Seth Joyner drained a handsome putt at the third hole of Thursday’s the Mid Penn Bank Celebrity Golf Classic at Hershey Country Club and was more than willing to share his thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles defense heading into the 2024 season.
Joyner, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who spent eight seasons with Eagles at linebacker and won a Super Bowl title with the Denver Broncos in 1998, says the club’s defense will benefit from several acquisitions and increased preseason competition.
“Competition is everything,” Joyner said. “The more competition you have, the cream rising to the top. You’re going to get the best of the best.
“I think secondary-wise, they made some massive improvements just from a talent standpoint,” Joyner said.
The Eagles addressed their defensive back needs at the 2024 NFL Draft by taking cornerback Quinyon Mitchell from the University of Toledo in the first round and traded up to snag defensive back Cooper DeJean from the University of Iowa in the second round.
They’ll be competing in training camp with Makhi Garner, Mario Goodrich. Tyler Hall, Josh Jobe, Avonte Maddox and Zach McPherson, Kelee Ringo and Isaiah Rodgers, among others, for playing time.
“I think the cornerback and the slot corner positions are going to be a lot more solid,” Joyner said. “Anytime you can potentially bring in as many as nine defensive backs, the situation is heightened and competition level rises.
“You’ve got some linebackers, five or six of them, that can potentially be starters,” Joyner said. “And that’s going to create a lot of competition there.”
The Eagles preseason roster lists Zack Baun, Oren Burks, Nakobe Dean, Matt Hennessy, Jalyx Hunt, Patrick Johnson, Terrell Lewis, Julian Okwara, Brandon Smith, Nolan Smith, Jr., Tyler Steen, Josh Sweet, Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. and Ben VanSumeren at various linebacker positions.
Joyner is confident that new Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will also help bolster a unit that ranked 26th in the National Football League last season.
“They’ve been after Vic Fangio for seven-to-10 years now,” Joyner said. “You had the leaves and the branches and now you have the tree. I like the fact that he’s old school and going to hold these players accountable,” Joyner said.
Yet, Joyner said his position on the 2024 edition of Eagles is to see how all their off-season moves shake out on the football field.
“I think we’re in a situation where we have to wait and see,” Joyner added. “We’ve been in a position before where we’ve seen teams put together a very solid roster and then, things didn’t gel, things didn’t go right and they weren’t able to achieve what everyone assumed they could achieve.
