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TABLE TALK: Analyzing The Eagles After The First Preseason Game · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Speaker 1: What's going on, everybody. It's Jeff. I wanted to let
0:02
Speaker 1: you know. This podcast episode was recorded on Monday, August twelfth,
0:05
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. By the time you hear this, some
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Speaker 1: things may have changed here or there, but we hope
0:10
Speaker 1: you enjoy the show. Welcome to Table Talk here at
0:33
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly
0:36
Speaker 1: Philly sports podcast show in the world, over eleven years strong.
0:39
Speaker 1: We've got a great discussion coming your way this week
0:41
Speaker 1: here on Table Talk. The Eagles first preseason game is
0:45
Speaker 1: now in the books. We saw a lot from this team.
0:47
Speaker 1: We saw a lot from certain players. We didn't see
0:49
Speaker 1: some stuff from other players as well. We're gonna examine
0:53
Speaker 1: what we saw where this team is at right now
0:55
Speaker 1: during the course of training camp. We've got a great discussion.
0:58
Speaker 1: Let's get right to it. Jinning us this week, and
1:00
Speaker 1: it's great to have him back on the show to
1:02
Speaker 1: get into this Philadelphia Eagles team. From the Eagles pin
1:06
Speaker 1: Pool Network, that great podcast network I subscribe on Apple podcast.
1:10
Speaker 1: You can hear all of their Eagles postgame shows along
1:13
Speaker 1: with our Eagles post game shows and some other great
1:16
Speaker 1: Eagles content. The on the Shane Page podcast I absolutely
1:21
Speaker 1: love him and his co host Johnny Page was recently
1:24
Speaker 1: on the show. We've got the One and Only Shane
1:26
Speaker 1: half Hey doing Buddy.
1:27
Speaker 2: I'm doing great, Jeff, how about you.
1:29
Speaker 1: I'm doing alright, man, I'm doing alright. Because as we know,
1:32
Speaker 1: football is back here. Football is officially back. We're actually
1:35
Speaker 1: seeing some preseason games. We saw this Eagles team actually
1:39
Speaker 1: playing some football on the field this past week. It
1:41
Speaker 1: was really nice to see it.
1:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's you know, I have a love hate relationship
1:46
Speaker 2: with the preseason. I know, I'm always so excited for
1:50
Speaker 2: real football and then I watch it and I'm like, eh,
1:53
Speaker 2: and you know, but the first half of the game
1:56
Speaker 2: was interesting seeing some of the starters on defense. I
1:59
Speaker 2: was a little disappointed that we didn't see starters on offense,
2:02
Speaker 2: just because there was the report about it. But I
2:05
Speaker 2: mean it's the smart move. Yeah, so you don't want
2:07
Speaker 2: to get those guys hurt. But you know, the first
2:09
Speaker 2: half was enjoyable seeing some of the young guys play.
2:12
Speaker 2: The second half was a bit of a slog but
2:14
Speaker 2: they can't deny we had a great ending.
2:16
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and we got to see what some of the
2:18
Speaker 1: depth with this with this Eagles team may potentially be
2:22
Speaker 1: able to give the team this coming season when starters
2:25
Speaker 1: go out and injury with injuries if there hopefully there
2:28
Speaker 1: isn't going to be any sort of suspensions with anyone
2:31
Speaker 1: on the team this coming season, you never know. But
2:34
Speaker 1: the depth is what we were able to see in
2:36
Speaker 1: this first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, and let's
2:40
Speaker 1: really get into this this game and also what we're
2:43
Speaker 1: seeing from some of these guys during training camp and
2:46
Speaker 1: the after this first preseason game here the second and
2:49
Speaker 1: third string, the guys again who're gonna end up being backups,
2:52
Speaker 1: and the depth on this team. I mean, they showed
2:54
Speaker 1: us some good stuff, showed us not not good stuff
2:57
Speaker 1: at times, of course, But I really want to start
2:59
Speaker 1: with the cornerback position because a lot of us were
3:02
Speaker 1: really going to be looking at that particular position. Shane
3:05
Speaker 1: and how it's all going to be shaping up. Killey
3:07
Speaker 1: Ringo and rookie Quinnon Mitchell. They look pretty damn good
3:11
Speaker 1: this past Friday night. They really did. Isaiah Rodgers certainly
3:14
Speaker 1: didn't necessarily live up to the hype of a preseason game.
3:19
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering what are your thoughts on how the
3:21
Speaker 1: cornerback position is really taking shape thus far during this
3:24
Speaker 1: preseason here.
3:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. That was one of the things that
3:27
Speaker 2: I really enjoyed watching. I thought Kiey Ringo looked really good.
3:32
Speaker 2: And you know, I had a first round grade on
3:34
Speaker 2: Kighley Ringo last year in the draft. I think he
3:37
Speaker 2: was twenty four overall on my board. Yeah, I understand
3:40
Speaker 2: why he fell out of day one. Him falling out
3:42
Speaker 2: of day two was absurd and it never should have happened.
3:45
Speaker 2: And I wanted to see him. I mean, it was
3:47
Speaker 2: really apparent early on last year that Brad Burry had
3:50
Speaker 2: lost his step and I wanted to see Ringo more
3:52
Speaker 2: last year, and of course we didn't see him until
3:54
Speaker 2: really late in the year. I was excited to see
3:57
Speaker 2: what he would do over the offseason. But I did
3:59
Speaker 2: think with the additions of Isaiah Rodgers, Quinon Mitchell Cooper
4:03
Speaker 2: de Gene, he might sort of be the the guy
4:06
Speaker 2: that's just forgotten. And I thought he played really well.
4:10
Speaker 2: You know, he allowed the one completion on the back
4:12
Speaker 2: shoulder ball that, to be honest, is just that's just
4:15
Speaker 2: a assuming that's what Josh Johnson was trying to do.
4:18
Speaker 1: Right, Who knows what a perfect ball. What a perfect
4:21
Speaker 1: ball that was thrown.
4:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean perfect, perfect placement, beats perfect coverage every
4:26
Speaker 2: time because Ringo was right where he should have been.
4:28
Speaker 2: He comes back later that drive and breaks up the
4:31
Speaker 2: pass in the end zone, and I mean it was
4:33
Speaker 2: he was handsy. I posted that clip out on Twitter
4:36
Speaker 2: and everybody was saying, you know, that's that's past interference,
4:39
Speaker 2: and like, well there wasn't a flag, so and they
4:41
Speaker 2: were letting guys play. And there's an element of being
4:43
Speaker 2: a cornerback of a knowing how to get away with
4:45
Speaker 2: past interference and b just knowing what's going to be
4:49
Speaker 2: called in a particular game.
4:50
Speaker 1: So and I wonder if that was probably the I
4:52
Speaker 1: wonder if it was just because it was preseason, because
4:54
Speaker 1: it was the Cleat Blakeman crew, if I'm not mistaken,
4:57
Speaker 1: and Cleete Blakeman's crew they love throwing those yellow flags
5:00
Speaker 1: all over the field.
5:01
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, and even Mitchell Quinnon, Mitchell had the pass
5:04
Speaker 2: breakup that was almost an interception and the same thing,
5:08
Speaker 2: like you could have thrown a flag there, they didn't.
5:10
Speaker 2: You know, if that becomes something that is consistently getting
5:13
Speaker 2: flagged in the season and they can't adjust you're concerned
5:16
Speaker 2: about that. I'm not concerned about that. I thought they
5:18
Speaker 2: both played really well. I noticed Mitchell less than Ringo.
5:22
Speaker 2: He was only targeted twice instead of five times, so
5:25
Speaker 2: you obviously will see that a little less. Isaiah Rodgers.
5:29
Speaker 2: I didn't notice him a lot. He didn't play as much.
5:31
Speaker 2: They pulled him out earlier, which tells me he's probably
5:34
Speaker 2: still leading for that CB two spot. But I think
5:37
Speaker 2: Ringo's got an outside shot to go win it, and
5:39
Speaker 2: I do think it's going to end up being Quinnon
5:41
Speaker 2: Mitchell in the slot, which raises an interesting thing of
5:44
Speaker 2: what are they going to do with Avonte Maddox because
5:46
Speaker 2: they trotted Avonte Maddox out at safety. Yeah, and if
5:49
Speaker 2: you remember all the way back to his rookie season,
5:52
Speaker 2: he played some safety. He had no experience with that
5:55
Speaker 2: in college, but injuries were awful that year and Jim
5:58
Speaker 2: Schwartz put him at safety and he actually played pretty
6:00
Speaker 2: well there as a rookie. And so I have some
6:03
Speaker 2: interest in seeing Maddox safety, partially because you know, Chauncey
6:07
Speaker 2: Gardner Johnson is injured, Sidney Brown is still on the pup list.
