Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: One Position on Offense, Defense That Could Use Help
Transcript
- 0:08Speaker 1: Hey, what's up everyone?
- 0:09Speaker 2: Welcome in to another episode of DiCecco Daily. It's Andrew DiCecco,
- 0:14Speaker 2: Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com. Just a quick housekeeping item
- 0:19Speaker 2: to get out of the way before we get into
- 0:21Speaker 2: the podcast. Tomorrow's podcast, I think you'll enjoy. I'm going
- 0:24Speaker 2: to do something a little bit different. And that is
- 0:28Speaker 2: going to be sort of a narration where I incorporate
- 0:31Speaker 2: some quotes from a former Eagles player who is doing
- 0:35Speaker 2: some assistant coaching at a local high school, and I
- 0:40Speaker 2: got a chance to interview them in person last week
- 0:43Speaker 2: and had a good conversation. It was good to catch
- 0:45Speaker 2: up with them. Hopefully you enjoy that. There will also
- 0:48Speaker 2: be a story, probably Friday, sort of working in conjunction
- 0:53Speaker 2: with the podcast on InsideTheBirds.com. Looking at the roster now
- 0:59Speaker 2: that it is somewhat set, it's always subject to change,
- 1:02Speaker 2: especially for some of those back-end players. I wanted to
- 1:05Speaker 2: look at two positions that I feel are probably thinnest
- 1:10Speaker 2: on the Eagles right now and kind of outline where
- 1:15Speaker 2: things stand, what could be ahead, and things like that.
- 1:19Speaker 2: So we'll first start with the tight end position because
- 1:23Speaker 2: that is one that in training camp it Adam Kapan
- 1:28Speaker 2: always says that depth is not about the amount of
- 1:30Speaker 2: players that you have at one position.
- 1:32Speaker 1: It's about the quality of those players. And I completely agree.
- 1:36Speaker 2: And so when you look at that position group, they
- 1:39Speaker 2: had seven or eight tight ends.
- 1:40Speaker 1: If you're including Daquan Wright.
- 1:42Speaker 2: Before he was waived, they had a lot of players there,
- 1:45Speaker 2: but there's a lot of questions that remain. You have
- 1:49Speaker 2: Dallas Goddard who returns for another season while you know
- 1:52Speaker 2: what he's going to provide in terms of the pass
- 1:55Speaker 2: catching prowess and his blocking really dipped last season. And
- 2:00Speaker 2: so is that a sign of things to come, that regression?
- 2:04Speaker 2: And if so, that leaves you really with a glaring
- 2:09Speaker 2: void there from your number one tight end who's going
- 2:12Speaker 2: to be on the field the vast majority of the time.
- 2:14Speaker 2: But I feel really good about Goddard in terms of
- 2:17Speaker 2: the receiving ability. I still have to see more in
- 2:19Speaker 2: terms of the blocking, which you didn't see him in
- 2:22Speaker 2: the preseason. And training camp, you're not, You're not able
- 2:27Speaker 2: to fully gauge where.
- 2:29Speaker 1: That player is.
- 2:30Speaker 2: You won't really know until things go live, and that's
- 2:33Speaker 2: on September 13th. But then beyond Goddard, you have Johnny Munt,
- 2:39Speaker 2: who Johnny.
- 2:39Speaker 1: Munt is still a really good blocker.
- 2:41Speaker 2: I know he's 31 years old, and maybe you had
- 2:45Speaker 2: some questions about what he was going to be able
- 2:47Speaker 2: to provide going into training camp. But I'm here to
- 2:50Speaker 2: tell you that he was comfortably the number two tight
- 2:52Speaker 2: end all training camp. His blocking is right where you
- 2:55Speaker 2: would expect it to be. But he's now the number
- 2:58Speaker 2: two tight end. So he's bumped up a spot. He's
- 3:01Speaker 2: largely been a number three elsewhere. And he's not going
- 3:06Speaker 2: to provide a lot in terms of the receiving element.
