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The DiCecco Daily: Final Pre-Camp Eagles 53-Man Roster Projection · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome into another episode of the Checko Daily.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew de Checko, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds dot
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Com here, and we are closing in on the start
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: of Eagles training camp. That's right, Your Philadelphia Eagles report
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: to training camp Tuesday, July twenty eighth, which means that
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: it's now time for me to unveil my final pre
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: training camp fifty three men roster prediction, and we're gonna
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: look at the offense today Tomorrow will be for the
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: defense and on offense, as you'll quickly find, there's a
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: lot of really interesting decisions that could come into play here.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: How many receivers are they going to keep? How about
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: tight end? Will they go especially heavy on the offensive
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: line to ensure that they're keeping some of the developmental linement? Well,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: my initial read at quarterback has the Eagles going with three,
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: those quarterbacks being Jaywen Hurts, Andy Dalton.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: And rookie Cole Payton. Not really a surprise.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: I haven't really deviated from my spring projections here. And
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: the first quarterback on that list, I mean that doesn't
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: need much explaining, But when you get to the number
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: two spot, I have a hard time envisioning the Eagles
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: being able to keep both Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: I look at which player has more trade value. That's
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: going to be Tanner McKee. I've said this many times
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: this offseason. Maybe there's a team out there that isn't
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: too convinced with their quarterback situation.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Once you get into the thickest.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Things in training camp, you have a better idea of
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: what you have. Maybe there's a team out there that
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: isn't overly enthused. Maybe there's an injury that arises and
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, Tanner McKee becomes an enticing option.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: I just think that if you're torn between Andy Dalton
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: and Tanner McKee, I'm going to lean towards the player
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: who holds more value as the one not likely to
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: be here. Who knows. There's also the unknown with Cole Payton.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Maybe he doesn't have a good training camp. Maybe he
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: has one kind of like Kyle McCord had last year
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: and he fell short of making the roster. He does
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: have a ways of way to go from in terms
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: of mechanical From a mechanical aspect, and that's something that
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: probably should be should have been expected when he was drafted.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: He wasn't a NFL ready made product. But the Eagles
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: are banking on upside there and more often than not,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: they're going to want to give their draft picks that
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: benefit the doubt and not cut the cord too early.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: That said, I just don't know that they're going to
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: be in a position to keep four quarterbacks. So something
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: has to give here and right now going into training camp,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: that's my read on it. Both Tanner McKee and Andy Dalton
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: were rotating with the second team.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: That says something.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: You don't just throw away those valuable reps to a
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: player if you don't have them in the plans, if
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: you're not seriously looking at them in a more expanded role.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: So that's the quarterback situation.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Running back, I have the Eagles going with three again,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: unchanged from my spring forecast. Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby and
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Will Shipley out well, I have Damian Pierce, I have
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Elijah Mitchell and Carson Steele. So yeah, I mean Saquon Barkley.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I don't need to speak too much about here. I
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: think he's gonna be the driving force of this offense
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: as the Eagles look to get back to an efficient
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: ground game, dominating at the point of attack and blowing
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: defenders off the ball, and Saquon is going to be
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: a huge part of that, needless to say, And I
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: am curious to see if he has a larger role.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: As a pass catcher.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: We've seen it in Spurts, but with Sean Mannion, maybe
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: at something that he looks to implement with his offense.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Then when you get to Tank Bigsby, he's a player
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: that I am expecting to take on a much more
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: sizable role compared to what he had last year. Remember
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: he arrived in September, so this is the first look
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: that we'll have at Tank Bigsby in a training camp setting.
