Each day this week NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Reuben Frank will have an Eagles all-time top-10 list. On Monday, we rated quarterbacks, Tuesday we did running backs and Wednesday was wide receivers and pre-WR. Today we rank the 10 best defensive players in Eagles history.
The list of guys who didn’t quite make the cut is almost as impressive as the guys who did.
Clyde Simmons still ranks 22nd in NFL history in sacks. William Thomas is one of only four players in history with 35 sacks and 25 interceptions. Trent Cole had four double-digit sack seasons and made two Pro Bowls. Malcolm Jenkins made three Pro Bowls and was a key cog on the Super Bowl defense. Jerome Brown was as gifted as any interior lineman we’ve ever seen before his tragic death after just five seasons. Bill Bradley is still tied for the Eagles interception record with 34 nearly half a century after he played his last game.
And they didn’t make the cut.
Just as difficult as narrowing the list down to 10 guys was ranking the top three, who were all no-brainer Hall of Famers.
10. Jeremiah Trotter: The team that hasn’t been able to get it right with linebackers for much of its existence sure got it right when they picked Trotter out of Stephen F. Austin in the third round in 1998. After backing up James Willis as a rookie, Trotter blossomed under Jim Johnson in 1999 and became the most feared interior linebacker in the NFL for much of the next decade. Trott made two Pro Bowls in his first stint with the Eagles and two more in his second stint. It’s no coincidence that in five of his seven years as a starter the Eagles went to the playoffs, and in five of seven they had a top-10 defense. Over the last 40 years, he’s made as many Pro Bowls than every other Eagles off-ball linebacker combined (four)
9. Troy Vincent: One of the best free agent signings in Eagles history. Vincent was very good with the Dolphins, but during his eight years with the Eagles he was one of the top corners in the NFL. From 1996 through 2003, he had 28 interceptions – 2nd-most in the NFC during that eight-year span (three behind Donnie Abraham) - and made five Pro Bowls – tied with Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams for most during that span among NFL cornerbacks. Vincent was as smart and cerebral a player as you’ll find, but he was also a physical corner who loved to make a big hit and support the run. The most complete corner in the NFL in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Only four defensive players in franchise history have made more Pro Bowls (Chuck Bednarik, Brian Dawkins, Reggie White, Fletcher Cox).
8. Maxie Baughan: How is Baughan not in the Hall of Fame? He made nine Pro Bowls – the first five with the Eagles – and was either a 1st- or 2nd-team all-pro six straight years during the 1960s. To this day, he’s the only linebacker in Eagles history to make five Pro Bowls. The Eagles drafted Baughan out of Georgia Tech in the second round in 1960 and he made an immediate impact, starting – and making a Pro Bowl – as a rookie on the 1960 NFL Championship team. Baughan is the only defensive player in NFL history to make nine Pro Bowls who’s eligible for the Hall of Fame but hasn’t gotten in.
7. Bill Bergey: Bergey wasn’t on my initial list, but the more I looked at his career the more I realized I couldn’t leave him off. Bergey was already 29 when the Eagles acquired him from the Bengals after the 1973 season, and over the next seven years he made four Pro Bowls, 1st-team all-pro once and started on a Super Bowl team. His 27 career interceptions rank 11th in NFL history among linebackers – 18 were with the Eagles, tied for most ever by an Eagles LB. From 1974 through 1980 – his seven years in Philly – only Brad Van Pelt made more Pro Bowls than Bergey among NFC linebackers, and no NFC linebacker had more INTs. Bergey was a pivotal piece on the Dick Vermeil Eagles as they ended nearly two decades of losing and became a perennial playoff team.
6. Seth Joyner: Probably because he came into the league as an unknown 8th-round pick, Joyner didn’t make as many Pro Bowls as he should have. In 1992, for example, he had four INTs, three forced fumbles and 6 ½ sacks – and didn’t make the Pro Bowl. But from 1987 through 1993, his seven years with the Eagles, Joyner was the best outside linebacker in football, as skilled in coverage as he was blitzing or playing the run. Joyner is the only player in NFL history with 50 sacks and 20 interceptions. His 17 INTs as an Eagle are 3rd-most among Eagles LBs behind Bergey and William Thomas and his 37 sacks are most (four more than Willie T. – who really should be on this list … but who do you take off?). Joyner never got the accolades he deserved, but the eye test tells you how good he was.
