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The DiCecco Daily: Biggest Special Teams Question Isn't Jake Elliott · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Hey, what's happened everybody? Andrew decheco here with the Checho
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  Daily hope everyone to enjoin their Saturday afternoon And obviously
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  there's a lot going right in the Philadelphia sports world
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  at the moment. The Phillies win their first game of
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  their three game series with the Mets in resounding fashion,
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  winning ten to two. That's all good. They play again tonight.
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  But today we're going to continue our three part series.
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  The third part of the three part series where I
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  highlight my biggest question surrounding the offense the defense, and
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  today we finish things off with special teams. Now, special
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  teams is an often neglected in terms of conversation piece.
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  It's a neglected facet of the game, but it's highly
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  important and it's not discussed unless there is a noticeable
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  blemish or something like a big play where's I can
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  recall Will Shipley forcing the fumble in the NFC title game.
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  But other than that, it's an underdiscussed facet of the game.
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  And the question that I have, I mean, you can
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  certainly make a case for Jake Elliott. Will Jake Elliott
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  round back into form, is that something that could linger?
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  Because he did have a down season, he's getting a
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  little bit older, but I am not of that belief.
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  I think Jake Elliott is going to have a bounce
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  back season, and we really will have no way of
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  knowing until we get the training camp. But if you
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  look at his body of work, he's been incredibly productive
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  throughout his career. Perhaps last season was a one off,
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  and again we're gonna learn more about that in training camp.
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  But the question that I have is surrounding the return game,
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  because let's not forget the Eagles lost Brittain Covey, Isaiah Rodgers,
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  and Kenny gangwoll And free agency, so there are vacancies
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  at kick and punt return. Now they have a couple
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  plays in place, but that may not be a logical fallback.
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  I mean it's a fallback plan, but it may not
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  be a logical course of action depending on how expanded
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  their roles are going to be, and especially for one player.
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  He absolutely is going to have a very prominent role
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  on defense. But let's explore some of the names here
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  that you're going to want to know or keep an
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  eye on, and the first of which is Avery Williams,
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  who the Eagles signed him free agency to a one
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  year approven deal. He spent time with the Atlanta Falcons.
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  He was drafted by them. He's about five foot nine,
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  one hundred and ninety five pounds. He's a dynamic player.
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  When he was drafted by the Falcons, I believe that
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  maybe it was his rookie year in twenty two where
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  he was sparingly utilized as a running back. He played
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  running back in high school. The Eagles have him listed
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  as a wide receiver slash return specialist. And if you
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  listen to what Dick Sirianni said at the coaches meeting,
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  he seemed awfully bullish on his prospects. He lit up
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  when talking about him, suggesting that they're going to find
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  ways to add someals offensively with Avery Williams in mind.
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  But he's returned fifty four kicks for two hundred eleven
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  yards and fifty eight punts for six hundred and thirty yards,
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  and he would be the logical choice to fill both roles.
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  It's also worth noting that he was sidelined for otia,
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  so he did not participate with an undisclosed injury. We'll
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  have to keep an eye on that in training camp.
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  But he would be the front runner to overtake both positions,
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  which would free up one of these players. And that
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  next player that we're going to talk about is Will Shipley.
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  Will Shipley was the one of the kick returners alongside
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  Kenny Gangwell and Isaiah Rodgers. Last season. He always had
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  one hundred and seventy three yards on six runbacks. He
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  was primarily the lead blocker for game Well or Rodgers,
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  but he does have some some downhill elements to his game.
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  He gets north and south on the returns. However, he
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  may not be the favorite because he may have a
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  much more significant role on offense, where he's expected to
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  be the number two running back behind sat Blon Barkley,
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  and his past catching prowess is likely to be you know,
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  exploited in the offense, so you have to wonder if
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  they're going going to want to add to his workload.
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  But he's an option at kick returner if Williams doesn't
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  pan out or some of the other players aren't able
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  to step up and take the reins. But it's a
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  nice fallback plan to have. I just think he might
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  be a little bit too valuable for this Eagles team
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  to throw him back there and expose Shipley to unnecessary hits.
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  The next player is running back Keelan Robinson. Robinson, of course,
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  was acquired off waivers from the Jaguars a few weeks ago.
