They’re saying Jakorian Bennett is the steal of the offseason (And they might be right)

I’ll be honest, I had no idea who Jakorian Bennett was until the Eagles traded for him late Monday night. Per multiple reports, Howie Roseman sent backup DT Thomas Booker to the Raiders in exchange for the 24-year-old corner.

As soon as the news broke, it was instantly crowned as another Howie Heist. Booker was probably going to lose his job to rookie Ty Robinson and the Eagles need depth in their secondary, but it seems like Bennett could be more than just a depth piece.

Stats on Jakorian Bennett started flying across social media last night, here are some of the most impressive.

Jakorian Bennett’s ranks among NFL CBs with 450+ snaps:

• 18 rec allowed (3rd)
• 37 targets (T10th)
• 176 yards allowed (2nd)
• 0 TD allowed (T1st)
• 9 PBU (T4th)
• 62.4 QBR (6th)
• Held Jamarr Chase to 3/16/0 with 1 PBU

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Not bad, especially for a fourth-round pick. Somewhat ironically, he was taken one spot ahead of Kelee Ringo in the 2022 NFL Draft. Knowing how the Eagles front office operates, I have to wonder if Howie has had his eyes on Jakorian Bennett for some time now. Their pre-draft scouting informs a lot of their decision making, even when it comes to evaluating players who’ve been in the league for a few years.

How Bennett fits into the Eagles secondary

As it stands, Quinyon Mitchell is the CB1 lock. On the other side, Ringo and Adoree Jackson are vying for the CB2 position. While the coaching staff has called this a ‘competition’ throughout camp, I don’t think Jackson really ever had a chance to be a Week 1 starter. It was always Ringo’s job to lose, and this latest acquisition tells me he’s losing some ground.

Since both Bennett and Ringo were drafted the same year, evaluating them side-by-side is a little bit easier.

Stat	Kelee Ringo (PHI)	Jakorian Bennett (LVR)
Games Played	34	24
Games Started	5	11
Interceptions	1	0
Interception Yards	0	0
Interception TDs	0	0
Passes Defended	3	11
Forced Fumbles	1	0
Fumble Recoveries	2	0
Fumble Return Yards	0	0
Fumble Return TDs	0	0
Sacks	1.0	0.0
Combined Tackles	36	58
Solo Tackles	29	39
Assisted Tackles	7	19
Tackles for Loss	0	0
QB Hits	1	0
Safeties	0	0
Approximate Value (AV)	4	5

Honestly, doesn’t feel like there’s much of a difference there. The advanced metrics favor Bennett, but if I’m being honest, I don’t always trust them. Just seems like a bunch of numbers nerds use to make it seem like they watch football.

At the very least, Ringo vs. Bennett becomes to new CB2 competition. If he ends up being the steal of the summer, right on. If not, we pray that Ringo can finally put it all together and be a solid starter.