As soon as the Eagles acquired him, in March 2014, Malcolm Jenkins became the youngest member of their starting secondary.
He was three years younger than Cary Williams, a year and a half younger than Bradley Fletcher, a month younger than the safety alongside him, Nate Allen – and don't those names send a familiar quiver down your spine? It was obvious then and even more obvious now, in retrospect, why the Eagles had made Jenkins their top quarry in free agency, why they had been so happy to sign him to a three-year contract. After a season of seeing too much of the back of Patrick Chung's jersey as he ate the dust of too many open receivers, the Eagles needed a quarterback for their secondary, someone who could sort out coverage assignments and help diffuse any pre-snap uncertainty.