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  His hallmark is special teams. He has home run hitting ability,
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  he was a good kick returner in college. He spent
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  time at Alabama and Texas. He also offers the ability
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  to be an impactful gunner. So if he is going
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  to make the team, it's going to have to be
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  via special teams or I mean, he would have to
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  be special to latch on as what I'm expecting to
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  be the fourth running back. But Keeland Robinson's a player
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  that shouldn't be counted out five foot eight, one hundred
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  and ninety one pounds, he runs at four to four
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  to two and he has very good linear speed, so
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  he doesn't have a lot of NFL experience. He could
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  return just two kicks for thirty four yards. Last year
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  as a rookie with the Jaguars, he was drafted in
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  the fifth round and he only played in six games.
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  So he's an unknown variable, I would say, but he's
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  somebody that obviously when he was claimed off waivers, the
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  first inclination for me was that the Eagles have plans
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  for him on special teams, or at least want to
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  give him a long look, and they're trying to have
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  some optionality there so that they don't necessarily have to
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  lean on Shipley or maybe another player who has a
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  larger role on offense or defense. The next player is
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  a second year wide receiver in a Nias Smith. Now,
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  an Ia Smith, I really like his odds well as
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  a punt returner. We talked about Avery Williams well. The
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  next option for me that would make the most sense
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  and really provide some value would be to utilize Smith
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  as a punt returner. He rolled up eight hundred and
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  thirty six return yards and two touchdowns on eighty two
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  punt return attempts while he was at Texas A and M.
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  He's solidly built, he has some twitchiness to his game,
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  and I think that what I noticed from Anius was
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  that last summer it looked like a rookie who was
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  dropped into the deep end and was sort of treading
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  water throughout the season. When he was healthy, he was
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  fielding punts a lot cleaner. In practice. He was just
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  carrying himself like a more confident player, and sometimes that
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  happens as you start to acclimate to the NFL and
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  you're able to string together some successful days, then all
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  of a sudden, things start to even out and you're
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  able to be the player that you always were. So
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  Anius is a little bit different because he's a backup
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  slot receiver Slater Bill. He's five foot nine, so he
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  doesn't have the ability to play on the outside. So
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  as a backup slot receiver, to have that game day value,
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  you have to be able to provide something on special
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  teams or you're just going to sit on the back
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  end of the roster as a weekly inactive And I
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  don't know that the Eagles are in a position where
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  they can afford to stash somebody like that for the
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  sake of doing so. So for Anius, I think to stick,
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  he's likely going to have to make an impact on
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  kickoff coverage, but most likely punt return and help that
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  return game and give them that answer so you can
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  have that built in value. He would be my second
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  choice and the one that would make the most sense.
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  Behind Avery Williams. Another player to keep an eye on,
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  wide receiver Danny Gray. Danny Gray was back to return
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  kicks on the scout team and practice last year. He
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  returned some kicks during OTA's and they had a lot
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  of reserved players, some rookie free agents back there with them,
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  So perhaps they were just trying to fulfill the role
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  with some bodies while someone like the Will Shipley was
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  practicing kickoff coverage. That could also be the case, But
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  Danny Gray has a realistic opportunity to make this Eagles
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  team as a fifth receiver if he's able to parlay
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  his spring success into training camp success. And we talked
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  about and I smt that four and five spot for
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  receiver is up for grabs and if Gray can hang
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  on and make it well, he would be a logical
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  choice to step in and maybe be a kick returner
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  because he has four three speed and a lot of
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  potential at just twenty six years old. He's the name
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  to keep an eye on as one of my training
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  camp dark horses. Another one to keep an eye on,
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  or another one in the running, I should say, is
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  a rookie free agent wide receiver by the name of
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  Taylor Morn Taylor Moran for those who don't know, he
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  holds a Wake Forest record for most receiving yards in
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  his career twy nine hundred and seventy four and also
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  ranks second all time in put return yards eight hundred
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  and nine. In twenty twenty four, he averaged seventeen yards
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  and ran one back four touchdowns. He liked the production there,
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  and I'm expecting him to see a lot of targets
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  in training camp, but he's so far down the pecking
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  order that he's going to have to maximize every opportunity
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  when he gets those in practice to showcase his versatility
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  as a punt returner and try to carve out some value.
