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The DiCecco Daily: Who's Squarely On The Bubble Entering Eagles Camp? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's happened to everybody? How are you feeling out there?
• 0:11
  This is Andrew Dichecko bringing you another edition of the
• 0:14
  Checko Daily. We're going to do a two part series
• 0:18
  and the first part of it is going to be
• 0:20
  offensive players who I perceive to be on the bubble
• 0:25
  as we enter training camp, which first practice again begins
• 0:29
  Wednesday for the Philadelphia Eagles. Okay, so let's look at
• 0:33
  the offense here, and the first player who comes to
• 0:36
  mind is running back AJ Dillon.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: So.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: AJ Dillon was signed to the free agent to a
• 0:43
  one year proven deal, and he's been remarkably productive in
• 0:46
  his career, rushing over six hundred yards three times, so
• 0:51
  he obviously has a sustained track record of production. He
• 0:55
  adds experience to the backfield behind Saquon Barkleer. Remember will Ship,
• 1:00
  the projected number two running back.
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Is somebody.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: He always played sixty five snaps during the regular season
• 1:09
  as a running back. He was obviously integral to the
• 1:12
  Eagles special teams, but he's very inexperienced in terms of
• 1:18
  being able to get actual game reps at that position.
• 1:21
  That's where AJ Dillon potentially comes in. So you like
• 1:24
  the size that he brings. He's a tough, rugged, downhill runner.
• 1:29
  Doesn't offer anything you know, in terms of stretch plays
• 1:33
  or home run hitting ability.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: That's not his game.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: But if everything works out perfectly for the Eagles aj Dillon,
• 1:40
  I could see him being a closer. And also if
• 1:44
  sa Quon Barki were for to some reason miss time,
• 1:47
  or even if the Eagles get a pretty sizable lead
• 1:50
  in games, or even if they get off to a
• 1:55
  fast start this season and compile a lot of wins
• 1:58
  where the last game or two the season you want
• 2:01
  to kind of rest Saquon Barkie.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: Well, that's where aj Dillon, who can handle.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Eighteen to twenty carries a game and has that big
• 2:07
  body able to kind of withstand those touches in that workload.
• 2:12
  That's where I could see him coming into play.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: Now.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: The question that I have and the reason why I
• 2:16
  believe he's on the bubble is because he missed all
• 2:19
  of the twenty.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Twenty four season with a neck injury.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: Obviously serious and it's a serious injury and one that
• 2:26
  we won't really.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Know where he's at in terms of his.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: Health status because we have to see how he's going
• 2:34
  to be able to handle contact in training camp, and
• 2:37
  that's one of the many things I'll be keeping an
• 2:39
  eye on. Also, there could be some rust there as well.
• 2:42
  Now you could also tell yourself or ask yourself, well,
• 2:45
  who else would they have behind Saquon Barkley and Willshipley
• 2:48
  if not AJ doing that's a bad way to think
• 2:51
  because you can't just keep a player because you don't
• 2:54
  have much behind the top two guys. Because he has
• 2:57
  name value, he's going to have to earn the spot.
• 3:00
  I view him as somebody who will make the roster
• 3:02
  if he's able to showcase some of the AJ Dillon
• 3:05
  of old. But he is on the bubble because he
• 3:08
  has to go out there and prove it first.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: It's not a lock.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: It's not somebody that you want to write his name
• 3:13
  in pen when you're compiling your fifty three man roster projections.
• 3:18
  Let's take a look at the offensive line, because there's
• 3:22
  a player there in Kenyon Green, who the Eagles acquired
• 3:25
  into trade. Obviously, the famous trade in the offseason that
• 3:28
  sent CJ. Gardner Johnson to Houston, the Eagles got Kenyon
• 3:31
  Green in return.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Now, Kenyon Green is a He's.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: A former first round pick twenty twenty two, taken fifteenth
• 3:39
  overall by the Houston Texans. Appeared in twenty seven games
• 3:42
  started twenty three. Never really lived up to the expectations
• 3:47
  of a first round pick. Was often graded out as
• 3:50
  one of the worst or lowest performing player that his
• 3:53
  position in the NFL. But perhaps a change of scenery
• 3:57
  will do him well because he has all the ability.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: He's twenty four years old.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Maybe a year at Stotland University or even a summer
• 4:05
  at Stotland University is enough to kind of rectify his
• 4:08
  career and refine some of his skills and have him
• 4:11
  become more of a consistent player and more technically proficient.
• 4:15
  But again, kind of like AJ Dillon, there's a lot
• 4:19
  of questions, but they're different for ken Yon Green because
• 4:22
  you go back to his past history in Houston and
• 4:25
  he hasn't looked like the player that we all or
• 4:28
  many envisioned him to be when he was coming out
• 4:30
  that year in the draft. And it feels like if
• 4:34
  he's not able to figure it out or become a
• 4:37
  more consistent player or develop under Jeff Stoutland, we have
• 4:41
  to wonder where he will in fact grow.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: And develop and really hone those skills.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: There's no better place for him to do that than
• 4:48
  Philadelphia with the NFL's best.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Offensive line coach.