6:11
Speaker 2: Try him out there in the preseason because I do
6:13
Speaker 2: think he's going to have a hard time getting on
6:16
Speaker 2: the field at cornerback with the investment into the position
6:19
Speaker 2: and how the young guys are playing. But safety depth
6:22
Speaker 2: is a big need, so I'd love to see him
6:23
Speaker 2: stick there if he can.
6:24
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I was on a podcast a couple weeks ago,
6:27
Speaker 1: and this is before this is I think after four
6:31
Speaker 1: or five practices, and I said that Avonte Maddox could
6:34
Speaker 1: potentially potentially be a cut with this team, knowing that
6:38
Speaker 1: Quinjon Mitchell was going to be going inside at slot,
6:42
Speaker 1: and knowing his various talents, of course, and knowing how
6:46
Speaker 1: incredibly stacked this cornerback room was. I don't. I don't.
6:51
Speaker 1: It wasn't a hot take necessarily. I wasn't trying. It
6:53
Speaker 1: was a logical type of discussion point in that there's
6:57
Speaker 1: so much cornerback talent on this team, and I know
7:00
Speaker 1: they brought him back on a one year deal, Vonte Maddox,
7:03
Speaker 1: but there may not. You're right, there may be that
7:05
Speaker 1: room for him at the safety position and in that
7:08
Speaker 1: safety room, but in terms of his injuries over the years,
7:12
Speaker 1: he could potentially be the odd man out depending on
7:14
Speaker 1: how these next couple preseason games take shape.
7:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, I hate that for Maddox because
7:20
Speaker 2: I think he's a good player. Yeah, and I think
7:22
Speaker 2: he's just a guy that injuries have gotten in the
7:24
Speaker 2: way of his career because he was a terrific slot
7:28
Speaker 2: and unfortunately was unable to stay on the field over
7:30
Speaker 2: the last couple of years. But you look at the
7:32
Speaker 2: contract they signed him to. I think it was one year,
7:35
Speaker 2: two million, less than a million guaranteed, so they can
7:37
Speaker 2: easily part ways with him. If you're looking for a
7:41
Speaker 2: safety depth piece, I would rather keep Maddox in that
7:46
Speaker 2: role than James Bradbury, but the contract makes it a
7:49
Speaker 2: little easier to move on from Maddox than it does
7:53
Speaker 2: Bradbury solely. And then with all that, I don't know
7:56
Speaker 2: what they do with Cooper de Gene too. Yeah, you know,
7:58
Speaker 2: Cooper de Jen with the hamstring injury, he's not playing
8:00
Speaker 2: right now, He's missing valuable reps. And you don't know,
8:03
Speaker 2: you know, Fangio likes to spin coverage his post snap.
8:06
Speaker 2: Chauncey Gardner Johnson's got safety slot versatility. I think Cooper
8:10
Speaker 2: Dejen could have that. I think Maddox could have that. So,
8:13
Speaker 2: you know, being a safety in this defense. It might
8:16
Speaker 2: not always mean you're playing safety either. They could spin
8:18
Speaker 2: Maddox down into the box where he's comfortable. So yeah,
8:21
Speaker 2: I'm interested to see how it plays out. For sure.
8:23
Speaker 1: That's gonna be a fun storyline to watch throughout the
8:26
Speaker 1: rest of training camp and this preseason. But there are
8:29
Speaker 1: a bunch of Eagles, Shane, who really need, I think,
8:32
Speaker 1: to step up during this preseason and in these preseason
8:35
Speaker 1: games in order to win either starting jobs or backup roles.
8:38
Speaker 1: I mean, right off the bat. Linebacker Nakobe Dean is
8:41
Speaker 1: obviously a guy who looks like he may be on
8:43
Speaker 1: the bubble at the moment, as rookie linebacker Jeremiah Trotter
8:48
Speaker 1: Junior looked pretty good during his first preseason game, and
8:51
Speaker 1: a number of different roles. There are a number of
8:54
Speaker 1: guys at the wide receiver position that are going to
8:56
Speaker 1: be battling for spots over these next couple weeks. Here
8:59
Speaker 1: are there a couple guys after this first preseason game
9:02
Speaker 1: that you really have your eyes on in terms of
9:04
Speaker 1: these battles, Let's start with the linebacker position here. What
9:07
Speaker 1: are your thoughts here, whether it's with regard to Nakobe Dean,
9:10
Speaker 1: Zach Bond, Jeremiah Trotter, junior Devin White looked looked okay,
9:16
Speaker 1: you know when he was on the field as well.
9:17
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here with regard to linebacker.
9:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, Devin White's for sure going to be a starter
9:22
Speaker 2: based on the contract they gave him. He's at his
9:25
Speaker 2: best rushing the passer. He's okay. I mean he's probably
9:29
Speaker 2: the Eagles best linebacker in coverage. That doesn't say a
9:32
Speaker 2: ton I do. I think he's the best in coverage still.
9:35
Speaker 2: But Zach Bond is interesting because he seemed to be
9:38
Speaker 2: the you know, for sure other starting linebacker all throughout
9:41
Speaker 2: training camp. He was a Fangio guy, like he was
9:44
Speaker 2: day one off season signing in free agency. And it's
9:48
Speaker 2: interesting because he's coming from New Orleans and there was
9:52
Speaker 2: a little bit of a sentiment of like he was
9:54
Speaker 2: misused in New Orleans as an off ball linebacker. He
9:56
Speaker 2: needs to be more of an edge rusher, and I
9:58
Speaker 2: think he alluded to that in a press conference, getting
10:00
Speaker 2: to rush the passer more. And then Vic Fangio was like, no,
10:03
Speaker 2: he's going to be a linebacker for us, and he
10:05
Speaker 2: doesn't look comfortable in coverage at all. And I know
10:08
Speaker 2: Fangio wants to be able to blitz his linebackers. He
10:11
Speaker 2: loves to drop ends out into coverage paired with a
10:14
Speaker 2: blitzing linebacker to get an overload pressure but still only
10:17
Speaker 2: rush four. That's something he likes to do a lot.
10:20
Speaker 2: I didn't think. I didn't think Bond looked very good
10:23
Speaker 2: in the preseason game. So you know, if Jeremiah Trotter
10:26
Speaker 2: Junior continues to play well, maybe he's able to play
10:30
Speaker 2: himself into that number two role. I thought he did
10:32
Speaker 2: really well, had a special teams tackle. My favorite rep
10:36
Speaker 2: of his was when he blitzed and he just got
10:38
Speaker 2: It was a third and two or three, and he
10:41
Speaker 2: blitzed and he got stood up and Josh Johnson tried
10:43
Speaker 2: to scramble up through the pocket and he was able
10:45
Speaker 2: to stay with that play and bring him down. That
10:48
Speaker 2: was an impressive play. I thought that one was really well.
10:52
Speaker 2: I also thought Nikobe Dean played well, and he didn't
10:54
Speaker 2: play as well as Trotter, but I thought Nikobe Dean
10:56
Speaker 2: looked pretty well, pretty good too, And I think that's
10:59
Speaker 2: been lost in the shuffle a little bit with how
11:01
Speaker 2: good Trotter looked. But I mean, I think in an
11:04
Speaker 2: ideal world, if between those two guys you can get
11:08
Speaker 2: one solid linebacker two, you're in a good shit, in
11:11
Speaker 2: good shape, and they've got similar stature, they've got similar
11:14
Speaker 2: skill sets in terms of blitzing, and uh their you know,
11:18
Speaker 2: their cognitive ability on the field. So I'm hopeful one
11:21
Speaker 2: of those guys can take that number two spot.
11:23
Speaker 1: What about the wide receivers here, Shane, because there appears
11:27
Speaker 1: to be some concern with an Eagles nation, and I
11:29
Speaker 1: think rightfully so with what is going to be happening
11:32
Speaker 1: with wide receiver three. Over the past couple months, I've
11:35
Speaker 1: actually been talking about on this podcast platform, how if
11:37
Speaker 1: aj Brown goes down or DeVante Smith goes down, or
11:41
Speaker 1: even both, My goodness, what does this receiving corps really
11:44
Speaker 1: look like? There are definitely some concerns, But as the
11:47
Speaker 1: position battles start to take place, what are you seeing?
11:50
Speaker 1: Who do you like? Who do you not really like? Here?
11:53
Speaker 2: I don't really like anybody, to be honest. I mean
11:58
Speaker 2: you have to start with, the Eagles have one of
12:01
Speaker 2: the best wide receiver duos in the NFL. I mean
12:05
Speaker 2: you're probably taking Tyreek Hill and Jayalen Wattle over them,
12:09
Speaker 2: and then that might be it maybe justin Jefferson Jordan Addison,
12:13
Speaker 2: but like they're at the worst. They're like the third
12:15
Speaker 2: best duos right in the NFL. But when you start
12:19
Speaker 2: looking at wide receiver threes, they legitimately might have the
12:23
Speaker 2: worst wide receiver three situation in the NFL. And so
12:27
Speaker 2: it sounds silly to nitpick and be like, well, they
12:29
Speaker 2: got aj Brown, they got Davonte Smith, they got Dallas Goddard,
12:32
Speaker 2: they got Jalen Hurts. Why are we worried about wide
12:34
Speaker 2: receiver three? But you're exactly right, one of those guys
12:37
Speaker 2: goes down and all of a sudden you're in a
12:38
Speaker 2: pretty bad spot there. Yeah, you know John Ross could
12:41
Speaker 2: not separate against backup cornerbacks.