- 3:09Speaker 2: He has just 74 catches in his career. And so
- 3:12Speaker 2: given Dallas Goddard's injury history, let's say something happens in
- 3:17Speaker 2: game at some point this season. And Goddard is to
- 3:22Speaker 2: miss a game or two. How comfortable can the Eagles
- 3:26Speaker 2: be with putting Johnny Munt into that spot where he's
- 3:31Speaker 2: hardly factored much at all in his career as a receiver?
- 3:35Speaker 2: And he brings a lot of value as a blocker,
- 3:37Speaker 2: but you also have to look at the full picture here.
- 3:40Speaker 2: And that leaves the Eagles kind of limited. This is
- 3:44Speaker 2: further compounded by Eli Stowers, the rookie. And I'm not
- 3:49Speaker 2: exactly sure how much he's going to be able to
- 3:51Speaker 2: provide for the Eagles in year one. But when they
- 3:54Speaker 2: drafted him, you see this player who is such a
- 3:56Speaker 2: dynamic talent. He can line up all over formations. He
- 4:01Speaker 2: was able to separate and be a three level threat.
- 4:03Speaker 2: You see the explosiveness as evidenced by his testing numbers.
- 4:08Speaker 2: And when they drafted him, it's easy to say, yeah,
- 4:11Speaker 2: he'll be someone that they can count.
- 4:13Speaker 1: On and he's going to be a movable piece.
- 4:15Speaker 2: And there may not be a lot of reps for him,
- 4:17Speaker 2: but there's a, there's a vision for how you can
- 4:20Speaker 2: use them. Well, His summer complicates things because he is
- 4:25Speaker 2: a little bit behind. Well, he's behind, and he's going
- 4:28Speaker 2: to need some more seasoning. You can't rush development. We've
- 4:31Speaker 2: talked about this. But knowing that, realistically, how much can
- 4:37Speaker 2: you expect him to factor into the Eagles game plan,
- 4:41Speaker 2: at least in the early stages of his rookie season?
- 4:44Speaker 2: And maybe week one or week two, whatever, he doesn't dress,
- 4:47Speaker 2: let's say. EJ Jenkins, who made the roster as the
- 4:51Speaker 2: fourth tight end, would play, but he has just one
- 4:55Speaker 2: catch in his career. He's more of a well-rounded player
- 4:59Speaker 2: in terms of his ability, maybe relative to a Cameron Latu,
- 5:03Speaker 2: who kind of didn't have a clear-cut role, but he
- 5:06Speaker 2: was such a strong special teamer. But let's say those
- 5:10Speaker 2: are your three tight ends on game day, Dallas Goddard,
- 5:12Speaker 2: Johnny Munt, and EJ Jenkins, at least for week one,
- 5:15Speaker 2: let's just say. Let's also remember that Stowers is dealing
- 5:18Speaker 2: with a hamstring injury. I mean, that leaves you limited there,
- 5:23Speaker 2: especially when you factor in that this is a true
- 5:27Speaker 2: West Coast offense that's going to expectantly lean heavily in
- 5:31Speaker 2: the tight end usage.
- 5:32Speaker 1: There's going to be heavy packages.
- 5:34Speaker 2: But that's what you need a more well-rounded skill set for,
- 5:38Speaker 2: and right now the Eagles don't have that, but the
- 5:41Speaker 2: real wrench that was thrown into this is the.
- 5:46Speaker 2: The slower development with Eli Stowers. And now he has
- 5:49Speaker 2: the hamstring injury. So that's a position that I could
- 5:52Speaker 2: see the Eagles addressing at some point. And if they
- 5:55Speaker 2: were to address it, the player who would likely be
- 5:58Speaker 2: the casualty would be EJ Jenkins, who I think you
- 6:01Speaker 2: can get them through waivers and onto the practice squad. They, they,
- 6:06Speaker 2: there's a part of me that wonders if the Eagles
- 6:08Speaker 2: kind of want to just give this a go and
- 6:10Speaker 2: see how it, see how things pan out in a
- 6:13Speaker 2: week or, you know, in a, in a, week one,
- 6:16Speaker 2: week two, before you seek external options. But there's no
- 6:22Speaker 2: tight ends on the practice squad. Presumably, it would have
- 6:26Speaker 2: to be an external addition, not someone that you're going
- 6:29Speaker 2: to elevate, because I know the practice squad always changes,
- 6:31Speaker 2: but I think you need a little bit more there
- 6:35Speaker 2: just to guard against the potential of Dallas Goddard missing time. Yes,
- 6:39Speaker 2: Grant Calcaterra is on the you know, he's still with
- 6:44Speaker 2: the team.
