The Los Angeles Rams pulled the trigger to land Jalen Ramsey in a blockbuster trade that took two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick to pry him from the Jacksonville Jaguars. As the Rams improved their secondary, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to regret not trading for Ramsey.
The Eagles, at 3-3, aren't nearly as bad as their record suggests. They have a talented quarterback in Carson Wentz, the running back in Jordan Howard, and the pass-catchers in Zach Ertz, Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean Jackson.
They also own a dominant offensive line that can impose their will in the trenches. As a matter of fact, the problem for Doug Pederson's roster lies on the defensive side of the ball.
On Jim Schwartz's defense, the defensive line is a very formidable group; led by Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham. But then there is the dreadful secondary of the Eagles that is keeping them from being a legitimate contender.
Instead of putting themselves in a position to win a weak NFC East division, Philadelphia has decided to rely on the return of Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby to fix their defensive woes. Of course, neither has near the talent that Ramsey possesses at the cornerback position.
Additionally, the duo of Mills and Darby isn't going to be nearly enough to mend the Eagles' secondary. Through the first six weeks of the season, Philadelphia has the 29th ranked pass defense (280.2 yards per game).
Over the course of the season, the Eagles have started Avonte Maddox, Sidney Jones, Rasul Douglas, and Darby at cornerback. Altogether, those four guys have an average grade of 52.8 on PFF and have allowed a whopping 69 receptions this season.
Just last week, the Minnesota Vikings offense led by Kirk Cousins was able to throw the ball as if there was no defense on the field. Cousins completed 22 of his 29 attempts for 333 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. At least they got an interception right?
Furthermore, Cousins became the fourth quarterback this season to throw for over 300 yards against the Eagles. If you need to get your passing attack into a rhythm; you just need to have the Eagles on your schedule.
Adding Ramsey to the defense would've helped every level of the defense. When you have an All-Pro corner who can shut down a whole side of the field, the pass rush tends to have more success as well.
With the Dallas Cowboys reeling, Philadelphia had a perfect opportunity to put themselves into the driver seat of the division. Howie Roseman is going to have plenty of sleepless nights this season when he realizes he could've had Ramsey eating cheesesteaks for years to come.
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