Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: More On The OT Fred Johnson Re-Signing, Addition Of WR Elijah Moore

Transcript

The DiCecco Daily: More On The OT Fred Johnson Re-Signing, Addition Of WR Elijah Moore · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's going on? Everyone?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of The check O Daily. Andrew
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Dicheco here, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds dot Com, and
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: the Eagles had a pretty active Tuesday evening. They sign
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: a pair of free agents to one year deals, the
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: first of which.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Was one of their own.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: That's right, tackle Fred Johnson is back after testing the
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: free agent waters for a second consecutive offseason. Look, I thought,
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: and I've said this on this podcast, that I believe
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: that Fred was going to get a starting job somewhere
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: or at least have the opportunity to challenge for a
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: starting job. Knowing the quality of offensive line play around
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: the NFL, Knowing that Fred Johnson have started fourteen games
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles over the past two seasons, I thought
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: it would make sense for a team to give him
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: an opportunity to can pete with another player to be
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: a starting tackle in the league because I do believe
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: that Fred at times has performed like a starting caliber tackle.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Now there's different levels to that, obviously, but let's back
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: up a second. Because Fred Johnson arrived to the Eagles
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: sort of as a journeyman player that.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Was sort of on his way out of the league.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: You know those type of players that are hanging around
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: on the back end of a fifty three man roster
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: or on a practice squad.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: They've bounced around. And then he met.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: Jeff Stoutlin, and Jeff Stoutlin worked relentlessly with Fred Johnson
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: to the point of where early on Fred's like, all right, man,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: I get it, but he understood. In different interviews later
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: he shared this that Jeff Stallen was pushing him to
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: be the best that he could be, and you see
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: him be able to reap the benefits where he's able
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: to be plugged in at a moment's notice at either
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: tackle spot. In twenty twenty four, Fred Johnson had to
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: play left tackle quite a bit in place of injured
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Jordan Malatta. In twenty twenty five, he had to play
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: right tackle. He started eight games in the regular season
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: for the Eagles, the final eight games, and then he
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: had to start the postseason game because Lane Johnson had
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: the list Frank injury that he suffered against the Detroit
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Lions in that game in November. And look, the Eagles
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: clearly valued Fred Johnson. He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: the offseason right after the Super Bowl, and after sort
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: of evaluating the players that they had in training camp,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: it clearly wasn't enough. They had Kendall Lamb who didn't
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: perform to standard. They had Matt Pryor, who didn't perform
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: the standard and standard in which the Eagles believe that
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: they would play to when they signed them. And then
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: late in the off late in the summer, the Eagles
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: executed trade for Fred Johnson, bringing him from Jacksonville back
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: to Philadelphia, and he slotted in immediately as the swing tackle,
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: and you see the value that he presents. I'm not
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: trying to oversell this and say that he is the
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: best backup offensive lineman in the NFL, but he's up there.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: He's pretty good.
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: I've seen enough of Fred Johnson over the past couple
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: of years that the Eagles are certainly better with him
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: than without him.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: I can say that pretty definitively.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: And I thought that he performed relatively fine in his
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: eight starts were really nine starts last season. That's what
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: you expect a backup, or a high end backup to
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: perform to. There were blimps blimps on the radar, and
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: I think that that should be expected when you're assessing
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: a backup player and other than that. Aside from that,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I thought he performed better this time than he did
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four, where he gave up over a
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: half dollar and sacks to my recollection. But you also
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: look at the Eagles tackle depth and it's really youthful
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: with twenty twenty five draftees Cameron Williams, Miles Hinton and
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Fred Johnson. Gives you some experience there. I don't necessarily
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: think it has to do with draft proofing the roster
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: because it shouldn't in any way impact the Eagles draft plans.
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: They still need to find a successor to Lane Johnson.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: But Fred Johnson coming back, He's going to be twenty
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: nine years old in June. That gives them a lot
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: more depth and flexibility. And I'm really surprised that no
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: team was willing to offer him a one year deal
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: to compete for a starting job, because that's what Fred wanted.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: That's what he wanted last offseason and he didn't get that.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: But he returns, he gets the next best option, and
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: he returns back to a place that values him, that
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: has a clear cut and define role for him.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: And I think that while a lot.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Of his successes have been all of his successes have
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: been under Jeff Stoutland, he gets now a clean slate
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: to work with Chris Cooper, and maybe he's able to
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: tap into another facet of his game and get the most.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Out of him.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I know that, all things being equal, if you're an
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: Eagles fan listening, you would like to not see Fred
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: Johnson at all next season, because that would mean that
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: you have a healthy offensive line of healthy Jordan my
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Lot in lane Johnson. But even on game day, I
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: can't emphasize how important it is to have a dependable
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: swing tackle that you can call upon and understands the scheme,
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: is confident, isn't going to shrink in the moment, and
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: also has a lot of chemistry playing with the players
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: beside him. There's something to be said for that. He
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: played a career high six hundred and twenty six snaps
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: last season, so you're not going to find many backup
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: tackles with as much experience. I thought that Fred Johnson
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: be gone, and that's why when I wrote a free
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: agent preview and I listed four or five free agents,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: I listed Justin's school of the Minnesota Vikings, knowing that
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: he had crossover with Sean Mannion and Chris Cooper, not
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: Sean Manny and Chris Cooper the offensive line coach for
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: a year. It would seemingly make sense to roll the
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: dice on a player like that who is also a veteran,
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: not great length at six six or anything like that,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: but experienced, and the Eagles are ending up coming out
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: on top there and they get their own guy back.
