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The DiCecco Daily: Assessing Eagles Rookie Roles To Start The Season · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome everyone to another episode of the Checo Daily.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles Beat Reporter for InsideTheBirds.com. This is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: a podcast that we did a couple months ago, but
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: we now have more information, so we're going to revisit
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: that topic, and that is determining the rookie roles as
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: we move into the start of the 2026 season. There
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: seems to be a lot of doom and gloom, a
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: lot of angst out there with regard to wide receiver
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Makai Lemon and tight end Eli Stowers, and I think
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: that's entirely premature. I'm going to outline why, while I
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: do understand where some of the pessimism maybe comes into
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: play you have to take in the full scope here
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: because there's a lot of time. This is the start
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: of their career.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: This isn't a determining factor.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: So look, with Makai Lemon, he obviously missed the spring
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: with the hamstring injury. He missed a lot of time
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: in training camp with that same hamstring injury.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: And so, yes, he's going to be behind.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: This is an offense that Details matter when it comes
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: to the wide receiver position. They're asked to do a
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: lot of different things, especially as a rookie, that learning
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: curve is naturally going to be steeper. He was able
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to obtain mental reps and absorb those type of things,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: and that's good in meeting rooms as well, but there's
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: always so much you can do to really hone in
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the mental aspect of the game. There's nothing you can
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: do to replicate the value of being on the field
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and going through the motions and learning on the fly,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: making your mistakes, and being coached in the moment. And
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: so when he returned to the field, and that was
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: really the last week or so of training camp, they're cramming.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: It's almost like someone who pushed off the SAT studying
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: and you're cramming before that final exam. The difference here
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: is that it's not his choice. He suffered the soft
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: tissue injury and the Eagles aren't going to put him
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: out there unless he was ready. And so that was
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: when they felt comfortable putting him back out there. And
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you could see the support system, whether it's Sean Manning,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator, Nick Sirianni, what he had to say
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: at the podium, the.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Other receivers working with him.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: He has a number of players there to make sure
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: that they're doing everything that they can to get him
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: up to speed. He played in the final preseason game,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: clearly looked like a player that needs some time in
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: terms of just the overall timing, the flow of the game.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: That was the first time he'd gotten hit since his
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: time at USC, since last playing at USC. And those
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: are all valuable moments as to why you wanted to
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: see him in those games. He needs to go through
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: those things so that the first time isn't September 13th
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: versus the Washington Commanders. But one could probably surmise that
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: because there's some expected growing pains on the horizon that
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: they might not look to– to lean on him too
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: heavily early in the season. I don't think that's going
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: to be the case. He's a first-round pick. They're going
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: to find ways to get him the football. Do I
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: think he's going to be able to take on the
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: lion's share of the snaps as the third receiver?
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: They have Elijah Moore.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: A veteran there as well, who I think gives them
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: a little bit more of a cushion in the event
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: that they don't want to overload Makai Lemon early on,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and there's still going to be certain intricacies of that
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: offense that, frankly, he's simply not going to have mastered
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: in such short order. But if you looked at how
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: they used him in training camp when he was available,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: the motions, the the different ways to play action boots to,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: to scheme them open. And I think in the, in
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the open practice, he had the, the wheel route, he
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: lined up in the backfield, had a wheel route wide
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: open for a touchdown. There are, there are ways that
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: you can scheme him open to get the football into
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: your hands, the, the, the hands of the air explosive playmakers.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: And I expect them to do that.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: I also think it's very telling that despite lemon missing
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: all that time, when he did return, They put him
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: right back out there with the first team, and they
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: weren't slow playing it. So it tells you that they
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: aren't going to nurse it as much as maybe some
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: on the outside, I think, might believe to be the case.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: But make no mistake about it.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: There are still certain areas that he's going to have
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: to refine, and.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: That's going to take some time.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: That could be a number of weeks because– You've got
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to remember, you missed three weeks of training camp, which
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: is critical for the learning process.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Naturally, you're going to be behind. It doesn't matter how attentive.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: You are in the classroom, the absorption of the mental reps.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: There's nothing you can do to atone for the loss
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: of live practice reps, and I don't think that's going
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: to impact him either. having an impact on early in
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: the season, but it may look a little differently later
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: in the year once he's fully immersed in the system
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: and he's able to do some of the things that
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: they originally envisioned at the start of training camp. It
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: could be a little bit of a different story when
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: it comes to Eli Stowers, the Eagles second round pick.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: And I just want to clarify something because it seems
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: like there might be some out there that are under
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: the impression that the Eagles reached on the player and
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: hindsight is a funny thing because he was widely expected
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: to go right around the same range in which the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Eagles drafted him. He, by many, was viewed as either
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: the second or the third tight end. You also had
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Max Clare from Ohio State. In this draft class, it
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: was widely expected that he was going to be a
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: developmental prospect. Now, I did expect him to be a
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: little bit further along than where he is right now
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: because right now he's clearly not ready for prime time.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: He needs to get stronger physically, fill out his frame
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: a little bit more because right now he looks like
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: a plus-sized wide receiver. But I would also say this
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: because it seems that there are many who are down
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: on this kid, and I don't think that's fair. It's
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: not his fault as to where he was drafted. It
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: is going to be up to him, however.
