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Digesting the NFL And Eagles Draft (PST Episode 512) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:24
All right, everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
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the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. That's right,
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ten years strong. Loved celebrating that ten year anniversary in the month of April
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this past year. Nobody's been doing it longer in the world Philly sports than
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the PST podcast show. We love having that on our mantle for sure.
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For shure, I'm Jeff Warren and I am flying solo. This week,
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we got a couple of great interviews coming your way. Yes, we are
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going to be focusing on the NFL Professional Football the Eagles draft as well.
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And yes, I know we've been doing a lot of football talking, a
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lot of NFL draft analysis on this podcast platform over the course of the past
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few episodes. And the reason why, folks, is because football is gonna
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kind of kind of I always say, go away necessarily for a bit,
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but it's gonna be the lull time when it comes to the NFL. When
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it comes to of course, I mean, the draft is over now,
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we're not going to be talking about draft prospects. We're not going to be
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getting into you know, who we're looking at for the Eagles to draft,
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because we've got our guys. The twenty twenty three Eagles Draft was something else.
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We're certainly going to be getting into it on this show. Like I
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said, you know, on our table talk show this past week, we
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talked to Evan Winner from A to Z Sports out of Nashville about the draft
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overall and what we saw from specific teams around the league is we're kind of
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digesting some of this new talent that's going to be coming into the league.
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And also I wanted to bring on a new guest this week, which we're
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going to be hearing from David Drogemeyer from the Lockdown Chargers podcast, not only
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to talk about like the Los Angeles Chargers, but just about where specific aspects
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of the NFL are heading. We've got that great interview coming your way in
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just a bit, and then to get into the Eagles draft. Man got
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one of my favorites. I love Shane Half at Shane Half NFL on Twitter
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and YouTube. He is a fantastic follow on the interwebs because of his analysis
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and what he gives Eagles fans that really want to dive into the game of
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football. What we're seeing from these Eagles players on the field. We're gonna
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be talking to Shane a little later on. It's a fantastic discussion and interview
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talking about the Eagles draft, but also talking about what we may be seeing
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this coming season with regard to certain aspects of the offense and the defense as
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well. But first, folks, I would be remissed if we did not
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touch on, we have to touch on the fact that one Philadelphia seventy Sixers
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player and center was named the MVP of the National Basketball Association. That's right,
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folks, Joel Embiid was named Most Valuable Player of the two thousand,
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twenty two two twenty three NBA season Tuesday Night here this past week. And
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while the Sixers were busy getting just you know, kind of lost in the
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emotional feels of it all. You know, plenty there are plenty of morons
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out there that rushed to declare him a quote sympathy MVP and trying to take
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away what Joel Embiad did on the court this season. Some of these folks
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and other fan bases. I get it, Yannest didn't win, Yokick didn't
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win. I get it. They've won in the past, folks, They've
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won in the past, and rightfully so, rightfully so, and as we
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know, Joel Embiid has been the runner up countless times over these past few
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seasons. Here you know, he look, he finished runner up to Yokick
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in both two thousand and twenty two twenty one seasons, two twenty one,
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two twenty two season, you know, which perhaps did sway some voters his
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way this year in terms of Joel Embiid, Joel Embiad finished with seventy three
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of the one hundred first place votes, while Yoki had fifteen. Janis had
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twelve. One of the closest MVP races in years wound up being somewhat of
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a runaway, likely in part because of how Joel Embiid and the seventy Sixers
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kind of, you know, just really closed out the season, by the
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way, and how Yoki's Nuggets closed out the season as well. Let's look
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at some of this, Okay, let's dissect some of this. The Sixers
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had the toughest rest of season schedule coming out of the All Star break,
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but Joel Embiad carried them with a virtuoso month of March. I remember talking
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on this podcast about how tough March was going to be and that we needed
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to get the tissues because we were going to be likely seeing some terrible stuff
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coming from this Sixers team. Based on that schedule, you know, beginning
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with a loss to the Dallas Mavericks and ending with a double overtime loss to
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the Chicago Bulls, Joellenbad had a franchise yeah, Joel embid He had a
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franchise record ten straight thirty plus point performances in that March. There. Sandwich
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between those two losses was an eight game winning streak, starting with a come
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from behind road win against Janis and the Bucks, during which time Joel embiad
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tied Lebron James's all time NBA record with seven straight games of thirty plus points
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on fifty five plus percent shooting. That's pretty astonishing, folks. He also
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hit a game winning jumper over the outstretched arms of Portland Trail Blazer Center.
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You know who had a monster thirty six points in that game eighteen rebound night.
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And then against the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know, against Evan Mobley and
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Jared Allen. You know, look as Joellenbad went on his historic terror yokick
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and the Nuggets, they began to stumble, you know, and that's one
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of the reasons why we kind of saw the MVP finished here, kind of
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play out the way that it did. Yes, I mean recency by I
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may have swung some voters late in the season, but at the end of
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the day, Joe Ellenbiad put up MVP caliber numbers all year. He led
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the league in scoring for the second straight season with thirty It was a thirty
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three point one points per game, making him the first center to do so
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since Bob McAdoo in the mid nineteen seventies. He also shot a career best
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fifty four point eight percent from the field. He shattered his previous record high
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of fifty one point three percent in two two twenty one that season, and
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he added ten point two rebounds, four point two assists, one point seven
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blocks, and one steals in only thirty four point six minutes per game across
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sixty six regular season appearances. That is saying something, folks, It is
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saying something. And yes, we know some of the more analytical minds out
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there that will argue that, oh, you know what, Joe Ellenbiad didn't
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do this when Yokick did this. Yes, you know, Yoki did finish
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ahead of Joe Ellenbiad in a number of you know, catch all advanced metrics
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such as you know, peer wind shares, box plus minuses, and values
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over replacement player. Yes he did. However, at the end of the
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day, you can't take away what Joe Ellenbiad's season meant, not just only
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to his play on the court, but what it meant to the Philadelphia seventy
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six ers as well. That's what MVP is about the most valuable player.
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It's not always about the detailed, very detailed analytics here. You know,
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yes, I'll say this. Embiad's campaigning for MVP in recent years may have
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rubbed some people the wrong way. It may have done that, but that
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shouldn't disqualify him from contention this season. You know. In fact, Janie,
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he made similar comments to what Joe ell Embiad had in the past.
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He made him this year, saying do I want a third MVP? Help
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f And yeah, I want a third one. You know, I'm extremely
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competitive. I try to make my team success full and that's what I get
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paid for, and that's what I'm here for. Yanna said that, and
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you know what, that's okay, that's okay. People can be competitive here,
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but you know, we shouldn't begrudge anyone. I don't think who picked
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Yokick or Jannis over Embiid, but anyone at the end of the day.
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The point here is anyone who's running with the tired sympathy MVP narrative. As
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I kind of mentioned at the beginning of my little monologue here, you're just
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not serious. You're not serious about basketball. You're you're not a serious person
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at all. Joel Embiid was plenty deserving in his own right of this award,
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and at the end of the day, absolutely earned it. He absolutely
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earned it. And if you can't see that again, you're just probably not
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a serious person. All right. So let's get into some more football talk,
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as we've been doing the past couple episodes here at the PST podcast show,
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dissecting and digesting the NFL draft, what it means to certain teams,
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what it has meant to the league in general, and of course we're gonna
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get into some details of the Eagles draft too, really taking a look at
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some of those higher picks to see what type of value they're gonna bring to
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the team and if we have any concerns about them as well. Yeah,
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I mean, could there be concerns with Jalen Carter out there? Absolutely?
