Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Eagles DTs From Current, Long-Term Viewpoints
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: What's going on? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of The
- 0:12Speaker 1: check O Daily. Andrew de Checko Eagles Beat reporter Friensidethebirds
- 0:16Speaker 1: dot Com. The Positional Preview series continues on with a
- 0:20Speaker 1: look at the defensive tackle room for the Philadelphia Eagles,
- 0:25Speaker 1: and it's arguably the deepest position on the roster. Long
- 0:30Speaker 1: term though it could be an issue because there's some
- 0:34Speaker 1: contracts that expire at the end of the season. But
- 0:37Speaker 1: let's kind of run through it because the Eagles have
- 0:39Speaker 1: a very well rounded group and it starts with Jalen Carter,
- 0:43Speaker 1: and Jalen Carter when he's at his best, is one of,
- 0:48Speaker 1: if not the best defensive tackle in the game. There's
- 0:51Speaker 1: Chris Jones. You know, there's other players that I don't
- 0:54Speaker 1: want to discredit, but I think when you look at
- 0:57Speaker 1: Jalen Carter in terms of age, his skill set, with
- 1:00Speaker 1: that in terms of athleticism and violence that he plays
- 1:05Speaker 1: the game with, he's a difficult force to contain. When
- 1:10Speaker 1: he's fully healthy, and last season he was not himself
- 1:13Speaker 1: his usual dominant self. He had the shoulders injuries that
- 1:17Speaker 1: if you go back and watch that Chicago Bears game,
- 1:19Speaker 1: it was very evident he couldn't engage with offensive lineman.
- 1:24Speaker 1: He was moving laterally, and that's not, obviously where he's
- 1:27Speaker 1: at his best. He's at his best when he's attacking
- 1:30Speaker 1: downhill and using his hands and just sort of playing
- 1:36Speaker 1: with a physical demeanor that he always plays with, and
- 1:39Speaker 1: that was evident last season that something was a miss.
- 1:42Speaker 1: He talked about it after the Bears game, and he
- 1:46Speaker 1: missed some time. Then he came back and he still
- 1:49Speaker 1: wasn't his usual self. Suggested that it could be something
- 1:52Speaker 1: that he's going to have to take care of in
- 1:53Speaker 1: the offseason. But if you watched any of the video
- 1:58Speaker 1: that was surfacing little bit where he's working out, he
- 2:01Speaker 1: looks to be in tip top shape. Obviously, it's hard
- 2:04Speaker 1: to replicate what it's like when you put the pads
- 2:07Speaker 1: on and you're engaging in hand to hand combat with
- 2:11Speaker 1: opposing offensive linemen that are trying to stop you from
- 2:13Speaker 1: doing what you want to do. We'll learn more about
- 2:15Speaker 1: that in training camp. But he's also a player that
- 2:20Speaker 1: is definitively a cornerstone piece for that defense, and I'm
- 2:25Speaker 1: expecting the Eagles, whether it's a little bit further down
- 2:28Speaker 1: the line, to extend Jaywen Carter and keep him in
- 2:33Speaker 1: Philadelphia for the foreseeable future. They picked up his fifth
- 2:38Speaker 1: year option of surprise there, but I am expecting them
- 2:41Speaker 1: to at some point commit to him financially for the
- 2:45Speaker 1: long term, and he's gonna command a pretty considerable payday,
- 2:48Speaker 1: no surprise there. If you're the Eagles, maybe you want
- 2:52Speaker 1: to see how he responds from the down year and
- 2:56Speaker 1: see how his shoulders hold up following a year in
- 3:00Speaker 1: which that both of them were affected. But there's few
- 3:05Speaker 1: players at his position in the NFL that can do
- 3:07Speaker 1: what he can do. This is a guy who came
- 3:09Speaker 1: close to intercepting a spike. If you go back to
- 3:12Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, I want to say where he nearly
- 3:15Speaker 1: picked off Baker Mayfield as he was spiking the football.