- 6:44Speaker 1: He's injured right now.
- 6:45Speaker 2: He's on the injured list, designated to return. So is
- 6:49Speaker 2: cornerback Ja'Cory and Bennett. So maybe Grant Calcaterra eventually is
- 6:53Speaker 2: that guy. You have sort of a built-in option there.
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- 10:10Speaker 2: Not going to enthuse a lot of listeners. I'm sure
- 10:12Speaker 2: there's been a collective groan once I mentioned that name,
- 10:15Speaker 2: but he is someone that is a strong receiver. He
- 10:20Speaker 2: was asked to do things last season that he's not
- 10:22Speaker 2: equipped to do. I don't necessarily put that on grant.
- 10:25Speaker 2: I put that on coaching, but I would also argue
- 10:28Speaker 2: that grant has some of the best hands on the Eagles.
- 10:31Speaker 1: I've maintained that for a couple of years now.
- 10:34Speaker 2: And Jalen, when grant was the number two and he
- 10:37Speaker 2: was seeing a lot more reps in practice, Jalen was
- 10:39Speaker 2: targeting him pretty frequently and sort of spamming him with
- 10:43Speaker 2: targets and Goddard as well, but that's nothing out of
- 10:46Speaker 2: the ordinary.
- 10:46Speaker 1: Him and Goddard have a pretty strong connection.
- 10:49Speaker 2: But I think Calcaterra might be a player that you
- 10:52Speaker 2: look at down the line there that maybe could fill
- 10:55Speaker 2: that void. They have two really strong blockers in Johnny
- 10:58Speaker 2: Munt and EJ Jenkins. And maybe it just kind of
- 11:01Speaker 2: works itself out. Stowers eventually is able to get up
- 11:05Speaker 2: to speed enough where he might be able to help
- 11:07Speaker 2: the Eagles in some capacity. But I think right now
- 11:10Speaker 2: when you assess the roster, tight end is probably the
- 11:13Speaker 2: biggest question mark going into the 2026 season.
- 11:17Speaker 1: Let's flip things over to the defensive.
- 11:19Speaker 2: Side, where I look at that group, and they're really
- 11:23Speaker 2: strong at essentially every level except cornerback depth. The top three,
- 11:31Speaker 2: Cooper Dejean, Quinion Mitchell, and Reek Wollin, rivals any team's
- 11:37Speaker 2: top three corners. I feel pretty comfortable saying that. That's
- 11:40Speaker 2: not something that should be perceived as an outlandish statement.
- 11:45Speaker 1: But.
- 11:47Speaker 2: Beyond those players, there's a lot of questions, right? You
- 11:52Speaker 2: have Jonathan Jones, who signed as a free agent this offseason,
- 11:55Speaker 2: one-year deal. I thought he played well with Washington last season,
- 11:58Speaker 2: but he did have a hamstring injury. He played in
- 12:00Speaker 2: 12 games, I believe, and he's going to be 33
- 12:04Speaker 2: in September.
- 12:04Speaker 1: That's 33 in NFL years.
- 12:07Speaker 2: How confident can you be, if you're the Eagles, that
- 12:10Speaker 2: he's going to be able to stay healthy? He missed
- 12:14Speaker 2: a lot of training camp with a shoulder injury. And
- 12:18Speaker 2: he's a really important component to this cornerback landscape this
- 12:22Speaker 2: season because he can essentially play anywhere in the secondary.
- 12:27Speaker 1: He's played in playoff games.