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  But opportunities are going to be at a premium because
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  of the nature of his standing in the pecking order.
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  So for him to rule you emerge, he's going to
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  have to be special. But he does have a decorated career,
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  an established career at returning punts, so he's the name
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  that he might want to highlight because it may come
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  up at some point this summer. There's also a wide receiver,
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  Giles Jackson, a rookie who was signed off of a
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  successful tryout off a rookie mini camp and again five
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  ft nine hundred and eighty five pounds, not a big receiver,
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  kind of built like a Nias Smith, but he over
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  his two seasons at Michigan and Fort Washington, produced seventeen
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  oney seven hundred and thirty yards, a two touchdown off
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  seventy one kickoff return, so this is a kickoff return player.
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  There's different slots for some of these players, and it's
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  important to have that distinction. But he also did record
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  twenty five punt returns over his college career, so that's
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  not completely new terrain for him. He's going to have
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  to really make his mark there if he expects to
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  stick around. It's obviously an uphill climb for players like
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  tayl Or Moran or Giles Jackson. But again we're going
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  through the names of players who have returnability, and Giles
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  Jackson is certainly one of them. And then we round
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  things off by mentioning two players who were probably going
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  to have We talked about Bill Shipley having a larger role.
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  Two players that have vital roles already. They're entrenched in
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  roles on offense and defense, respectively, the first being wide
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  receiver Johan Dotson, who recorded three hundred and thirty eight
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  punt return yards and a touchdown on twenty five returns
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  at Penn State. I remember that eighty one yarder that
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  he had. He didn't return any punts for the Eagles
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  last season, but he has been working with the punt
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  returners when the Eagles go to the special team's portion
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  of practice, at least last season, and knowing that he
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  has that capability, that's another player that they might fight,
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  they might be comfortable with, and might find some comfortability there.
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  But again, as the third receiver on this team, and
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  I'm expecting Johan Dotson to be the Eagle's most improved
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  offensive player, I don't know if it would be proudent
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  to put him back there. I also don't know if
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  the Eagles view him as a punt returner, at least
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  in the way where he's going to factor into their
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  roster equation when they're trying to configure the positions. He's
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  the number three receiver and he does have that capability,
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  but I would have to think that they don't want
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  to deploy him in that capacity. The last one rounding
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  things out is Cooper dejen Again, a good punt returner,
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  but he is arguably one of the most important defensive
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  players on the Eagles roster. He has the home run
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  hitting ability, shorthands but when you're playing the nickel position
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  and you completely you've already become one of the best
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  at that position, I am not so sure that putting
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  him back there on punts where you're letting the punt
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  team t off on you. I'm not so sure that
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  the Eagles would be cool with it. And based on
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  the comments from Vic Vangil last season, he's seem less
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  than enthused that one of his standouts were relegated to
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  or had to wear an extra hat in terms of
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  special teams. So, I mean, I think the front runners
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  here if you take anything from this Avery Williams, who
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  can do both, and I a Smith who can return punts.
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  And you shouldn't discount Danny Gray either because of the
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  receiver situation. And it seems kind of fluid as the
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  four and five spots seemingly are up for grabs. Johnny
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  Wilson has the inside track to be the four, but
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  that fifth spot, if you can provide value game day value,
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  you're gonna have a decent shot at making the fifty
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  three man roster. But as you can see, there are
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  questions here. There's a lot of names, but we have
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  to find out who's going to rise to the top.
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  Who's going to emerge and fill the shoes of three
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  players who shouldered that responsibility last season in different capacities.
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  But it's an interesting thing to talk about. It's not
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  a prevalent storyline, it's not something that's often being discussed.
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  But when you look at special teams, it's not kicker
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  that has my curiosity. It's who emerges in the return game,
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  and I can't wait to see how it plays out.
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  That's one of the many things I'll be keeping an
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  eye on this summer in Eagles' training camp. That's going
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  to do it for this edition of The Checko Daily,
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  I'm mandered to Checko and I'll talk to everybody on Monday.