- 3:18Speaker 1: One of these days he's going to do it. But
- 3:22Speaker 1: this is a difference maker on the defense. This is
- 3:24Speaker 1: someone who has eight to ten sacks in him. He
- 3:28Speaker 1: does command a lot of double teams, so obviously he's
- 3:33Speaker 1: not going to have a free run at the quarterback.
- 3:38Speaker 1: That's not going to happen. But he's that dominant of
- 3:42Speaker 1: a player that you even see him on his best
- 3:45Speaker 1: days defeat double teams and the players around him benefit
- 3:51Speaker 1: from his presence, and so Jalen Carter, I'm expecting a
- 3:54Speaker 1: big bounce back season for him. Last year he was
- 3:56Speaker 1: I believe, my defensive MVP per prediction before the season
- 4:02Speaker 1: that didn't materialize. But don't be surprised if he's on
- 4:06Speaker 1: my list again this year because I love the way
- 4:09Speaker 1: he plays the game and I think that a big
- 4:11Speaker 1: season awaits him. Then you have Jordan Davis. And Jordan
- 4:15Speaker 1: Davis to me, is a great story of development and
- 4:18Speaker 1: a good story of patience. And what I mean by
- 4:22Speaker 1: that is the Eagles didn't necessarily get overwhelming returns after
- 4:28Speaker 1: drafting Jordan Davis in the first round in twenty twenty two.
- 4:32Speaker 1: And it wasn't long ago, I think two years ago
- 4:35Speaker 1: where he played the same amount of snaps three hundred
- 4:38Speaker 1: and eighty eight as Moro Jomo and that's your first round,
- 4:41Speaker 1: former first round tackle. And so yes, there was some
- 4:46Speaker 1: apprehension on the outside, there was some reservations, do you
- 4:49Speaker 1: commit to Jordan Davis? It will he ever be more
- 4:52Speaker 1: than a one dimensional player. But what rarely is taken
- 4:56Speaker 1: into account is the other side of things, how Jordan
- 4:59Speaker 1: Davis is perceived inside the building. Jordan Davis himself. What
- 5:03Speaker 1: is he made of. He's made of mental fortitude, He's
- 5:07Speaker 1: made of a player that wants to get better at
- 5:11Speaker 1: all costs. He's also grown into a tremendous leader in
- 5:14Speaker 1: that locker room. And so when you watch him play,
- 5:18Speaker 1: will he ever be Warren Sap and collapse pockets and
- 5:21Speaker 1: get and collect an abundance of quarterback sacks. No, that's
- 5:25Speaker 1: not his game. But he's emerged as more than simply
- 5:29Speaker 1: a one dimensional run stopper, and he has unique athleticism
- 5:34Speaker 1: for as big as he is. And I can't say
- 5:36Speaker 1: enough about the leader that he's become. He was our
- 5:39Speaker 1: Media Good Guy Award winner last year, always available, big personality,
- 5:43Speaker 1: radiates positivity, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's a
- 5:47Speaker 1: team captain here in the not so distant future. Because
- 5:51Speaker 1: we talked about Jayleen Carter being a centerpiece, Well, Jordan
- 5:53Speaker 1: Davis isn't far behind. The Eagles sign him to a
- 5:57Speaker 1: three year, seventy eight million dollar extension back in early
- 6:02Speaker 1: March before free agency, and I think that was kind
- 6:04Speaker 1: of one of the underrated moves of the offseason, keeping
- 6:08Speaker 1: him in place, and they banked on Jordan Davis when
- 6:12Speaker 1: they picked up his fifth year option last year, they
- 6:15Speaker 1: banked on the player making a leap forward. He did
- 6:18Speaker 1: just that, So that tells you that they're pleased with
- 6:20Speaker 1: what he does in the weight room, behind the scenes,
- 6:23Speaker 1: what the public doesn't get to see, and it shouldn't
- 6:26Speaker 1: really be a surprise. I'm sure it's not a surprise
- 6:28Speaker 1: to the Eagles to see Jordan Davis had the season
- 6:31Speaker 1: that he had last year playing as much as he did.
