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The DiCecco Daily: Who Has Most To Gain, Lose In Eagles Preseason Opener? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome into this edition of to Checko Daily.
• 0:13
  Andrew de Checko here and the Eagles, believe it or not,
• 0:17
  already kick off preseason play with the Cincinnati Bengals at
• 0:22
  home tomorrow, and there are so many compelling storylines. Look,
• 0:27
  I am someone who is very passionate about every aspect
• 0:31
  of my job of what I do providing comprehensive analysis
• 0:35
  to the audience, and that includes the preseason. I do
• 0:39
  like preseason play for a number of reasons. One, I
• 0:42
  don't view it as a snoozefest or something that you
• 0:47
  just you know, you just want to fast forward, or
• 0:51
  whatever however you view it. I view it as the
• 0:54
  opportunity to see young players that you ordinarily wouldn't get
• 0:57
  to see in an expanded role. And for a lot
• 1:00
  of these young players, I've gotten a chance to see
• 1:03
  them for each and every practice in a limited sample size,
• 1:07
  and many.
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: Of which have flashed.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: But now you're getting to see them in a different element,
• 1:11
  in a live game situation against different competition, and you
• 1:16
  get a better sense of players separating and who's able
• 1:21
  to deroy rise to the occasion here and this is
• 1:25
  the biggest job audition for many of these players that
• 1:28
  you're going to see in the third and fourth quarter
• 1:30
  of this game. So I always say, I know that
• 1:33
  there's going to be the urge to turn the game
• 1:36
  off after at halftime or move on. The Phillies aren't
• 1:39
  playing tomorrow. Check these guys out. And because a lot
• 1:43
  of these players, all of these players have talent, and
• 1:50
  some of these guys might surprise you a little bit.
• 1:52
  But today, the theme of today's podcast is going to
• 1:55
  be one player who has the most to gain in
• 2:00
  the preseason opener and one player who has the most
• 2:03
  to lose. So the one player that I believe has
• 2:07
  the most to gain, and there are many again for
• 2:09
  both categories, there are several, but the one that I'm
• 2:12
  going with for the most to gain is wide receiver
• 2:15
  an Ia Smith, the Eagles second year wide receiver. He
• 2:18
  was drafted in the fifth round in twenty twenty four
• 2:21
  out of Texas.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: A and M. Didn't do a whole lot last season.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: He ended up with seven receptions for forty one yards
• 2:28
  and a touchdown. He had a summer that he probably
• 2:32
  would like to forget. It was sort of uneven, and
• 2:34
  then he did enough later in the season to start
• 2:38
  to build some sort of momentum. The early part of
• 2:41
  his rookie campaign, he was injured and talking to him
• 2:45
  last season, that time away gave him an opportunity to
• 2:49
  take a step back, get a different perspective. The game
• 2:52
  slowed down for him a little bit and he definitely
• 2:55
  gained some confidence. Now, the big question this year is
• 2:59
  ken build on that and make a leap even you know,
• 3:03
  even even further, because the Eagles do have opportunities there
• 3:07
  behind aj Brown, DeVante Smith, and Johan Dotson. So the
• 3:11
  reason why an Ia Smith has the most to gain
• 3:14
  is because there haven't been a lot of players who
• 3:16
  have decidedly separated themselves from the pack. And an I
• 3:21
  as being a draft pick, he does have some short
• 3:24
  area quickness he separates at the top of his routes,
• 3:27
  which I've noticed in one on ones against Cooper Degen
• 3:30
  that it was a really fun that has been a
• 3:33
  fun matchup to watch, and I think he's able to
• 3:36
  kind of when you start the stack plays like that
• 3:39
  or win reps like that, you kind of build confidence inevitably.
• 3:44
  But on the flip side of that, in team drills,
• 3:47
  an Ias hasn't done a whole lot at all. He
• 3:50
  may have only caught a pass or to through ten practices.
• 3:53
  He's got to catch the ball a little bit more consistently.
• 3:56
  So this is a golden opportunity for an Isis because
• 4:00
  if you take into the equation that you're not gonna
• 4:02
  see aj Brown, DeVante Smith, you may not even see
• 4:05
  Johan Dotson, Terris Marshall just returned from the knee injury
• 4:10
  that he sustained earlier in training camp. You could be
• 4:13
  looking at a wide receiver group that's going to include
• 4:15
  Johnny Wilson and probably a Nia Smith will have to
• 4:18
  see who that third option would be. So there's going
• 4:21
  to be targets, reps, and really Annias needs reps. That's
• 4:26
  so does Johnny Wilson. But I think for Anaias, who
• 4:29
  really is a slot only player, you want to see
• 4:32
  him be able to separate from defensive backs. You want
• 4:35
  to see him have a much more varied route tree
• 4:38
  and catch the ball with consistency, get in the open
• 4:42
  space and really start to create yards after the catch
• 4:46
  and be the player that he was at Texas A
• 4:48
  and M. And there is a chemistry that he has
• 4:50
  with those quarterbacks like Tanner McKee and Dorian Thompson Robinson
• 4:56
  mainly Tanner McKee, that's who he's been working with, Tanner
• 4:58
  McKee and Jayalen Hurts.
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: But there's the punt return aspect as well.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: And another reason why he has a lot to gain
• 5:06
  is that there is no clear cut answer at this
• 5:09
  moment for punt returner.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: Avery Williams, who was signeding for agency, was.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Widely viewed as the as the favorite, but he hasn't
• 5:19
  done a ton this summer to inspire confidence or at
• 5:22
  least put his stamp on that role.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: They have a couple of other.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Players who are equipped at doing it, including Dotson and
• 5:29
  I think Smith.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: The Eagles will probably love.
