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The DiCecco Daily: Observations Of Eagles Young OL At OTA Practice, More Thoughts · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everyone?
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of the Czech Odaily. Andrew Dechecko
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: here with you, Eagles beat reporter for Inside the Birds
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: dot Com, and we're gonna do a little bit of
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: a mashup here because I want to talk about a
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: couple different things here, but notably the Eagles young offensive
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: line and how it looked on Wednesday when we were
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: there for OTA practice number two of the week for
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: the Eagles. They had a practice on Friday, but that
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: was not open to the media. But there's a lot
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: of young offensive linemen that I've talked quite a bit about,
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: and it's about figuring out how they fit into the
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: equation here. Because with the second team, you had Miles Hinton,
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: who was a tackle drafted last year out of Michigan,
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: and I reviewed Cameron Williams a little bit ahead of him,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: simply because he played in the season finale. He did
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: some good things in that game, But Miles Hinton was
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: the second team left guard. Now, is that something that
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: the Eagles are just experimenting with? Are they cross training them?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Is he a guard moving forward? Well, it's too early
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: to determine that. Of course, that a lot more will
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: be learned in training camp. But Miles Hinton's interesting because,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: at least on the surface, it was shaping up to
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: be and it still may very well be him competing
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: with Cameron Williams for what could be just one spot.
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: But if he's able to prove that he can be
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: a versatile player, you've now maximized his value and you're
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: giving him a better chance at making the roster. He
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: came into it when you're and I and I always
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: tie Miles Hinton and Cameron Williams together because they entered
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: the league as Day three picks.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: They're both tackles. They both spent much.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Of last season on injured reserve and with Myles sent
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: and I viewed him as more advanced, but he is
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: a little bit of an older player compared to Cameron Williams,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: and I don't know that he has as much upside,
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: but he is more of an advanced player, and I
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: thought that that was notable that he was working in
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: at guard last offseason. However, Holland Pierce, who was an
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: undrafted player at a Rutgers, also played a lot of
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: guard and then he was playing tackle this time around,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: so you see a lot of toggling a lot of
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: mixing and matching and rotation in this part of the
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: this part of the offseason process, and because of that,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you never want to make too much of it. But
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: if he's able to continue to add some more and
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: still some more confidence in the coaching staff that he
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: can do a few a couple more things or another
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: thing in this case, it gives him a good chance
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: at trying to claw his way onto the roster. Then
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: you have Drew Kendall, and Drew Kendall is going to
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: be the backup center, will be the primary reserve behind
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: Cam Jurgens, And I don't want to minimize his role
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: because Cam Jurgens was limited last season by injury. So
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: there could be a world in which Drew Kendall was
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: called upon to step in at some point. And I
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: thought in the season finale, I go back to that
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: that was where he got his most expansive opportunity there
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: and he fared well. He learned a lot under Brett Toath.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Brett Toast sort of took him under his wing throughout
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: the year. I wrote a story about that on Inside
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: the Birds dot Com. And my understanding is that the
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Eagles are high on Drew Kendall, or at least intrigued
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: and not really.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: A surprise there.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: A fifth round pick out of Boston College played a
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: ton smart player, and that the fact that they were
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: excuse me, working him in at guard right guard at
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: that on Wednesday indicates that they want to just get
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: him some work there. They want eyes on him there
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: so that Chris Cooper has sense for what he can do.
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: And if you're viewing him like I am, as the
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: replacement for Brett Toath.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: You want him.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: You want him to have that positional versatility where the
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: game day value is so apparent that he can play
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: center and both guard spots. Hasn't worked at left guard
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: to my recollection, primarily right, but that's a player that
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: you want to see him kind of expand.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: His value and he's someone.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: That is an important player for the Eagles when you
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: really break it all down, and markl Bell, he was
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: the first team right tackle because Lane Johnson wasn't there
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: on Wednesday, and that was just one particular instance, but
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: it is notable that the Eagles gave him an opportunity
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: there as opposed to maybe a Fred Johnson who they
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: know well has been there for three years has played
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: some meaningful snaps for the Eagles, but you know who
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Fred Johnson is versus someone like Mark hal Bell, who
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: the Eagles invested a third round picking. Let's not lose
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: sight of you want him to get as many of
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: these reps in May as possible, so there isn't that
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: ramp up period. It's not dropping a young player into
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the deep end in training camp where you're in the
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: thick of the battle. There, you're now getting allowing him
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: to get his sea legs under him, get some experience
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: to draw from. And he was right tackle, so at
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Miami he was a left tackle.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: But he did note that Eric's Merribal, the.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Esteemed offensive line coach for Miami Cross trained their tackles
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: to play both sides, and that's something that Mark hal
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Bell in one of his previous media availabilities, mentioned that
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: ever since his time at Miami, he sort of prepared
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: himself to play both sides. So we'll see if he
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: gets some looks as a reserve left tackle in the
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: coming months here. I would imagine that that would be
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: in the cards, but never know. The Eagles could always
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: have a different type of plan. But those are three
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: linemen right there, that you're gonna want to jot down,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: keep an eye on, and look for updates because I
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: do believe that they all, at least in theory, Drew Kendall,
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: Morsu and Markel Bell more so than Miles Hinton, they
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: represent important depth.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Here for the Philadelphia Eagles. Saquon Barkley had some interesting
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: things to say at his media availability.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: He mentioned the offense being new, you're building that this
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: is the foundational period of it. So there's not a
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: lot to glean in terms of the bells and whistles
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: of this offense that will be determined really not even
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: in training camp in the regular season, but he did
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: seem noticeably encouraged, excited about it, and I wrote about
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: this on Inside the Birds dot Com.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley is very refreshing in the sense.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: That and a lot of the most Eagles players that
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: that speak that speak to the reporters, they do that