- 6:35Speaker 1: Conditioning is something he takes very seriously. He goes through
- 6:40Speaker 1: a very strenuous conditioning cycle throughout the offseason. He's outlined
- 6:48Speaker 1: that in different media availabilities and this isn't someone who's
- 6:52Speaker 1: just rests on his laurels and tries to win with
- 6:54Speaker 1: his size and power. He is always looking to find
- 6:57Speaker 1: an advantage and work hard to make sure that he
- 7:00Speaker 1: he's becoming the player the best version of himself that
- 7:03Speaker 1: he can be. And to couple that with Clint Hurt,
- 7:06Speaker 1: the Eagles esteemed defensive line coach who has a track
- 7:10Speaker 1: record of getting the most out of his players and
- 7:14Speaker 1: sort of motivating them and he's gonna hold you accountable. Well,
- 7:18Speaker 1: Jordan Davis is one of the better stories of just
- 7:21Speaker 1: sort of seeing it through and remaining patient. And I
- 7:24Speaker 1: know that sounds silly to say, given his first round selection,
- 7:28Speaker 1: but it's not always that simple. Not every player is
- 7:32Speaker 1: as motivated as Jordan Davis is. After not necessarily fulfilling expectations,
- 7:37Speaker 1: he instead took that on the chin. He wore it,
- 7:40Speaker 1: and he found ways to sort of redefine his game
- 7:45Speaker 1: and he's now no longer a one dimensional player. He's
- 7:48Speaker 1: a key cog in the Eagles defense and he will
- 7:51Speaker 1: be for the twenty twenty six season and beyond. The
- 7:56Speaker 1: next player is Moro Jomo. I can't say this enough.
- 8:00Speaker 1: One of my favorite players to watch on the Eagles
- 8:02Speaker 1: defense wins with his use of leverage, quickness, violent hands,
- 8:07Speaker 1: really long arms. For his size. He's a little undersized,
- 8:10Speaker 1: so he does give up a little bit there in
- 8:12Speaker 1: terms of run support, but he's improved in that area.
- 8:15Speaker 1: And there's a lot of teams around the NFL that
- 8:17Speaker 1: I believe that Moro Jomo would be playing, you know,
- 8:21Speaker 1: five hundred or more snaps easily. And his contract, you know,
- 8:29Speaker 1: the end of his rookie contract is coming up. He
- 8:31Speaker 1: has one year left on that that will be the
- 8:32Speaker 1: twenty twenty sixth season, and I have to imagine he
- 8:35Speaker 1: had six sacks last year. If he's able to replicate
- 8:37Speaker 1: that and showcase his ability to you know, flush quarterbacks
- 8:42Speaker 1: out of the pocket and collapsed pockets, he's going to
- 8:45Speaker 1: command a pretty hefty pay day himself. And it's kind
- 8:49Speaker 1: of hard for me to envision the Eagles being able
- 8:50Speaker 1: to keep him as long as he continues on this
- 8:52Speaker 1: upward swing that we've seen over the past couple of years.
- 8:56Speaker 1: Another good story development a seventh round pick who played
- 9:00Speaker 1: sparingly as a rookie. I mentioned he played the same
- 9:03Speaker 1: amount of snaps as Jordan Davis did in his second season,
- 9:06Speaker 1: which was three eighty eight thirty seven percent of the snaps,
- 9:11Speaker 1: and then last year he had a breakout season of sorts.