12:43
Speaker 1: Good lord. Yeah, it was rough watching him on the field.
12:47
Speaker 1: It really was. Look, he had some energy, which I
12:49
Speaker 1: appreciated as a fan, but my gosh, like you just said,
12:52
Speaker 1: the separation and just being able to understand where the
12:56
Speaker 1: ball is, you know, being able to even have an
12:58
Speaker 1: opportunity to go up to the catch point just wasn't there.
13:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean there was the one deep ball
13:04
Speaker 2: they threw. They got the exact look they wanted. They
13:07
Speaker 2: isolated him on the back side of a three by
13:09
Speaker 2: one like they do with aj Brown, and they got
13:12
Speaker 2: the safety that was over him rotating down into the box,
13:15
Speaker 2: so he's got no help over the top. And they
13:17
Speaker 2: tried to throw a deep ball. And now it was
13:18
Speaker 2: a terrible throw because Kenny Pickett has a noodle arm,
13:22
Speaker 2: but he also didn't separate like Kenny Pickett could have
13:25
Speaker 2: put that upfield. It's a contested catch. And so I'm
13:28
Speaker 2: not you know, I'm not willing to say Pickett under
13:30
Speaker 2: threw that ball on purpose because I just generally don't
13:33
Speaker 2: think he's very good. But that's the perfect ball that
13:36
Speaker 2: you come back to to try to draw a DPI
13:38
Speaker 2: and he didn't do that. It's just shades of Quez Watkins.
13:41
Speaker 2: For me, I'm not interested in John Ross. And so
13:44
Speaker 2: you look at some of the other guys. Brittin Covey
13:47
Speaker 2: had a few catches. I think they just see him
13:49
Speaker 2: as a screen guy. They don't really let him run routes.
13:51
Speaker 2: I love him as a return man. I don't think
13:54
Speaker 2: you want him to be your wide receiver three. For
13:57
Speaker 2: my money, Johnny Wilson would be the wide receiver three
13:59
Speaker 2: right now, and it's largely for his blocking ability. I
14:02
Speaker 2: need to see more from him as a wide receiver.
14:05
Speaker 2: But to me, he would be my wide receiver three.
14:08
Speaker 2: And I'm almost viewing it as like eleven and a
14:11
Speaker 2: half personnel. He's like half receiver half tight end. If
14:14
Speaker 2: you want to put a linebacker out there to match
14:16
Speaker 2: with him, to put on him, I think he's going
14:19
Speaker 2: to get open against linebackers. Yeah, if you put a
14:22
Speaker 2: corner on him, you've got, you know, a plus in
14:24
Speaker 2: the running game. So that's kind of what I like
14:26
Speaker 2: right now. And I don't love that. I think Wilson
14:28
Speaker 2: would be better as a wide receiver for but I'd
14:30
Speaker 2: like to see them get someone.
14:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, I have a feeling we may be seeing that
14:34
Speaker 1: at some point in the future. Here, folks, Well, let's
14:37
Speaker 1: keep talking about this offense and what we've seen this
14:39
Speaker 1: preseason here. Shane running back Will Shipley looked pretty damn
14:44
Speaker 1: good in his first preseason game for a rookie. I
14:46
Speaker 1: was really amazed by his patients, waiting for his blocks
14:50
Speaker 1: to manifest, just his overall explosiveness as well. What did
14:54
Speaker 1: you see from Shipley that you liked, maybe didn't like
14:57
Speaker 1: too much, And how do you think this running back
14:59
Speaker 1: room is really taking shape? Here after the first week
15:01
Speaker 1: of the preseason.
15:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was encouraging to see Shipley pass protect as
15:08
Speaker 2: well as he did, because when I did a film
15:11
Speaker 2: review for him after the draft, I talked about, you know,
15:13
Speaker 2: I think he's a quick accelerator, he's got really good vision,
15:17
Speaker 2: he's got rush plans, he's a good receiver. But I
15:21
Speaker 2: said that the biggest negative is he's a bad pass protector,
15:25
Speaker 2: and that's gonna make it hard for him to get
15:27
Speaker 2: on the field. So for him to come in and
15:29
Speaker 2: he had two good blitz pickups that I saw. There's
15:32
Speaker 2: probably some more. I haven't made it all the way
15:34
Speaker 2: through the film yet, but that was really good for me.