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  Speaker 1: But he's on the bubble because you can't consider him
• 4:55
  a lot to make the team.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of competition there right There's.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Veterans like Matt Pryor who played over one thousand snaps
• 5:01
  last season at right guard for the Bears. Kendall Lamb
• 5:04
  as the swing tackle. There's Trevor Keegan who was a
• 5:07
  fifth round pick last season from Michigan and played one
• 5:10
  game last season. So Darren Kennard also he can play
• 5:15
  right tackle, he can play right guard. So there's gonna
• 5:17
  be a lot of competition at that position. So Kenyon
• 5:22
  Green's gonna have to show up and perform, and he's
• 5:25
  gonna have to battle for a roster spot because I
• 5:28
  view it as the top guard challenging Tyler Stein at
• 5:32
  right guard for the starting spot is Matt Pryor. Whoever
• 5:35
  loses that will prim presumably be the reserve guard on
• 5:40
  game day. So it's a crowded house and you can
• 5:43
  quickly see why I have Kenyon Green on the bubble.
• 5:47
  Just because he was acquired in that trade doesn't necessarily
• 5:49
  mean that he's a slam dunk to make the fifty
• 5:52
  three man roster. Obviously, the next couple of months or
• 5:55
  the next six weeks or so should go a long
• 5:58
  way in determining where he is terms of his career.
• 6:03
  The last player I want to talk about today is
• 6:05
  at the tight end position. The Eagles signed two tight
• 6:08
  ends in free agency, Harrison Bryant and they signed Kylon Granson.
• 6:12
  So Kylon Grandson was a fourth round pick of the
• 6:15
  Colts a few years ago, and I believe he has
• 6:19
  north of eighty five career catches. He's more built in
• 6:22
  the mold of an h back, and I think he
• 6:24
  can help you on special teams. So he does provide
• 6:27
  some multi value there. But there's a lot of competition
• 6:31
  here for a position that may or may not even
• 6:33
  exist behind Dallas Goddard. And I'm assuming that Grant Calkatra
• 6:37
  is going to be the number two tight end for
• 6:38
  the Philadelphia Eagles. The continuity is there. He's continuing to
• 6:42
  They've invested time in development, and I do believe that
• 6:46
  he offers a good compliment to Goddard in terms of
• 6:49
  the receiving element. He's purely a receiver where Goddard is
• 6:52
  the obviously well rounded, most well rounded and best blocking
• 6:57
  tight end on the Eagles. Grant calca Terra doesn't give
• 6:59
  you much as a blocker, though he is willing. I
• 7:01
  think you can feel pretty confident that.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: He'll be the two.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: If anyone were to push Grant Cocketterry, that probably would
• 7:08
  be Harrison Bryant. But again we have to see who
• 7:12
  rises to the top there when the pads come on.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: It's easy to look.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: It's not easy, but it's one thing to look a
• 7:19
  certain way in OTAs when it's really a passing camp.
• 7:23
  But when the cat pads come on, you get a
• 7:25
  better sense of where that player is and where they
• 7:27
  lie on the depth chart in the pecking order. But
• 7:31
  Kylon Granson is in a crowded house, so he's going
• 7:34
  to be in contention with Harrison Bryant, whom I mentioned EJ. Jenkins,
• 7:38
  who played in eight games for the Eagles, all postseason
• 7:41
  contests and the Super Bowl. So Kylon Grantson obviously there
• 7:46
  is a little bit of intrigue. There's, as I mentioned before,
• 7:49
  you can probably get creative and how you use him
• 7:51
  because he's built in the mold of an h back
• 7:53
  and moves pretty well and can kind of get vertical
• 7:56
  if you need him to.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: But if it comes down to.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: If you're starting to crunch numbers and it's gonna come
• 8:04
  down to Kylon Grandson or a third tight end, let's say,
• 8:08
  or an extra defensive tackle, that's where I think you
• 8:13
  can make a case for the Eagles always going to
• 8:15
  and then elevating a tight end from the practice squad
• 8:18
  if he'd be because they had a lot.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Of success in doing so.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: But I don't view at least right now, Granson above
• 8:26
  Harris and Bryant Nor.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: Well, he's kind of on par there with e. J. Jenkins.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: Obviously Granson has a lot more experience, but I would
• 8:32
  argue that E. J. Jenkins is the second best blocking
• 8:35
  tight end on the Eagles. Nevertheless, he's on the bubble
• 8:39
  because he isn't assured a roster spot and he's going
• 8:41
  to have to battle and he's in contention with a
• 8:43
  couple of other players.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: But we'll see. This is what makes training.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Camp so much fun because there's a lot of players
• 8:49
  vying for roster spots, vying for roles, and the next
• 8:53
  six weeks or so are going to determine just that well,
• 8:58
  this has been another edition of The Check Daily.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Decheco signing off
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: M HM.