Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: DiCecco's Thursday Eagles Mailbag
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Now it is time for Andrew to check out for
- 0:03Speaker 1: today's Football at four here on the Sports Bash Live
- 0:06Speaker 1: on ninety seven three ESPN, and we have a Andrew
- 0:09Speaker 1: to check o mailbag edition of the Football at Four.
- 0:12Speaker 1: A lot of great listener questions for Andrew today, a
- 0:15Speaker 1: lot of people chiming in all week long with your questions.
- 0:18Speaker 1: We appreciate that. As always, and Andrew's back to answer
- 0:21Speaker 1: him right now on the Sports Bash. Andrew, what's going
- 0:24Speaker 1: on man, Mike.
- 0:26Speaker 2: I'm doing great, awesome to be with you as always.
- 0:29Speaker 1: July twenty eighth, we now know the Birds will be
- 0:32Speaker 1: back on the field. They will report, and they will
- 0:35Speaker 1: be reporting on July twenty eighth, both rookies and veterans,
- 0:39Speaker 1: so we got about a month leading up to that.
- 0:41Speaker 1: We'll start our look at the divisions here. But let's
- 0:45Speaker 1: get a bunch of these mail bag questions we've been
- 0:47Speaker 1: getting for you, and I like this one to start
- 0:49Speaker 1: things off. Frank here, who says he's from South Philly,
- 0:53Speaker 1: must be down here vacation, he says, Andrew, read your
- 0:56Speaker 1: piece on parks Frasier and Jalen Hurts. It seems like
- 0:58Speaker 1: Hurtz has a new voice, almost every single year. What
- 1:03Speaker 1: kind of relationship do these two guys have.
- 1:07Speaker 2: Yeah, well, first of all, I appreciate you checking out
- 1:09Speaker 2: the story, and you know, these two guys were in
- 1:13Speaker 2: the same building last season, but Parts Fraser was the
- 1:16Speaker 2: passing game coordinator and now he pivots to quarterbacks coach.
- 1:20Speaker 2: So there's a unique dynamic that needs to be established.
- 1:23Speaker 2: And from what I've been able to gather listening to
- 1:26Speaker 2: Parks Fraser and listening to Jayalen Hurts his remark about
- 1:29Speaker 2: Parks Fraser, I think it's going to be a pretty
- 1:33Speaker 2: good pairing Parts Fraser coming in with the background and
- 1:37Speaker 2: working well. He has a background and working with quarterbacks.
- 1:40Speaker 2: He's done other things in his career, but for two
- 1:42Speaker 2: seasons he was an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Colts.
- 1:45Speaker 2: He mentioned as I mentioned in the story, he's worked
- 1:48Speaker 2: with different quarterbacks, but he's not going to necessarily tailor
- 1:51Speaker 2: his approach any particular way, despite Jayleen having to learn
- 1:56Speaker 2: a lot of different coaches in the past, and you're
- 1:59Speaker 2: going to be no different. But from what I've been
- 2:01Speaker 2: able to glean in the past three months that that
- 2:04Speaker 2: relationship is off to a good start, which is obviously encouraging.
- 2:07Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously he's had a lot of different offensive courtingats,
- 2:11Speaker 1: but we almost don't really you know, know that he's
- 2:13Speaker 1: gone through a lot of different quarterbacks coaches too, And
- 2:16Speaker 1: you wonder, Parks Frasier, is he the kind of guy
- 2:19Speaker 1: that can help him kind of, you know, accelerate the
- 2:22Speaker 1: timeline in this new system.
- 2:25Speaker 2: It's a fair question, and I would have to believe so.