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: they are very accountable, and that's part of the Eagles
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: culture and their team first mentality. But with Sakwon Barkley,
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: it's every time it's not speaking in generalities when talking
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: about the offensive last season, it's looking inward first, seeking
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: what he could have done better. Versus looking at the
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: offense and their shortcomings and trying to, you know, generalize
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: what the issues were. He simply spoke about what he
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: could have done better, and he blowed it down as
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: simply being a better playmaker. And he said, sometimes you
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: can do certain things and you're able to rip off
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: a sixty yard run, and other times you're not. And
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: he said, I didn't make enough plays last season, and
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: later he spoke about that's why the Eagles brought me here,
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: That's why I believe I'm.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: One of the best.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: I'm the best at what I do, essentially, and it's
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: hard to argue that I don't think Saquon Barkley had
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: much of it. I don't think he had showed any
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: signs of diminishing returns last season. Now, there were myriad
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: reasons as to why he wasn't able to respond in
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: the way that it's not going to be a two
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: thousand yard season, but even you know, fifteen hundred yards.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: And while Saquon Barkley won't make.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Excuses, I will not even excuses, but more so just
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: offering perspective. And the offensive line was banged up, and yes,
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: there were moments where Saquon looked like he was pressing,
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: but he looked inward first, and I thought that that
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: was really interesting. This is someone who is a competitor
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: to a different type of level where you can see it.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: He conveys it whenever he meets with reporters. And he
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: talked about always looking for ways to improve and looking
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: at tape of his own, but also players around the
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: league that he really views among the best at his positions,
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: such as Jamiir Gibbs from the Lions, and Christian McCaffrey
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: of the forty nine Ers, Derek Henry of the Baltimore Ravens,
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: b Jon Robinson of the Atlanta Falcons, and I'm sure
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: oh Jonathan Taylor as well.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: He mentioned, but he also talked about looking at Todd.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: Gurley's tape, and Todd Gurley he may forget, but for
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: a while there he was viewed among the league's top
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: running backs. Now, injuries sidelined him and deprived him of
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: his prime years, But for that twenty seventeen twenty eighteen
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: span under Sean McVeigh, he was one of the NFL's
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: top running backs. He was a centerpiece for that offense.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: But he's versed in that style, and so I found
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: it interesting that Saquan was focusing on Todd. Gurley mentioned
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: that he sent something to him on Instagram, so they
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: communicated that way. But it really underscores that the preparation
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: and diligence that Saquon Barkley takes into his off season approach.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: And you don't often, I mean, you don't want to
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: say you don't often see it, but it's it's when
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: you're a star player like that and you're used to
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: being the best or holding this elite status.
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• 11:03
  Speaker 3: and up.
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: Naturally, I would imagine that there's a complacency there, or
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: a confidence that you don't necessarily need to continue to
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: find ways to develop and further your growth. And this
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: is a twenty nine year old running back who's accomplished
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: the hell of a lot at the NFL level, and
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: I just found it really refreshing to hear him kind
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: of look at what he could do better and listen
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: to some of the steps that he's taken to prepare
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: himself for this new offense.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: And it is going to be a new offense.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: And he mentioned when you're under center, you have to
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: make sure your shoulders are square, you can see the
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: full frame of the field and you can get downhill quicker.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: The blocking schemes are different.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Every team blocks it up differently, but he talked about
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: stretching defenses and you know, putting your foot in the
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: ground and making that decision and doing it violently. So
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: I'm really encourage by what I heard from Saquon Barkley,
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: and I'm curious to see how he rebounds from what
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: should be deemed than what is deemed a down year
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: for him, because if he's able to get going, the
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Eagles are going to have a successful recipe to further
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: this offense in the direction that they intend to. But
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: you can't do it without a high octane rushing attack
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: where Saquon Barkley is going to.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Be the bell cow.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: That said, he has handled the ball quite a bit
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: during his couple of years in Philadelphia, and I can't
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: help but wonder if Tank Bigsby, who by the way,
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: is totally shredded and looks even more explosive, at least
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: to my eye. I think you have to find a
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: way to incorporate him a little bit more for preservation
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: purposes for Barkley and just to give a different look
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: to defenses and get a player who doesn't have a
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: lot of tread on the tires in Bigsby. But I
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: think that would be a really really potent one to
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: two punch and I'm not suggesting that he eats in
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: significantly Saquon's carries, but you'll want to see more of
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: a rotational backfield because the Eagles have relied largely on
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: Saquon to be that belkow. He's handled the lion's share
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: of the snaps and he should. To be clear, he's
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: an elite player. But as you know, you age and
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: the miles start to rack up, and for the Eagle's sake,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: you would probably, I would imagine, like to get someone
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: like a tank Bigsby in the mix a little bit more.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: But this run game, a lot has been made about
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: the passing game and what that's ultimately going to look
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: like and some of the challenges that this new philosophical
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: shift are going to present. And that's fair, But I
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: would argue that the the run the shift in the
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: run game and their beliefs in that where you're now
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: doing stretch plays and outside zone, which is a departure
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: from the inside zone. But Saquon actually said more patience
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: is required to execute cable bleed the inside zone type
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: of runs. It's going to require a little bit of
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: an acclamation period, I would imagine, especially from a blocking perspective,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: and this is why these reps, these opportunities right now
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: are so imperative, so that when you get to training camp.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: There's not that feeling out stage.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: You're able to kind of hit the ground running because
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: every day, every practice becomes increasingly more valuable.
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: And so I'm really.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: I'm really fascinated by this the run game and how
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: they respond from a down year. And it's going to
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: be a driving force of this offense, at least the
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: way that I perceive it.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: But we'll see where it goes. Right now, that's going
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the Checko Deli.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew to Checko.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: We'll catch you all on the next one.