The starting right cornerback job for the Philadelphia Eagles is essentially up for grabs. It seems that the general consensus among fans or writers is that the odds on favorite is Ellis Hobbs. Hobbs does have more starting experience than the other candidates, a fact that Eagles GM Howie Roseman points out.
"We have some guys who are going to have an opportunity. Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel were starters on (an undefeated) team," Roseman said. "Ellis is feeling great, looks great."
Beyond that however, there's really no reason to assume that the job is his to lose. The job is by all accounts a completely open competition that any guy(regardless of position apparently) could win. Plus, at this point Hobbs isn't even cleared to play after suffering a neck injury last season.
After Hobbs, the next most experienced corner on the team is Joselio Hanson. Hanson struggled after returning from a 4 game suspension last year, but up until then had always done a solid job as either a nickel or starting corner when needed. For his part, Hanson thinks he's the guy for the job.
"Hey man, we’ve got a lot of new guys, a lot of athletic guys and a lot of hungry guys. I can’t wait until we get the pads on and we can really see who’s who. For my position, I’m trying to go in and to actually try to start for this team. I feel like I’ve been around long enough. I know the game, know the system inside and out and hopefully I can get a shot, you know? I feel like I can be a great playmaker for this team, as long as I get the reps and I get out there playing with the guys. It actually had been Ellis Hobbs and me at practice in the whole minicamps, so I got a lot of practice with the ones. I felt good out there. I got my hands on a couple of balls and I felt like I did alright."
If he can be the player he was before the last half of last year... I'd actually feel ok about Hanson as the starter. I'm not sure he's a long term solution there, but he was very solid in those games he started in 2008 in place of the injured Asante Samuel.