Josh Jobe doesn’t say much. He lets his play do the talking.
And his play speaks volumes.
So much so that the quiet undrafted cornerback from Alabama has a legitimate shot to make the Eagles’ 53-man roster this year.
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“I feel like I’ve played pretty well,” Jobe said after Sunday’s preseason game in Cleveland, “but I still have more stuff to work on to get better every day in practice.”
The Eagles signed three undrafted cornerbacks this spring and Jobe was one of them. Those three were added to an already crowded cornerback room full of young and talented players. Several of them joined the Eagles last year and the Eagles even gave up draft picks for a few of them.
But this summer, Jobe was put in a daunting situation and has passed most of his competitors.
“It’s similar to Bama,” Jobe said. “I had to compete with guys who came in. It wasn’t different. I just gotta do what I gotta do. Compete. That’s what it’s all about.”
NFL
Jobe said he doesn’t look around the locker room and compare himself to others — “No, sir,” he said. But we can do that for him. We know the Eagles’ starting cornerbacks are Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Avonte Maddox. They’re also going to keep last year’s fourth-round pick Zech McPhearson. But after those four, there could be one or two spots up for grabs.
Nickel cornerback Josiah Scott has basically transformed into a safety this summer, which likely helps his odds, as versatile as he is.
But for the last few weeks, the cornerback opposite McPhearson with the second-team defense has been Jobe. And it wasn’t always him. The Eagles began training camp with Mac McCain III in that spot. They’ve tried Kary Vincent Jr. and Tay Gowan too. But Jobe has really outperformed all of them.
He’s even kept that practice momentum going in preseason games. In the win over the Browns on Sunday, Jobe had a few impressive tackles and a huge pass breakup in the end zone late in the first half to force a field goal.
“I want to thank my D-line for putting pressure on the ball at the goal line,” Jobe said. “So I was expecting a fade and I just tried to do my job.”
Jobe isn’t lying about being in crowded cornerback rooms before. When he got to Alabama in 2018, he was joined by two other top recruits: Patrick Surtain II and Jalyn Armour-Davis. Jobe started opposite Surtain in 2020 and opposite Armour-Davis in 2021.
Surtain was a first-round pick last year. Armour-Davis went in the fourth round this year.
Jobe never heard his name called.
Eventually, the Eagles rang and Jobe signed as an undrafted free agent. But he got less guaranteed money (Jobe received $135,000) than the other two UDFA corners the Eagles brought in: Mario Goodrich ($217,000) and Josh Blackwell ($137,500).
So Jobe started about as deep on the depth chart as possible when he arrived in Philly. And now he’s pretty close to making the roster.
“Jobe’s a quiet guy,” former Alabama teammate DeVonta Smith said. “He goes out there and he works. He’s not going to talk much.”
Jobe’s play does that for him.
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