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Though I'm sure it wasn't exactly what Fred Johnson wanted,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: because every player wants to be a starter, and honestly,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: I think he's proven enough to be a starter, but
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: it obviously will not be in Philadelphia. The other signing
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: is a fascinating one in its own right, because the
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: Eagles signed wide receiver Elijah Moore from You may remember
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: them from the Jets, where he was drafted thirty fifth
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: overall in twenty twenty one, spent two years there, was
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: then traded to the Cleveland Browns. He spent a couple
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: of years there. He was with the Buffalo Bills part
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: of last season, finished last season on the Denver Broncos
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: practice squad, and then he was elevated for the Divisional round.
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Didn't suit up for that game and was elevated for
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: the AFC Championship game. He did play in that game,
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: and so this is a player who's played in seventy
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: regular season games forty two starts. I liked him quite
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: a bit coming out of Ole Miss, And interestingly enough,
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Elijah Moore and aj Brown overlapped in twenty eighteen at
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: Ole Miss, and they are very close friends. So one
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: would think on the surface that that probably had a
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: lot to do with the signing to maybe entice Aja
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: to stay, or to give him one of his friends
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: who he can fall back on when times get a
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: little frustrating or challenging here in Philadelphia. There's all those
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: different dynamics that that signing would seemingly represent on its face,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: but for me, I don't necessarily view it that way.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: I view it in the sense that the Eagles will
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: always leave no stone unturned when it comes to filling
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: out the roster if there's somebody who has upside who
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: they perceive to have untapped potential. Elijah Moore turns twenty
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: six soon, so he doesn't have a lot of mileage.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: He's still a young player.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: He was his former second round pick, and he offers
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: a different type of skill set than any of the
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: receivers that they currently have. So yes, a one year
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: deal would make a lot of sense. I don't know
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: that you can also view it and say they did
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: that with Aja Mine because Elijah Moore is no lock
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: to make the roster. He doesn't play special teams. He
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: is going to already be behind aj Brown, DeVante Smith,
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Hollywood break that fourth or fifth receiver on game day
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: has to play special teams. If he doesn't do that,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: you really limit his impact and they could draft a
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: receiver in the NFL Draft the next month, which would
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: obviously cloud his picture even further. But I like the player.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: You always have to look at circumstances. And he began
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: with the Jets the Cleveland Browns. From there he never
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: saw a ton of volume. In fact, I think he
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: just had. He had forty catches his first year, forty
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: catches in his second year with the Jets, and never
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: really had the breakout campaign. But what I do like
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: about Elijah Moore is that he is a prototypical inside receiver,
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: doesn't have tremendous size, He's a little diminutive and good
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: shout area quickness, good route runner knows how to get
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: open and is effective after the catch. I think he's
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: more effective in these short to intermediate levels. But that's
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: a different type of play than the Eagles have on
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: their roster. So you like the maybe the merging of
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: all the different skill sets and maybe you have a
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: more diverse receiving corps.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Hey, Philly fans, game day is stressful enough. Parking traffic,
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: long lines, We've all been there, But when it comes
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: to your cannabis, Camden Apothecary makes it easy. This is
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: the dispensary for sports fans, just minutes outside of Philly,
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: with plenty of free parking. You'll be in and out fast,
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: no hassle, no waiting, and they don't just care about convenience.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: Camden Apothecary is all about the guest experience. Their staff
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: makes sure you feel taken care of every time you
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: walk in. Plus, they carry only the best quality cannabis
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: at the fairest prices, so whether you're stocking up for
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: the tailgate, the watch party, or celebrating a big win,
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: you know you're getting the good stuff without overpaying. They
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: even show love to the community with specials for fans, students,
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: service members, and healthcare pros Cam the inn Apothecary, top
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: quality cannabis, great prices, and an experience made for Philly
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: fans twenty one and up.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Hey.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: If you're like me, you're desensitized to the dozens of
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: notifications on your phone every day. But if that latest
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: ping is from your security camera, ignoring it could spell disaster.
