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The DiCecco Daily: Watch For These 'Afterthoughts' To Challenge For The 53 · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's going on? Everyone, Welcome into another episode of The
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Checko Daily. Andrew decheco here Eagles beat reporter Friendsidethebirds dot Com,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and I want to spend today's podcast talking about three
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: under the radar Eagles that I feel have become afterthoughts
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in the aftermath of how the roster has taken shape.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of new faces, new competition,
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: and some of those holdovers have sort of gotten cast
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: aside by some not all, and I kind of wanted
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: to focus on them and maybe their pathway to a
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: roster spot. The first player that I want to mention
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: here is tight end Cameron Lattu. And so I look
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: at Cameron Latto. The Eagles have really prided themselves this
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: offseason on diversifying the skill sets and their tight end room,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: adding some blocking components to the makeup, and still adding
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: in the receiving element. Obviously, drafting Eli Stowers in the
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: second round fortifies that, and he will be the heir
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: apparent to Dallas Goddard. But they've also added Johnny Munt.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: They signed him to a one year deal. He's a
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: one dimensional blocking specialist. Stone Smart played in fifty three games,
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: started seven in his career. He signed in free agency,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Grant cal Kata re signed, and there's EJ. Jenkins who's here,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and Cameron Latsu. So you may look at it and say,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: how many tight ends realistically will the Eagles carry, assuming
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: that they're going to go a little bit heavier here
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: in light of the fact that Sean Mannion's coming from
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a background in Green Bay where they did focus on
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: the tight end. So there's a world in which I
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: see the Eagles keeping four on the roster. Dallas Goddard
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: and Eli Stowers are certainly assured their spots, but then
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: it becomes a little tricky, and there's not a lot
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: of definitive answers here. And this is all without seeing
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: a lot of these new faces having taken so much
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: as a practice. I want to reiterate that. So Johnny Mont,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: he's a player that brings a lot of value as
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: a blocker. The Eagles sorely lacked in that department last year.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: But he's thirty one years old, He's bounced around the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: league a little bit. Is it a necessity to carry
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: him on the roster if he proves himself to be
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: so imposing and valuable as a blocker in training camp maybe,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: but I don't know that it's a certainty that he
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: does make to fifty three. He's a veteran, so he
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: doesn't have to be exposed to waivers. You can get
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: him on the practice squad, elevate him for the few
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: weeks while you decide how you want the roster to
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: ultimately look, and then make a decision there. Dai Kwon Wright,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I don't want to forget him an undrafted free agent.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Many including myself, had draftable grades on him. I had
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: a six round grade. He could also be in contention
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: for a roster spot if he proves to be consistent
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: and puts a lot of quality film out there. But
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: Cameron lot to someone who I think has forgotten about
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: in the sense that he was on the roster, played
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: in fifteen games, started too, was converted to full back
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: after being signed to the fifty three, and that was
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: in late September. You never got to see any of
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the receiving elements that he can bring. He wasn't targeted
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: at all, but he was a third round pick in
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three of the San Francisco forty nine ers.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Gives you good size at six five two forty four,
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: is athletic. We know that he has the tenacity and
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: the willingness to be a punishing blocker. I thought that
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: he checked off both all the boxes that you could
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: hope to see last season there. But then you add
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: in he's twenty six years old. He has an untapped
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: receiving ability that I believe will reveal itself in training camp.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: Do you want to part with the player like that?