- 2:28Speaker 2: Parks Frasier, for those who don't know, also spent a
- 2:31Speaker 2: season with the Miami Dolphins on their staff as an
- 2:34Speaker 2: offensive assistant. So that experience gave him insight into the
- 2:39Speaker 2: mind of Mike Daniel and how things work to shape
- 2:44Speaker 2: the system ultimately, and he was able to discover some
- 2:47Speaker 2: things and that gave him a taste of that particular
- 2:50Speaker 2: scheme and it kind of, I guess, piqued his interest,
- 2:55Speaker 2: is a fair way to put it. And he wanted
- 2:56Speaker 2: to add that into you know, his coach Rolodex if
- 3:00Speaker 2: you will, that background. So I think that when you're
- 3:04Speaker 2: coming in with a knowledge and an understanding, at least
- 3:08Speaker 2: to a certain degree, it helps facilitate the information and
- 3:13Speaker 2: that is going to be imperative. As Jalen Hurts looks
- 3:16Speaker 2: to take on the different directives and the terminology and
- 3:20Speaker 2: even the footwork, which you may not look at it
- 3:22Speaker 2: and say that's something that you often think about. But
- 3:26Speaker 2: to be able to sort of acquiesce to this scheme,
- 3:30Speaker 2: there's going to be certain demands from a mechanical standpoint
- 3:34Speaker 2: that have to be taken into account as well. So
- 3:36Speaker 2: I think all of those things bode well for Jalen
- 3:39Speaker 2: because of the background that Parks Frasier is coming in with.
- 3:42Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, let's get another one from Mark and Sherry.
- 3:45Speaker 1: Hilly says, Andrew, do you think hurts skill set naturally
- 3:49Speaker 1: fits a timing based scheme or is there going to
- 3:52Speaker 1: be some serious growing pains this season.
- 3:56Speaker 2: I don't know if it naturally fits. I don't think
- 3:58Speaker 2: that that would be something that I would go with.
- 4:01Speaker 2: You know, we haven't seen it in a consistent spurt.
- 4:05Speaker 2: We've seen it. We've seen glimpses. Right, He's done a
- 4:08Speaker 2: lot of the things he's going to be asked to do,
- 4:10Speaker 2: working under center, the play action, throwing over the middle
- 4:14Speaker 2: of the field. But it's not about that. It's about
- 4:17Speaker 2: the consistency within the context of this offense and not
- 4:22Speaker 2: necessarily always having to go back to what he was
- 4:25Speaker 2: able to do in the postseason in twenty twenty four,
- 4:28Speaker 2: or the Vikings game or the Steelers game. Ideally, if
- 4:31Speaker 2: you're the Eagles, it's every week and with this system,
- 4:34Speaker 2: timing is paramount. And when you look at some of
- 4:37Speaker 2: the throws that he's largely leaned into, which is outside
- 4:41Speaker 2: the numbers, they're very low risk throws and there's not
- 4:45Speaker 2: a lot of traffic there.
- 4:47Speaker 1: Now.
- 4:47Speaker 2: You could look at it a number of ways, and
- 4:49Speaker 2: I do believe that the offensive lineman, given their enormity
- 4:53Speaker 2: in size, standing in the middle of that offensive line
- 4:56Speaker 2: probably you know, impedes his vision a little bit. But
- 5:00Speaker 2: there are certain things that you have to do for
- 5:02Speaker 2: this offense to be effective, and the ball's got to
- 5:03Speaker 2: come out. That's got to come out on time. They've
- 5:05Speaker 2: added a lot of interior weapons and Eli Stowers the
- 5:08Speaker 2: tight end McKay lemon most notably, who is going to
- 5:12Speaker 2: have an early impact on this offense. And if this
- 5:15Speaker 2: offense is executed properly, McKay lemon is the exact type
- 5:19Speaker 2: of receiver that you need to be able to move
- 5:21Speaker 2: the chains and create some different matchup mismatches. So yeah,
- 5:26Speaker 2: I mean we haven't really seen it from Jayalen on
- 5:30Speaker 2: the weekend, And but that's not to say that he
- 5:32Speaker 2: can't do it. I think that right there, the ball
- 5:34Speaker 2: coming out on time is going to be one of
- 5:37Speaker 2: the more critical aspects of this offense that I'll be
- 5:43Speaker 2: keying in on.
- 5:44Speaker 1: All Right, good one, Let's get to Mike from Macarver township.
- 5:47Speaker 1: He wants to know, not me from Meg Garver Township,
- 5:49Speaker 1: A different Mike from Megcarver Township, the new offensive line coach.
