Eagles

Nick Sirianni Praises Shaq Leonard’s “Length” and “Instinct” in Pass Coverage

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Dec 5th, 2023 · 9:27 AM EST

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Alright we’re gonna move on from the San Francisco loss. We’ll get a Big Dom update, but otherwise flushing the deuce and shifting to Dallas. Here’s Nick Sirianni talking about new Eagles linebacker Shaq Leonard, who the head coach knows from his Indy days:

“He’s got a knack for the football. That isn’t just my vision of watching him play recently, but also the practice reps I have against him, not me, but our offense has been against him. In pass coverage, his length and his instinct is really outstanding and he’s got a nose for the ball.

I remember a play in 2019 where he showed blitz… It was at Tampa Bay, he showed blitz, and then he backed up out of the blitz and they were running some sort of slant route over the middle, and he got his hands on the ball and made a catch like a receiver would, and then took it to the house for like 60-some yards. Ya’ll can look up exactly what it was.”

Sure, I’ll look it up.

Here’s the play in question:

🚨 @Colts Pick-6 🚨

Darius Leonard takes it 82 yards the other way! @dsleon45 #Colts #INDvsTB

📺: CBS
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app
Watch free on mobile: https://t.co/D5AfU98qAh pic.twitter.com/qBBNkjzEYb

— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2019

“I remember him after that saying, ‘Coach, I played receiver too,’ and showed me a post he ran I think at South Carolina State where he made a really nice play,” Sirianni added. “I remember watching that and said, man, I probably could put him in there on a post. It’s just his length, his instinct, his ability to finish on the ball. Those are special qualities that he’s had for a long time. That length is hard to throw around, both horizontally and vertically. I have a vision of him at practice where we ran an RPO and he gave us a pull read on the RPO and then, boom, he sprinted back the other way and got his hand on the ball. I remember Philip Rivers was like, ‘He gave me a pull read,’ and I go, ‘I know. It was just an unbelievable play what he just did.’”

This was Leonard in 2019, so it’s hard to know how much he has left in the tank in 2023. He’s playing for a new team, in a new system, and had back surgery last season. But he’s only 28 years old, and at his best he was a 3x Pro Bowler and 3x All Pro, and he did that in just four seasons. Even if the Eagles get 75% of that player, it’s an improvement. Plus, they need bodies anyway, it’s not like they’re just trying to upgrade. The reason Nick Morrow and Christian Elliss were out there the other night is because Zach Cunningham has a hamstring and Nakobe Dean is on IR. The LB situation is gross.

“We know we’re getting the right person, right leader, with all that,” Sirianni explained. “And we still have confidence from the tape that he still can play, and he’s been a high-level player in this league for a very long time; ’18, his first year in. That’s a long time to be — three-time all-pro player. Still has a knack to take the ball away. Still has that knack to run and hit the ball carrier. Still has the length that he had to make throws hard in the passing lane. Excited about the player we’re getting. Again, I don’t want to make any mistake about it, I like our linebackers. I know (Sunday) was a tough day for us, but still have a lot of the faith in the linebackers and the people we have in the building. Just going to be a good addition with Shaq in this building.”