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: Picture this, someone's breaking into your home, but you're giving
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: a huge presentation at work, or you're at the movies,
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: or you're thirty thousand feet in the sky on a flight.
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: You'll see the footage in a couple hours, but by
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: then it's too late. That's why I choose Simply Safe.
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: Simply Safe is a customizable whole home security system backed
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: by twenty four to seven monitoring agents. I can rely
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: on to act even when I can't. I use Simply Safe,
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: and you should too. Listen traditional security alarm systems they
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: only act after someone has already broken in, but that's
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: too late. Simply Safe's active guard outdoor protection can help
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: prevent break ins before they happen. While other security companies
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: lock you in, Simply Safe come with no long term
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: contract that earned your trust every day, keeping you safe
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: and satisfied. And look, I'm not the only one. Simply
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: Safe protects over four million people. They got twenty years
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: of experience in home security, and we're just named best
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: home security system of twenty twenty six by US News
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: and World Report. Right now, our listeners can get fifty
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: percent off their new Simply Safe systems. That's simplysafe. Dot
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: Com slash birds, that's simplysafe dot Com slash birds. There's
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: no safe like simply Safe.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Those are players that you will always if you're the
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Eagles take a shout on, especially with Howie Roseman as
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: general manager. So they're now somewhat crowded a wide receiver
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: because Elijah Moore beyond AJ Brown, DeVante Smith joins of
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: receiving corps that already includes Hollywood Brown, Johnny Wilson, Britton Covey,
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Qus Watkins, Darius Cooper.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: And Danny Gray.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: And I wouldn't roll out the Eagles drafting receiver as well, which,
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: as I mentioned, would certainly cloud the picture for some
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: of these players. But I can't emphasize this enough, folks.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: When you're a fourth or fifth receiver and you're active
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: on game day, being able to contribute on special teams
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: is an essential function of your role, and it's essential
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: function of every backup player if you're going to be
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: active on game day, because you have to be able
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: to provide returns in the third phase. And I believe
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: he's played less than twenty snaps in his career when
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: it comes to special teams. So certainly not a lock
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: to make the roster, but I am intrigued with the signing.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: We'll see if the Eagles are able to get the
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: most out of him. Everyone likes to talk about Aaron Moorehead,
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: the wide receivers coach, and his lack of a longstanding
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: history of developing players. I pointed to Darius Cooper, who
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: made the Eagles roster as a rookie free agent out
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: of Tarlatan State. If he's able to sort of revive
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: the career of an Elijah Moore, that might quiet some
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: of the noise surrounding Aaron Moorehead. And I think that's
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: totally overblown. I've always thought that I think a lot
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: of a lot of the criticism that coaches take, especially
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: position coaches where you maybe don't have the complete picture,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: is always a little bit overblown. And I think Aaron
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: Moore has a fine wide receivers coach, and he now
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: will have a couple of pieces to mold, and they
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: could also be feathers in his cap if he's able
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: to get them to play at the level that they
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: were expected to play when they were drafted or at
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: various points in their career and for whatever reason, they
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: weren't consistent enough. This now gives him that opportunity to
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: shape a Hollywood Brown. And I would say to a
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: lesser degree, but Elijah Moore is a player that has
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: the Eagles are his fifteen. There's a reason why he's
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: bounced around. If you're that immensely talented, or you've flashed,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: or you've given them a reason to keep you around,
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: you're obviously not going to be moving from city to city.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: But I am very intrigued to see what he can
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: do in this offense, how they might use him. He
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: also it's also worth mentioning that he had twenty six
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: rushing attempts in his career and two touchdowns. That's over
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: a handful of seasons. I mentioned he entered the NFL
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one, so it's not like it happened
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: just last year. But it is an element of his
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: game that he could potentially provide. And we'll see if
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Sean Mannion has any creative plans for Elijah Moore as
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: the Eagles look to continue to balance and build out
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: the depth at the wide receiver position. So that's the
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: latest on the Eagles two free agent signings. They keep
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: one of their own and they go externally to boaster
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: the wide receiver depth. We'll see if Elijah Moore has
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: staying power. You already know where Fred Johnson lands in
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: terms of the depth chart and where his role will be.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: Next season for the Eagles. If the line is healthy.
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: You know it'll be if he has to step in
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: and he can do it capably. But for now, that's
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: going to do it for this episode of The Checko Daily.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Dcheco and we'll catch you all on the
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: next one.