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The DiCecco Daily: Eagles-Only Mock Draft 2.0, Part 1 · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: What's happened?
0:10
Speaker 2: Everyone? Welcome into another episode of the check O Daily.
0:13
Speaker 2: Andrew decheco here Eagles beat reporter for insidethbirds dot com,
0:17
Speaker 2: and today we have part one of a two part
0:22
Speaker 2: mock draft that I compiled. It's already on inside the
0:25
Speaker 2: birds dot com, but I'm gonna stretch out a little
0:27
Speaker 2: bit and expand on some of those picks.
0:30
Speaker 1: Those of you who have.
0:32
Speaker 2: Followed my mock drafts, you know that I'm not mocking
0:36
Speaker 2: a player who's expected to go in the second round
0:39
Speaker 2: and round four or anything like that. I put a
0:41
Speaker 2: lot of time into it, and I always do a
0:44
Speaker 2: few of them, so we always we have a month
0:48
Speaker 2: to go until the draft. Friends, he kicks off, and
0:52
Speaker 2: here is my latest stab at forecasting the Eagles selections.
0:55
Speaker 2: Am I to Checko mock Draft two point zero one
1:00
Speaker 2: one pick twenty three. I went with Blake Miller. He's
1:03
Speaker 2: an offensive tackle out of Clemson. The Eagles likely won't
1:09
Speaker 2: waste any time identifying a successor for Lane Johnson, and
1:13
Speaker 2: I initially pegged Alabama's Caden Procter as that eventual successor
1:18
Speaker 2: to Lane in my one point zero mock draft, but
1:22
Speaker 2: my initial view has since shifted. And while I am
1:25
Speaker 2: of the belief that Proctor can fit any blocking scheme
1:28
Speaker 2: that Garganjuan tackle, that he is probably projects better under
1:33
Speaker 2: Jeff Stoutland, where you trust that he can mold that
1:37
Speaker 2: player because you know there's the sample size for a
1:41
Speaker 2: number of seasons and also the blocking scheme. He is
1:45
Speaker 2: a mammoth size tackle that I think you feel pretty
1:48
Speaker 2: good about moving forward and leaning on defenders rather than
1:52
Speaker 2: moving laterally at three hundred.
1:54
Speaker 1: And sixty six pounds.
1:56
Speaker 2: That's not to say that he can't or that he
1:57
Speaker 2: wouldn't be a logical pick for the Eagle. I'm just
2:00
Speaker 2: trying to really make sense of it. And I went
2:05
Speaker 2: with the more athletic player in Blake Miller, a player
2:07
Speaker 2: who I really like, by the way, and I talked
2:11
Speaker 2: about a lot on this podcast. The Eagles expected changes
2:15
Speaker 2: offensively and specifically when it comes to run designs under
2:19
Speaker 2: Sean Mannion, the new offensive coordinator, run game coordator Ryan Mahaffey,
2:23
Speaker 2: and offensive line coach Chris Cooper, and so Blake Miller
2:26
Speaker 2: gives the Eagles a sprier, fluid mover, and I think
2:30
Speaker 2: that that might be preferred.
2:32
Speaker 1: I don't know that we have no.
2:33
Speaker 2: Idea how the Eagles are going to evaluate or profile
2:36
Speaker 2: some offensive linemen in the new scheme, but it would
2:39
Speaker 2: make a lot of sense to get more athletic. There
2:42
Speaker 2: some fleet footed lineman who can move well latterly and
2:45
Speaker 2: get to that second level. And Miller's six foot seven,
2:50
Speaker 2: three hundred and seventeen pounds, and he he might need
2:53
Speaker 2: to add some bulk and develop his play strength a
2:57
Speaker 2: little bit, because I think when you look at his
3:00
Speaker 2: ability to anchor at the pro level, you might have
3:03
Speaker 2: a little bit of concern. But I think he offers
3:07
Speaker 2: early impact if he was pressed into service. I think
3:10
Speaker 2: he has translatable traits that suggest that he can be
3:14
Speaker 2: a fast learner, that he can be someone that if
3:16
Speaker 2: he needed to step in in the absence of Elane Johnson,
3:19
Speaker 2: he could do it. And then I also feel obviously
3:22
Speaker 2: that he could be that right tackle of the future
3:25
Speaker 2: for the foot off the Eagles. He liked the athleticism,
3:28
Speaker 2: the lateral agility, the footwork, and his arm length measures
3:31
Speaker 2: in at thirty four and a quarter inch, and that
3:34
Speaker 2: would give offensive line coach Chris Cooper a solid, solid
3:38
Speaker 2: foundation from which to mold Miller.