- 9:14Speaker 1: But he continued to take steps in the right direction
- 9:17Speaker 1: each year, and that was very evident, and he wrecked
- 9:20Speaker 1: training camp practices. He's just very difficult to block. Whether
- 9:24Speaker 1: it's Landon Dickerson telling you that or Tyler Stein telling
- 9:27Speaker 1: you that, players that he's going up against Cam Jurgens,
- 9:30Speaker 1: they all sort of offered glowing endorsements for Moro Jomo,
- 9:35Speaker 1: and I think he's going to slot in very well
- 9:38Speaker 1: again as the third defensive tackle and give you some
- 9:42Speaker 1: sack production as well. I don't think that that was
- 9:44Speaker 1: sort of a flash in the pan or an aberration.
- 9:47Speaker 1: This is who he is and who he's becoming. He's
- 9:51Speaker 1: trending towards becoming more of a household name, and I
- 9:53Speaker 1: believe that he will become just that this season. Byron
- 9:59Speaker 1: Young's a player who was drafted by the Raiders in
- 10:02Speaker 1: the third round in twenty twenty three. They ended up
- 10:07Speaker 1: cutting ties with him and the Eagles pounced smartly brought
- 10:11Speaker 1: him into the building, and he was injured in his
- 10:13Speaker 1: first season in twenty twenty four, didn't play in any games,
- 10:17Speaker 1: But then last summer the light went on and he
- 10:21Speaker 1: was a player that performed well enough that the Eagles
- 10:23Speaker 1: felt comfortable enough parting or sending defensive tackle Thomas Booker
- 10:29Speaker 1: to the Raiders so that they can get Ja, Cory
- 10:31Speaker 1: and Ben at the corner in return. But that doesn't
- 10:33Speaker 1: happen if they're not pleased with what they're seeing from
- 10:35Speaker 1: Byron Young. And he played some key snaps for the
- 10:37Speaker 1: Eagles last year when injuries mounted. I'm talking about Jalen Carter,
- 10:42Speaker 1: of course, and not a flashy player, but I look
- 10:46Speaker 1: at that Chargers game, I think that was the best
- 10:49Speaker 1: version of by that we saw all year. Very much
- 10:52Speaker 1: enjoy talking to him. He's a great story, he's he's
- 10:55Speaker 1: overcome a lot, and he's another example of teams giving
- 10:59Speaker 1: up on a draft pick way too early instead of
- 11:02Speaker 1: trying to stay the course, see it through and give
- 11:05Speaker 1: the player an opportunity to sort of revert course a
- 11:10Speaker 1: little bit. And the Eagles saw the ability in him.
- 11:13Speaker 1: They brought him in and by his second year he
- 11:16Speaker 1: was able to step in and he leap frogged fourth
- 11:20Speaker 1: round pick of last season, Ty Robinson. Who's the next
- 11:23Speaker 1: player we're going to talk about. And Ty Robinson is
- 11:26Speaker 1: a player that I probably got more questions about him
- 11:32Speaker 1: more than any other player last summer. What do you
- 11:34Speaker 1: see from Ty Robinson? Lewis scene was up there. I
- 11:38Speaker 1: got a lot of Lewis scene questions because he had
- 11:41Speaker 1: the Georgia, the Georgia pedigree, and you know, it's not
- 11:45Speaker 1: always that simple. There's different factors that contribute to a
- 11:50Speaker 1: player not necessarily reaching expectations, and Lewis sceene was an
- 11:54Speaker 1: example of that. But Ty Robinson didn't have a very
- 11:58Speaker 1: noteworthy training camp, played a little high. I thought that
- 12:02Speaker 1: he was getting sort of blown off the ball at times,
- 12:04Speaker 1: and then you saw it in the preseason. You didn't
- 12:06Speaker 1: see the player that dominated at Nebraska and he played
- 12:10Speaker 1: a number of seasons there. So coming into the league
- 12:13Speaker 1: at twenty four years old, the expectations were, you know,
- 12:17Speaker 1: this is an experienced player who you can kind of
- 12:19Speaker 1: plug in and he should be able to give you
- 12:20Speaker 1: meaningful snaps early on. Well that wasn't the case. He
- 12:23Speaker 1: played in I want to say, eleven games, but he
- 12:26Speaker 1: never really was able to cement his status as a
- 12:30Speaker 1: rotational piece. And if Vic Fangio doesn't trust you to
- 12:34Speaker 1: put you out there, or if they're not seeing what
- 12:37Speaker 1: they need to see, you're not going to be out there,
- 12:39Speaker 1: regardless of your draft status, regardless of what you're being paid.