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: Nothing more than for Smith to step up and seize
• 5:34
  control of that job. And I do believe that he's
• 5:37
  going to see a number of opportunities and if he's
• 5:39
  able to do that, you could make a case for
• 5:42
  him sort of elbowing his way onto the roster because
• 5:44
  then you have dual purpose value and you would be
• 5:48
  active on game day. So this is a big three
• 5:51
  game stretch here for Anya Smith, and for those reasons,
• 5:54
  he is my player who has the most to gain.
• 5:56
  As for the player who has the most to lose,
• 6:00
  that would be third year cornerback Kielee Ringo, because the
• 6:03
  Cincinnati Bengals, if you're to take what you've heard from
• 6:07
  Bengals camp at face value, they're going to be playing
• 6:09
  their starters. So this is a really good opportunity for
• 6:12
  Kille Ringo to get out there and go against the
• 6:15
  Jamar Chases and t Higgins's and see how you stack
• 6:19
  up against them.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: Now, I don't think.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: The Kilee by any stretch has had a bad training camp.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: It's just been uneven.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: He hasn't he hasn't stood out in any real way.
• 6:29
  He's had some nice moments. So has a Dori Jackson,
• 6:32
  who is going to be playing a lot as well.
• 6:36
  But for Kighlee Ringo, this is your opportunity to go
• 6:39
  out there and start to string together some successful plays
• 6:42
  and work and show that your technique is dialed in
• 6:45
  and that what you've been working on in training camp
• 6:47
  is translating into the game situations. But he also has
• 6:52
  the most to lose because if he doesn't particularly farewell
• 6:55
  or they're not crazy about what he shows on tape. Well,
• 6:58
  the Eagles traded for cornerback Jacoryan Bennett, and I have
• 7:03
  to imagine that his first practice will be Saturday when
• 7:06
  the Eagles return to the practice field.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: But again, if this.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Opportunity is sort of squandered, or if they're underwhelmed with
• 7:14
  what he's shown, heck with what Adorri Jackson has shown, well,
• 7:18
  then they have Bennett there who has started games in
• 7:20
  the NFL. He's played in twenty four games, started at eleven,
• 7:23
  and he does have good ball skills and the ability
• 7:27
  to step in if he's able to really absorb the
• 7:32
  playbook fairly quickly and get rolling here, because I believe
• 7:38
  from the day that he arrived compared to when Dotson
• 7:41
  Johan Dotson arrived to the Eagles last offseason, he has.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: About over a two week advantage.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: So that's critical in learning Fangio's system, getting to know
• 7:53
  defensive backs coach Christian Parker and cornerbacks coach Roy Anderson
• 7:57
  and really dialing in with the technique and the fundamentals
• 8:01
  and understanding the why behind they do certain things. And
• 8:05
  so I think you'll probably see Jacoreyan Bennett in Game two,
• 8:09
  but all of a sudden, you could see a scenario
• 8:12
  where he enters that rotation and then he's getting.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: First team reps in practice.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: So from Kiey Ringo's perspective, it is imperative that he
• 8:21
  goes out there Thursday night and checks off the boxes
• 8:24
  that the Eagles are hoping to see, because if not, well,
• 8:28
  the competition just got even more interesting with the other
• 8:32
  name that being Jacory and Bennett added to the mix.
• 8:36
  So I have Anaiah Smith as the player who I
• 8:38
  believe has the most to gain, and I have third
• 8:42
  year cornerback Keithley Ringo as the player who has the
• 8:44
  most to lose, and both players fit into this equation
• 8:49
  for various reasons. The game kicks off tomorrow at seven
• 8:53
  point thirty, and I'm not so sure how much you're
• 8:56
  going to see the first round pick Jahad Camp or
• 9:00
  second round pick Drew mccouba, if at all, because in
• 9:04
  Macooba's case, he's returning from the shoulder injury now. On Tuesday,
• 9:08
  the last practice before they had the walkthrough on Wednesday,
• 9:11
  he participated in eleven on elevens for the first time
• 9:14
  since day three of training camp, so you may see
• 9:17
  them take a gradual approach in getting him back into
• 9:21
  the flow. Though it's sort of a double edged sword
• 9:25
  because as a rookie you need all the reps you
• 9:26
  can get and he just missed a sizeable chunk of
• 9:29
  training camp. But I do think that maybe they may
• 9:33
  want to hold off for a game. We'll have to see.
• 9:36
  That's one that I'm really intrigued with. And then for Campbell,
• 9:39
  the same thing with the coming back from the labrum.
• 9:43
  He was listed as limited through much of training camp
• 9:45
  until the last couple of practices, and then he was
• 9:48
  taken off their injury report. Now he didn't look limited
• 9:51
  by any stretch, but with a first round pick, knowing
• 9:54
  how pivotal he's going to be for the success of
• 9:56
  the defense in twenty twenty five, maybe you want to say, Okay,
• 10:00
  we'll put you out there in Game two when you
• 10:01
  guys can get your reps there just a you know,
• 10:05
  Wednesday evening thought ahead of Thursday's preseason game.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be a lot of fun.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: I'll be down there at Lincoln Financial Field and I'll
• 10:11
  have all the news and notes. There'll be another to
• 10:13
  CHECKO daily, There'll be stories, and I'll be collaborating with
• 10:18
  Jeff and Adam on various things in the coming days.
• 10:22
  That's gonna do it for this edition of The Checkodaily.
• 10:24
  Andrew dcheco here signing off, catch you on the next one.