15:38
Speaker 2: You know, he had some good his Obviously his stat
15:41
Speaker 2: line doesn't look great. I think it was like seven
15:43
Speaker 2: carries twenty three yards, but you know, you're running behind
15:46
Speaker 2: a mix of second and third string offensive lineman. There
15:49
Speaker 2: wasn't a lot of holes. I never like in watching
15:52
Speaker 2: his runs. I was never like, oh he missed the
15:54
Speaker 2: hole or he hit the It was like there wasn't
15:56
Speaker 2: a hole, so he just ran into it. Yeah, there
15:58
Speaker 2: was one in particular where I thought he did a
16:01
Speaker 2: really good job, and I put this one out on Twitter,
16:03
Speaker 2: people can go look, but from the back view, the
16:06
Speaker 2: hole opens up to the left a gap like immediately,
16:09
Speaker 2: and instead of pushing that hole, he kind of acts
16:13
Speaker 2: like he's going to the right a gap to toy
16:16
Speaker 2: with the linebacker, and then he sticks his foot in
16:18
Speaker 2: the ground and pushes through that hole. And it gave
16:20
Speaker 2: time for the offensive line to get up and get
16:23
Speaker 2: hands on that linebacker. And that's something that you know,
16:26
Speaker 2: Miles Sanders was really bad about back in the day.
16:29
Speaker 2: The hole's there, just boom, I hit it sometimes or
16:33
Speaker 2: sometimes dancing too much. I thought he threaded that needle
16:36
Speaker 2: really well. I was impressed with how smooth he looked.
16:38
Speaker 2: If he can pass protect well, he can maybe push
16:42
Speaker 2: Kenny Gainwell for reps. Now the Eagles love Gainwell. He's
16:45
Speaker 2: not going to take over Gainwell spot. But I do
16:48
Speaker 2: think that's his path to the field.
16:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, I would absolutely agree with you. It's gonna be
16:52
Speaker 1: fun to see what he does these next two games.
16:54
Speaker 1: Will Shipley that is, let's get into the right guard position.
16:57
Speaker 1: Sticking with the offense here, Shane, because Becton he started
17:01
Speaker 1: Friday night, he looked okay, like not great necessarily. Tyler
17:05
Speaker 1: Steen then comes in. He was still visibly hampered by
17:08
Speaker 1: his ankle injury that he's been nursing. I mean, he
17:12
Speaker 1: did a pretty good job too. It's still going to
17:14
Speaker 1: be a battle moving forward for what the right guard
17:17
Speaker 1: position is. And quite frankly, I think, you know, next
17:19
Speaker 1: to Lane Johnson, next to Cam Jurgens, I think whoever
17:22
Speaker 1: does end up getting that spot, whoever starts on that
17:26
Speaker 1: first game of the season against Green Bay down in Brazil,
17:30
Speaker 1: I think they're going to be okay. And I say, okay,
17:33
Speaker 1: they're not going to necessarily be a dominant right guard,
17:35
Speaker 1: but I think they're gonna be okay. How do you
17:37
Speaker 1: see this camp battle really looking within these next couple
17:40
Speaker 1: weeks here?
17:41
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Becton's probably the starter as of right now. Okay,
17:45
Speaker 2: he's gotten more first team reps and practices. He only
17:49
Speaker 2: played eight snaps in the preseason game, and I'm with you,
17:51
Speaker 2: I didn't think he looked that good. I don't think
17:54
Speaker 2: he looked bad, right is whatever, But then it was
17:57
Speaker 2: all tyler Stein, who I agree. I think at times
17:59
Speaker 2: he looked a little hobbled, and it's probably telling that
18:03
Speaker 2: he was still out there despite that for as long
18:05
Speaker 2: as he was. I think that tells you the pecking
18:07
Speaker 2: order now. I actually thought he looked pretty good.
18:09
Speaker 1: Yeah.
18:10
Speaker 2: I was especially impressed that when they used him as
18:12
Speaker 2: a polar in the run game, because at Alabama he
18:16
Speaker 2: played tackle and that's not something he did. And now
18:18
Speaker 2: the Eagles have him at guard and they were using
18:20
Speaker 2: him as a polar on power run plays and so
18:23
Speaker 2: his ability to do that, that versatility. I really like
18:27
Speaker 2: Tyler Stein, but I do think Makai Becton is probably
18:31
Speaker 2: gonna end up being that starting right guard for now.