- 12:28Speaker 2: He's started a lot of games in this league. He's
- 12:30Speaker 2: been in different systems. But he's also a year older now.
- 12:34Speaker 2: And he missed a lot of valuable time. And he
- 12:36Speaker 2: wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire when he was
- 12:39Speaker 2: participating in practice.
- 12:41Speaker 1: That is.
- 12:43Speaker 2: sort of a glue guy in this cornerback room. And
- 12:46Speaker 2: he comes with questions. Then you have other players like
- 12:51Speaker 2: Keely Ringo and Mac McWilliams. Now, Keely Ringo is exceptional
- 12:56Speaker 2: on special teams. One of the best gunners in the NFL.
- 12:59Speaker 2: He's a core special teamer. He's going to be among
- 13:02Speaker 2: the top three snap getters on special teams this year.
- 13:06Speaker 2: Michael Clay has a lot of trust in him and confidence.
- 13:10Speaker 2: And there's no question there. But what Vic Fangio has
- 13:14Speaker 2: shown you over the past couple of years, really last season,
- 13:19Speaker 2: is that he's going to be, he's hesitant to put
- 13:23Speaker 2: Keeley out there. The Eagles have given Keeley Ringo a
- 13:26Speaker 2: lot of chances to play corner, but it seems like
- 13:30Speaker 2: that is sort of the last line of defense. They
- 13:32Speaker 2: would like to find another option and not put him
- 13:35Speaker 2: out there because of vulnerability out there and he's grabby
- 13:41Speaker 2: and he just hasn't been able to put it together
- 13:44Speaker 2: and that's someone that I felt comfortable saying he was
- 13:47Speaker 2: going to be on the roster for the special team's
- 13:49Speaker 2: purpose but as a corner I just don't see it
- 13:53Speaker 2: with him and I know that he's young and young
- 13:56Speaker 2: players in my book always deserve the benefit of the
- 13:59Speaker 2: doubt certainly on a team like the Eagles that prioritize
- 14:02Speaker 2: player development, but he's been around for a while now
- 14:04Speaker 2: and he really hasn't been able to turn that corner,
- 14:07Speaker 2: but he's on the roster.
- 14:09Speaker 1: I still think he's, he's probably the sixth corner here, but.
- 14:12Speaker 2: Then you have Mack McWilliams and Mack McWilliams is someone
- 14:15Speaker 2: that I thought he did better in training camp than
- 14:18Speaker 2: he did in the preseason games. It seemed like quarterbacks
- 14:20Speaker 2: were picking on him whenever he was out there. He
- 14:23Speaker 2: was generally in position, but he gave up the catch
- 14:27Speaker 2: and made the tackle. He wasn't as aggressive as he
- 14:30Speaker 2: had been in training camp, where it looked like he
- 14:33Speaker 2: was a player that was building confidence with each rep,
- 14:36Speaker 2: more comfortable in the system. I like the versatility that
- 14:39Speaker 2: he brings. He can play nickel and he can play outside.
- 14:43Speaker 2: He is a smart player. I learned that from talking
- 14:46Speaker 2: to him last season in my weekly conversations for the
- 14:50Speaker 2: Rookie Diary. But if you're basing it off of the
- 14:54Speaker 2: preseason and if that's any indication, if he is ever
- 14:58Speaker 2: pressed into service, quarterbacks are going to look his way
- 15:03Speaker 2: and target him and pepper his side of the field.
- 15:06Speaker 2: I didn't see enough in a game situation to suggest
- 15:08Speaker 2: that he's ready for prime time. And he also isn't
- 15:13Speaker 2: a effective special teams player. He played just 25 ish snaps.
- 15:18Speaker 2: I believe last year, not the biggest guy in the world.
- 15:21Speaker 2: It's not uncommon for, some players not to be able
- 15:24Speaker 2: to transition to special teams. I think of Eli Ricks,
- 15:27Speaker 2: who was a depth corner, but put a lot of
- 15:31Speaker 2: effort into special teams, but it's not for everybody. Not
- 15:34Speaker 2: everybody has a skill set that translates to that, and
- 15:37Speaker 2: it's hard for me to explain. Michael Clay could certainly
- 15:40Speaker 2: do it better than I can, but then you have
- 15:43Speaker 2: to ask yourself, well, what do you do with Mac McWilliams?