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Nolan Smith, Absolutely there are concerns. We're gonna get into them a bit
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later, but before we get to talk in more football. Yes, we
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do have to pay some bills here, so let's take a quick break here
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and we'll be back in just a bit. All right, let's get to
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our first guest this week. He is fantastic. He is on a microphone
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many days of the week. It's his first time here at the Philadelphia Sports
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Table podcast show. I can't wait to talk to him. So let's get
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to it right now and joining us this week. It is great to have
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him from the Locked On Chargers podcast. He's been doing it for five years
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and he is a Trooper, folks. It's his first time here at the
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PST pod Cash show. David Drogmyer, Dave Man, it is great to
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see you. Great to talk to you about the NFL Draft, the NFL
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in general, Los Angeles Chargers. We're gonna be getting into Thanks for jumping
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on here, Dave, appreciate it. Oh, absolutely a pleasure. I
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love talking football. I'm so happy that the draft is now finally over,
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so I can stop watching hours and hours of guys that will never be on
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the team that I actually cover, and now they get to focus on the
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guys that are actually going to be wearing lightning bolts. Absolutely, absolutely,
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great, great time. It's just a great time in the NFL in general.
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After the draft, we're digesting everything that we just saw. You know,
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there's the excitement from the weekend, and now we're kind of coming down
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from it again, able to digest what we have seen with all of our
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teams and throughout the entire league. And real quick, folks, if you
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want to follow Dave on Twitter at Droe Talk SD at Droe Talk SD,
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he's a great, great follow And let's just kind of get into this.
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So I wanted to start with the Los Angeles Chargers, the team that you
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cover. Felt they had a very interesting draft. There's few teams that I've
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been really keeping my eyes on who've had a tremendous upside. Of course,
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heading into two twenty three, I think the Lions are one of them.
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Quite frankly, I think the Panthers are one of those teams, and of
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course the Los Angeles Chargers. Again, a few teams I cannot wait to
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see what they do this coming season to grow as a team within their divisions.
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And with the Chargers, they're a team that I've always had my eye
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on because they play in a very very interesting division for sure, and after
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losing the wildcard game this past year to the Jaguars, I'm sorry to bring
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it up, but really I'm wondering, where do you see this team trending
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here in two twenty three. Yeah, So, I mean I think the
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Chargers are flying under the radar a little bit, and I think I like
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that. After they spent a ton of money in free agency last year,
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there was a ton of expectations that go along with that, and so I
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think for the Chargers this is a good time period. You know, they
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didn't have the same amount of resources, they didn't have the same amount of
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amount of money this offseason, so it was all about trying to get the
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most out of what you already have. And that's why I think the most
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important acquisition for this team wasn't a player at all. It was actually a
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coach and that was the offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore. And the reason why
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that's so important is because it's all about getting the most out of your offense
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and your superstar quarterback, Justin Herbert, And I think there was a common
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theme among Charger fans and analysts alike that just kind of made you feel like
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they didn't get the most out of Justin Herbert. They didn't put them in
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enough situations to allow that you know, just superhuman cannon to be able to
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show itself on more occasions and to be able to attack down the football field.
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I think bringing in Kellen Moore is not only going to help attack down
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the football field, but also improve a unit that was one of the worst
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rushing offensive units in the league as well, despite you know, the incredible
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touchdown numbers that Austin Neckler was able to put up. I think that is
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the most important thing, because right now the offense is so much closer to
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being a dominant unit than the defense. So I appreciate the moves that they've
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made this offseason to get the most out of Justin Herbert. We're gonna get
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to Justin Herbert in a little bit in terms of you know, where that
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contract maybe going with the Chargers at some point in the future. We're definitely
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going to get to him. But you know, again coming off this NFL
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draft and us digesting things that various teams have done. Of course, you've
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been, you know, as you do on a daily basis, following what
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the Chargers organization and front office have been doing. You know, I've seen
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some writers and other analysts indicate that the Chargers didn't have that great of a
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draft, and I wanted to get your thoughts on how this front office drafted
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talent for the future. You talked about the running back position, which I
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don't necessarily think if I can recall the Chargers really honing in on that during
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this past draft. You know, I'm wondering what you think they did do
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well perhaps what left you kind of maybe scratching your head. What were your
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thoughts overall when it came to the Chargers draft. Yeah, so, I
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mean in the first round, it was all about getting another weapon for Justin
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Herbert, and that's why I like the idea of them taking Quentin Johnston.
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I think he is going to be a phenomenal football player in the National Football
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League because of his yackability. I mean, this is a guy that forced
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over forty miss tackles in his career at TCU. I mean he's going to
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be an absolute weapon. I think he still needs to work on catching the
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football away from his body because that's going to make him much more effective in
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the contested catch situations and it will allow him to weaponize that just enormous wingspan
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that he has. But I mean, hey, we're talking about a guy
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that is already incredibly productive, but no product. No prospect is a finished
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product. So you have to look at where they can go with their game
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as well, and I like where they can go. I think in the
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second round they get edge help, which is very very important, especially if
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you watch the Chargers last year. The Chargers had a vision last year of
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unleashing Joey Bosa and Khalil Mack on the end on the rest of the National
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Football League, but unfortunately an injury took that vision away and kind of turned
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that dream into a nightmare, and so they didn't have anyone that could replay
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or even come close to, you know, trying to come up with that
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production that Joey Bosta lost. So adding two Polo two from USC in the
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second round was a move they absolutely had to make. The linebacker room was
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very very thin. I'm happy that they went there in the third round.
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And then they dedicated resources to getting a premium specialist, a kick returner,
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a partent returner who had six return touchdowns in college. And they added Deathfest.
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Oh yeah, he's a four three guy, a gadget guy. Darius
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Davis out of TCU is is going to be fun to watch for sure.
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And I think, you know, with Ryan Ficken, a guy who'd really
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turned over the Charter special teams unit from being one of the worst to being
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one of the best last year, you have to trust his judgment and you
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know he had his hand in that call. And then adding to the offensive
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line and defensive line is roster building one on one. I think you should
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always be adding to those positions. As far as a couple of things I
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didn't see that I wish I would have, or a pick I didn't like.
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They didn't address tight end, and this one, which I feel like
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was a missed opportunity for them. They have Jerald Everett that's only on a
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one year deal, basically, you know, one year left on his contract.
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They signed Donald Parham to a two year deal, but he's mostly unproven
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and has dealt with injuries in his career and they just haven't got enough out
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of trade McKitty, a guy who they brought in to be a blocking tight
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end. He just hasn't, you know, really done his job there.
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So I feel like they missed out on that opportunity. They do have a
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couple of guys that they like as far as u DFAs, so we'll see
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what happens there. But the pick that I just didn't understand that I did
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not like was them taking Max dug in the seventh round out of TCU.