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: But this is a punishing between the tackles. Runner has
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: some bursts to take it outside. I love the way
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: he plays the game. He has juice, he has urgency
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: and desperation with every touch. Just a really fun player
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: to watch. He's a great story and there's more that
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: he has to offer. He's just scratching the surface.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: Now.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting that his touches are going to come
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: at the expense of Saquon Barkley, but I think they'll
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: be a little bit more of a rhythm and a
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: defined role for Tank this season. Actually, when you're trying
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to maybe preserve Saquon Barkley for the stretch run, will
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Shipley is the Eagle's most natural pass catching running back.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: He has a different skill set relative to Saquon and
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Tank and compliments them, I feel ideally, and his calling
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: card is as a receiver. But what's going to get
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: him onto the roster is his ability to be a
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: core for a special teamer. And he's also among the
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: favorites I would imagine entering camp to be the Eagles
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: kick returner. I don't think that Damian Piers, Elijah Mitchell,
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: or Carson Steele are in any position to challenge Will
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: Shipley in any real way. I'm curious also to see
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: how Will responds to this new schematic shift.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: I think it.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Could play to his strengths a little bit more than
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: the previous scheme did.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: But we'll have to wait and see.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: But right now, there really isn't anyone pushing him for
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: that number three spot. I feel pretty comfortable penciling him
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: in as the number three running back on the Eagles
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: wide receiver. I grappled with this because I could have
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: went in a number of directions. I wanted to go
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: heavier here, but as I'm putting the roster together, there
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: just wasn't space for me to do so. And I
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: don't know that the Eagles will be in position to
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: do so, but we'll see how things shake out.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Let's get to it.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Leading the way, I have the Eagles keeping five receivers
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: led by Davonte Smith. Then we have don Tavian Wicks,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Mackay Lemon, Hollywood Brown.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: And Johnny Wilson.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: You'll notice I don't have Darius Cooper on this list,
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: and I wanted to put him on there. I just
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: think that maybe his skill set is a bit more
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: redundant relative to that of a Johnny Wilson. He's a
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: tough receiver, consistent, not overly flashy, doesn't have the downfield speed.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: He just does a lot of things well.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: But I think Johnny Wilson gives you a little bit
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: more in terms of the length, the special team's ability,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: the blocking prowess.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: And I think that he was coming on a little
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: bit late.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Last summer before the injury struck, and it looked like
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: he was sort of picking up where he left off
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: in the spring. You couple that kind of size with
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: an emerging player who can be a receiver, and I
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: think he would be an awfully appealing option. The Eagles
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: really missed Johnny Wilson last year. Look, there's a whirld
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: where they can keep both players, but I think that
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: that would be.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: A little optimistic.
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know that there is going to be a
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: realistic path, but I don't have Darius Cooper, Elijah Moore,
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Britton Covey, Danny Gray, Quez Wakin, Samari Torre, and Eric Azukanma.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Hollywood.
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Brown is going to fit as a theoretical vertical threat.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: And I say that because he's never really been used
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: in that capacity to his career, but he offers a
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: different dimension. You can send him vertically, Teams have to
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: account for him whenever he's on the field, and he's
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: going to be your deep shot guy. I like that
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: fit here in Philadelphia. Then you get to the tight
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: end position.
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: You have Dallas.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Goddard, Johnny mount, Eli Stowers, and I went with Cameron
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Latto four tight ends and heading into camp, Johnny Munt
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: is a blocking centric veteran. He's projected a slide in
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: second on the depth chart behind Goddard, his skill set
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: better balances out what had previously been a one dimensional group,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: and the uber athletic Stours who was drafted in the
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: second round will also have a role in his first season.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: This is a spot where I can see the Eagles
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: going a little bit heavier as the group offers differing
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: skill sets and varying degrees of optimism. And I think
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: tight end has proven to be a featured position, whether
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: you're looking at the Green Bay Packers offense, whether you're
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: looking at Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and so I think
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: that Cameron Latsu felt like the logical choice here. The
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: fourth year pro is a punishing blocker, he doubles as
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: a fullback, and he carries untapped potential as a receiver.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: In my opinion, He's also functioned prominently last season as
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: a core special teamer, so that, more than anything is
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: going to be his pathway onto the roster, not making it.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: I have Grand Calcaterra, EJ Jenkins, Stones Smart, and Daykwon Wright.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Day Kwon Wright is in my estimation, prime to be
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: a training camp darling. He'll make some splash plays in practice.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: He even may make a few in the training in
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: the preseason games. But if you're looking at it from
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: a developmental standpoint, I still think he has a little
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: room to grow, which would be a prime spot for
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: the practice squad to do that. I know that every
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: year there's a player or two that causes some concern
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: as to whether or not they'll get claim via waivers.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: That rarely happens. That rarely happens, and that's important to
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: keep in perspective. You have to be special and really
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: catch a team's eye in order for them to invest
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: a waiver claim in that player, because, let's face it,
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: the players who are going to be more appealing to
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: them are the ones who have been in camp with them,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: who know the system, not ones that you have to
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: work with and hope that they pick things up enough
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: where they can help you midway through the season. That's
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: an important thing to keep an eye on here. I
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: like Daikwon Wright as a developmental prospect. I have not
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: seen enough for me to in good faith put him
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: on my fifty three. And those who have listened to
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: this podcast and have read my work know that I
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: think pretty highly of EJ. Jenkins, who has come a
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: long way three He was at three different colleges. He's
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: a collegiate wide receiver and he's really grown into his
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: tight end role and as really taking leaps forward as
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: a blocker. So that's something if you're looking at it
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: from that standpoint, he has a little bit of upside
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: as a blocker if you're looking to do some things
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: there and try to stockpile another player in addition to
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Johnny munt Hey.
