The first impression of Kelee Ringo is always the same.
The still-22-year-old Ringo is a 6-foot-2, 207-pound outside cornerback who ran a 4.36 in the 40-yard dash coming out of Georgia in 2023.
“What stands out most about Kelee is that he is a freak of nature,” Adoree’ Jackson said last week. “Just his tangibles. Being that tall, being able to have speed, his movements.”
But as Ringo prepares for his third NFL season as a potential starter, he knows his freakish traits aren’t enough anymore. He’s at the point of his career, where he wants to do anything he can to refine his game.
If Ringo can do all those little things to enhance his God-given abilities, then he has a chance to reach his ceiling as an NFL cornerback.
“He’s talking about my talent and things like that, but talent only takes you so far,” Ringo said. “Coming into the league and seeing that talent, of course, can definitely help you to get places where you want to go. But taking that next step of focusing on your technique. From little things like stretching, I learned the playbook. All different things that can help you get an edge over all besides just your talent. That’s the main thing I’ve been focusing on right now.”
From a technique perspective, Ringo has been trying to work on his footwork to keep his balance playing outside cornerback with a bigger body.
Another thing Ringo has been working on is learning the other positions in the secondary. No, he’s not going to play nickel or safety anytime soon but understanding the responsibilities of his teammates has allowed him to recognize where his help is going to be. Ringo has been working with defensive backs coach Christian Parker to expand his knowledge of those others spots.
It’s just another thing he’s done in an attempt to slow the game down.
“You never really understand how much something can help you until you tap into it,” Ringo said. “Somebody can always tell you but until you step your foot in there, you don’t really understand why. I’ve always been a person to understand ‘Why am I doing this? How can this help me? How can this help my game?’ Just always getting smarter and understanding the game overall can definitely enhance myself.”
Ringo, who will turn 23 later this month, was a fourth-round draft pick out of Georgia back in 2023 after garnering first-round buzz that spring. He played more as a rookie than he did in Year 2 after the Eagles added Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean and Isaiah Rodgers in 2024.
But now that Darius Slay and Rodgers are gone, there’s a huge opportunity in front of Ringo. He’s competing with the veteran Jackson for that starting outside corner job opposite Mitchell.
And you’d have to think the Eagles are rooting for Ringo to grab the reins.
“He just needs reps,” defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. “He needs to learn to play the game, and that comes with reps. To quote what Nick (Sirianni) said in a meeting recently, ‘Repetition is the burden of leadership.’ It’s up to us to get him enough reps in practice, expose him to all the things he needs to be exposed to so he can play a full NFL game. When I say full, not physically conditioning-wise, but be a competent corner throughout a full game in a full season.”
In the two practices open to reporters this spring, Ringo and Jackson split those first-team reps and DeJean played that right cornerback job in the base package. But there are a lot of reps up for grabs this season.
Even though he didn’t get to play very much on defense in 2024 (he played just 112 defensive snaps) Ringo said he got better just watching the pros in front of him. He was also a core special teamer and was named a fifth-alternate for the Pro Bowl.
But now it’s time for a bigger role. What will it take for him to win this job?
“Just continue to keep my feet where they are and taking it day by day,” Ringo said. “Continue to grow. Just trimming up the little things. I feel like everybody as a whole, if we all continue to do that, all of us will be in a good position.”
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