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I just I hated the pick. And it's not the player per se.
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I mean, you know, watching him, he's not really that good honestly.
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I mean, he's got some issues with accuracy, footwork. I mean,
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he's a tough football player. You know, he's a guy that you
16:41
love to watch run. But I would have preferred them get a tight end
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a corner. I mean even throwing a stab at a running back, which
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I'm bullish on Isaiah Spiller from you know, last year's draft. Think he's
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gonna get a lot more play this year. But that was a pick I
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just didn't understand and I still don't really like. Yeah, it's a it's
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a it was a little baff for me, you know, as somebody on
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the outside looking at this Chargers team as they are looking to continue to build
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and be extremely competitive in that division. And we know the running back position
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has changed over the years. However, a lot of teams are doing right
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now that one two type of punch. You see. The Philadelphia Eagles are
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doing it and certainly addressed it actually in the draft with that trade with Detroit.
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Not here to necessarily talk about the Eagles yet, certainly going to get
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to that. But of course I view the quarterback situation in this league to
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be very interesting, and of course we're going to get into Justin Herbert here,
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but on this podcast, we really have been talking over the course of
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the past year, maybe two years, Dave, about the fact that this
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new era of quarterbacks have really been, you know, the major storyline for
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the NFL, you know, whether it is Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes,
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and whether it is Justin Herbert now Jalen Hurts as well, and I think,
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you know, seeing the old guard, you know, Tom Brady retiring,
17:56
Aaron Rodgers heading to the Jets, you know, which is the end
18:00
of his career and going to be the end of his career likely. You
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know, we're seeing a really similar to the other quarterback that used to play
18:07
in Green Bay, exactly the from of Brett Farve. Know, so that's
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that's very, very scary there. Justin Herbert, though, is a special
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talent in this league and he may he may may be that next quarterback to
18:18
get that huge paycheck. He's definitely one of the best in the league for
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sure under center. So you know, we've seen some ups and downs from
18:26
him over the years. For sure, he is continuing, I think,
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to develop into an incredible quarterback in this league. So where do you put
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Justin Herbert in terms of top talent in the NFL at the quarterback position,
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And how do you see a possible contract extension really playing out with him in
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the Chargers front office. Yeah, So for Justin Herbert, I mean,
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obviously I'm biased, but I do feel like he's one of the premier talents
18:48
in the next foot fotball league. And obviously if you look at his stats
18:51
through the first two years in the NFL, in and including his thirty year,
18:55
although that was you know, very injury marred, he has really broken
18:57
every single record that you can possible think of. I mean, his name
19:02
is etched all over the record books. So he's been extremely prolific, and
19:07
you know, it's been fun to watch what he's been able to do.
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I mean, if you put me on the spot, I mean as far
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as the top five, I'll say Mahomes is number one. I think that's
19:15
not even a discussion. I'm gonna go Joe Burrow just because of what he's
19:18
done with the offensive line issues they've had, kind of the defensive struggles as
19:22
well. Josh Allen, I'm still gonna put at number three just because of
19:26
his dual threaded ability and how dynamic he is. I'm going Justin Herbert number
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four, just because I feel like we haven't seen the most out of Justin
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Herbert, and what we've already seen is already great. So when they have
19:37
a play caller, and hopefully that play caller is Kellen Moore, to actually
19:41
unleash him and get the full Justin Herbert experience out there, I think you're
19:45
really gonna see what you know, his ceiling really is. I am going
19:48
Jill and Hurts number five. I think Joe Hurts is a phenomenal talent.
19:52
I'm a very very intelligent quarterback just a great guy, a guy that you
19:56
like to root for, even as a guy that's not an eag fan who
20:00
doesn't watch the Eagles closely like like you guys do in your audience does.
20:03
He's a fun guy to watch. He's a respectful young man. I mean,
20:06
he's a guy you love to root for. And I mean that Eagles
20:10
team is stack man. They're going to be there every single year. And
20:11
then I'll even throwing an extra one there who this guy has some room to
20:15
move, but it's Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson is dynamic. I think he
20:19
continues to develop as a passer year every year, and he's a guy that
20:22
can easily move. But because he wasn't really in the league, you know
20:26
that. I mean for the second half of the year last year, I
20:30
couldn't really put him in my top five. But I think as far as
20:32
a contract is concerned for Justin Herbert, I mean, the Joe and Hurst
20:36
contract is probably going to serve as the floor of negotiations for that deal because
20:40
that's just how this works in the NFL. So we're probably looking at fifty
20:44
plus million dollars per year per year. For me, I would love to
20:47
get him on the Patrick Mahomes style of contract where you sign him for as
20:51
many years as humanly Well yeah, I mean, hey man, that's how
20:56
you are able to manipulate that cap hit and give you flexibility. And also
21:00
just know that you have a quarterback locked up on a deal that's not going
21:04
to adjust and change. But one thing that will adjust and change is that
21:08
salary cap. So the more that goes up and the you know, the
21:11
longer you have that quarterback under contract, the better it's going to look for
21:15
you, and the more you can continue to add as that contract continues to
21:19
go through. Yeah, I think it's gonna be so interesting to see what
21:22
happens with Justin Herbert, not just his play on the field, but what
21:26
happens with his contract, what that actually means for this quest for the upcoming
21:30
quarterback class. You know what it's eventually going to mean for c. J.
21:33
Stroud and even Chase Young. You know, it's gonna be really interesting,
21:37
this new air of quarterbacks and what they're kind of going to provide us
21:41
fans on the field. It's gonna be saying, yeah, right, yeah,
21:44
Bryce, you did I say Chase Young? Yeah? Yeah, Dear
21:47
Heavens I am getting old. You see the gray in my beard here,
21:49
it's from my children. I am getting old. That's why I shaved mine.
21:52
You can't see the gray. There you go, there you go.
21:55
Well look, you know, move it along here, Dave. You know,
21:57
there's a few divisions I think in this league that are very interesting heading
22:00
into the season, and the AFC West is certainly one of them. There's
22:04
a chance that, you know, for the Chargers. I'm wondering if you
22:07
think there's a chance for the Chargers to potentially win this division given the dominance
22:11
of the Kansas City Chiefs over the past few years, and quite frankly a
22:15
Broncos team too, that I think is actually going to be a lot better
22:22
under a new head coach and new leadership. God only knows what the heck
22:26
happened with Russell Wilson last year. It was very, very bizarre, to
22:30
say the least. But oh my goodness, I do wonder if the Chargers,
22:33
you know, could potentially take the division at some point, you know.
22:37
And again, I think a lot of that is based on the way
22:41
the way Justin Herbert is going to perform, perform, and inevitably too is
22:45
as a theme of in our conversation here Kellen Moore what he's able to do
22:48
for the offense as well, like, yeah, well, what are your
22:51
thoughts here with regard to this? Yeah, so, I mean, I
22:53
think you're looking at the Bronchos and I think they're very smart, you know,
22:57
and Sean Payton's very intelligent, and the fact that he's shifting that offense
23:00
to be more of a ground and pound type of offense, and I think
23:04
he understands and he's able to see the obvious deficiencies in Russell Wilson's game and
23:10
also showing and that is very very clear that he is deteriorating. And I
23:15
don't think you're going to be He's not. I honestly don't feel like this
23:18
is a guy that's going to be finding the fountain of youth. Just the
23:21
way that he's played quarterback, He's taken a lot of hits. He's not
23:25
nearly as mobile as it used to be in the earlier part of his career.