- 15:46Speaker 2: The versatility is great, but if you don't necessarily.
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- 16:51Speaker 2: See, if you don't see the the growth, if you
- 16:56Speaker 2: don't think that he's going to, if you can't put
- 16:58Speaker 2: him out there and he's not going to surrender completions
- 17:04Speaker 2: or be someone that sticks out, I mean, it's kind
- 17:08Speaker 2: of hard to justify the roster spot. And so we
- 17:14Speaker 2: talked about EJ Jenkins, if they were to make a
- 17:16Speaker 2: move at tight end, I think if they were to
- 17:18Speaker 2: make a move at corner, I feel pretty comfortable saying
- 17:22Speaker 2: that I just don't think that I think Mack would
- 17:24Speaker 2: be the odd man out.
- 17:25Speaker 1: In that situation.
- 17:26Speaker 2: So as we've seen in past years, the reason why
- 17:29Speaker 2: I feel compelled to do this podcast on this topic
- 17:33Speaker 2: is because the Eagles have had to rely on depth
- 17:35Speaker 2: in recent years. And with the case of Dallas Goddard,
- 17:39Speaker 2: he does have an extensive injury history. That is not
- 17:41Speaker 2: something that you're just pulling out of thin air. It's
- 17:44Speaker 2: something that you want to start to think about and
- 17:47Speaker 2: get the wheels turning.
- 17:49Speaker 1: And recognize this.
- 17:50Speaker 2: And I think that that probably, more so than corner,
- 17:54Speaker 2: is the bigger question.
- 17:56Speaker 1: But depth at corner is absolutely.
- 17:58Speaker 2: A question, especially when you saw a lot of the
- 18:01Speaker 2: reserves go in there in the games and no one
- 18:03Speaker 2: really separated themselves in training camp. None of the reserve
- 18:07Speaker 2: cornerbacks really separated themselves. Maybe Tariq Castro fields for a
- 18:11Speaker 2: short time. But no one made it obvious. And sometimes
- 18:15Speaker 2: Vic Fangio said last year, I think, maybe the year before,
- 18:19Speaker 2: that you hope that the players make it obvious in
- 18:21Speaker 2: terms of separating and rising above, you know, sort of
- 18:24Speaker 2: the heap of players vying for certain roles.
- 18:26Speaker 1: And no one really did that.
- 18:28Speaker 2: You have to get down to 53. And I think
- 18:31Speaker 2: in that case, you sort of default to the draft
- 18:33Speaker 2: pick in McWilliams and the special teams player in Keely Ringo,
- 18:37Speaker 2: who isn't just a special teams player. He's a great
- 18:39Speaker 2: special teams player. But there weren't really any other viable
- 18:44Speaker 2: options there. Ambry Thomas struggled in training camp. Tariq Castrofields
- 18:48Speaker 2: got hurt. And, you know, there's some other guys. Sean
- 18:52Speaker 2: Wade forced three fumbles, but I thought that he was
- 18:56Speaker 2: someone that looked a little, had some lapses in coverage,
- 19:00Speaker 2: and he's a veteran guy. So maybe somewhere down the line,
- 19:03Speaker 2: they revisit that and maybe get him on the practice squad.
- 19:05Speaker 2: But you understand my point here. I'm, I'm illustrating, I'm
- 19:09Speaker 2: trying to illustrate that there weren't a lot of, there
- 19:13Speaker 2: weren't a lot of strong moments, at least from my view,
- 19:16Speaker 2: from the depth corners. And that could end up being
- 19:19Speaker 2: an issue at some point this season.
- 19:20Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 19:21Speaker 2: I mean, if you're the Eagles, I mean, you're obviously
- 19:23Speaker 2: hoping that all three of your big names atop the
- 19:26Speaker 2: depth charts stay healthy.