- 12:43Speaker 1: And this is a big offseason for Ty Robinson. Do
- 12:45Speaker 1: I think that he's in danger of being cut now?
- 12:49Speaker 1: You know he's a fourth round pick. If he flashes
- 12:52Speaker 1: even a little bit, the Eagles are going to find
- 12:53Speaker 1: a way to keep him, I would imagine. But you
- 12:57Speaker 1: gotta be able to give the Eagles more in terms
- 12:59Speaker 1: of depth relative to where you were picked. And the
- 13:02Speaker 1: production that you had at the college level. You got
- 13:05Speaker 1: to step up. And I look at next season Moro Jomo,
- 13:09Speaker 1: I mentioned him being in the final year of his
- 13:11Speaker 1: rookie contract. Byron Young is also in the final year
- 13:14Speaker 1: of his rookie contract. You might lose more. You're probably
- 13:17Speaker 1: gonna lose Moro Jomo to some team willing to throw
- 13:21Speaker 1: him a bag. And so where does that leave you, Well,
- 13:23Speaker 1: it leaves you with Jaywen Carter, Jordan Davis and you're
- 13:26Speaker 1: gonna have to You're gonna have to call upon someone
- 13:29Speaker 1: like a Ty Robinson to account for some of that depth.
- 13:32Speaker 1: And we'll see what he's able to do. He's one
- 13:35Speaker 1: of the players that I have highlighted that I will
- 13:37Speaker 1: be keeping an eye on in OTAs and mandatory mini
- 13:40Speaker 1: camp and of course training camp. This is a massive
- 13:43Speaker 1: offseason for the second year defensive tackle and we'll see
- 13:47Speaker 1: if he's able to make a little bit of a
- 13:48Speaker 1: leap forward in year two.
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- 14:51Speaker 1: Who are Bernard? I've talked plenty about him, but he's
- 14:54Speaker 1: a player that I'm not expecting to see play for
- 14:58Speaker 1: the Eagles for at least two seasons. But you liked
- 15:02Speaker 1: the thought process that went into it. When Howie Roseman
- 15:05Speaker 1: acquired that seventh round pick in the Jonathan Grenard trade,
- 15:08Speaker 1: as he sort of revealed in his post draft availability,
- 15:12Speaker 1: that was with U R. Bernard in mind, affording yourself
- 15:15Speaker 1: the luxury of being able to make a pick like that.
- 15:18Speaker 1: And if there were a team for Uar Bernard to
- 15:21Speaker 1: land with, it would be the Philadelphia Eagles because they
- 15:25Speaker 1: have a coaching staff that's going to get the most
- 15:28Speaker 1: that that's going to work with you, the infrastructure that's
- 15:31Speaker 1: in place, and the pride that they place on player
- 15:34Speaker 1: development is unlike most that you're going to see around
- 15:39Speaker 1: the NFL. And so he was drafted with the understanding
- 15:43Speaker 1: that they're gonna have to rally around him, they're gonna
- 15:45Speaker 1: have to support them, and it is going to be
- 15:46Speaker 1: a process. Best case scenario, he has a Jordan My
- 15:49Speaker 1: lot of like surge in year three, only on the
- 15:52Speaker 1: defensive line side in this case. But just understand that
- 15:57Speaker 1: it's going to take some time. But there's a lot
- 15:58Speaker 1: to like. When the twenty one year year old defensive
- 16:02Speaker 1: lineman Nigerian native uh six' four three oh six strong
- 16:07Speaker 1: as an Ox, i just did an interview with his,
- 16:10Speaker 1: Trainer Javon gopie on the inside The burst. Platform you
- 16:13Speaker 1: could check that. OUT i encourage you to do so
- 16:15Speaker 1: to learn more about. Him but this is a player
- 16:19Speaker 1: that you can you can see the. Vision And Clint
- 16:22Speaker 1: hurt was bullish on this. Guy if you listen to
- 16:25Speaker 1: his pre draft call or his post draft call with
- 16:27Speaker 1: Ure uar had that that you, know reciprocated that, respect
- 16:32Speaker 1: and he seemed noticeably upbeat When Clint hurt got on the.