23:27
But that Denver defense is very very real. I need to see how
23:30
that defensive coordinator is going to utilize those pieces because it's not the same style
23:34
as that Vic Fan Joe defense, But that's been there for so many years.
23:38
But I'd like the direction they're taking that team. I don't know if
23:41
they're going to be competitors in the AFC West this year, but they're definitely
23:47
a team to be ware of because now they actually have the right leader in
23:51
place to take them where they need to go, and they spent a pretty
23:53
penny in getting that done. As far as the Chargers is concerned, the
23:57
Chargers have the talent and I think that's really undisputable. They have a superstar
24:02
quarterback, they have a young, high quality offensive line that's signed for three
24:06
plus years. They have some time to gel and really, you know,
24:10
get get comfortable with each other. They have a ton of weapons, Austin
24:14
Eckler, Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, you know, ever at the tied
24:18
end, Quentin Johnson who they just drafted. And then on the defensive side,
24:21
you have a lot of the pieces that you look for. You know,
24:22
you have a jack of all trades, master of all trades and Derwin
24:26
James. You know, two high quality edge rushers in mac and Bosa,
24:30
and a couple of corners that can take the ball away. And Mike Davis
24:32
is Sante Samuel Junior, and we'll see what happens with jac Jackson and his
24:36
recovery. But none of that matters if you don't get health. Health,
24:40
health, health health. That's what it's all about. For the Chargers,
24:42
they were decimated last year. I mean, you lose your all pro left
24:47
tackle and Rashause. Later you'll lose one of your best edge rushers and Joey
24:51
Bosa, you lose your superstar wide receiver and Keenan Allen. You can't you
24:56
can't afford that. You just cannot afford that level of of injury and expect
25:00
to be there because it's all about your health and then the quality of your
25:03
depth, because unfortunately, with the sport, as you very well know,
25:07
attrition is going to hit and you have to be able to weather that storm
25:11
and you have to have quality depth to keep you in it to you know,
25:15
try to help until those guys are able to return. So the Chargers
25:18
definitely have the talent. I need to see it before I'm going to believe
25:21
it and before I'm going to proclaim that they're going to do it, because
25:22
they've been so close to beating the Chiefs every single year. I think they
25:26
play them very, very competitively. There's never been a game the last three
25:30
years where you've seen the Chiefs blow out the Chargers. It just hasn't happened.
25:33
I think these teams know each other way too well, and I feel
25:37
like it's one of those situations to where the team that has the football the
25:40
last is the one that's going to win most of those football games. So
25:44
we'll have to see. I definitely believe they have the talent to do it,
25:47
but it's I'm a you gotta show me mode until it happens. I
25:51
mean, the Chiefs are the Kings until you do throw them like you.
25:53
I absolutely believe that it can happen for sure, and I'm hoping that it
25:56
does happen because I'm hitting the hands tired of Patrick Mahomes. I'm a little
26:02
tired of the Kansas City Chiefs at this point. I see twice a year.
26:07
Yeah, that's how that's how tired of exactly exactly again. Talking to
26:14
David drogue Meyer from the Locked On Chargers podcast fall on Twitter at DROE Talk
26:19
SD, d r O Talk SD and moving along here, Dave, you
26:25
know, I really wanted to kind of shift directions in terms of teams who
26:29
are who are on the rise within the NFL and who may have a rapid
26:33
directional change this coming year in terms of success and what that success actually does
26:37
look like. You know, I mentioned the Panthers earlier in our discussion,
26:41
but you know, the Bears also had a really good draft. I think
26:45
they have had a pretty successful offseason as well. So I'm wondering what teams
26:52
or teams this coming season do you think are going to take a pivot,
26:56
you know, a productive pivot to becoming more successful than they have in the
27:00
past. I like where your head's at there, because I think in the
27:03
AFC it's just way too stacked. I don't see there there's gonna be too
27:07
many teams that are going to be allowed to move that much because the talent
27:11
is just unbelievable. In the NFC, though, there is plenty of room
27:15
for teams to grow and move up. And I think I love what you
27:18
said about the Panthers. I think they have a great coaching staff. There
27:22
a lot of NFL experience there to cultivate a productive offensive system, and I
27:26
see them definitely going places. I don't know about how immediate that is going
27:30
to be. But I love the outlook of their future, and I think
27:33
the Lions I agree. I mean, man, their first four picks were
27:36
Fantasticness Gibbs, Jack Campbell, Sam Laporta, Brian branch I scouted three of
27:42
the four of those guys. Jack Campbell is fantastic, one of the premier
27:45
linebackers in this draft. Sam Laporta, Sam Lahorda is a beast. He's
27:49
a yak monster. He's a guy that has the speed to attack the team.
27:52
And excuse me, Brian branch Is, you're you know, kind of
27:56
mistra everywhere defensive back who can play in the slot, you can play in
28:00
the box, he could play back deep. I mean, he's a fantastic
28:03
football player. And then the Bears. I think the Bears had a great
28:06
draft too. I like the offensive lineman. They took Darnell right in the
28:08
first round. They got Dexter the defensive tackle, and then they got Roshan
28:11
Jonathan, the running back out of Texas. And then Tyler Scott, also,
28:15
I think is a sleeper pick. A guy who has that blazing kind
28:18
of four three speed that you're looking for who can really help him and help
28:22
you know, his quarterback Justin field's really attacked down the football field. I
28:25
think those teams are really on the right track. I think they are going
28:29
to ascend. I think the Lions, I think are probably gonna be a
28:33
little bit closer because they have a quarterback that I believe in a little bit
28:36
more. I need to see some more development out of fields, but I
28:37
think they're surrounding him with as much talent as they possibly can, and that's
28:41
definitely the right way to do it. Absolutely. And I think with Carolina
28:45
Panthers, with regard to their new quarterback that they just drafted, they have
28:49
a pretty solid offensive line. As we were talking about earlier, you know,
28:53
you talked about the Chargers, you know how they had a couple picks
28:56
that were trench based picks, and it's so important in the NFL anymore.
29:00
We're seeing it in Philadelphia for sure. So to close us out here,
29:04
Dave, you know we're gonna be getting you into some Eagles draft talk with
29:08
our next guest on the show. But since we are a Philly sports podcast,
29:14
wanted to get your opinion and assessment on how the Eagles are continuing to
29:18
build their team for the future. You know, what are your thoughts are
29:21
you, like many other pundits and analysts out there, getting tired of hearing
29:23
about the Eagles getting tired of hearing about Howee Roseman. What are your thoughts
29:27
right now on the Philadelphia Eagles and how they're continuing to build their team for
29:32
the future. I am a big believer of subscribing to the logic of investing
29:37
premium resources in the spine of your football team, that is the offensive line
29:42
and the defensive line. You are strong in the trenches on both sides,
29:48
then you can build out from there because that's where the epicenter of football is
29:52
played. You've got to protect your quarterback and you got to get after the
29:56
quarterback. The Eagles have done a just unbelievable job of investing premium resources,
30:03
especially on the defensive line, to where they have just not even just one,
30:07
they got two. They probably have three different defensive line combinations that can
30:11
come after you and torment you at any given moment. And that's what makes
30:15
them so just ridiculously productive. And hey, if you don't like what the
30:19
Eagles are doing, then go beat them, right I mean, that's that's
30:23
that's the bottom line, that's what it is, you know, So obviously,
30:26
and hey, Envy, right, I mean that's all that this is.