• 6:24
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  Speaker 1: About the learning process and maybe trying to lessen the
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  Speaker 1: learning curve here, and that is by going out there
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  Speaker 1: and doing everything that you can in your power to–
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: maximize every rep to take to the coaching and do
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: all of those things.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's no reason to believe that he isn't.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: He's a hard worker.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: That was something that was widely known when the Eagles
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: drafted him. It was pretty universal as part of his
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: scouting report, former quarterback.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: But the.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: The progression is not the same for every player, and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: you have to understand that.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: He's just a few years.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Removed from playing quarterback at the NFL. But you look
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: at the athleticism, you couple that with the mental acuity
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: that he has and the explosive traits that he brings
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: to the table at that position. It's not hard to
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: envision what the Eagles see or saw in him when
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: they drafted him. It just is going to take a
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: little bit of time for it to come to fruition.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: And come into focus.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: But that being said, I don't think he's going to
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: be available or able to help the Eagles in the
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: early stages of the season. So when I say that,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: I mean maybe week one or week two. I'm not
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: going to put an exact timetable on that. But based
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: off of what we've seen in training camp, clearly he's
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: not ready, and there are other players in front of
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: him who.
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: Can help the Eagles in the immediacy of the early
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: part of the season. And so....
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: I do believe that eventually, and let's not lose sight
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: of the fact that he's also dealing with a hamstring
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: injury right now, at least the last time that we
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: saw Eli Stowers and we had an injury report, and
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: that was the final preseason game. He was dealing with
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: a hamstring injury. So we don't quite know where he
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: is in terms of that. The Eagles aren't on the
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: practice field until this week, so we'll learn more there.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: But I would imagine that when things start to work
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: itself out, you'll see– Because of the athleticism that I
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: could envision a world where the Eagles try to find
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: a way to incorporate him into the offense, moving him
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: maybe out wide as an X, moving him around formations
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: to capitalize on his wide ranging skill set that he
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: can provide as a receiver and. You want to get
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: your younger player incorporated in some form or fashion fairly early,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: even if it's not such a prominent role, because you
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: want to instill that confidence in them that they can
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: use that will build.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Throughout the season.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: But right now, it's pretty clear that after a training
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: camp that left a little bit to be desired, he's
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: clearly behind relative to the other players. It's just unclear
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: right now when he'll be able to help.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: The Eagles in the season.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that you close the book on
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: his career. It doesn't mean that the Eagles reached on
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: the player or that he's not going to work out. Again,
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: you got to allow time for things to play out.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: And right now, it's a little unclear, but that's just
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: the short term.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Long term, my....