- 5:52Speaker 1: How much of a change is it going to be
- 5:54Speaker 1: for guys like Lane Johnson, Land and Dickerson. The blocking
- 5:58Speaker 1: schemes they've only worked with Stout quite.
- 6:01Speaker 2: A bit different. And needless to say, Chris Cooper's coming
- 6:05Speaker 2: in with a prior background as a player, So there's
- 6:08Speaker 2: that relatability factor, especially when it comes to navigating injuries
- 6:13Speaker 2: and knowing how to press certain buttons with players, and
- 6:16Speaker 2: that right there, Mike has gone a long way in
- 6:20Speaker 2: establishing that early buy in knowing that he's coming in
- 6:23Speaker 2: with that experience. And then Lane Johnson even mentioned talking
- 6:26Speaker 2: to Vikings players and pulling them a little bit to
- 6:29Speaker 2: get a better sense of who Chris Cooper is as
- 6:31Speaker 2: a coach, but schematically, conceptually, the wide zone in theory
- 6:36Speaker 2: should make life easier for the offensive line in terms
- 6:39Speaker 2: of angling and things like that, allowing them to instead
- 6:42Speaker 2: of being those rogue graders and moving forward and taking
- 6:46Speaker 2: on a lot more potential attrition, you're now moving laterally,
- 6:49Speaker 2: and it really should accentuate their athleticism. So it's going
- 6:54Speaker 2: to be notably different. But I also believe that it
- 6:57Speaker 2: should help the offensive line in terms of preservation. And
- 7:00Speaker 2: look no further than what Lane Johnson and Cam Jurgen
- 7:03Speaker 2: said at the podium this spring. They both seem very
- 7:06Speaker 2: eager and they spoke glowingly about what they're being asked
- 7:09Speaker 2: to do in this offense, and so I think those
- 7:11Speaker 2: are certainly encouraging signs.
- 7:14Speaker 1: Andrew Checko Football for our summer mail bags continue Tim
- 7:17Speaker 1: in Ocean City, says Andrew losing Reid Blankenship. I read
- 7:21Speaker 1: your article you wrote about Michael Carter and Marcus Epps,
- 7:25Speaker 1: which one of those two has a bigger role in
- 7:28Speaker 1: the defense?
- 7:30Speaker 2: Love this question and thank you for reading. But Marcus
- 7:33Speaker 2: EPs is going to be the front runner, and rightfully so.
- 7:35Speaker 2: He started plenty of games in the NFL, plenty of
- 7:37Speaker 2: games for the Philadelphia Eagles. There's not a lot of
- 7:40Speaker 2: guest work there. He's a steady, consistent player, have the
- 7:43Speaker 2: overwhelming athleticism, but he is someone who's going to be
- 7:46Speaker 2: assignment sound and in the right place at the right time.
- 7:49Speaker 2: And Vic Fangio he offered a pretty emphatic endorsement of
- 7:56Speaker 2: Marcus EPs in the spring. Now that said, look at
- 8:00Speaker 2: the evolution of the safety position and you would ideally
- 8:03Speaker 2: like to find a player to pair opposite mcouba who
- 8:06Speaker 2: can help the defense become multiple. And now in today's NFL,
- 8:11Speaker 2: you look around and you need safeties that have coverage
- 8:14Speaker 2: ackman that maybe don't fit the bill in terms of
- 8:16Speaker 2: having that prototypical size, but there's other things they can do.
- 8:20Speaker 2: And Michael Carter, to me, seems like a player that
- 8:23Speaker 2: isn't being talked about so much right now, but I
- 8:27Speaker 2: think he will be someone who emerges in the summer.
- 8:29Speaker 2: He also has a prior background that predates his time
- 8:32Speaker 2: in Philadelphia with defensive passing game coordinator Joe Casper. They
- 8:36Speaker 2: were overlapped there at Duke, so there's familiarity there that
- 8:40Speaker 2: I think will help from a teaching standpoint. But Michael
- 8:44Speaker 2: Carter playing the nickel role that he did with the
- 8:47Speaker 2: Jets for such a successful period of time. I saw
- 8:51Speaker 2: the short area quickness, the football acumen, the ball skills
- 8:54Speaker 2: that he has. Now, when you play safety and you're
- 8:56Speaker 2: moving from nickel to safety, the action develops a little
- 8:59Speaker 2: bit slower and your angles have to be a little
- 9:02Speaker 2: different than what they would be if you're playing nickel.
