Ikegwuonu could lose a numbers game.


Jack Ikegwuonu may wind up never playing a regular season game with the team that drafted him, a rare occurrence for a fourth-round pick.

Ikegwuonu was considered a first-day, if not first-round talent when he gave up his senior season of college football to enter the NFL draft in 2008. However, a major knee injury while preparing for the draft effectively ended any hopes of being drafted in the first day.

He slid to the fourth round, where the Eagles seemingly had the steal of the draft. Everyone, from Mel Kiper to Mike Mayock, was saying that Ikegwuonu was an enormous steal and that the Eagles had a real playmaker.

Unfortunately to date, that has not happened. Ikegwuonu was forced to sit out the entire 2008 season because of his injury, but is back now and in camp. The problem now is that he’s not exactly impressing.

He’s showing a real lack of recovery speed. For a lot of corners, even if they would bite on a fake by the receiver, they have the recovery speed to come up and still make a play. Ikegwuonu hasn’t shown that ability.

Instead, he’s shown that he has a problem sticking with guys off the line initially, and while he is usually able to get a hand on them and even knock them off their pattern at certain times, he is unable to stick with them the whole way.

It would seem that the knee injury was perhaps more serious than first expected, and it has permanently effected his speed.

Just this morning alone he allowed a receiver to get in front of him on a slant route and make the catch. Then he was burnt deep by Brandon Gibson on a straight fly caught for a touchdown, and again by Jeremy Maclin on the same pattern. Maclin, however, was unable to catch the overthrown pass.

The Eagles will keep no more than five corners, and four of those guys have their jobs locked down. Those guys are obviously Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown, Ellis Hobbs, and Joselio Hanson. That leaves one spot for one guy to step up and prove he belongs.

If camp ended today, Dimitri Patterson would be my pick for the fifth corner. He’s a tough, physical guy who isn’t afraid to do what it takes to get to the ball. In fact, he reminds me a lot of a former Eagle corner, Al Harris.

Like Harris, Patterson would probably see his fair share of pass interference calls, but what also make his share of big plays.

If Ikegwuonu wants to be that fifth guy, he better make some plays in the preseason, or it could very well cost him a job.