Randall Evans provides depth and competition in the Eagles secondary

With their second, sixth round pick, the Eagles selected Kansas State cornerback, Randall Evans. This pick was not that big of a surprise given the direction the team has been going in this season. They are completely revamping the defensive secondary and Evans is another player who can fuel the camp competition fire.

The Player

Evans was a versatile player for Kansas State, providing coverage out of the slot and sometimes playing safety. He has a good height at six foot, but is a bit light at only 190 pounds. His lack of sand really shows up as a tackler, as he rarely can bring a ball carrier down on first contact. It does not help that he poorly positions himself to make tackles in the first place with overly aggressive angles and poor pad level, so needless to say, there is work to be done with Evans as a tackler.

In coverage, he does his best work while facing the quarterback and keying their eyes. He does a tremendous job tracking the quarterback's sight and flowing to the play this way. When the ball is in the air, he often does a good job to put himself in position to make a play, using subtle contact and body positioning to make it hard on the receiver.

When asked to press, Evans is fearless at the line of scrimmage in terms of getting his hands on opposing receivers. This is an important part of his game because he does not have the burst to keep up with faster receivers, thus forcing them to play his speed is a must. Evans tends to get out of his backpedal too quickly, which makes him even more susceptible to speed. He tested well at the Kansas State Pro day, but there is little to make me think he has the second gear to consistently keep up in the NFL

There is talk of Evans as a potential candidate to play safety and I do not hate it. A role where he is asked to constantly key on the quarterback and is given space to flow to the ball maximizes where he wins as a player. It will be paramount moving forward for him to improve his tackling and add weight.

This game against Baylor really encapsulates almost all of Evans' strengths and weaknesses.

The Pick

I was not clued in on at Evans at the time, but I think this is a very defensible pick. The Eagles have a huge need to revitalize the talent in their secondary, and any time you can get plus ball skills with a late round pick is good value.

The Fit

There are a ton of names in the Eagles secondary going into camp. However, I am sure that each player will get a fair shot to compete for various starting roles. It is notable that Evans has a lot of experience in the slot and both Walter Thurmond and Brandon Boykin are only here for one more year. Evans will likely be depth at the slot corner spot. I would not totally rule out the possibility of him playing safety moving forward, but that really depends on whether or not his tackling improves.

If he is able to become a reliable tackler, he should be able to work his way onto special teams. However, with the host of new names in the secondary, Evans is a practice squad candidate unless he really stands out in camp.