- 19:27Speaker 1: But this is the NFL. It's a long season.
- 19:29Speaker 2: There's a lot of wear and tear, and that isn't
- 19:31Speaker 2: always the case. So that's why I've talked a lot
- 19:34Speaker 2: about this in the offseason, that Jonathan Jones is so key.
- 19:38Speaker 2: And when they signed him, I mentioned that I thought
- 19:40Speaker 2: that that was one of the more underrated signings for
- 19:42Speaker 2: what it represents. But he comes with a lot of questions,
- 19:46Speaker 2: and I think durability is going to be the biggest one,
- 19:49Speaker 2: I understand. why they kept him. You don't just want
- 19:51Speaker 2: to have an agreement and get him on the practice squad.
- 19:54Speaker 2: You want to make sure that you have that option.
- 19:56Speaker 2: There's no guarantee that a veteran player wants to join
- 19:59Speaker 2: the practice squad. Sometimes you have to convince a player
- 20:02Speaker 2: to do that, certainly one with that kind of experience.
- 20:05Speaker 2: And this is where the Eagles are at that position.
- 20:08Speaker 2: So if they are to do any kind of back
- 20:11Speaker 2: end of the roster tinkering or at a tight end,
- 20:14Speaker 2: I would look at, EJ Jenkins or maybe Mack McWilliams
- 20:20Speaker 2: as maybe those two players. That's just the way that
- 20:24Speaker 2: I read the roster right now. It's hard to ever
- 20:27Speaker 2: know where they rank in terms of the 53, whether
- 20:30Speaker 2: they're players 52, 53, 51.
- 20:31Speaker 1: I don't know.
- 20:33Speaker 2: But those are two positions that I think if you're
- 20:36Speaker 2: the Eagles and you're looking to upgrade and if you
- 20:38Speaker 2: think the roster may look a little bit different, come
- 20:42Speaker 2: September 13th, those are two positions. I think they're, they're
- 20:45Speaker 2: pretty comfortable. And Howie Roseman said this in April of
- 20:50Speaker 2: keeping four quarterbacks. And when you're saying that in April,
- 20:53Speaker 2: it's like, okay, there's a ways to go here. I
- 20:56Speaker 2: expect you to say that, but as the summer wore
- 20:58Speaker 2: on and as, you know, cut towns have come and went,
- 21:03Speaker 2: you know, I think that there's a realistic possibility that
- 21:07Speaker 2: they entered the season with four quarterbacks there. And, I mean,
- 21:10Speaker 2: there's always the option of a team offering, you know,
- 21:14Speaker 2: proposing a trade. But I don't know that Andy Dalton
- 21:17Speaker 2: or Tanner McKee really did enough to warrant a team
- 21:21Speaker 2: to want to seek them out in a trade. So
- 21:24Speaker 2: I think that because of that, you have to make
- 21:30Speaker 2: some tough decisions. And because of that, you're not able
- 21:33Speaker 2: to keep maybe other players that you like.
- 21:36Speaker 1: So.
- 21:39Speaker 1: We'll see how it goes.
- 21:40Speaker 2: I think right now it's hard to ever look at
- 21:43Speaker 2: the roster as a finished product. Howie Roseman, if he's
- 21:47Speaker 2: taught you anything, he's taught you to never assume.
- 21:49Speaker 1: Anything with him at the helm.
- 21:52Speaker 2: And I kind of just wanted to take a big
- 21:53Speaker 2: picture view, zoom out a little bit, look at the roster,
- 21:56Speaker 2: and just kind of offer my perspective on a position
- 21:59Speaker 2: on each side of the ball that I think the
- 22:01Speaker 2: Eagles are a little thin, and if they were to
- 22:03Speaker 2: make an upgrade or seek one, those would be the
- 22:05Speaker 2: two that I would imagine that they would have interest in.
- 22:09Speaker 2: That's going to do it for this episode of the
- 22:11Speaker 2: Checo Daily. I'm Andrew DiCecco, and I will catch you
- 22:14Speaker 2: all on the next one.