18:34
Speaker 1: Again, folks, we are talking to Shane Half the Eagles
18:38
Speaker 1: Pin Poll podcast network. Check out everything they're doing over there,
18:43
Speaker 1: and make sure you are giving Shane a follow on
18:45
Speaker 1: the Twitter slash x at Shane Half NFL. If you're
18:49
Speaker 1: not following already, give him a follow. Great great content,
18:52
Speaker 1: lots of great analysis on this Philadelphia Eagles team and
18:56
Speaker 1: roster during the course of this preseason. As we're moving
19:00
Speaker 1: along here, a couple more topics I wanted to dive
19:02
Speaker 1: into with you, Shane. Last year, the Eagles kept three quarterbacks.
19:06
Speaker 1: We've got to get into quarterback talk here. Last year,
19:08
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, Marcus Mariota, Tanner, McKee, And I'm wondering do
19:12
Speaker 1: we see them keeping three quarterbacks on the roster this
19:15
Speaker 1: year as well? And I asked this because you know,
19:17
Speaker 1: I wonder what having really three quarterbacks brings to the team,
19:20
Speaker 1: and you could potentially have another roster position available. And
19:23
Speaker 1: also if they were to only keep you know, one backup,
19:27
Speaker 1: who would that act backup actually be. You mentioned Kenny
19:30
Speaker 1: Pikett having a noodle army. He did not look impressive
19:33
Speaker 1: against a basically a second team Baltimore Ravens defense, and
19:39
Speaker 1: Tanner McKee not looking terrible, not looking necessarily all that
19:43
Speaker 1: great either. What are your thoughts on what the backup
19:45
Speaker 1: position or a backup quarterback position within this Eagles team?
19:49
Speaker 1: What should it really look like? And you know, maybe
19:52
Speaker 1: they only keep two two guys suited up at the
19:56
Speaker 1: start of Week one, What are your thoughts here at
19:57
Speaker 1: the quarterback position.
19:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of think they'll in up only keeping
20:01
Speaker 2: two because there's just so many. I mean, we talked
20:04
Speaker 2: about early on the secondary depth and guys that you
20:07
Speaker 2: want to be able to keep, yep, I mean, who's
20:09
Speaker 2: who's more valuable to you? A QB three or Avante
20:13
Speaker 2: Maddox is your fourth or fifth safety year. And I
20:17
Speaker 2: don't see anything from these guys that tells me like, oh,
20:20
Speaker 2: we have to keep all three. So I think they're
20:23
Speaker 2: going to have guys they want to keep at other places.
20:25
Speaker 2: Now we know they highly value backup quarterback because they
20:30
Speaker 2: you know, they what they paid Marcus Mariota. Last year,
20:32
Speaker 2: they went out and traded for Kenny Pickett. And if
20:35
Speaker 2: it was me, if I'm picking one to keep, I
20:37
Speaker 2: would one hundred percent keep Tanner McKee. I think you know,
20:41
Speaker 2: if you if you put Tanner McKee film and Kenny
20:46
Speaker 2: Pickett film up for somebody to watch, didn't know the names,
20:50
Speaker 2: didn't know anything about him, and you said one of
20:52
Speaker 2: these guys was a Day one draft pick and one
20:55
Speaker 2: of them was a Day three draft pick. I think
20:57
Speaker 2: most people would guess that Tanner McKee was the one
21:00
Speaker 2: draft right because at least, I mean, he's got arm strength,
21:04
Speaker 2: He he looked, I mean, he didn't look great in
21:07
Speaker 2: this preseason game. Man. The receiving was really bad. Like
21:11
Speaker 2: there was one seam ball he put up in front
21:14
Speaker 2: of the safety that was really good and the guy
21:15
Speaker 2: just dropped it. And that was like a play after
21:18
Speaker 2: another drop. So at the end of the day. I
21:21
Speaker 2: think the upside of McKee is higher than the upside
21:25
Speaker 2: of Pickett. Now, the thing that Pickett has going in
21:27
Speaker 2: his favor, he just doesn't turn the ball over. He
21:29
Speaker 2: didn't do it much in Pittsburgh. It's because he throws
21:33
Speaker 2: the ball like two yards downfield on average. But when
21:38
Speaker 2: when he throws the ball. I don't know if you're
21:40
Speaker 2: a gamer, but I've been playing a lot of college
21:42
Speaker 2: football twenty five lately.