30:30
The Eagles have done a phenomenal job of building their team. They've won
30:33
a lot of football games, and they've built their team the right way.
30:37
So I like the way they've done it. I think that, you know,
30:40
every successful franchise that really invests in the spine of their football team are
30:45
going to see that bear positive dividends for you know, years to come.
30:49
Absolutely, I love where you're thinking, and we're gonna be getting into some
30:52
more Eagles talk in just a bit for those listening again. David droege Meyer
30:56
from the Locked On Chargers podcast asked, Buddy, it was great talking to
31:00
you. Absolutely loved having you on here for the first time. I'd love
31:03
to have you on down the road again, my friend. Absolutely, it
31:07
was a pleasure to let me know, and we'll get to get together and
31:08
do this again. It was great talking to Dave. I absolutely love his
31:14
passion for the game of football. Of course for the Los Angeles Chargers too,
31:18
but just for the NFL standpoint, you know, he is absolutely passionate
31:22
about what he's talking about. So before we get to our Eagles draft analysis,
31:29
here further draft analysis. We need to take a break, We need
31:33
to pay some bills here. Stick with us. We'll be right back.
31:37
All right, folks, We are back, and what we are thrown down
31:40
on the table this week is a great discussion about this Philadelphia Eagles drafting,
31:44
where this team is heading here in twenty twenty three, the foundation being set
31:48
for what we hope to be so many, so many good good things coming
31:52
from Lincoln Financial Field and beyond in the future. Let's get to our Eagles
31:57
discussion right now on this tagle and it is great to have on the podcast
32:06
to get into this Philadelphia Eagles draft and really where this team is headed.
32:10
So many high hopes in terms of this Philadelphia Eagles organization, the product that
32:16
we saw in the field in twenty twenty two, two twenty three season,
32:20
what we're gonna be seeing in two thousand and twenty three, two twenty four
32:22
season. We got a great guest to get into it with us at Shane
32:27
Half NFL on Twitter. Find him there. He's a fantastic, fantastic follow
32:31
and you can also read his content Bleeding Green Nation. He's doing some stuff
32:37
over there. In some other places. We've got mister Shane Half how you
32:39
doing, Shane. I'm doing great, Jeff, how about you? I
32:43
am doing okay, especially after this draft. This Eagles draft, man,
32:46
it was it was delightful. It was fantastic, you know, being an
32:51
Eagles fan now it feels good. And I hesitate to say that, Shane,
32:55
it feels good to be an Eagles fan. Are you feeling that same
33:00
way because you I don't know, because I'm feeling like the rugs is gonna
33:02
get pulled out from under me at some point in time here being a Philly
33:06
sports fan and an Eagles fan. I don't know what are your thoughts here?
33:09
Yeah, I mean generally, I always feel great after the draft is
33:14
over, you know, irregardless of how the Eagles did, because you know,
33:16
I go outside and there's fresh air and sunshine that I haven't seen in
33:22
months, and you know, it's just always nice to be out of that
33:25
draft grind. And I love it, or I wouldn't do it, but
33:29
it's always nice to stop watching college film and go back to watching the NFL
33:34
again. Yeah, and see it's it's like, I mean, it's like
33:37
the jump from you know, college basket, you get to watching enough NBA
33:42
basketball and you see the guy you get the ball kicked out wide open corner
33:45
three and you just know it's in ye. And then you go watch college
33:47
basketball and it's a little jarring because it's like fifty fifty. Oh, it's
33:52
just nice to go back to watching NFL film now and see high level concepts
33:55
executed, and more importantly, just to stop watching film and like read book
34:00
or play the piano again. Absolutely, I always feel great, but especially
34:04
this year because the Eagles. I thought their draft was fantastic. Absolutely,
34:07
it was pretty exciting. Yeah, we're gonna get into it for sure.
34:09
Also, Shane's doing some great work over at Edge of Philly Sports as well,
34:14
so check out everything he's doing doing there too. I mean, overall,
34:17
like we're talking about, I mean, the Eagles did a fine job
34:22
in this NFL draft. How we just get in the love and as a
34:25
result annoying many pundits and analysts in the football world and other fan bases too.
34:31
It's kind of it's kind of it's kind of pleasant at times here.
34:35
So I'm wondering, Shane, when you look back on this Eagle's draft,
34:37
how would you just how would you describe the direction this front office went with
34:44
in terms of its picks. You know, it's strategy to acquired DeAndre Swift
34:49
and how they just continue to build here in the trenches. Yeah, two
34:53
things. First of all, they were true to themselves, like they stuck
34:58
with the positions that they valued. They drafted an interior defensive lineman and then
35:02
an edge rusher. I think he's listed as a linebacker, but an edge
35:06
rusher, and then they turned around and drafted an offensive lineman. And it's
35:08
just the way that they build. They stuck with the premium positions they value.
35:13
They're going to build through the trenches, and there's no arguing with that.
35:15
I mean, it's worked. They're coming off of a Super Bowl win.
35:19
The last disastrous season that they had was twenty twenty, and what happened
35:22
in twenty twenty offensive line started to break down, you had injuries, you
35:27
didn't have the depth. And so they were committed to building through the trenches
35:31
as they always are. And then I thought they were fearless. They weren't
35:36
afraid to take risks on Jalen Carter, on Nolan Smith who fell for a
35:42
reason, on Kiley Ringo, because Howary Roseman has something a lot of GM's
35:46
don't and its job security. He knows he safe in the roster that he's
35:52
built. So if he takes Jalen Carter at number nine, and god forbid
35:57
that Jalen Carter's out of the league in two years for off the field issues
36:00
and all that, how he's not going to lose his job over that,
36:02
where other gms might, So it allows him to be more aggressive. And
36:07
the fact that roster just has very few holes. You don't get into a
36:10
position like the Cowboys did where they were pigeonholed. They needed to walk out
36:15
of the first two rounds with the defensive tackle on a tight end and so
36:17
they had to reach it both. How he does a really good job of
36:21
walking in with very few glaring needs. Yeah. Absolutely, And let's get
36:24
into some of these Eagles draft picks here, Shane. I'd really like to
36:30
talk about kind kind of the highlights of some of these players and also the
36:34
concerns as well, because as much as we loved and the majority of Eagles
36:37
Nation loved the Eagles and Howie Roseman getting Jalen Card or moving up for him
36:43
as well, you know, there are some I think concerns too with his
36:46
game. Even though he's one of the most dominant, dominant football players in
36:51
this NFL draft that we saw. I think there are still some concerns here
36:54
and there. So let's go through a few of these individuals that the Eagles
36:59
drafted. Let's start with Jalen Carter. What are some of those highlights for
37:01
you? Yet some of those concerns as well. Yeah, Jalen Carter.