3:42
Speaker 1: He profiles more as a right tackle.
3:44
Speaker 2: He logged fifty four starts for the Clemson Tigers, and
3:48
Speaker 2: he set a program record for the most snaps accrued
3:51
Speaker 2: over a career three thy, seven hundred and seventy eight,
3:54
Speaker 2: which is incredible. And I think that that mobility and
3:58
Speaker 2: range figures to pair oh with the newly introduced wide
4:02
Speaker 2: zone blocking concepts. So I pivoted a little bit here.
4:06
Speaker 2: I didn't go Caden Proctor. There's other tackles that could
4:09
Speaker 2: be within striking distance for the Eagles if they want
4:11
Speaker 2: to get aggressive and trade up. But I don't do
4:15
Speaker 2: hypothetical trades in my mock drafts, just personally something that
4:20
Speaker 2: I don't like to do. I like to kind of
4:21
Speaker 2: keep it as as the picks are without trying to
4:26
Speaker 2: conjure anything on my own, because I think that that
4:29
Speaker 2: leads to, you know, some unrealistic outcomes.
4:32
Speaker 1: But there you have it.
4:34
Speaker 2: Pick twenty three Blake Miller, tackle from Clemson. Round two,
4:38
Speaker 2: Pick number fifty four Chris Brazil, the second wide receiver
4:44
Speaker 2: from Tennessee. And look, no matter what happens with the
4:48
Speaker 2: AJ Brown storyline, the Eagles still need to invest draft
4:52
Speaker 2: capital and offense because they have to compensate for the
4:56
Speaker 2: lucrative paydays that will wait for the Eagles defense to cornerstones.
5:01
Speaker 2: And I originally listed Indiana's Omar Cooper Junior in this space,
5:05
Speaker 2: if you remember, in the de Checho mock draft one
5:08
Speaker 2: point zero. But Omar Cooper probably comes off the board
5:11
Speaker 2: well before the Eagles make their second pick. I'm not
5:14
Speaker 2: even convinced that he leaves the first round because his
5:18
Speaker 2: stock has risen and the last time I did this
5:20
Speaker 2: mock draft was in late January. I space these out
5:24
Speaker 2: strategically as you gather more information and free agency takes
5:28
Speaker 2: place and you see how the roster starts to come together.
5:32
Speaker 2: But I think Omar Cooper could realistically be a first
5:35
Speaker 2: round pick. And I'm not sure the Eagles would go
5:38
Speaker 2: wide receiver in the first round, knowing that they have
5:41
Speaker 2: a lot of other needs as well. They prioritize the
5:44
Speaker 2: offensive line, but they can still get a really solid
5:48
Speaker 2: player who can help them immediately at fifty four, and
5:52
Speaker 2: that would be Chris Brazil, and this feels like a
5:56
Speaker 2: sweet spot for him. He had one thy seventeen yards
5:59
Speaker 2: and nine on sixty seven catches last season for the Volunteers,
6:04
Speaker 2: and he did begin his career at TU lane, and
6:07
Speaker 2: his production was really sporadic throughout his career, so there's
6:10
Speaker 2: always going to be a little bit of concern and
6:12
Speaker 2: maybe a little skepticism as to and was this a
6:17
Speaker 2: blip on the radar, was this a sign of things
6:20
Speaker 2: to come potentially, or was this merely a flash in
6:23
Speaker 2: the pan?
6:24
Speaker 1: And I like his size at six he runs four
6:28
Speaker 1: to three.
