect coverage and a receiver breaking open across the middle.

All of this is to say that Shepherd's spot on the depth chart is an accurate reflection of his current standing on the team. At this point, he simply isn't in the conversation for either the dime or nickel spot that many projected for him at the start of training camp (myself included).

At this point, Leodis McKelvin seems to have a lock on a starting job at outside corner. Fellow former Bill Ron Brooks has been practicing with the first team since he arrived. In nickel situations, he covers the slot, with Nolan Carroll replacing him on the outside. But Carroll himself is coming off an injury and has been playing through an ankle injury that still doesn't appear 100 percent.

2) Jalen Mills being listed over Eric Rowe

Mills and Rowe have more often than not been on the field together, with each taking one of the outside corner spots. The Eagles coaching staff clearly likes Mills…defensive backs coach Cory Undlin has been giving him a lot of one-on-one attention during team drills. So I think it is reasonable to use the fact that the Eagles chose to list Mills on the second team and Rowe on the third team to conclude that Mills is indeed ahead of Rowe on whatever depth chart the Eagles coaches themselves would employ if the season started tomorrow. That, or the Eagles think Rowe needs a fire lit under him. Either way, his spot on the depth chart is instructive.

Last year, the Eagles kept nine defensive backs, five at corner (Byron Maxwell, Carroll, Rowe, Denzel Rice, E.J. Biggers) and four at safety (Malcolm Jenkins, Walter Thurmond, Chris Maragos, Jerome Couplin), though Thurmond had the ability to play both corner and safety.

Assuming full health, the current locks at corner appear to be McKelvin, Brooks, Carroll and Mills. Our Paul Domowitch has been impressed with what he's seen out of former CFL player Aaron Grymes, who is currently listed with Rowe on the third team. It wouldn't surprise me if Grymes entered the season ahead of Rowe, though a lot will depend on what happens in the preseason. That means the coaching staff could conceivably view Rowe as the sixth-best cornerback in camp, at least when it comes to 53-man roster construction.

3) Blake Countess and Jaylen Watkins being listed at second-team safety over Ed Reynolds and Chris Maragos

Could Rowe get cut? That depends on how the Eagles are thinking above proceeding at safety, where they are quite thin behind Malcolm Jenkins and Rodney McLeod. With Jenkins out with a hamstring injury, the Eagles have been using a mixed bag of Chris Maragos, Ed Reynolds and Jaylen Watkins with the first team, with Watkins getting the majority of the time over the last couple practices. Keep in mind, Watkins was released by the Eagles last year and then signed to the Bills practice squad before returning to the Eagles at the end of the season. Reynolds has some political capital as a 2014 fifth-round draft pick, but he has not shown much over the last couple of years. His lack of range and foot speed is glaring at times. Maragos is more established and a better special teams player. It's hard to envision the Eagles keeping both, and if the goal is the best 53, then I have to think Maragos would be the choice, with Watkins as the primary backup.

Countess is another late-round rookie who has gotten a lot of individual attention from the coaching staff during camp, and the fact that he's listed ahead of Reynolds and Maragos is worth noting.

Last year, Pederson's Chiefs kept 10 DBs: five cornerbacks, four safeties, and a guy who could play both.

Rowe could be in trouble if the Eagles' top nine currently looks something like this:

1. Malcolm Jenkins
2. Rodney McLeod
3. Leodis McKelvin
4. Ron Brooks
5. Nolan Carroll
6. Jalen Mills
7. Aaron Grymes
8. Jaylen Watkins
9. Blake Countess
10. ????

In that scenario, Rowe's fate could be determined by whether the Eagles feel like they need Maragos on special teams. Of course, they could also keep 11. Even then, Rowe would be in a position where he is needing to outperform second-year players Shepherd and Denzel Rice.