37:07
You come into the draft and Jalen Carter, depending on who you looked at,
37:12
is either the number one or number two player on big boards, at
37:15
least off of film grades. He was number two for me, slightly behind
37:17
Will Anderson. He was number one for a lot of people. He had
37:21
a ninety two point three PF grade in twenty twenty two, which was first
37:25
among Power five interior defensive linemen. You put on his film and you just
37:30
see him takeover games. He rex games, He handles double teams well.
37:35
In the running game, he's able to push back against that. He's really
37:39
versatile in his alignment. He can line up anywhere from a four eye,
37:43
which is you know that defensive tackle that's just shaded inside the offensive tackle,
37:47
or to the three technique closer to the guard, or even your nose tackle
37:52
which heads up on the center. He can do all of that, and
37:53
he did at Alabama or excuse me, at George. George. Yeah,
38:00
so many Alabama and Georgia players are And then of course the concerns are they're
38:06
well talked about. It's all of the red flags off the field, with
38:09
the warrant for his arrest during the combine, relating to the car accident at
38:14
Georgia, to him showing up at his pro day nine pounds overweight, unable
38:17
to complete his drills. There's concerns, and the concerns are all off the
38:23
field. They don't have any concerns on the field looking at his tape,
38:27
and so you hope that you bring him into a locker room. And I've
38:30
heard a lot made of you know that they brought him in, and they've
38:32
also got Nolan Smith and to Kobe Deane and Jaylen Carter excuse me, Jordan
38:37
Davis and those guys can help him out. And I don't necessarily buy that
38:42
as much because those guys were there with him at Georgia and so, you
38:45
know, but I look more at you bring him into a locker room with
38:49
Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham and some of the veteran presence that can hold him
38:52
accountable and say this is how we do things. At the end of the
38:55
day, though, onus is on Jalen Carter. He's got to make a
38:58
decision of how he's going to if he's going to be a professional or not.
39:00
And if he does, the Eagles got tremendous value at pick nine,
39:04
and if he doesn't, they didn't. But at the end of the day,
39:07
it was a risk worth taking because he's such a good player. Absolutely,
39:10
let's move on to that edge rusher and a quote linebacker. That's how
39:16
he's billed as, and that is Nolan Smith. The fact that the Eagles
39:20
were able to get Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith in the first round, it's
39:23
just absolutely incredible to me in terms of highlights and concerns. With regard to
39:29
Nolan Smith, what are you thinking, Yeah, Smith has he has ridiculous
39:34
athleticism and bend. That's his calling card. He was a really good run
39:39
defender at Georgia and he's really undersized, the only second percentile weight, and
39:44
so it's surprising that he's such a good run defender. But it's not that
39:47
he is shedding blocks it's that he's not getting blocked. He's so good at
39:52
jumping across the face of a tackle, dipping the shoulders, not being latched
39:57
onto by a tackle or a guard. And so he's a really good edge
40:00
setter because of his athleticism. And he's not afraid to step down and blow
40:05
up pulling guards on light power plays. So you would think at his size
40:08
he might be a tentative there, but he's not afraid to step down and
40:12
blow that up. So he's really good as a run defender. He's hyper
40:15
athletic. The negatives all come down to his size profile fifteenth percentile height,
40:22
second percentile weight, seventeenth percentile arm length. He's an outlier at the position,
40:28
and he's never been a high sack player. Four and a half sacks
40:30
is his season high in college. And so you look at a guy that's
40:35
an unfinished product as a pass rusher who's under size. Now, if I
40:38
had to pick between taking a guy at that profile that's a really good run
40:44
defender and doesn't know how to rush the passer yet or vice versa, I
40:47
would rather have the guy that can stop the run because that allows you to
40:51
get him on the field and we can teach, you can refine that technique.
40:53
He just needs to learn some pass rush counters. If he can't run
40:57
around the edge, he's not going to beat you right now. You can
41:00
work on that a lot easier than you can work on you know, that
41:02
mentality to step down and take on a guard that's got a hundred pounds on
41:06
you. So I like Nolan Smith. I think he's got a high floor
41:09
because of his run defending ability, and I think the Eagles are going to
41:13
be able to bring him along as a pass rusher. Eagle certainly building in
41:15
the trenches and continuing to stock up in the trenches, and we saw that
41:21
with their next pick in the draft, after Nolan Smith. Offensive lineman Tyler
41:24
Steen, what do you think in terms of his highlights and any concerns he
41:29
may have? As you know, he is going to be a depth piece
41:30
on this offensive line, likely for the next at least two to three seasons
41:36
perhaps, So, Tyler Steen, what are your thoughts on him in terms
41:37
of high lights and concerns. Yeah, So he spent four years at Vanderbilt.
41:44
He committed there as a defensive tackle and then switched to offensive line,
41:47
and then he transferred out to Alabama for his final season, so he's basically
41:52
got four years starting experience. One year at right tackle, three years at
41:55
left tackle. He is a smooth move over. He maximizes his length well,
42:02
which is good because he doesn't have a lot He's got thirty two and
42:06
three quarter inch arms. A lot of teams will say, like thirty four
42:08
inch arms is kind of their floor for tackle. So he's got short arms,
42:15
but he does have good functional strength. There's a lot of areas of
42:19
his game that he needs technical refinement. A lot of times he'll get caught
42:23
flat footed in Russia's and he'll let guys get into his chest and that leads
42:28
to a poor anchor where he can get pushed back. It's not a strength
42:30
thing. Is strength is fine, it's that technique of getting flat footed,
42:35
and sometimes he'll get too wide of a base and he gets off balance and
42:38
he can kind of get shed to the ground. So I think it's a
42:43
player that the physical tools are all there, there's some technical refinement, and
42:47
like I said, he played at Vanderbilt any converted positions while he was at
42:52
Vanderbilt, And not to disparage Vanderbilt's coaching, but it's not on the same
42:55
level as Alabamas are certainly as the Eagles, and so I think Jeff Stotlin
43:00
gets his hands on this guy, you can work on those techniques. I
43:02
was just gonna say that, Yep, I think he will probably it'll probably
43:07
be a competition between him and Cam Jurgens to be the right guard this year.
43:12
Regardless of how that shakes out. I think he's probably your right guard
43:15
of the future once Jason Kelsey retires and Cam Jurgens becomes the center. I
43:20
don't think they drafted him thinking, you know, future Lane Johnson replacement.