6:29
Speaker 2: He runs a four to three, So he liked the
6:31
Speaker 2: speed that can present that field stretching element and it
6:34
Speaker 2: could add another dimension to an offense surely in need
6:38
Speaker 2: of an uptick and explosive plays. Brazil the second also
6:43
Speaker 2: profiles as a quarterback friendly option. I think that's important
6:45
Speaker 2: to note in that he showcased exceptional body control. He'll
6:50
Speaker 2: attack the football, so if you throw it up there,
6:53
Speaker 2: he'll play that above the rim style. And I think
6:55
Speaker 2: you have a lot of confidence if you're a quarterback
6:57
Speaker 2: that he's going to either come down with it or
7:01
Speaker 2: fight for it. So I mean he's proven that, especially
7:05
Speaker 2: last season, and I think he projects as a player
7:09
Speaker 2: on the rise, and that skill set would ideally compliment
7:13
Speaker 2: the Eagles in house options. He has the length and
7:16
Speaker 2: the speed, and he is built for the perimeter. I
7:20
Speaker 2: think you can move him around a little bit, and
7:24
Speaker 2: I just like the athleticism and he gives you a different.
7:26
Speaker 1: Style of wide receiver.
7:30
Speaker 2: Jeremy Bernard, a wide receiver from Alabama, would be a
7:33
Speaker 2: really interesting fit as well, although I think he goes
7:37
Speaker 2: somewhere between where the Eagles pick at twenty three and
7:41
Speaker 2: where they pick at fifty four, so late one, early two,
7:43
Speaker 2: probably early two, if we're being honest, And I don't
7:47
Speaker 2: know that he would be a realistic possibility, so I
7:49
Speaker 2: didn't mock him there.
7:50
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10:09
Speaker 2: Round three, pick number sixty eight, I have the Eagles
10:12
Speaker 2: taking an edge rusher Joshua Joseph's out of Tennessee. And look,
10:16
Speaker 2: let's set the table here because as things currently stand,
10:20
Speaker 2: the Eagles pass rush contingent includes Jay Ox Hunt, Noen Smith, Akabakhetti,
10:26
Speaker 2: and jose Ramirez. And there's still plenty of time for
10:29
Speaker 2: the team to add to.
10:30
Speaker 1: This group before draft weekend.
10:32
Speaker 2: So the fact I didn't have them taking an edge
10:34
Speaker 2: rusher in the first round, I don't know that that's
10:37
Speaker 2: cause for concern. There's a lot that can happen between
10:39
Speaker 2: now and then there's the trade market and so forth,
10:42
Speaker 2: But the Eagles typically don't bypass an opportunity to fortify
10:45
Speaker 2: the trenches. And I think Oklahoma's are Mason Thomas, who
10:48
Speaker 2: had a really good pro day. By the way, I
10:50
Speaker 2: like him a lot. I spoke to him at the combine.
10:52
Speaker 2: He profiles similarly to Broncos pass rusher Nick Benito.
10:56
Speaker 1: He's likely going to be off the board, and.
10:59
Speaker 2: So here had the Eagles taking a toolsy player with
11:02
Speaker 2: early impact potential. He's not the biggest guy in the
11:06
Speaker 2: world six foot three, two hundred and forty two pounds.
11:10
Speaker 2: He sports a thirty four and a quarter inch arms, however,
11:13
Speaker 2: which is really appealing. And so he has the length
11:16
Speaker 2: and quickness and explosiveness that I really like, similar to
11:20
Speaker 2: Jay loox Hunt when he was coming out, kind of
11:23
Speaker 2: built similarly, and he's a fluid mover, and at the
11:27
Speaker 2: NFL Scouting Combine he noted his ability to drop in
11:29
Speaker 2: the coverage, and so that's obviously going to be something
11:32
Speaker 2: that should entice the Eagles in this Vic Fangio defense.
11:36
Speaker 2: He could definitely stand a ball cup some but Josephs
11:39
Speaker 2: is a player that I like quite a bit in
11:41
Speaker 2: terms of his upside, and I think he would be
11:44
Speaker 2: a good match for Vic Fangio. Last season, for those
11:47
Speaker 2: who want the current stats, he racked up thirty three tackles,
11:50
Speaker 2: six for loss, three passes defended, in two fumble recoveries,
11:54
Speaker 2: and in forty eight games for the Volunteers, he had
11:57
Speaker 2: nine and a half sacks and twenty two tackles for loss,
12:00
Speaker 2: So not a lot of production there as in terms
12:04
Speaker 2: of sacks. But if you turn on the tape and
12:06
Speaker 2: watch Joshua Joseph's and he's one of my favorite edge
12:09
Speaker 2: rushers in this class because I think he has a
12:11
Speaker 2: lot of untapped potential. You'll see a twitchy, explosive athlete more.