5. Fletcher Cox: Along with Reggie White, one of only two Eagles defensive players to make six straight Pro Bowls. In his prime, Cox was a ferocious interior lineman, who was just as dangerous rushing the passer as playing the run. His 65 sacks – including 7.0 last year, in his 11th season - are 5th-most in Eagles history by any player and 26 ½ more than any other interior lineman. Cox has never missed a game because of injury in 11 seasons, and those 65 sacks since 2012 are second only to Aaron Donald among defensive tackles. Cox was huge in the 2017 Super Bowl season and a 1st-team all-pro the next year. Along with Donald, he’s one of only two active interior linemen that have started in two Super Bowls. Still a good player. But over the last decade, one of the best.
4. Eric Allen: It’s a farce that E.A. isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Allen, a 2nd-round pick out of Arizona State in 1988, made an immediate impact on an improving team with five INTs as a rookie and by the time he bolted in free agency after the 1994 season thanks to Norman Braman, he had 34 INTs, still tied for the franchise record (and three more in the postseason). He set an NFL record with four pick-6’s in 1993 and actually ranked third on the Eagles in TDs that year (behind Calvin Williams and Mark Bavaro). From 1988 through 1994, his seven years in Philly, Allen had more INTs than anybody else in the NFL. The smartest football player I’ve ever been around and as tough a cornerback as you’ll ever see.
3. Reggie White: OK, he’s the greatest defensive end ever legit one of the greatest defensive players ever. Why No. 3? Are you kidding? But really it’s simple. I needed some way to break up these top three Hall of Famers, and Bednarik spent his entire 14-year career with the Eagles, Dawk was here 13 years and Reggie just eight years. Now, they were eight incredible years. The Minister of Defense averaged 15 ½ sacks in those eight years, which is absurd. His 124 sacks during his eight years with the Eagles were 25 ½ more than anybody else in the NFL (L.T. had 98 ½). He’s the only Eagle ever to make all-pro 1st team six straight years. One place Reggie loses points is the Eagles’ lack of postseason success while he was here. One playoff win (and four losses) in eight years where Dawk and Bednarik both enjoyed huge postseason success. Fair? Maybe not. But we have to separate these legends somehow.
2. Brian Dawkins: Dawk could easily be No. 1 (or No. 3, honestly). He played 13 years in Philly, made six Pro Bowls, 1st-team all-pro four times and truly redefined the safety position with his dual ability to cover like a cornerback and smash people into smithereens like a linebacker. He shares the franchise INT record with 37, and his 21 sacks are nine more than any other Eagles defensive back (Wes Hopkins had 12). One of only two players in NFL history with 35 interceptions and 25 sacks. During his 13 years in Philly, the Eagles reached the playoffs eight times – and he had four INTs, three forced fumbles and two sacks in the postseason. Including one of the most memorable postseason INTs in franchise history. A warrior. A leader. A playmaker. Dawk did it all.
1. Chuck Bednarik: Five straight 1st-team all-pro honors and six in all. Eight Pro Bowls. Twenty interceptions as a linebacker playing in a run-heavy era. A starter on two NFL Championship teams at opposite ends of his career. Missed two games in his last 13 seasons – played both ways late in his career. Nobody in Eagles history (on either side of the ball) has made as many Pro Bowls. Nobody has made more all-pro teams. Despite playing in 12-game seasons most of his career, he’s still played the 8th-most games in Eagles history. Picked off 18 passes in his career in a run-heavy league, still tied for the most in franchise history by a linebacker (with Bergey and Thomas). And huge props for one of the two-biggest defensive plays in franchise history – his last-second stop of Jim Taylor in the 1960 NFL Championship Game. On a franchise that’s had some legends, Chuck Bednarik is the greatest defensive player in Eagles history.
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