- 9:05Speaker 2: But when you play nickelback, you have to be involved
- 9:08Speaker 2: in the run game and things like that. And I
- 9:10Speaker 2: know that he's only five ten and eighty five pounds,
- 9:13Speaker 2: but I think that the toughness really revealed itself when
- 9:15Speaker 2: you go back and watch any of his tape with
- 9:18Speaker 2: the Jets. Even if you go back and look at
- 9:19Speaker 2: the season finale that he ended up playing sixty five
- 9:22Speaker 2: snaps at safety, I think they might have something there,
- 9:25Speaker 2: and they're certainly going to give him every opportunity to
- 9:28Speaker 2: elbow his way in that conversation.
- 9:30Speaker 1: All right, Ryan from Washington Township. As an NFC East question,
- 9:34Speaker 1: he wants to know which NFC East defense will give
- 9:38Speaker 1: the Eagles new look offense the most trouble this season.
- 9:42Speaker 2: Yeah, I look at the Giants and what they've done,
- 9:46Speaker 2: and there's a lot more structure there. But I'm always
- 9:49Speaker 2: going to go with Christian Parker, having covered him for
- 9:53Speaker 2: a couple seasons there in Philadelphia and knowing what his
- 9:56Speaker 2: vision is and how he can sort of elicit that
- 9:58Speaker 2: buy in. They've already added some pieces that I feel
- 10:01Speaker 2: like aligned with his vision of the defense and certain
- 10:06Speaker 2: qualities that he looks for, and while it may not
- 10:09Speaker 2: come together completely that it might not come completely in
- 10:13Speaker 2: the fruition, you're going to see a lot more detail,
- 10:16Speaker 2: a lot more discipline from that defense. And I think
- 10:20Speaker 2: he's obviously coming in with that prior knowledge of certain
- 10:23Speaker 2: tendencies from the quarterback, the wide receivers, the offensive line,
- 10:28Speaker 2: and he has I know the system is going to
- 10:29Speaker 2: be different, granted, but he has sort of a unique
- 10:33Speaker 2: perspective on the personnel that the Eagles have. So I'm
- 10:35Speaker 2: going to say Dallas, all.
- 10:37Speaker 1: Right, I like, you know, Dallas. Dallas is very interesting.
- 10:41Speaker 1: You know, they made a couple of trades in the
- 10:44Speaker 1: season last year, so they didn't have those players all
- 10:47Speaker 1: season long. Of course, with the Jets, you look at
- 10:49Speaker 1: that trade and the trade they made before the season.
- 10:52Speaker 1: Now you have both of those guys in that defense.
- 10:54Speaker 1: So the Dallas defense could be interesting much different obviously,
- 10:59Speaker 1: as you mentioned with Chris Parker there Christian excuse me,
- 11:03Speaker 1: not Christian Parker. Chris in Dell. Ryan wants to know.
- 11:08Speaker 1: Do you have the Eagles right now as the clear
- 11:11Speaker 1: favorite in the NFSE East, or is Dallas the favorite?
- 11:16Speaker 1: Excuse me? Or is Dallas your favorite in the NFSE East.
- 11:19Speaker 1: It looks like an Eagles versus Dallas question.
- 11:22Speaker 2: Well, I do have the Eagles as the favorite, but
- 11:24Speaker 2: not necessarily a clear favorite. I really like what Dallas
- 11:27Speaker 2: has done in the offseason. They have continuity there from
- 11:30Speaker 2: their offensive coordator spot, and their offense was already one
- 11:34Speaker 2: of the NFL's best. It was the defense that proved
- 11:37Speaker 2: to be too leaky and they weren't able to play
- 11:39Speaker 2: complimentary football. They sort of balanced that out by adding
- 11:42Speaker 2: Christian Parker and some different pieces and key areas that
- 11:45Speaker 2: I think will make them a little bit more of
- 11:47Speaker 2: a complete team. But they all are the Dallas Cowboys,
- 11:50Speaker 2: and until I need to see it to believe it,
- 11:52Speaker 2: they aren't necessarily able. They haven't been able to put
- 11:56Speaker 2: together a complete season, and the Eagles had been before.