12:17
Speaker 2: He needs to develop more of a plan, a pass
12:20
Speaker 2: rush plan, and there's some parts of his game that
12:23
Speaker 2: I think could stand to be refined. But that's what
12:25
Speaker 2: coaching at the next level is for. They prepare you
12:29
Speaker 2: to be able to take your game to the next
12:31
Speaker 2: level when you have that kind of a skill set,
12:34
Speaker 2: and I think it would translate favorably to what the
12:36
Speaker 2: Eagles are looking for defensively.
12:39
Speaker 1: That would be a pick that would make a lot
12:41
Speaker 1: of sense there.
12:42
Speaker 2: At sixty eight, round three, again pick number ninety eight,
12:48
Speaker 2: they finally take a tight end. If you remember, in
12:52
Speaker 2: the previous mock draft at sixty eight, I had them
12:55
Speaker 2: going with Max Claire.
12:57
Speaker 1: At ninety eight.
12:58
Speaker 2: I have them instead taking the tight end this time
13:00
Speaker 2: Eli Raridan from Notre Dame, and I considered doing what
13:06
Speaker 2: I did the previous time and going with Max Claire
13:08
Speaker 2: at sixty eight, but I think the Eagles weight and
13:10
Speaker 2: they land value at a deep position, and Raredan is
13:13
Speaker 2: six foot six two and forty five pounds. He's a
13:16
Speaker 2: big body target and he has solid speed at four
13:19
Speaker 2: to six to pull away from linebackers in safeties, which
13:22
Speaker 2: is obviously critical, and I think his stock is going
13:25
Speaker 2: to continue to rise a little bit. There's an injury
13:29
Speaker 2: history there. He had a couple of ACL injuries earlier
13:32
Speaker 2: in his career that I think that might be the
13:35
Speaker 2: only reason why he would even be available right there.
13:37
Speaker 2: And also limited production. We'll get to that in the second.
13:40
Speaker 2: But he creates separation as a route runner, projects as
13:43
Speaker 2: a three level threat, and he can definitely bring in
13:45
Speaker 2: those contested throws talked about Chris Brazil the second. This
13:49
Speaker 2: is also a quarterback friendly player, at least that's what
13:52
Speaker 2: he projects to be, and he also fared well as
13:55
Speaker 2: a blocker. That's going to be the key here. He's
13:58
Speaker 2: not a one dimensional player. He'll be able to do
14:00
Speaker 2: it a lot more, especially with the frame that he
14:02
Speaker 2: has at the pro level, and I think that he
14:05
Speaker 2: can do it. He's proven that he can do that
14:07
Speaker 2: capably at Notre Dame and now is just becoming more
14:11
Speaker 2: consistent and really building off of that. But I think
14:15
Speaker 2: he could probably stand to fill out his frame a
14:17
Speaker 2: little bit more.
14:18
Speaker 1: He has a linear bill.
14:19
Speaker 2: He's lanky, is probably a fair way to describe Eli Reridan,
14:24
Speaker 2: but you got to bulk up a little bit more,
14:27
Speaker 2: I would think to withstand the riggers that accompany that
14:31
Speaker 2: particular job description. But it is worth noting that Reardan
14:34
Speaker 2: had knee injuries in the past, which I alluded to already.
14:37
Speaker 2: But he did play in twenty eight games for the
14:40
Speaker 2: Fighting Irish over the past two seasons, so a clean
14:43
Speaker 2: bill of health there or at least an encouraging sign
14:47
Speaker 2: that he finished on a high note. But he does
14:49
Speaker 2: have limited college production and for perspective last season, we're
14:53
Speaker 2: all career highs for Eli Rarid in thirty two receptions
14:57
Speaker 2: and four hundred and eighty two receiving yards. Kind of
15:00
Speaker 2: like Chris Brazil, he had much more of a breakout
15:03
Speaker 2: campaign than Raredan did. You have to go back and
15:07
Speaker 2: watch and scouts and personnel folks will delve into the
15:12
Speaker 2: tape and they'll.
