May 24, 2024
During the offseason, we'll be taking a close look at Philadelphia Eagles players of interest who are currently on the roster but we may not know a lot about just yet. In this edition, we'll take a look at second-year cornerback Kelee Ringo.
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The Eagles traded a 2024 third-round pick for the third pick in the fourth round of the 2023 draft to select Ringo, which was largely hailed as a steal. Personally, I thought Ringo was going to be a late first-round pick, on the basic premise that he's 6'2, 207, and he ran a 4.36 at the Combine. He reportedly slid due to character concerns.
🧵 Notes for Saturday (column coming) 🧵
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 29, 2023
• Ohio State OT Dawand Jones and Georgia CB Kelee Ringo faced character/makeup questions going into the process, and didn't exactly answer them thru the process. It's why they're still there. We'll see how soon someone takes a swing .
Howie Roseman downplayed those ambiguous character concerns following their selection of Ringo.
"We felt like this was a 20-year old kid who was a good kid, tremendous physical tools, and we really had an opportunity to develop him," Roseman said. "He doesn't have to come in here and be a superhero. He can learn. We think we have tremendous veterans at that position who can show the way, and he can come in in a role where he's learning, and there's not a lot of pressure on him, and he can develop.
"We believe in the player and in the person. I know there were reports. We watched the draft there in our draft room. We don't have a question about his work ethic. We don't have a question about his medical."
Ringo did indeed sit and learn for a while, as he played just 1 snap in the regular defense through the first 12 games of the season, despite the team suffering a long list of injuries in the defensive backfield. He eventually got playing time in the final six games of the season. I watched those games and cut up his targets as well as most of his tackles. First, his targets (you might have to click "Watch on YouTube"):
And his tackles:
• Good awareness in zone coverage for a rookie corner.
• Speed to run vertically with fast receivers.
• Aside from the INT on a prayer throw in the Giants game, he didn't get hands on footballs, though that's probably not cause for concern yet given the low number of targets he faced.
• Grabby in man coverage.
• Willing tackler. He gets his man to the ground or out of bounds when he gets a body on ball carriers, and will be physical. I also like the way he takes on blockers, and keeps contain. I do think there were some occasions where he didn't necessarily miss tackles, but had a chance to make nice plays as a tackler in the open field but didn't.
• At Cowboys, Week 14 (22 snaps): Ringo was targeted twice, both completions. One was on a comeback route to Brandin Cooks for a first down, and Ringo was also called for a hold on the play. The other was a deep ball to Michael Gallup. Ringo didn’t have bad coverage on the play, but Dak Prescott made a perfect throw and Gallup made a nice catch.
Ringo had one tackle. He made a nice stop on 3rd and very long on a play where the Cowboys were just trying to get a closer field goal. He also had his only missed tackle of the regular season, when TE Jake Ferguson hurdled him.
• At Seahawks, Week 15 (32 snaps): With Darius Slay out of the lineup, Ringo alternated series with Eli Ricks. He was (kinda) targeted 3 times, all incompletions.
• Giants, Week 16 (51 snaps): He was targeted once, on a play in which he showed good recognition in zone coverage, coming up to make a quick tackle for a short gain after a completion to the tight end. He also made a game-sealing interception in the end zone on a prayer throw from Tyrod Taylor.
• Cardinals, Week 17 (53 snaps): He was called for a couple of penalties in this game, both while working against Greg Dortch. One was for illegal contact (ticky tack call, in my opinion), and pass interference on a pass that wasn't even intended for Dortch, and again was kinda ticky tack even it were intended for him. He also gave up a TD reception to Michael Wilson, who got wide open on a quick slant in the red zone.
• At Giants, Week 18 (40 snaps): 1 target, completed, short gain.
• At Buccaneers, WC (35 snaps): No targets.
Interestingly, A.J. Brown singled out Ringo as having All-Pro potential down the road.
High praise for Kelee Ringo from A.J. Brown: https://t.co/RxEnbJH6Wa pic.twitter.com/VWOnZk1PPC
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) December 8, 2023
Ringo has all the physical tools to be a starting cornerback in the NFL, and he'll have a chance to compete for a starting spot with guys like Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, and Isaiah Rodgers in training camp. It will be interesting to see how he has progressed from Year 1 to Year 2.
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