Tag: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson philadelphia eagles

How the Philadelphia Eagles changed C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s game for the better

Philadelphia Eagles DB C.J. Gardner-Johnson is playing his best football with a new team and a new role. Here’s why it’s working so well.

Through his first three seasons in the NFL, all with the New Orleans Saints, defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson had a total of five interceptions. The Saints traded Gardner-Johnson to the Philadelphia Eagles on August 30 for a fifth-round pick in 2023 and a sixth-round pick in 2024, giving a 2025 seventh-round pick back in 2025.

Film Room: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is a huge part of Eagles’ defensive overhaul

Through his first eight games in the Eagles’ secondary, Gardner-Johnson has… five interceptions, which leads the league. He got the fifth on Thursday night in Philly’s 29-17 win over the Houston Texans, which kept the Eagles as the league’s only undefeated team.

The pick came with 8:23 left in the third quarter, and at that point, the game was tied at 14. Houston quarterback Davis Mills made an ill-advised throw under pressure, and Gardner-Johnson made a great play to turn the ball over.

The Eagles had been playing with their food before that, but after Gardner-Johnson’s interception, they scored touchdowns on their next two drives, putting the game out of reach.

In conjunction with star cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry, Gardner-Johnson has become a fulcrum in a defense that ranked second in the NFL in DVOA (behind only the Denver Broncos) through Week 8. They also ranked second in Defensive Passing DVOA through Week 8, behind only the Denver Broncos. Quite an uptick from ranking 24th in overall Defensive DVOA and Defensive Passing DVOA in 2021.

One reason the Eagles found Gardner-Johnson so attractive is that they had a safety problem last season. Outside of Rodney McLeod, who signed with the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason, they didn’t have a legitimate pass defender at the position(s). It’s the primary reason this defense in 2021 allowed 18 catches on 43 targets of 20 or more air yards for 580 yards, one interception, four touchdowns, and an opponent passer rating of 110.4.

In the first eight weeks of the 2022 season, on those same types of deep throws, the Eagles had allowed four completions on 22 targets for 136 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 68.0. Their EPA per play allowed on deep throws dropped from +0.28 to -0.35.

That’s why they got Gardner-Johnson. What they did with him to change the arc of his career was even more interesting, and has a predecessor in Pennsylvania’s other NFL team.

Film Room: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is a huge part of Eagles’ defensive overhaul

The Eagles’ trade for Saints DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is a major part of a massive defensive overhaul. Here’s why Gardner-Johnson will make all the difference.

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles ranked 25th in Defensive DVOA, Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics. More than the travails of quarterback Jalen Hurts and anything that was happening with Philly’s offense, it was the defense, led by Jonathan Gannon, which tripped the Eagles up in 2021.

General manager Howie Roseman, who’s always been aggressive to a fault, did everything he could in the subsequent offseason to improve things. Roseman and his staff, including head coach Nick Sirianni, added edge-rusher Hasson Reddick, cornerback James Bradberry, linebacker Kyzir White among the pool of current NFL players, and took Georgia defensive tackle/small planet Jordan Davis and Davis’ college teammate, Nakobe Dean, early in the draft.

On Tuesday, Roseman continued to add to that haul with the trade for former New Orleans Saints defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson traded to the Philadelphia Eagles

So, if that defense doesn’t show a lot more force in 2022, Roseman certainly isn’t to blame.

Regarding Gardner-Johnson more specifically, we at Touchdown Wire ranked him as the NFL’s second-best slot defender for the 2022 season. Tyrann Mathieu, who was his Saints teammate for approximately five minutes, ranked first. While it would have been fun to see CGJ and the Honey Badger wreaking havoc in Dennis Allen’s awesome defense, Gardner-Johnson is set to be a massive factor in what Roseman and everybody else in the Eagles’ organization believes to be the kind of defensive overhaul that can pay immediate dividends at a championship level.

Let’s get into why that’s the case.