15:12
Speaker 1: Understand what inhibited their production. With Raredan.
15:16
Speaker 2: I think it had to do with injuries and maybe
15:18
Speaker 2: the offense that he was in with Brazil. There could
15:21
Speaker 2: be other hit me in Tulane, and then he went
15:23
Speaker 2: to Tennessee and it wasn't until last season he was
15:26
Speaker 2: a factor.
15:26
Speaker 1: So that might give some pause.
15:29
Speaker 2: But Raredan's twenty twenty five productions suggests that he's only
15:33
Speaker 2: scratching the surface, and the Eagles have added a number
15:36
Speaker 2: of tight ends in within the last couple of weeks,
15:40
Speaker 2: including Dallas Goddard, so there's not necessarily the urgency to
15:45
Speaker 2: draft one early look. If Kenyon Sidik is there at
15:47
Speaker 2: twenty three, I think that that would be awfully, awfully
15:51
Speaker 2: difficult to pass on because he's the head of the class,
15:54
Speaker 2: the best player at that position, and I think he
15:58
Speaker 2: can definitely offer.
16:01
Speaker 1: Something different to.
16:02
Speaker 2: The offense that they don't already have and really be
16:04
Speaker 2: a force as a rookie, but you don't have to
16:06
Speaker 2: force the pick right now. And Eagles did a really
16:08
Speaker 2: nice job over the past couple of weeks of draft
16:11
Speaker 2: proofing the roster to resist the urge to maybe reach
16:14
Speaker 2: at a position of need.
16:16
Speaker 1: That's not to say that you don't need a tight end.
16:18
Speaker 1: They certainly do.
16:19
Speaker 2: They don't have any tight end under contract next season
16:22
Speaker 2: as things currently stand, and this is a deep class
16:25
Speaker 2: of tight ends, and so I think that you don't
16:27
Speaker 2: want to wait until Day three to get one because
16:29
Speaker 2: they're more of a projection or more specialist.
16:32
Speaker 1: Like Sam Roush. I think could do a little bit
16:35
Speaker 1: of everything, but.
16:36
Speaker 2: He's he majors in blocking and at two hundred and
16:38
Speaker 2: sixty seven pounds, might not be the most explosive tight
16:42
Speaker 2: end that you could find. There's other players that we
16:44
Speaker 2: can you know at Dallan Bentley from Utah who I like,
16:48
Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean there's a lot of players at
16:52
Speaker 2: this position, but I really like the size and the
16:55
Speaker 2: fit potentially for Eli Reridan in this offense, and I
16:59
Speaker 2: think that he's he's starting to come into his own.
17:01
Speaker 2: The light's starting to come on and when you get
17:03
Speaker 2: him into an NFL building, you have him work with
17:06
Speaker 2: Ryan Mahaffey, who is not only the run game coordinator,
17:08
Speaker 2: he's also the tight ends coach. You see what you
17:10
Speaker 2: have there, and it's up to the coaches from from
17:14
Speaker 2: that point forward to get the most and maximize the
17:17
Speaker 2: talent that you have.
17:19
Speaker 1: So I always did day one and day two.
17:21
Speaker 2: Today I'm going to take a pause and we're going
17:23
Speaker 2: to pick things up tomorrow where I get into the
17:27
Speaker 2: day three selections. Mock drafts always seem to generate a
17:31
Speaker 2: lot of feedback and a lot of you know, I
17:37
Speaker 2: guess you know, some debating if you will, but it's
17:41
Speaker 2: always a fun exercise to do. And I hope you
17:43
Speaker 2: enjoyed part one of the two part mock Draft two
17:47
Speaker 2: point zero, and make sure you tune in tomorrow because
17:50
Speaker 2: I'll have the second part of it, and if you
17:54
Speaker 2: can't wait, it's on inside the Birds dot Com.
17:56
Speaker 1: Feel free to check it out.
17:57
Speaker 2: But for now, that's going to do it for this
17:59
Speaker 2: edition of the Czecho dely Andrew Decheco
18:03
Speaker 1: And I'll catch you all on the next one.