Ranking the 25 Best Eagles: A Recent Free-Agent Signing Enters the Field
Pass rusher Haason Reddick was the early plum in the Eagles’ offseason push to remold their defense.
Cornerback James Bradberry was a huge piece added later in free agency.
Then there was the draft and along came the Georgia power duo of Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean.
Perhaps lost somewhere in all of that was Kyzir White.
Perhaps the linebacker even got lost a bit in our countdown of the top 25 best players currently on the Eagles roster.
As it is, the free agent pickup from the Los Angeles Chargers by way of Emmaus High School in the Lehigh Valley outside Philadelphia and West Virginia University came in at No. 23.
This is how the countdown works: Site publisher Ed Kracz and staff writer John McMullen put together their top 25 lists independent of each other’s then assigned point values, with 25 points awarded to the player they each ranked first, 24 to the player they each ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.
Coming at No. 25 was offensive lineman Jack Driscoll. Veteran defensive end Derek Barnett was No 24.
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Ranking the 25 Best Eagles: Derek Barnett Sneaks in at No. 24
Ranking the 25 Best Eagles on the Current Roster Begins at ...
Now, White.
A former safety turned linebacker, he led the Chargers in tackles last year with 144 and is considered solid in pass coverage against tight ends, a vulnerability of the Eagles’ defense in 2021.
Maybe his ability and what he did a season ago should have led to him being placed higher in our rankings, but he has to prove his worth in Philadelphia and to the Eagles, who signed him to a one-year contract.
“I think it helped me being a safety previously, just athleticism-wise, I feel like I can play the ball good, I feel like I can play good man coverage on tight ends,” White said when introduced to reporters on April 5. “That safety background definitely makes it a little easier for me, in my opinion, for a linebacker.”
Playing for the Eagles was a dream of his, growing up in the shadow of where the Eagles used to train at Lehigh University.
“I used to be at the training camps all the time, me and my brothers,” he said. “Back when Mike Vick was playing, DeSean Jackson, Shady McCoy. Me and my brothers used to be up there, front and center.”
The first Eagles game he attended was Dec. 8, 2013, in the famed “Snow Bowl” where the Eagles routed the Detroit Lions.
“That made me want to play for the Eagles,” White said. “Right after I left the game, I went, ‘Man, one day I want to throw on that Eagles uniform and suit up for them.' Just to be here, it’s crazy how life comes full circle.”
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