43:22
I think this is more right guard of the future. All right, very
43:25
good. And the Eagles also wanted to draft some some some defensive backs,
43:32
and they certainly did in terms of one of their next picks, which was
43:37
Sidney Brown safety. And you know, when I look at Sydney Brown,
43:42
I looked at and I don't know if it's necessarily a comp from from from
43:47
Cavon Wallace, you know, with regard to him, but I'm hoping it's
43:51
not a Caveon Wallace type of situation, that lack of development that Cavon Wallace
43:55
really just you know that he's had, Like I was so high on Cavon
44:00
Wallace coming out, Eagles drafting him has been rather disappointing, to say the
44:06
least. Hoping. Of course, Sidney Brown is not that. But what
44:08
are some of the highlights with regard to Sydney Brown and some of the concerns
44:12
as well. Yeah, Sydney Brown is a pick that I loved. He
44:15
was the number forty five player on my big board, so I thought it
44:19
was really good value. He brings a lot of positional versatility. In the
44:23
last three years at Illinois, he's played just under four hundred snaps aligned as
44:29
a deep safety, close to a thousand snaps in the box, and three
44:32
hundred and sixty five snaps in the slot, so he's been a little bit
44:35
of everywhere. He's a twitchy athlete really you know, track background good forty
44:43
time. He's got really good ball skills. He reacts quickly, like you
44:46
would routinely see him react faster than the Illinois linebackers and things diagnosing plays.
44:53
He's undersize, He's only five ten, which is problematic for him, especially
44:59
against like when he's manning up bigger tight ends. He has trouble with that.
45:02
Not because he can't keep up with them. He's really fast, but
45:07
he can be outbodied, and then he's a really poor tackler as well.
45:09
He missed fifteen percent or more of his tackles every year. So some of
45:14
that is height related, some of that is going for big hits related,
45:19
some of us just being a bad tackler. But I think he can play
45:22
any safety spot and he gives the Eagles a chance to go big Nickel against
45:27
twelve personnel. So you know a lot of times teams will try to go
45:30
twelve personnel. The Chiefs do this a lot to force you into base personnel
45:35
and then they can just flex Travis Kelsey out wide and they can get you
45:37
in mismatches. Well, if you can answer that with big Nickel, because
45:40
you've got a third safety like Sidney Brown that you can bring down into the
45:44
box if they decide to run the ball, that's a huge plus. So
45:47
I think he brings a lot of versatility to what the Eagles are going to
45:52
be able to do defensively this year. Great analysis there from Shane Folks.
45:55
And again, you know where can they follow you on twit Twitter if they
46:00
want to, you know, start following you and see some of your stuff
46:04
out there. Yeah, you can check me out on Twitter at Shane Half
46:07
NFL. I'm also on YouTube at the same handle, and my podcast,
46:12
Chalk Talk you can go subscribe to. It covers the NFL as a whole,
46:15
not just the Eagles, but the whole NFL. We kind of bill
46:19
it as the place Eagles fans can go to get everything they need to know
46:22
about all the other games they didn't watch because they were watching the Eagles on
46:27
Sundays. Yep. Absolutely, Look, we want to talk also about DeAndre
46:30
Swift and just talking about this running back room too, because with the acquisition
46:36
of DeAndre Swift, you know, there's gonna be pretty three prolific running backs,
46:40
you know, on the field, with Rashad Penny of course, who
46:44
was picked up in free agency. Kenneth Gainwell, we saw some really great
46:46
things from him during the postseason last year. I mean, they're gonna be
46:50
able to punch the ball through the gaps, you know, follow those big
46:52
athletic offensive linemen on zone reads as well. I cannot wait to see what
46:58
this running back room is going to be able to do this coming year now,
47:00
and was Swift slated to become a big part of this Eagles running back
47:05
room. You know how he targeting him on draft. You know, during
47:08
this draft, I'm wondering, how does this enhance the run game for them
47:14
this coming season from what they have actually had in the past, Like,
47:17
what are your thoughts there? It's less about the run game actually for me,
47:21
and more about the passing game. I think the biggest edition Swift brings
47:25
is his ability to pass block and as a receiver. I'm not saying he's
47:30
a great pass blocker. He's significantly better than Miles Sanders was in that guard
47:34
or Kenny Gainwell for that for that matter. I would say he's average to
47:37
above average as a pass blocker, and he's good as a receiver out of
47:42
the backfield. Now, the Eagles have not often thrown to their running backs,
47:45
and you see that a lot when you've got a quarterback that is mobile
47:49
because he's his own checkdown. He's not gonna hit the check down. He's
47:52
gonna think I can beat the edge rusher and extend and maybe make an explosive
47:54
play. And so that's fine. But a lot of times last year the
48:00
Eagles would send the running back out on a route anyways, because they couldn't
48:02
block, and you would get teams overloading getting free runners at Jalen Hurts,
48:07
and so I think Swift brings the ability either to be a hot read for
48:10
you, whereas Miles Sanders was not, or to step down and make some
48:14
blocks. When you look at their running, he's similar to Miles Sanders and
48:19
that he's kind of inconsistent with his vision. Last year he was eleventh in
48:22
yards per carry, but only thirty sixth in success rate. So he hits
48:27
some home run plays, but you know, down end, down out,
48:30
he's going to leave some yardage on the field. But I think he's a
48:32
great guy to bring in, especially Rashad Penny is injury prone and DeAndre Swift
48:37
is for that matter too, So maybe if you add two injury prone backs
48:40
together, you get one sixteen seventeen game back. Right. I like that.
48:45
I like that analysis a lot, and look, I'd be moving along.
48:50
You know, sometimes we just don't know how certain talent is going to
48:52
translate over from college to the NFL, especially with those draft picks we were
48:57
just talking about. And there's all these glimmers of hope with Day two and
49:02
Day three players, but I'm wondering Shane. You know, was there a
49:06
player the Eagles missed out on or passed on that you were kind of disappointed
49:12
they didn't get or didn't even possibly target. What are your thoughts? Uh,
49:15
My complaint of the draft is Tanner McKee and we'll talk about that a
49:20
little bit. Yeah. Yeah, my regret of the draft for the Eagles
49:24
is they did that they didn't walk out with the pass catcher. I would
49:28
have liked to have seen them address wide receiver or tight end too. Again,
49:32
and there were guys on the board when Tanner McKee was selected, like
49:37
at Perry wide receiver out of wake Forest, Trey Palmer as a speedster out
49:40
in Nebraska, Andre Yosevas from Princeton, or even the tight end Zach Koontz
49:45
from Old Dominion. That I would have rather seen one of those guys in
49:49
that spot, just to give you another developmental pass catcher. Yeah, I
49:52
think the Eagles could have really used that. I agree with you too.
49:55
I was surprised we didn't see that that backup tight end. And of course
50:00
Jack Stall, we know what he has been to this team over the years.
50:02
More as that, you know, a blocking type of tight end.
50:06
But I really and I think we were all spoiled for many years having zach
50:10
Ertz and Dallas Goddard on the field, sometimes on the field together, and
50:16
what that threat actually was. I kind of do miss that, wish we
50:20
had that in the future for us Philadelphia Eagles fans. But you know,
50:24
moving over to the other side of the ball, the defensive side of things.
50:27
This past year, the Eagles, of course, as we know,
50:30
just had some really great productive linebackers on the field, linebackers that could pursue
50:35
the runner with the ball and just cover receivers as well. And this year
50:39
like kind of fields like we're going back to the days of just kind of
50:43
plug and play since we'll be seeing a whole new crew at this position.