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  Speaker 2: My perspective hasn't changed.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, I came into this expecting that It was
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: going to be a little bit more of a gradual
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: process to get him to where I imagine the Eagles
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: wanted him to be. But he's not a finished product.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: And you have to understand that. So I think it's
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: important to keep things into perspective. And so that is
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: my short-term outlook for Eli Stowers right now.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: Third round pick, Markel Bell. I think he had a
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: really good training camp.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: Enough so where I believe that he performed a little
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: better than Fred Johnson, the veteran tackle. But if all
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: things go according to plan for the Eagles this year,
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Markel Bell is not going to play any meaningful snaps
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: at offensive tackle because that means that Jordan Mailata and
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson are healthy. But I am curious to see
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: how the depth plays out early in the year because
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: I do believe that Markel Bell had a better training camp.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Could the Eagles default to the veteran? Perhaps. But... he's
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: clearly ahead of schedule. That's the bottom line here.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know where the depth chart's ultimately going to
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: shake out, but I can tell you that it appears
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: that Markel Bell's ahead of schedule because from a footwork,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: from a technical standpoint, I thought it would take a
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: little bit more time for him to to really be
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: able to round into form. But early in camp, the
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: Eagles were giving him valuable second-team reps. I thought he
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: did some good things in the preseason game, and there
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: should be a lot of reasons for encouragement because of what.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: You've seen from Bell and his development.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: But again, he's going to be a depth piece this
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: year as a rookie, and if all things go well.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: He won't be playing in the games at any point
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: this season. Unless, of course, the Eagles.
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: get out to such a commanding lead in some games
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: where they build a pretty decent cushion in the NFC
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: East and all of a sudden the last couple games
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: or the last game of the season doesn't matter and
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: then you have someone like Markel Bell who can get
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: some valuable reps. Quarterback Cole Payton made the roster as
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: a Fourth quarterback, and he's clearly a developmental prospect, needs
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: a long– he's a ways to go in terms of
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: mechanics and just overall refining the nuances of the quarterback position.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: But that's okay because the good news is that was
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: part of the plan. That was expected when they drafted him.
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: He is not a finished product, and I think if
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: you saw the 21 snaps that he played in the
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: preseason– that supports this.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: And he does have a lot of athleticism, though.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: And I think when you look at Kyle McCord and
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: his development elsewhere, whom the Eagles drafted in 2025 out
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: of Syracuse, you don't want to part with a player
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: too quickly.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: You want to make sure that you're supporting them with
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: all the possible.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Tools to grow and develop and see this thing through
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: and not parting prematurely. And I think with Cole Payton,
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: there's a multifaceted skillset that the Eagles could potentially tap into.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: I go back to the preseason finale and you saw
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: him take some reps on special teams.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: And who knows.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: But I, what I, what I can tell you is
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: that he's someone that's going to be at the back
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: end of the roster. He's not going to help you
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: as a quarterback this year in any capacity and But
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: maybe he can help you on special teams. Maybe you
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: could tap into that athleticism in a different way. But
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: needless to say, he's a long-term project, someone that the
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Eagles are willing to work with and.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: See this through.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: And that's really all I have to say about Cole Payton.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Guard Michael Morris taking in the sixth round. He was
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: the 10th lineman to make the roster. I think, well,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: I know, like at the end of the summer, Jake
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Majors was probably in front of him. And I mean,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: you could tell by him getting all the second team
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: work this summer, him leaving the final preseason game while
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Michael Morris stayed in the game. But all things relatively equal,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: of course, you're going to. to lean towards the draft pick.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: And Micah Morris has more upside. He's more of a
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: toolsy player. And I never felt like he was in
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: danger of making the roster, if that makes sense. So
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: he sticks as the 10th offensive lineman. We talk about
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: Cole Payton being a developmental prospect. Micah Morris fits that
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: same mold. The Eagles don't have a ton of those
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: guys sort of growing and maturing at the back end
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: of the roster like they may have had in other
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: years but Michael Morris fits that bill he there are
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: so many other interior linemen who are in front of
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: him Drew Kendall Willie Lampkin and other players so you're
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: not really going to see Michael Morris barring something incredibly
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: unforeseen become a factor at any point this season but
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: he is someone that I'm really curious.
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: To see throughout the year how.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: He takes to NFL life, how he grows, you know,
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: in terms of just the overall polish to his game
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: with Chris Cooper, the old line coach. And, uh, really we'll,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: we'll learn more about what he can do next spring
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: and summer, but that's all I have to say about him.
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: Seventh round Cole was Nesky seventh round who are Bernard
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: seventh round Keyshawn, James newbie, all three of those players, uh,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: were waived, and they are on the Eagles practice squad.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: So really, that's all I have for the rookie roles
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: to start the 2026 season. That's going to do it
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: for this episode of DiCecco Daily. I'm Andrew DiCecco, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: I'll catch you all on the next one.