Philadelphia Eagles

Walter Thurmond's move to safety for Eagles was his choice

Published Jun. 1, 2015 9:14 a.m. ET

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When the Philadelphia Eagles opened up OTAs last Tuesday and Walter Thurmond was lining up at safety, no one in the media was sure what to make of it. Thurmond joined the Eagles as a free agent this offseason after spending 2014 with the Giants and the first four seasons of his career before that with the Seahawks. During all five seasons, Thurmond played cornerback--primarily inside in the slot. Reporters immediately flooded Eagles head coach Chip Kelly with questions, but all he would say is "Thurmond is a safety". Thankfully, we recently received more details on where Thurmond stands from the source himself.

According to Thurmond, the decision was up to him. Eagles coaches gave him the option four weeks ago to stay at cornerback or move to safety.

"I chose to go to the safety because of the defense we play - there's going to be a lot of opportunities to make plays on the ball," Thurmond said, per Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Daily Inquirer. "They felt confident in me to be able to move to that position."

Thurmond's journey to the safety position was a roller coaster ride similar to the Eagles' offseason player movement as a whole. When Thurmond signed with the team in March, Kelly proclaimed that he would have the opportunity to compete to start opposite Byron Maxwell at outside cornerback. When the Eagles drafted defensive back Eric Rowe in the second round of the 2015 NFL Draft, most expected that they had intentions of moving him to safety. Later in the draft, when the Eagles added JaCorey Shepherd and Randall Evans, things got very crowded at the cornerback position.

The first sign of change came during the rookie minicamp when Rowe lined up at cornerback and not safety. When OTAs got underway and Rowe was still lining up at cornerback while Thurmond lined up at safety, the decision seemed final.

Thurmond joins a safety group that includes entrenched starter Malcolm Jenkins, but nothing is set across from him. He will compete with Earl Wolff, Jaylen Watkins--another cornerback turned safety this offseason, and career special teams ace Chris Maragos--the safety currently taking first team reps.

Before an unfortunate injury in 2014, Thurmond had built a reputation as one of the league's elite slot cornerbacks. He believes that his success covering the slot will carry over to his new position.

"I looked at it as a situation [in which] we have some great corners, just drafted three corners, Nolan is going to have a big year this year . . . and Maxwell as well," Thurmond said. "Being familiar with this defense and playing it in college, there's a lot of opportunities to make plays - especially at the safety position. That was one of the reasons. I think it just gives us the best opportunity to compete."

Thurmond has practice at safety before, but he admitted to Berman that he has never actually played the position in a game.

Kelly believes that Thurmond boasts the unique ability to react intuitively to football plays that seems to be inherent in all of the league's most successful safeties.

"He's always around the ball," Kelly said. "I think he's had a lot of experience playing nickel, so he's been an inside guy. He can see things. He's very intelligent. He's an intuitive football player. He is the first guy out of that corner mix that is getting a shot at inside."

Kelly might be right, but there is still a major learning curve ahead of Thurmond. Defending the deep half of the field is brand new to him and his transition could take some time. The Eagles and Thurmond were smart to get ahead of this thing early so he has the entire offseason to learn the position. The talent is there with Thurmond, and the Eagles likely hope that he emerges from the pack of safeties as the starter in 2015.

(h/t Philadelphia Daily Inquirer)

Photo Credit: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports