Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Eagles Trade For Tank Bigsby
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: What's happened? Everybody? Welcome into this edition of to check
- 0:13O Daily.
- 0:14Speaker 2: It's Andrew de Checko and Eagles Chiefs Week continues to
- 0:18churn on the inside the Birds platforms, and of course
- 0:21right here on to check O Daily, and the Eagles,
- 0:25speaking of churning, continue to churn the bottom of the roster.
- 0:30On Monday evening, it was announced that Howie Roseman and
- 0:33the Eagles initiated another trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for
- 0:38the second time in two weeks, this time acquiring running
- 0:42back Tank Bigsby. And for Tank Bigsby, that is an
- 0:46upside edition. I'm expecting any time a player like that
- 0:50is available, Howie Roseman's going to take a swing. But
- 0:53for perspective, Bigsby a twenty twenty three to third round pick.
- 0:57He's twenty four years old. He rushed for seven and
- 1:00sixty six yards last season and had five carries on
- 1:04Sunday in Jacksonville's opener. Now, it is a bit of
- 1:08a crowded backfield there down in Jacksonville. They drafted a
- 1:12young running back in the fourth round who they're probably
- 1:15looking to elevate into a more expanded role. And I
- 1:18guess it just didn't seem like Bigsby had much of
- 1:20a role. But in Philadelphia he fits in and joins
- 1:25a running back room that includes Saquon Barkley, Will Shipley,
- 1:28and AJ Dillon, giving them a very versatile four headed
- 1:32rushing attack. So Will Shipley, of course, suffered the ribs
- 1:36injury in the season opener on the in the line
- 1:40to go into the locker room. I saw him on
- 1:42the other side of that barrier walking out while we
- 1:45were waiting. Seemed like he might have been walking a
- 1:47little gingerly. I caught a brief glimpse as I saw
- 1:51him pass, but that has something to do with it.
- 1:55To add some more depth, But the Eagles really want
- 1:58to explore big Be as a kick returner. This is
- 2:02something that the NFL is prioritizing in light of the
- 2:04new kickoff rule.
- 2:06Speaker 1: They had Shipley, they had AJ Dillon.
- 2:08Speaker 2: I wouldn't even be surprised if Ben Van Sumerin would
- 2:12have been in the mix. Just the Eagles trying to
- 2:14find different ways to make that more of a dynamic
- 2:17aspect of what they do. And for Bigsby, he has
- 2:20a really good downhill approach, that inside zone look that
- 2:24you get on these kick returns that the Eagles are
- 2:27really focusing on this season. Plus, he has two years
- 2:31remaining on his rookie deal, so he's not just an
- 2:34addition for the here and now, but even looking towards
- 2:37the future. The Eagles gave up a fifth and a
- 2:40sixth round pick to get him, so that compensation suggests
- 2:42that it's not There's more that meets.
- 2:45Speaker 1: The eyes, not just for special teams.
- 2:47Speaker 2: They view him as a piece of the backfield in
- 2:50the future, and even someone who can help them this season.
- 2:54Speaker 1: Now.
- 2:55Speaker 2: To be clear, I still view will Shipway as the
- 2:58eagles number two running back. Unfortunately, he now dealing with
- 3:00a rib injury and his timeline to return is still undetermined.
- 3:06But obviously that's not a good thing, especially for someone
- 3:09who looked like he was ready to carve out a
- 3:11really big role in the opener, and then in the
- 3:13second half he wasn't even spotted on the sideline, So
- 3:17something to.
- 3:17Speaker 1: Keep an eye on there.
- 3:18Speaker 2: But the Eagles add another player from the Jacksonville Jaguars
- 3:22and strike another deal, so Bigsby joins the eagles fifty
- 3:28three man roster. The signing was made official Tuesday around
- 3:32eleven thirty just before coordinators spoke, so they had to
- 3:36make a corresponding move, of course, So that means that
- 3:38someone on the fifty three is no longer going to
- 3:41be there, and that was the case today with the Eagles,
- 3:45and they had to make a difficult decision. They waived
- 3:49defensive lineman Gabe Hall from the active roster and they
- 3:53released running back Montreal Johnson Junior from the practice squad.
- 3:56Montreal Johnson Junior was signed on Monday, and then on
- 4:00Tuesday the Eagles parted ways. Now we've mentioned the four
- 4:03running backs on the active roster, they also have former
- 4:06Notre Dame running back former draftee of the Denver Broncos,
- 4:09Audric Estimee also on the practice squad. So not quite
- 4:13sure you need six running backshould The Eagles made it
- 4:15five and they also signed center slash guard Jake Majors
- 4:20to the practice squad. So for those who don't know
- 4:23about Majors, he's six foot three, three hundred and six pounds.
- 4:27He signed with the Bucks as a rookie free agent,
- 4:29spent five years at Texas and for Gabe Haul. He
- 4:33played five snaps in his NFL debut against the Cowboys,
- 4:37he now goes on waivers presumably should he clear waivers,
- 4:40and that's far from a guarantee. Anytime you have a
- 4:42young defensive lineman with upside and a skill set being
- 4:48six foot six and versatile, that's never a certainty that
- 4:51they clear waivers. But should Gabe Haaul clear waivers, my
- 4:55expectation is that he would join the Eagles practice squad.
- 4:59Really interesting that the team did not opt to you know,
- 5:03I guess parse the seven edge rushers. One of these
- 5:08seven edge rushers from that room. That's an unprecedented number.
- 5:12But the Eagles are also a team that once rostered
- 5:15seven defensive tackles on the fifty three man roster.
- 5:18Speaker 1: I believe it was twenty twenty three.
- 5:20Speaker 2: Contavious Street was that seventh defensive tackle. So they prioritize
- 5:24that it gives them optionality. Patrick Johnson, who was signed
- 5:27to the fifty three on Monday, gives them the special
- 5:29teams versatility and game day value, whereas someone like Azizo Jalari.
- 5:35Speaker 1: And Obo Okoronquell and.
- 5:39Speaker 2: Zadavius I'm sorry, Zadarius Smith, and he gives you that
- 5:46veteran presence who brings sixty nine career sacks, so he
- 5:49will be the third edge rusher once fully onboarded, and
- 5:53then Aziz Ojulari, Andre's josh Usha, but Obo Ocaronquall, they
- 5:58all round out that room behind No.
- 5:59Speaker 1: One Smith and Jaylox's Hunt and.
- 6:02Speaker 2: As he's o Jelari, I still believe that there's something there.
- 6:05Perhaps the light hasn't went on yet. But you look
- 6:08at someone who's twenty five years old. He has the pedigree,
- 6:11he has twenty two career sacks, and he's healthy, which
- 6:14is the most important thing for Ojilari, who struggle with
- 6:17injuries throughout his young career. That's not somebody that I
- 6:20think you want to set free and part with this
- 6:24early on. You got to continue to work with someone
- 6:27like that if you feel like there might be something there.
- 6:29But he's not quite ready to help in the immediate future.
- 6:34Obo Okoronkwo is thirty years old. He's been around for
- 6:37a while. He's been on a number of different teams.
- 6:39I think the Eagles are his fifth team. He adds
- 6:42a veteran presence who's been in a number of different schemes,
- 6:46so he has value as well. But for now, the
- 6:48Eagles are sticking with their seven edge rushers and they
- 6:51instead pull from the defensive tackle room. Gabe Hall was
- 6:55waived and that now gives them five defensive tackles at
- 6:58the position with Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro, Ojima, Ty
- 7:04Robinson the rookie, and Byron Young. So there's been an
- 7:09update on the Jalen Carter situation. So the NFL is
- 7:14viewing Week one as a suspension. Remember, Jalen Carter did
- 7:19not play a single game, a single snap in that
- 7:21game after spitting on Dak Prescott and being ejected in
- 7:26that game. So there's going to be no further suspension
- 7:29for Jalen Carter. He'll be eligible to play Week two
- 7:34in Kansas City, and the NFL was finding him fifty
- 7:37seven thousand, two hundred and twenty two dollars, so a
- 7:41hefty fine for Jalen Carter, but no further suspension. That
- 7:45was handed down Tuesday afternoon around for o'clock. So there's
- 7:50the Jalen Carter update that everyone has been anxiously awaiting.
- 7:54The Eagles coordinators also spoke Tuesday, as they will every
- 7:58Tuesday throughout the season, caring a weird schedule or maybe
- 8:02a holiday, but so we heard from defensive coordinator Vic Vangio,
- 8:06special teams coordinator Michael Clay, and offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo.
- 8:12Just a couple quick notes from Vic Vangio, Always direct
- 8:16and to the point, always someone who doesn't pull punches
- 8:19that were mince words. When asked about a Dori Jackson,
- 8:24he said, you know right now, yes, is the plan
- 8:28for the Eagles and that defense to continue on with
- 8:31him as the starting corner. And he also mentioned safety
- 8:37Drew mccooba, the rookie, and how he fared in his
- 8:40NFL debut, and he said he did okay, and then
- 8:44he went to talk about him. He said he had
- 8:47two major busts and coverage and he's hoping that he
- 8:51improves that moving forward to next week. But he's very
- 8:56blunt and very honest, and that's something you can always
- 8:58expect from Vic Vangio. And then when asked about Cooper
- 9:01degene about his prospects of playing on the outside, he said,
- 9:05preferably they'll keep him at nickel. And that's something that
- 9:10really isn't a surprise to me when you go back
- 9:13and listen to what Vic Fangio had to say in
- 9:16the summer about that they're still looking to find a
- 9:20nickel corner that they have to have someone who they
- 9:22feel comfortable with putting him in there. Cooper Degene is
- 9:26already among the best nickel defenders in the game, so
- 9:28to take him from that spot move him outside creates
- 9:31a significant void that can't easily be replaced. Remember Avonte
- 9:36Maddox was the starting nickelback last season to start and
- 9:40got picked on in the middle of the field. The
- 9:43middle of the field was grossly exploited and it wasn't
- 9:46really until they plugged Cooper Degene in that nickel role
- 9:49coming out of the bye week that the defense started
- 9:52to take shape and was able to kind of build
- 9:54on that momentum. Whenever you're able to plug the middle
- 9:58of the field the way that he can. And again,
- 10:00receivers have two way gos. You don't have the sideline
- 10:03as a barrier. You have to be a willing participant
- 10:06in run fits and you also have to know all
- 10:08three levels what their responsibilities are.
- 10:11Speaker 1: So you have to have a considerable football a high
- 10:14level football IQ to play the nickel role. So he's
- 10:17ideal for that.
- 10:19Speaker 2: But Dori Jackson, he said, right now is the plan
- 10:23to have him start the game in Kansas City, and really, honestly,
- 10:27that's probably the right decision. The starters don't have a
- 10:32lot of reps with one another in a game setting.
- 10:35Training camp is one thing, but the regular season is another.
- 10:38If certain players are going to be afforded grace, if
- 10:42you're being objective, that includes a Dori Jackson. He should
- 10:45be included in that. And it wasn't a great effort.
- 10:48I mean, believe me, that was not a good effort
- 10:51in his Eagles debut, But he does deserve another opportunity
- 10:55to go out there. He's a veteran, he's played a
- 10:57lot of football, and Vic Vangio indicated they, I guess
- 11:00it was a couple of weeks ago now that he
- 11:02was going to afford whoever was the cornerback two opposite
- 11:05Quenya Mitchell a bit of a leash. So we'll have
- 11:09to wait and see how long that leash ultimately is
- 11:12if he runs into trouble in Kansas City. I'm not
- 11:14suggesting that they kind of just accept it and kind.
- 11:19Speaker 1: Of ride that out in that game.
- 11:20Speaker 2: You have to make a decision, and if they filled
- 11:23Jacoreyan Bennett is a better option, then you have to
- 11:25put him in there. But the last thing that the
- 11:28Eagles would probably want to do I have to imagine
- 11:31is pool of Dori Jackson early at the first sign
- 11:34of struggles, let him work through that and try to
- 11:38build that chemistry in the secondary. You also, when you
- 11:41have a rookie like Drew mccouba and you had a
- 11:44Dori Jackson there, you want to try and keep that secondary. Ideally,
- 11:48obviously the play is going to be the determining factor,
- 11:52but you want to try and establish continuity there, which
- 11:55helps from a communications standpoint and just overall functionality for
- 11:59the defense. So he's obviously going to have to elevate
- 12:02his play, but Dori Jackson's played enough football that maybe
- 12:07you want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
- 12:08Speaker 1: Put him out there.
- 12:09Speaker 2: It's not going to be as prolific as an aerial
- 12:11attack as what he just saw against Dallas, and who knows,
- 12:15But what I will say is after the game sometimes
- 12:18you see this.
- 12:19Speaker 1: You don't always see this with younger corners. It depends.
- 12:22Speaker 2: But for Dory Jackson, someone who's logged a ton of
- 12:25snaps in the NFL, he didn't look like he was down.
- 12:29He didn't look like he was low, he was even
- 12:31keel and kind of just you know, bouncing back, you know,
- 12:35looking at week two is another opportunity take one on
- 12:39the chin. Gave himself a C for his performance and
- 12:43kind of has that mindset that you need to have
- 12:45as a corner where it's got to be next play
- 12:47good or bad. You have to have a short memory,
- 12:49and that's really a fascinating element to being a cornerback
- 12:53in the NFL. And I've had a lot of really
- 12:55good conversations over the years, namely with James Bradbury. I
- 12:59remember talking to him in LA about what it takes
- 13:02or what goes into the approach of having a short
- 13:04mindset and is that something that's inherent or something that
- 13:08you had to develop over time, And he gave a
- 13:10really insightful answer, and so did Dori Jackson when I
- 13:13spoke to him after the game on Sunday. So he'll
- 13:16be out there, Drew mccouba will be out there. And
- 13:21he also highlighted the play of Jordan Davis and his
- 13:24conditioning and that had it not been for that conditioning,
- 13:28then Vic didn't seem optimistic that he would be able
- 13:30to go out there and play those fifty three snaps
- 13:32eighty seven percent of the total and play at such
- 13:35a high level in which he did that was and
- 13:39I don't think this is hyperbole, the best game Jordan
- 13:41Davis has played as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
- 13:45So interesting takeaways from Vic Vangio and oh, I'll also
- 13:50add this, and again, Vic doesn't mince words, so if
- 13:54you kind of read between the lines and listen to
- 13:57his answer or even his expression when talking about Jalen
- 14:00Carter as it pertained to the incident on Thursday night,
- 14:04he was asked about Carter's maturity behind the scenes, and
- 14:09Vic said, plain a day, actions speak louder than words.
- 14:15So really good sessions from Vic Vangio, from Michael Clay
- 14:20and from Kevin Patulo. Week one, there will be plenty
- 14:23of coverage on all of the Inside the Birds platforms,
- 14:26all the different podcasts on Inside the Birds dot com.
- 14:30I'll have another one for you tomorrow. You'll hear from
- 14:33Jeff and Adam, and we have a ton of cool
- 14:35stuff coming down the pike. We're just getting started and
- 14:39week two is fast upon us.
- 14:42Speaker 1: This has been to check O daily.
- 14:43Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Dcheco and I will catch you on the
- 14:46next one,