21:44
Speaker 1: I haven't had time unfortune.
21:45
Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, so you know, like you like tap the
21:48
Speaker 2: button and it'll lob pass it, and you hold the
21:50
Speaker 2: button and it throws the bullet pass. And every once
21:52
Speaker 2: in a while, I'll like start to throw a route
21:55
Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden I see somebody breaking
21:57
Speaker 2: on it, and I like, try not to push the button. Yeah,
21:59
Speaker 2: I just give it like the lightest of taps and
22:01
Speaker 2: just throw this real hierarchy moon ball on a ten
22:04
Speaker 2: yard out route. He gets picked six. That's what it
22:06
Speaker 2: looks like when Tanner McKee or when so I would
22:11
Speaker 2: keep McKee. I think he's got more upside than pick It.
22:15
Speaker 2: I think if they only keep one, they'll keep pick it.
22:18
Speaker 2: I think the reality is if either of those guys
22:20
Speaker 2: had to play more than a game. The Eagles are
22:22
Speaker 2: in serious trouble.
22:23
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Jalen Hurts needs to stay healthy. He's got even
22:27
Speaker 1: doing what he did last year, we knew Jalen Hurts
22:30
Speaker 1: was hampered with an injury, a number of injuries throughout
22:33
Speaker 1: the course of last season. It's going to have to
22:35
Speaker 1: happen this year and hopefully he does stay healthy and
22:38
Speaker 1: hopefully he's not hampered by anything, because, like you, I
22:41
Speaker 1: believe that they should only keep one backup quarterback with
22:45
Speaker 1: a with a team that needs so much depth from
22:47
Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball, they just need to
22:49
Speaker 1: keep one quarterback to backup Jalen Hurts. So the next
22:54
Speaker 1: preseason game is this Thursday night. As we're closing things
22:57
Speaker 1: out here, Shane, what's the one aspect of this team
23:01
Speaker 1: that you're really going to be honing in on during
23:03
Speaker 1: the second preseason game and why.
23:06
Speaker 2: It might be if Jake Elliott can make extra points
23:09
Speaker 2: and pogles. Yes, that might be the thing to watch,
23:13
Speaker 2: but no, really, it's a lot of the stuff we've
23:16
Speaker 2: talked about. I want to see how the cornerback reps
23:19
Speaker 2: are allocated, you know, I want to see a strong
23:21
Speaker 2: showing from Ringo and Mitchell. Again, I mean, those are
23:24
Speaker 2: who I'm rooting for to take that job. I would
23:26
Speaker 2: rather one of those guys beat out Isaiah Rodgers, who's
23:29
Speaker 2: only here for a year. I want to watch the
23:31
Speaker 2: wide receiver three competition, like I want to see Johnny
23:34
Speaker 2: Wilson or Britton Covey or I mean, I would love
23:36
Speaker 2: to see John Ross show me something. I just don't
23:38
Speaker 2: think he's got it that the young linebackers will shipley.
23:43
Speaker 2: Hopefully I'll be watching Tanner McKee take the second team
23:46
Speaker 2: reps over Kitty Pickett because I would like to see
23:49
Speaker 2: him with you know, the slightly better receivers. Although we've
23:53
Speaker 2: still been talking about how bad it's been and just
23:55
Speaker 2: see how that looks. But you know, it's a lot
23:57
Speaker 2: of that same stuff for me preseason. You don't get
23:59
Speaker 2: anything out of preseason, right, It's really purely about watching
24:03
Speaker 2: these young guys that I've watched for the draft the
24:05
Speaker 2: last couple of years and see if they can take
24:07
Speaker 2: a step forward.
24:08
Speaker 1: And that's gonna be the fun part of this watching
24:10
Speaker 1: the depth manifest itself during preseason. Again, folks, Shane Half
24:16
Speaker 1: follow him on the Twitter slash x at Shane Half
24:19
Speaker 1: NFL buddy. It was great talking to you, always great
24:21
Speaker 1: seeing you come back join us down the road. We'll
24:24
Speaker 1: talk some more Eagles football, some more football in general.
24:26
Speaker 1: Love having you on my.
24:27
Speaker 2: Man absolutely anytime you'll have me, Jeff.
24:31
Speaker 1: That's going to do it for us here on Table
24:32
Speaker 1: Talk this week. Please share our podcast with your friends
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24:39
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25:02
Speaker 1: Take care and we'll catch you next time.