The Philadelphia Eagles decided that Rasul Douglas wasn’t good enough to make their roster. After being selected in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Philadelphia cut bait just before the 2020 season. Thus far, that decision looks like a colossal mistake by Howie Roseman (who has had many of those recently).
It turns out, Douglas just needed a change of scenery. All of a sudden, the former West Virginia product remembered how to play again. Douglas was claimed off waivers by the Panthers, and he’s been a home run pick up.
The third year corner has played 182 of a possible 200 snaps for the Panthers. PFF currently has Douglas ranked as the 10th best cornerback in football. Not a joke. Better yet, he ranks 3rd in yards allowed per coverage snap (0.6). Douglas is one of four corners in the league that has not allowed more than 35 yards in any game.
This is the same guy that couldn’t make the Eagles roster? Douglas was taken in the same draft as Sidney Jones. Both of whom are no longer with the team. Darius Slay has been a good pick up by the Eagles paid handsomely for him. You can never have enough depth at this position. An injury to Avonte Maddox and or Nickel Robey-Coleman and this secondary goes into the tank.
The funniest part is, Douglas has been a leader for the Panthers too, albeit in a few weeks with the organization.
“I remember a point in the game where we were down 21-0 and I looked at everybody and it just looked like a ‘whatever’ type of thing and I didn’t like it,” Douglas said Wednesday. “I didn’t like it.”
“I talked to him and told him how I felt,” said Douglas, the Eagles’ 3rd-round pick in 2017. “I didn’t feel like we were playing for each other. I had to just tell him how I felt about it because it’s bigger than when you play for the team rather than the individual stuff. We’re not track runners, we’re not boxers, so the individual stuff doesn’t matter. It’s all about the team. What can we do together as a collective? So I said what I felt and he made some key changes.”
Bad things happen in Philadelphia. Talk about a city that can’t catch a break? $330 million down the toilet for bum Bryce Harper tanking the Phillies for another 11 years. What about Trusting the Process that never seems to end? The Eagles are somehow worse than the Washington Football team. Watching Rasul Douglas turn into a star is the icing on the cake.
