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The DiCecco Daily: Intel On Latest Eagles Signings; Overall Look At QB Situation · 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 to check O Daily. It's
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Andrew Dcheco here with you, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: dot Com. Let's get to some transactional news before I
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: move on to today's topic. And the Eagles on Friday
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: signed rookie defensive lineman Zion Wilson and wave wide receiver
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Brandon Hayes in a corresponding move. So, Zion Wilson is
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: a player that the Eagles clearly like, as they reportedly
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: are giving him two hundred and twenty five thousand in
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: total guarantees and a twenty five thousand dollars signing bonus.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: He's an interesting player in that he began his career
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: at South Carolina and went to go to Virginia, but
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: the NCAA this denied his six year waiver and six
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: foot three believe he's around three hundred and fifteen pounds.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: He's a player that I'm in somewhat intrigue with, but
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: he faces, needless to say, an uphill battle to even
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: make a spot on the practice squad. Now, what the
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Eagles are guaranteeing indicates that verrickt least intrigued, but There's
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: been instances in the past where players have commanded a
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: pretty considerable eye opening.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Total guarantee and.
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: Not make the roster, and then someone like Greed Blanket
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Ship who was the final player on the roster who
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: didn't command anything in relative terms.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Is something to keep in mind when you consider this.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: And he enters a very deep defensive tackle group that
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: is headed by Jalen Carter, followed by Jordan Davis Moro,
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Jomo ty Robinson was a fourth round pick last spring,
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: so he's gonna warrant a really long look. This is
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: a big offseason for him. And you have Byron Young.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Byron Young has proven in playing three hundred and thirty
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: eight snaps last season. He collected two and a half sacks.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: He was active, He was a reliable rotational piece who
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Vic Fangio refers to as by He is a solid
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: piece as a rotational option.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Then you have U. R.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Bernard, who's immensely athletic but incredibly raw as raw as
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: he gets. It's a blank canvas with him and all
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: this is new, so it's going to take some time.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: But he's also not a player that I think the
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Eagles would ever consider putting on Waivers given how popular
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: he's become since his workout, and you don't necessarily want
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: to run the risk of exposing a player with that
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: kind of potential in his body to Waivers. So he's
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: at least that I have him right now on my
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: fifty three and so it felt like they needed to
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: add a defensive tackle for depth purposes. They have Taekwon Graham,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: who can play defensive end or defensetive tackle. He's a veteran,
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: He's played a number of games with the Atlanta Falcons.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: He was a fifth round pick I believe, so he's
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: going to provide quality reps.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: But he's further down.
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: You have Gabe Hall, who made the fifty three man
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: roster last season, appeared in two games but spent most
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: of it on the practice squad, but he had a
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: really strong summer.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: And now you have Zion.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Wilson, who sort of completes this group of defensive tackles
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: that the Eagles are presumably taking with them into training camp.
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: And so he's not going to get reps over those
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: other players I can't imagine, so they will be at
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: a premium. He's going to have to impress and if
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: nothing else, he should command a considerable amount of preseason
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: reps because you have to occupy them some way, and
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: he could put some quality tape out there that might
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: appeal to another team because the Eagles right now, and
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: a lot of it is going to be clearly dependent
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: upon how some of these back end guys play, like
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: Ty Robinson and Gabe Hall. But you can clearly see
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: why that's going to be a different climb for him.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: So we'll see how it goes.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: And then for Brandon Hayes, that was a player that
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: entered a crowded group of wide receivers. We talked about
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: defensive tackle. Wide receiver is pretty deep. The Eagles brought
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: in a ton of help there to bolster that group,
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: and so you when you look at Brandon Hayes, he
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: was at the very bottom of the pecking order, just
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: given you know, you have Quz Watkins, you have Brittin Covey.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: These guys had NFL experience and they've been around. Danny Gray,
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: same thing, Samari Toure, same thing.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: He's been in the league. He's played in twenty three games.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: Brandon Hayes was towards the bottom, at the bottom, and
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: there might be practices where he garners hardly any reps
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: and it's solely relegated to the developmental period, and you
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: have to trim somewhere. You have to be creative and
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: how you go about it. You can only carry so
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: many players into training camp, and the Eagles opted for
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: more or depth at defensive tackle, taking a swing on
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: a player who could prove to be an intriguing watch
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: in training camp this summer. I'm curious to see how
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: he fares in those one on one drills, one of
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: my favorite drills of all training camp. But we're gonna
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: pivot real quick to the quarterback situation because the Eagles
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: have four quarterbacks right now and franchise the face of
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: the franchise and Jalen Hurts, you have Andy Dalton, you
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: have Tanner McKee, and you have rookie Cole Peyton. So
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: I know how Eve Roseman has mentioned before that he
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: would be open to carrying four quarterbacks now, based solely
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: on the roster construction. As I was going through my
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: way too early fifty three man roster projection, it's really
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: difficult for me to foresee a path to keeping four
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: quarterbacks because you may have to go heavier elsewhere and
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Cole Payton as a player that you just drafted. I
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: know that he was taking only three picks before where
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: they took Kyle McCord, who did not make the fifty three.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: So it's not a slam dunk by any means that
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: he would make the roster, but I think they might
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: have something there as a developmental prospect. And while I
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: do believe that the waiver process following cutdowns, where so
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: many players hit the waiver wire at once, and there's
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: always this presumption from team to team where I should say,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: from fan base to fan base that player X is
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: going to get claimed, when in fact you have to
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: take into consideration that they would have to learn a
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: new system, they're going to have more value to the
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: team they just came from, and it's tough to really
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: make an impact in short order when you're coming in
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: really really behind.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: The eight ball.
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: So it's always something that I like to consider there.