• 11:11
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• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Twenty one and up.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Offensive Line, I went with ten players, those being Jordan Malatta,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson, Fred Johnson,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: Drew Kendall, MARKL.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Bell, Micah Morris, and Cameron Williams.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: Not on this list, you'll find Miles Hinton, Michael Jordan,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Howind Pierce, Willie Lampkin, Jake Majors, Jaden Roberts, and John
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: jukewill The top eight are pretty safely entrenched, and I.
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: Think depending on how fast MARKL.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Bell develops, there's a case that could be made for
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Fred Johnson being on the outs depending on Bell's progression.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: But Fred Johnson gives the Eagles a proven commodity of
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: multiple spots left and right tackle. He's stepped in for
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Jordanillot a couple of years ago, Lane Johnson of course
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: last season, and even if needed, he could play guard,
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: though he's best student to play tackle. Drew Kendall steps
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: into a prominent role as an interior reserve on game day.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: We know that he's a center by trade, but he's
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: also going to be called upon to moonlight at guard
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: both guard spots, and he crossed trained there in the spring.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: This is a big year for him.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: The Eagles are placing a lot of responsibility on his shoulders,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: and the final two slots are going to be determined
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: in training camp. But all things equal, I decided on
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: Michael Morris, the rookie, and Cameron Williams. Michael Morris was
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: a twenty twenty six to six round pick. He represents
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: developmental upside at a thin position, and I gave the
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: nod to Cameron Williams over Miles Hinton due to potential.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: He's a younger prospect and I understand that he's only
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: been a tackle. He hasn't cross trained like Miles Hinton has,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: but I think you go with the player with more upside.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: Cameron Williams is someone that had he entered the draft
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: this time around, he's probably a higher draft pick than
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: the Day three pick that he was in twenty twenty five.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Last summer, he was clearly raw, but you saw some
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: tools he flashed in moments and then when he had
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: to step in the season finale. I thought he impressed
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: and exceeded expectations. So with Miles Sentton, you could make
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: the case, yeah, he's cross trained, but we don't know
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: the quality of how he's repped at guard, what the
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: Eagles think of him. It is notable that they are
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: trying to look at him and broaden his skill set
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: a little bit.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: That shouldn't be sort of discarded there.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: But I think Cameron Williams projects as the higher upside player,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: but he has wrapped exclusively at tackle, which feels like
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: it's really worth mentioning here.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: And Miles Senton's going to have to showcase encouraging steps
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: forward to earn another season, and they could come down
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: to either one of the twenty twenty five Day three
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: picks and Miles Entton or Cameron Williams for that final spot,
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: and we'll.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: See how things shake out. The reserve offensive line isn't
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: a group or a storyline that is typically going to
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: evoke a lot of intrigue, but it is something that
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: I'm fascinated to see how it develops because there's a
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: lot of those players who were on the Eagles practice
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: squad last year at Jake Majors, Howind Pierce was on there,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: Willie Lampkin was on IR, but he was in the building.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: And I mean, I'm curious to see how they respond,
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: how they returned after a year in the building, and
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: if that helps them get off to a faster start,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: if they have a better grasp on their assignments, and
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: are they playing with more confidence, are they willing to
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: are able to take their game to another level. Just
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: a lot of really fascinating roster discussions that I just
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: simply love as one who likes to get into the
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: weeds when these conversations. But the good thing about it
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: is we're gonna learn about it, and we're gonna learn
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: a lot about some of these guys. But right now,
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: that's the way I see it on offense. Tomorrow we'll
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: take a look at the defense. But that's gonna do
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: it for this episode of The chech O Daily. I'm
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Andrew Diceeco. I'll catch you all on the next one.