- 16:36Speaker 1: Phone Clint hurt worked him out In florida before the,
- 16:39Speaker 1: draft And Clint hurt said THAT i believe in the
- 16:43Speaker 1: player AND i trust myself meaning, him to get the
- 16:46Speaker 1: most out of. Him and he is The EAGLES ipp,
- 16:51Speaker 1: exemption so he's gonna be with the team. Regardless but
- 16:56Speaker 1: he's not necessarily somebody THAT i could see The eagle was.
- 17:00Speaker 1: PARTING i MEAN i could have seen The eagles. Waving
- 17:03Speaker 1: given his notoriety on social. Media he was someone THAT
- 17:08Speaker 1: i think a lot of teams would be intrigued with
- 17:10Speaker 1: had he hit the waiver. Wire but, YEAH i, mean
- 17:14Speaker 1: this is An. Eagle this this is An eagles like pick,
- 17:17Speaker 1: here and this really follows on their their player development
- 17:21Speaker 1: and the coaches and the infrastructure that they have in
- 17:23Speaker 1: place to ensure that they get the most out of.
- 17:25Speaker 1: Them AND i think you have to feel really good about.
- 17:27Speaker 1: It he should be intrigued and it may not work,
- 17:31Speaker 1: out but, man this is an, awfully an awfully, flashy
- 17:38Speaker 1: and an intriguing selection. There they also Have Taekwon, graham
- 17:43Speaker 1: who's listed is a defensive, end but he played some
- 17:45Speaker 1: defensive tackle as. Well former fifth round pick of The
- 17:48Speaker 1: Atlanta falcons six. Four he's twenty seven years, Old he's
- 17:52Speaker 1: played in a number OF nfl, games so you like.
- 17:54Speaker 1: That so who. Knows he was on The eagles practice
- 17:57Speaker 1: squad last season for a little bit and they brought him.
- 18:01Speaker 1: Back those are the kind of players that are going
- 18:03Speaker 1: to give you competitive reps in training, camp AND i
- 18:06Speaker 1: very much look forward to seeing what he can do
- 18:09Speaker 1: because a lot of times when you get down to
- 18:11Speaker 1: the third and fourth, team it's late round draft picks
- 18:14Speaker 1: or undrafted free, agents and you're not necessarily seeing the
- 18:19Speaker 1: kind of reps that you would if it were an
- 18:21Speaker 1: experienced player who HAS nfl, starts you, know under his.
- 18:25Speaker 1: Belt and SO i think that's going to create a
- 18:27Speaker 1: lot of competition and make for some really interesting reps
- 18:31Speaker 1: even when the third team is out, there even when
- 18:33Speaker 1: the developmental team is out. There so that's sort of
- 18:37Speaker 1: my wide look at The eagles defensive line. Room we
- 18:42Speaker 1: will look at off ball linebackers tomorrow and will continue
- 18:45Speaker 1: to work our way back to the secondary as. Well
- 18:49Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode of The Checko.
- 18:51Speaker 1: Delli I'm andrew De. Checko i'll catch you all the next.
- 18:55Speaker 1: One