Walter Thurmond has a chance to start at Safety for the Eagles. The first reason for that is simply that the Eagles don’t have a very good situation at the Safety position. Right now you might label the group Malcolm Jenkins and the 5 Heartbeats. After all, having a pulse is about all it takes to be in the mix for a starting gig there.

I’m fascinated by Thurmond as a Safety. The more I think about it, the more he reminds me of Damarious Randall, who the Eagles supposedly liked a lot. Randall played in the slot a lot in college. Thurmond has played outside corner and in the slot. They can cover. Both lack ideal tackling skills. Both have good ball skills.

Thurmond was a big time playmaker in college, but hasn’t been one in the NFL. It is harder to be a playmaker at CB, since you don’t spend as much time watching the QB. As a Safety, Thurmond would be able to watch the QB on a regular basis.

Thurmond picked off 12 passes at Oregon. He was a very good PR and KOR. He knows how to catch the ball and he’s dangerous with it when he does get it.

I could see Chip Kelly pushing Thurmond to try Safety because he would like more plays being made from that spot. Nate Allen picked off 4 passes and deflected 5 others last year. With the amount of plays being run against the Eagles, those aren’t compelling figures.

I need to do more tape study on Thurmond, but there is no question that he’s more athletic and more instinctive than Allen was. That gives him a chance to be a playmaker. Obviously the first key for Thurmond is staying healthy. That hasn’t happened much in his NFL career so the Sports Science group has their work cut out. If they can keep Thurmond on the field, he has a chance to be Kelly’s kind of Safety.

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Zach Berman wrote a good piece on Thurmond.

Walter Thurmond received an offer from Eagles coaches four weeks ago. He could stay at cornerback, where he has played his entire five-year career, and compete at a position that became crowded this offseason. Or he could move to safety, where the Eagles’ glaring need has been ignored.

The decision was left to Thurmond. He is now a safety.

“I chose to go to the safety because of the defense we play – there’s going to be a lot of opportunities to make plays on the ball,” Thurmond said. “They felt confident in me to be able to move to that position.”

Thurmond said better access to a starting job was not part of his consideration, but “that’s probably something [the coaches] looked at.”

And

Thurmond practiced at the position in college and has done scout-team work at safety in the NFL, but he has never played it in a game. He believes it’s not much different from his duties as a nickel cornerback, where he made a living in the NFL.

“He’s always around the ball,” Kelly said. “I think he’s had a lot of experience playing nickel, so he’s been an inside guy. He can see things. He’s very intelligent. He’s an intuitive football player. He is the first guy out of that corner mix that is getting a shot at inside.”

I’m glad the Eagles took a chance with someone. I was worried about relying on Earl Wolff (coming off an injury) and Jaylen Watkins (little experience) as the frontrunners.

Thurmond is far from a slam dunk, but he has started on a great NFL defense (2013 Seattle) and knows how to play DB. There is a serious adjustment from CB to Nickel to S, but he at least has some idea what he’s doing. Wolff and/or Watkins could outplay Thurmond and win the job. That’s fine. You don’t mind them winning the job. You just don’t want to hand it to them.

The Eagles don’t need another Dawk or Wes. At this point, they’d settle for Greg Jackson. We’ll see if Thurmond can be that guy.

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