- 12:00Speaker 2: They have a lot of players that are in that
- 12:03Speaker 2: building that have been together for a number of years.
- 12:06Speaker 2: They have continuity with Nick Sirianni and his messaging. So
- 12:10Speaker 2: I like the Eagles in terms of the NFC East opponents,
- 12:13Speaker 2: I link. I think when the dust settles, they will
- 12:15Speaker 2: be the team that emerges from the NFC East. But
- 12:18Speaker 2: I do think that Dallas gives them a little bit
- 12:20Speaker 2: of a run for their money.
- 12:21Speaker 1: Right This stems from our conversation with Adam yesterday. Is
- 12:26Speaker 1: Andrew big picture, how do you stack up the Eagles
- 12:30Speaker 1: against some of the other NFC heavyweights.
- 12:34Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I look at the Rams and adding
- 12:37Speaker 2: Miles Garrett certainly puts them at the head of the class.
- 12:40Speaker 2: Their offense is something that's an aspect of their team
- 12:44Speaker 2: that's been humming. There's a lot of consistency there, Matthew
- 12:47Speaker 2: Stafford playing at a high level. I'm not as high
- 12:49Speaker 2: on the Detroit Lions as some others, so I think
- 12:52Speaker 2: the Eagles will be able to clear them the way
- 12:55Speaker 2: that I do it right now. And the San Francisco
- 12:57Speaker 2: forty nine ers are a team that vision being there
- 13:01Speaker 2: at the end. But I think the biggest challenge is
- 13:04Speaker 2: going to be the Rams, and right now I have
- 13:06Speaker 2: the Rams as a better football team than the Eagles.
- 13:09Speaker 2: But that's not to say that the Eagles can't change
- 13:12Speaker 2: that narrative with consistent summer that checks off a lot
- 13:15Speaker 2: of the boxes of storylines that we have if the
- 13:17Speaker 2: offense is able to sort of round in the form
- 13:20Speaker 2: a little better than expected. Because from a talent perspective,
- 13:23Speaker 2: especially on the defensive side, I think that the Eagles
- 13:26Speaker 2: have I think they have the advantage there. But right now,
- 13:30Speaker 2: the Rams to me, adding Miles Garrett, having Sean McVeigh
- 13:34Speaker 2: and Matthew Stafford in that consistency from an offensive corps,
- 13:38Speaker 2: with that system in place already, they're going to get
- 13:41Speaker 2: the nod for me right now.
- 13:42Speaker 1: Well, you know, not only Garret too. I mean that
- 13:45Speaker 1: defense was pretty good last year, Yead, Miles Garrett, treat McDuffie.
- 13:48Speaker 1: I mean, they've got I don't know.
- 13:51Speaker 2: If you're Tran McDuffie as well, and I have a
- 13:52Speaker 2: lot of young pieces Fisk and a number of others
- 13:57Speaker 2: that is.
- 13:57Speaker 1: And the other thing I like about them too, and
- 14:00Speaker 1: is different from Philly. Their offense is intact, so they
- 14:04Speaker 1: are now like the Eagles. What I like about them
- 14:06Speaker 1: their defense has a lot of guys now in the
- 14:08Speaker 1: third year of this defense, which you know, how much
- 14:12Speaker 1: better does that make you now being in the same
- 14:14Speaker 1: system for a third season, guys like Quinna. By the way,
- 14:18Speaker 1: the news with Terry on Arnold, think about that moment
- 14:20Speaker 1: that Hollie Roseman had where he had to decide whether
- 14:23Speaker 1: he wanted Arnold or Mitchell, and he chose Mitchell from
- 14:27Speaker 1: Toledo over Arnold at Alabama. And look at the two
- 14:30Speaker 1: roads that these guys have now traveled with the news
- 14:33Speaker 1: that came down. That's a bizarre story with ror opposites
- 14:37Speaker 1: right exactly.
