/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71037324/1351925244.0.jpg)
Ask, and you shall receive. After lots of comments this offseason and in particular last week about Marcus Epps, it is finally time to get to his film. Let’s go.
Stats
All stats from PFF and from this past season. Only players with 20% are counted, which means 98 total players at safety
- 72.8 PFF grade, ranks 23rd
- 505 total snaps. 86 in the box, 87 lined up over the slot, 324 at safety. Totals 48% of Eagles defensive snaps.
- 87.6 run defense grade, ranks 2nd (!!)
- 67.9 coverage grade, ranks 37nd
- Only 4 missed tackles, 6.8% missed tackles, ranks 82nd.
- Targeted 21 times, giving up 16 receptions. Ranks 17th in terms of % allowed.
- Gave up 11.2 yards per reception, ranks 51st.
Strengths
+ Has a good timing of the snap when to come into the box as late as possible. Improved hugely last year on his ability to come down and help in run support
Eagles All22 defense thread v. Lions. Look at the first drive, Eagles lining up 2high then bringing a safety down into the box! Great timing by Epps too. Eagles linebackers also more aggressive early on I thought at getting downhill (check 52 here). pic.twitter.com/s7Qsmr4vo2
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 2, 2021
His biggest weakness was coming downhill in the run game but he really improved this last year. He made some important tackles on running backs frequently like this one. pic.twitter.com/mcmyppl5ow
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
This was another big tackle on 3rd and short. He's not a big hitter at all and normally goes low but he was quite effective at tackling last year which was a big improvement on his film from the previous year. pic.twitter.com/51LWdzBCah
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
+ Was trusted in man coverage against Gronk in the playoffs when the Eagles went to more man coverage and did a really good job, allowed no catches. He has the ability to cover tight ends in man.
However, the Eagles mixed it up immediately after the 1st drive. We saw press man coverage with safety rotation. Epps on Gronk and Slay on Evans. Nelson can get in trouble here as you can see and Brady is so quick to eliminate what isn't there and get to his 2nd read. pic.twitter.com/h7pyL01bSx
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) January 19, 2022
Man coverage single high again! Great job showing blitz, Cox ruins the RG and Kerrigan does the backup RT. Eagles trusted their CBs a lot and for the most part I thought the defense held up really well after the first drive. Epps in particular impressed me against Gronk. pic.twitter.com/GDttwqXz1B
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) January 19, 2022
Very short Marcus Epps film thread... Will have more in the BGN article this week as I have clips from the season to use. The best thing about his game is the ability to line up and cover tight ends/receivers from the slot. He's probably the only Eagles safety with this skillset pic.twitter.com/sEImuuDyVG
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
+ He has the movement ability and speed to play man coverage against slot receivers
I'm also starting to become a bit of a fan of.. Marcus Epps?! He keeps playing well to me on tape. Made a stop in man coverage on 2nd down then does this on 3rd down lined up against Keenan Allen. That's pretty good! pic.twitter.com/1QoT39bwRr
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 9, 2021
+ Impressive ball production numbers. Gets his hand on the football, going back to college
+ A pretty smart player with good reactions. Rarely seems to be in the wrong place or caught out badly. Always seems to be around the ball and has good instincts
Late rotation into the flat, reads the play quickly, avoids the lead blocker and makes an effective low tackle which could have been a pretty big gain. Good safety play! pic.twitter.com/qwgSuiPQcv
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
+ Good acceleration and aggressiveness in the run game, he can get downhill in a hurry
Really like this call on 3rd and medium too. Pretty much forces the short throw and if you rally quickly you can make the stop as Singleton and Epps do. Singleton shows blitz then bails out quickly. Edwards/Maddox come instead. pic.twitter.com/uhg8oySgxI
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 16, 2021
+ Excellent click and close speed in man coverage
The click and close speed is really, really good too. You can absolutely trust him to play man coverage in certain situations and feel confident about it. pic.twitter.com/jmNRpWAxAY
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
+ The Eagles seemed to trust him with late rotation last year, which is something we didn’t see a lot of over the first half of the season
Goff completes this (just) but I reckon this look has confused him and he thinks Slay is dropping deep. Look at this for a coverage disguise! Maddox/Epps sprint back early and it looke like C3 with Slay/Nelson playing the curl/flat defender role. pic.twitter.com/SGvzpZF0XM
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 3, 2021
Goff completes this (just) but I reckon this look has confused him and he thinks Slay is dropping deep. Look at this for a coverage disguise! Maddox/Epps sprint back early and it looke like C3 with Slay/Nelson playing the curl/flat defender role. pic.twitter.com/SGvzpZF0XM
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) November 3, 2021
+ Not just a deep safety, played in the box last year and came down in run support. I don’t think you can play safety in the modern NFL without this versatility.
Weaknesses
- Slightly undersized and has struggled with physicality and tackling in previous years. Not a hard hitter and can get pushed backwards for extra yards. Didn’t have a problem with tackling last year but rarely stops a running back in their tracks.
- I felt he could be more aggressive in zone coverage but I think this is the way he is taught by Gannon
I would love him to be a little more aggressive in zone but I'm pretty sure the Eagles are taught to keep everything in front of them and never let anything go behind them so not sure if its a problem with Epps. pic.twitter.com/LBPxoqM6CV
— Jonny Page (@JonnyPage9) June 30, 2022
- Can struggle to get off blocks if blocked by a good run blocking tight end
- Plays in a system that makes it pretty easy on the secondary. Not a weakness, but worth pointing out that you expect to see less big plays against him.
Overall
So, I will be totally honest, evaluating safety play is probably as hard as it gets. I find it easy to put safeties into 3 main categories.
1. Elite player who makes the team significantly better.
2. Good starter, who doesn’t make huge errors and does what is needed.
3. A weak starter who needs replacing.
I would say after quite a lot of film the past couple of years, that Marcus Epps is pretty clearly in category 2. You don’t see him make huge errors and you don’t notice him a lot (which is a good thing). I was shocked to see how many snaps he played last year because although I thought he had a good season I didn’t realise how much he played. I think he might be closer to category 1 than 2 and I would like it if the Eagles extended him (I think he is heading into the last year of his deal) because I have a feeling he might be about to have a really good season.
I think Epps is really good in coverage, both in zone and man, and has done a lot to improve his physicality in the run game. I remember watching Epps miss quite a lot of tackles the year before and I questioned whether he had the physicality to play a lot more snaps and I think he has proved that he can. This was clearly his biggest weakness and I think he has managed to solve it.
I think he benefited from the scheme change last year and he is capable of rotating late which allowed the Eagles to do more coverage wise as the season progressed. I think Jaquiski Tartt is slightly more of an impact player due to his hard hitting style and physicality but Epps is a little more versatile with his man coverage ability in the slot.
Overall, I expect the Eagles to rotate Epps, Harris and Tartt next year but it wouldn’t shock me if Epps plays a lot of snaps, and I would have absolutely no problem with this. He’s probably not going to be a difference maker but he does what this defense requires consistently at a pretty good standard.
Loading comments...