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Oh and by the way, he finished with the six
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: month snaps on special teams last year and was a
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: force in that area. So for those reasons, I think
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: that he has a better than average shot at sticking.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I actually put him on my initial fifty three man
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: roster projection, and that's kind of my thought process by
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: putting him on this list. Moving on linebacker Chance Campbell.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I've talked about him on this podcast. I just wrote
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: about him on Inside the Birds dot com. This is
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: a player that he was signed two days before the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: Eagles preseason finale last year, and a lot of times
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: that can be viewed as a player brought in to
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: absorb snaps and help a team get through that final
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: game without exposing some of the more marquee players at
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: that position to needless risk. But yeah, you look at
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: it and say, yeah, three days is a tough ask
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: of a player to really catch the eye of evaluators
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: and put some quality things on tape. But with Chance Campbell,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the Eagles had prior knowledge of him. Bobby King was
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: his linebackers coach with the Tennessee Titans, and he's been
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: around the league since twenty twenty two. He was a
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: six round pick, played in four games with the Titans,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: sixty two snaps on special teams, just four or five
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: I believe on defense, so not a lot of experience,
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: but the league and the Eagles certainly in this case,
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: have an idea of who they were getting. He also
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: suffered an ACL injury last August the previous year, the
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: previous August, so maybe that really spoke to why he
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: was available and got that late start. But nevertheless, he
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: was on the practice squad for the twenty twenty five season,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: was a mainstay on the scout team, was around the
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: coaching staff for the year in meetings and knows the system.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: And at twenty six years old, he's still young enough
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: player that if he proves himself on special teams, I
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: could see a path where he sticks as the fifth linebacker,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: and I think the familiarity with the Vic Fangio system
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: and Bobby King could also help in that way. So
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Chance Campbell would be someone that Yeah, the Eagles would
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: have to keep five linebackers in order for me to
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: even see him in contention for a roster spot. They
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: have four that I believe are already entrenched obviously with
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Zach Vonn and Jehide Campbell, but Jeremiah Trotter Junior and
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Smile Mandan as well. Now they could just go with four.
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: They also have Deontay Lawson as an undrafted free agent
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: out of Alabama. Good athletic qualities to him. Started forty
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: one games, was a captain at Alabama, so he comes
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: in with a pretty robust resume. But I don't know
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: that you can discount the value of having a player
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: in the building and having that continuity with the coaches,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: and you couple that with his special teams prowess. Yeah,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: I could see a path where Chance Campbell his way
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: into the roster picture. Finally, I want to conclude with
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: defensive back Brandon Johnson. And Brandon Johnson's a player that
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: I've mentioned I wrote about him last summer in training
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: camp when I had a chance to speak with him
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: after one of the preseason games. Five Pounds was signed
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: as a rookie free agent last spring and really found
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: his way into my training camp notebook due to his
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: athletic qualities. He's a twitchy athlete, good short area of quickness,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: good instincts. And while his reps in training camp were sporadic,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: as is expected with an undrafted rookie when you're lower
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: in the pecking order, I thought he did some good
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: things and so when the Eagles made their final cuts,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: he made the practice squad. Was one of the handful
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: of players who remained on the practice squad all season
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: without being released at any point, and then in the
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: final three games of the season he was elevated. Played
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: at safety in the Washington Commander's game in Washington and
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: then twenty three in the season finale. That was his
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: first NFL start. I should also mention that he cross
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: trained at safety.
• 8:13
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• 9:13
  Speaker 1: So you see the positional versatility the football intellect, which
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I thought was really evident in the conversations that he
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: and I have had last season at different points. The
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: young player at twenty three years old, the Eagles don't
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: have a ton of certainty when you look at the
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: final cornerback spot or even the final safety spot. Maybe
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: they go heavier there because he also has that nickelback
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: experience that was really what he entered the NFL with
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: as a background playing the nickel position, and you look
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: at his ability now to play safety, maybe that allows
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: you to go heavier at a place if you're worried
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: about losing a young player who has a little bit
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: of a little bit of tape out there. Brandon Johnson
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: is kind of an under the radar player that I
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: think the Eagles clearly showed that they liked and they
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: were intrigued enough with his development. Now Andre Sam expired,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: he exhausted his elevations at that point, but it seemed
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to me that Johnson was a player that the Eagles
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: were pleased with his development, even more so than maybe
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Mac McWilliams, because he was getting on the field before
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Mac McWilliams. He also got on the field at safety
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: before Michael Carter, the second who is widely expected to
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: make the roster but also be in the safety mix
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: this year as a potential starter, without the Eagles having
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: done anything at that position to this point. So I
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: think all those things have sort of support supported my
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: belief that Brandon Johnson could find his way into the mix.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: And he's not being talked about. Now, there's a lot
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: of names, there's a lot of bodies at those respected positions.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: But as I take an overview of the roster them
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: out a little bit, you can see how a few
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: of the players that I the three players that I
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: just mentioned, could be in contention when the dust settles,
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: and I am expecting them to all have impressive training camps.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: It's just a matter of how those pieces ultimately fit
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: within the puzzle that is the Eagles fifty three man
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: roster that's going to do it. For this episode of
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the Czech Odily, I'm Andrew Deceeco. We'll catch you all
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: on the next one.