- 14:39Speaker 2: That was a big time discussion. I mean, I personally
- 14:44Speaker 2: had Quinnon Mitchell as my top rated corner, but I
- 14:47Speaker 2: totally understood the viewpoint and the enticement for Terry and
- 14:52Speaker 2: Arnold with the Alabama background and Alabama corner versus the
- 14:55Speaker 2: projection of a Toledo prospect. But for me, and talking
- 14:59Speaker 2: to a lot of people around the draft at that time,
- 15:02Speaker 2: Quinnon Mitchell was someone that I thought would be a
- 15:05Speaker 2: really good fit here in Philadelphia. I didn't think he
- 15:06Speaker 2: was going to be able to get off to the
- 15:08Speaker 2: start that he had, but his career has really taken
- 15:10Speaker 2: off from the word go. But to answer your question
- 15:13Speaker 2: about the Eagles defense, I don't think it can be.
- 15:16Speaker 2: I don't think it's talked about enough. How important it
- 15:20Speaker 2: is that the nucleus of that talent on that side
- 15:22Speaker 2: is now going into their third season together, their third
- 15:25Speaker 2: season with Vic Fangio and a lot of their key pieces.
- 15:28Speaker 2: They have key pieces at every area. Jalen Carter at
- 15:31Speaker 2: the defensive line, Jordan Davis, you have Jonathan Grenard, you
- 15:34Speaker 2: have an ascending player, and jay loox Hunt. And then
- 15:36Speaker 2: on the back end, we just talked about Quenyon Mitchell
- 15:38Speaker 2: and Cooper dejen But I think this defense can take
- 15:40Speaker 2: it to another level this year. And I know that
- 15:42Speaker 2: it's hard to eclipse what they did last season. But
- 15:45Speaker 2: now you've added Rake Wollen, and I understand that he
- 15:47Speaker 2: is a bounce back candidate for a reason. He didn't
- 15:51Speaker 2: necessarily perform to his ability in the entirety of his
- 15:55Speaker 2: tenure with the Seahawks. But he is going to be
- 15:57Speaker 2: a motivated player. He signed a one year deal worth
- 15:59Speaker 2: up the two twelve million, and in theory, he stabilizes
- 16:02Speaker 2: one cornerback spot where last season they were toggling between
- 16:06Speaker 2: adri Jackson and Keithy Ringo, so it should allow Vic
- 16:09Speaker 2: Fango to be a little bit more creative and how
- 16:12Speaker 2: he deploys his personnel. You don't necessarily have to atone
- 16:15Speaker 2: for that, I guess blemish if you will on the
- 16:19Speaker 2: other side, and that affects the way that you deploy
- 16:21Speaker 2: your safety help and things like that. And by the way,
- 16:23Speaker 2: they added Jonathan Grenard, who I believe is a better
- 16:27Speaker 2: pure pass rusher than Jalen Phillips. And most importantly, he's
- 16:30Speaker 2: been here through the spring and he will be here
- 16:32Speaker 2: through the summer, so you're getting him from week one onward,
- 16:35Speaker 2: whereas Jalen Phillips was acquired at the trade deadline, and
- 16:39Speaker 2: that's really where you saw Jalox Hunt ramp up his production.
- 16:42Speaker 2: So there's a lot of reasons to suggest that this
- 16:44Speaker 2: defense will continue to trend upwards.
- 16:47Speaker 1: Hi h Andrew Checko answers your mailbag questions this summer,
- 16:50Speaker 1: and of course we are a month away from Eagles
- 16:52Speaker 1: training camp. We'll have our division previews coming up. We'll
- 16:55Speaker 1: take a look at all the teams around the league,
- 16:56Speaker 1: how they change, how they look better, how they look different.
- 17:00Speaker 1: That'll be starting here soon as well. More mailbank stuff
- 17:02Speaker 1: with the guys, Football at four powered by the Inside
- 17:05Speaker 1: of the Birds podcast, which you could get on all
- 17:07Speaker 1: podcasting platforms. He's Andrew to check o this is Football
- 17:11Speaker 1: at four.
- 17:11Speaker 2: Thanks Man, Thanks Mike. Talk soon.