50:47
This linebacker room is, it's relatively quote new, so I do have concerns
50:52
about the linebackers possibly being that Achilles heal for this defense. And of course
50:57
a new defensive coordinator coming in as well. And I know that Nolan Smith
51:00
is listed as a linebacker like we mentioned earlier in some places, but you
51:05
know, he really is that edge rusher. So I'm wondering, Shane,
51:07
what are your thoughts since this position wasn't really addressed in the traditional sense during
51:14
the draft, we kind of moving backwards a little bit in terms of this
51:16
linebacker position. Yeah, I mean Nakobedan and Nicholas Morrow. It is a
51:22
very small linebacker room, it is, but that's gonna have trouble stopping the
51:27
run. And I mean I think that's where you have Jalen Carter and Jordan
51:30
Davis. They've got to come through up front. If you've got both of
51:34
those guys that can eat up two gaps, then maybe you can keep your
51:37
linebackers clean. And we know Nakobedan's good at shooting into the backfield for tackles
51:42
for loss, He's just bad at shutting blocks. And so it's going to
51:45
be more important than ever for the Eagles to be able to eat up space
51:49
in the trenches because they don't have a big run stopping linebacker. They're all
51:54
undersized athletes. Yeah, the Eagles have never really invested a lot into line
52:00
backer. I mean t J. Edwards was udfa. Kauzier White last year
52:04
was a value free agency signing. But you look at their depth chart and
52:07
it's so thin, Like I think they will probably add someone to the rotation
52:10
through free agency. You might even see Sydney Brown in the box. Like
52:15
I mentioned you earlier, he played a lot of snaps down in the box,
52:19
close to a thousand snaps in the box. So whether that be a
52:22
big nickel, a sub package, whether that be dime with him in there
52:25
as a linebacker, I think you're going to see some of that as well,
52:29
although that can still contribute to your runde problems, so they are going
52:32
to have to have answers for that. That's something Sean Decide is going to
52:36
have to come up with. Maybe you can run blitz Nikobe Deeine is a
52:38
good blitzer, Maybe you can try some different run blitzing and things like that.
52:43
But you're putting a lot of trust in Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis,
52:46
Fletcher Cocks up front to be able to eat up gaps. Absolutely, I
52:50
think we're gonna have some pain, folks with regard to the linebacker position perhaps
52:53
this coming season. And again we're talking to Shane Half at Shane Half NFL
52:59
on Twitter, same on YouTube as well. Check out all the content he's
53:02
creating. Fantastic, fantastic content about the Eagles NFL in general as well.
53:08
You mentioned him earlier and to close us out here as we're running low on
53:12
time. You know, I had a feeling the Eagles are going to draft
53:14
a quarterback in one of the later rounds, and of course they did.
53:16
You mentioned him Tanner McKee out of Stanford, So I guess, as Tanner
53:21
McKee gonna be the next Jalen Hurts. Of kidding, of course he's not
53:23
gonna be the next Jalen Hurts. But my goodness, I was really surprised
53:28
with this draft pick. In a way I thought it was gonna be a
53:30
seventh round pick when I said later rounds, just the way that the you
53:35
know they're a quarterback factory, right, So in all seriousness, I didn't.
53:39
I didn't quite understand this pick. Can you make any sense of it?
53:43
But I don't know if you could. You said you didn't understand it
53:45
either. What are your thoughts? Yeah, if it wasn't bad podcasting,
53:49
I would just say no. But since it's the last question, since it's
53:54
the last question, we'll give a little more. I mean, all right,
54:00
Tanner McKee, he's really accurate. So he's a highly accurate quarterback.
54:04
He doesn't have any special arm talent. He's probably average, slightly a blow
54:08
average arm. He does. He has no improvisational ability. Right now,
54:14
you can be a quarterback in the NFL with no mobility, and you see
54:19
guys like that, like Justin Herbert's not a mobile guy, but he slides
54:22
in the pocket well, he's able to improvise well and things like that.
54:27
Tanner McKee doesn't do that either. He's just a statue in the pocket.
54:30
He's a pocket passer with poor pocket presence and he doesn't have If you're gonna
54:36
take a guy like that, he better have elite arm talent and he just
54:39
doesn't. Now that's why he was a sixth round pick. Obviously, elite
54:43
arm talent's not gonna last till the sixth round. But he was one of
54:46
eight quarterbacks in FBS last year that took over forty sacks. Now, his
54:52
offensive line was bad. He didn't help that though. His completion percentage dropped
54:58
from sixty six point five percent a clean pocket to forty one percent when pressured.
55:01
So he has a Yeah, he has a hard time. It's kind
55:07
of crazy, has a hard time. Like he doesn't he can't slide in
55:09
the pocket to avoid rushers and get the ball out, so he does throw
55:14
the ball really accurately, and he had to because Stanford's receivers were terrible and
55:17
they were never open. But he'll throw into the middle, you know,
55:21
those intermediate areas the field kind of fearlessly getting had to. Nobody was ever
55:25
open for Stanford, but he I don't. I don't like you want your
55:30
backup quarterback to be a mobile quarterback. And the Eagles went out and signed
55:34
Marcus Mariota for a reason. They saw how their entire run game disappeared when
55:38
they couldn't run the read option anymore, which is a whole separate issue with
55:42
last year's offense. They need just a regular running game too. Don't expose
55:45
Jalen Hurts to so many options. But Tanner McKee can't do that now he
55:50
could? He could, you know, be Nick folesy and execute RPOs.
55:54
You don't have to be mobile to do that. But you know, at
55:57
the end of the day, if Tanner McKee had to get into a game,
55:59
you're often has to change and that's not ideal for your backup quarterback.
56:04
Shane Half folks, he is fantastic again at Shane Half NFL on Twitter,
56:07
on YouTube, but he is doing great stuff on the interwebs out there.
56:12
I love talking to you, buddy. I would love for you to come
56:15
back down down the road and join us in the future, you know,
56:20
perhaps before the season starts. Come back and join us, my friend.
56:23
Yeah, anytime, I'm always here. It is always so great talking to
56:28
Shane. What a wealth of knowledge when it comes to not only the Philadelphia
56:30
Eagles, but the NFL, the game of football. Absolutely absolutely love talking
56:35
to him, and I want to thank him again, So thank you very
56:38
much, Shane. And with regard to this Philadelphia Eagles team, this is
56:42
a team that's going to be relevant for many years to come. Folks.
56:45
We just know that Howie Roseman in this front office have really put this team
56:47
in a position to succeed in the future. The expectations year after year are
56:52
going to be high. We're expecting this now. We're expecting success year after
56:55
year after year, draft after draft after drafts. So that being said,
57:00
you know, it's gonna take an injury for something bad to happen with this
57:04
team. You know, I'm gonna you know, knock on wood here,
57:06
but but this Philadelphia Eagles team is going to be going far this coming season.
57:10
I absolutely know it for sure. And with that being said, we're
57:14
gonna end things this week here at the Philadelphia Sports Table. If you are
57:17
new to the show, hope you enjoyed. Our discussions usually have one of
57:21
my co hosts, Leonard eric On, and this week had some scheduling issues,
57:25
so that's why we had two interviews this week. Anyway, it was
57:29
so great to be in your ears Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. If anything
57:32
happens to your podcast feed, and if you want to subscribe, subscribe on
57:37
whatever podcast platform you're on. If you're on Apple podcast breaking review the show.
57:40
That really does help us. That being said, take care, folks,
57:44
We'll catch you next time.