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: But with Cole Payton, he looks to be and the
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: sample size has been extremely it had granted, but he
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: seems to be a little bit ahead of the curve
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: of what was expected, and we're gonna obviously learn more
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: once the calendar turns to late July, and you get
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: to late July and training camps in session, you'll learn
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: more how he fares when pressure is bearing down and
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: when he has to make some quick decisions and let
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: it rip, and he'll get a better sense for where
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: he is from a mechanical perspective after working with Parks
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: Frasier through OTA's and mandatory mini camp. But I think
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: that they might have something there so in that if
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: you're subscribing to that logic, I think that he would
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: stick as the third quarterback. Then it becomes who would
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: be the backup because I, as I mentioned, have a
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: hard time envisioning the Eagles carrying four quarterbacks. You have
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: Andy Dalton, you have Tanner McKee. Of those two players,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: both I would think carry value for different reasons. Tanner
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: McKee I think holds more universal value because he can
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: fit the bill as a high end backup, or he
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: can be someone or I should say he can fit
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: the bill of someone who could step in and start
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: for you, or he can be someone that a team.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: Views as a future option.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Whereas with Andy Dalton, he's more of a bridge option.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: If you're a team that's really close and maybe something
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: happens or something goes awry in the summer. Andy Dalton
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: is a veteran that you can plug into your offense.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: He's been in multiple systems in his career and he.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Can still play.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: He can still obviously play the position and command a
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: room and do all those things that you need.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: So he would be appealing to a.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Team that is a little you know, that is right
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: up there in terms of contention, whereas Tanner McKee I
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: think holds more value in general because he could be
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: a future option for a team and someone who, depending
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: on the system, can step in and give you what
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: is what would be expected to be competitive level production.
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: So with that, I look at it and I think,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: and this is only for the two practices that we
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: were there. They're alternating to be clear, as you know,
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: as is my understanding, but Andy Dalton's been solely working
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: with the second team in the two practices that we
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: were there for. And we're not privy obviously to how
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: the reps were distributed in the days that weren't open
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: to the media, but it seems like the Eagles are
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: trying to get Andy Dalton some work with the second
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: team in the event that maybe something occurs with Tanner McKee,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: and you're always going off of what you have to
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: base an opinion off of, and my opinions coming from
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Tanner McKee, if on the roster, would clearly be the
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: number two.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: Andy Dalton is a veteran.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Maybe you don't want to give him those third team
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: reps because he's been in the league for a while,
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: he's thirty eight years old, But I think Tanner McKee
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: would hold more appeal. So sometimes circumstances have a way
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: of working things out, and maybe there's a team out
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: there this summer that when they get into training camp
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: and they assess what they have from a quarterback group,
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: they're not overly enthused with it. They're seeking for someone
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: maybe with more upside, or at least wanting to add
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: somebody that can create competition and push that player. And
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: if that were the case, then Tanner McKee would be
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: a logical choice. Or and this would be, you know,
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: the worst case scenario, because you hate to see or
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: hear about injuries, but maybe there's a team that suffers
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: an injury at the position in training camp and then
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: all of a sudden you're looking around the league and
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: Tanan McKee I mean, at least I do, and I'm
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: I would have to imagine that a lot around the
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: NFL do as well, view them as one of the
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: better backup quarterbacks in football.
• 10:43
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• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Well.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: Now, I think there's a little bit of a myth
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: there because he does have some widespread praise, some effusive praise,
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: without having a lot to base that off of. So
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: I'm a little hesitant to go that bullsh and my assessment.
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: But he is a player that when he's had to
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: come in. By and large, he didn't look good in
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: the season finale, but he did look pretty sharp when
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: DeVante Smith was in the game. When he left the
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: game and he was working with reserves, he looked shaky.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: But there's not enough there for me to say that
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: he would go somewhere and be a starter and be
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: able to move the ball effectively and put them in
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: position to win games on a fairly consistent basis.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: I'm just not there yet because I haven't seen enough
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: of Tanner.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of them in practice, but it's
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: an entirely different beast when you get into game situations,
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: of course, and I can understand why he would be
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: appealing because you're you're you're kind of hanging on to
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: the glimpses you saw, not even a glimpse. It was
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: games in the previous year where he really was able
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: to optimize his opportunities. But still, if you're talking about
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: investing in a player, you want to have a little
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: bit of a of a better scope as or a
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: better projection or forecasting of what that player can be.
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: But the way that I see it right now, I
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: would imagine that the Tanner, cause I don't see him
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: keeping four. So I would think that Tanner would would
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: be the one that would have the.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Most likely the greatest likelihood.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Of not being among the quarterbacks that the Eagles take
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: into the season solely for the reasons that I outlined.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Otherwise they're going to have a really they're going to
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: have a conundrum there because keeping four quarterbacks is a luxury.
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: And I think with Cole Payton, while it's hard to
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: really foresee what he can ultimately become, if he offers
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: any signs of optimism, especially throughout training camp, if he's
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: progressing on a fairly steady basis, he gets into the
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: preseason and he puts some quality reps on tape, that's
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: all it's gonna take for a team to want to
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: roll the dice on the waiver wire for a quarterback
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: who has intriguing intangibles and plus athleticism, and you look
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: at the success that team that the Saints have had
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: with Taysom Hill, and you know things like that, and yeah,
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: you could see how that would be appealing.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: And the Eagles more often than.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: Not, really really value their draft picks and they want
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: to give them the benefit of the doubt.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: But it's not always as easy as that.
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: So I'm having a hard time talking through this, but
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: I believe that if I had to pick one of
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: those four quarterbacks, it would probably be Tanner.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: McKee because he has the greatest value.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: That's gonna do it for this episode of to check
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: O Daily, I'm Andrew de Checko.
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: I'll catch you all on the next one.