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The DiCecco Daily: Bounce-Back Candidates For Eagles On Offense in 2026 · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everybody? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: The check O Daily. It's Andrew de check O, Eagles
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Beat reporter friends Sidethbirds dot Com here with you, and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: today we're going to take a look at bounce back candidates,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: but we're going to do it on the offensive side.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow's podcast will entail my defensive picks. And there are
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: many candidates that I could have went with, and I've
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: landed on two, perhaps none more so than running back
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley, who last season rushed for one and forty yards.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: But context is required because the Eagles suffered a rash
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: of injuries across their offensive line. Landon Dickerson battled through
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: a number of ailments throughout the season. Lane Johnson had
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the list Frank injury that he suffered in November against
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: that again that game against the Lions. And then you
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: had Cam Jurgens who had the offseason back surgery that February,
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: weeks after the Super Bowl and was never quite himself.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: That was evident watching him out there moving around. And
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  Speaker 1: because of that, the Eagles didn't have that dominant force,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: that X factor, which is the Eagles offensive line paving
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: the way, setting the tone at the line of scrimmage
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and adopting that bowie ball style that made them such
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: a force to be reckoned with in twenty twenty four. Now,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley last season was never going to, in all
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: likelihood replicate the historic season that he put together in
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, But that was a pretty significant drop
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: off now, full transparency, I never believed that Saquon saw
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: a regression in talent. I didn't believe that the workload
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that he shouldered in twenty twenty four factored into the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: limited production or anything to that effect. He's the same player,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: and when you watched him out there, it was clear
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: to me that there were times where it felt like
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: he was pressing and instead of taking the three or
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: four yards that the space allowed, he was trying to
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: hit the home run, trying to make something happen for
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the offense, and was not very effective when doing so.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: But he doesn't have there's no lack of burst with
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley. There's he's still when he got to the
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  Speaker 1: second level, you could see the explosiveness that he has.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: I think his vision is something that never wavered, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: he didn't seem like a player that was second guessing
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: or doing anything like that. He is the same player
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: and he has handled the ball quite a bit for
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. But when I look at this offense, to me,
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: I know that a lot's been made about the pass
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: and rightfully so. It hasn't been good or hasn't performed
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: a standard with the collection of talent that they have
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: for two seasons now. But everything to me revolves around
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the running game and the Eagles' ability to dictate whatever
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: they want and revert back to what they did in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. And Saquon Barkway is going to be
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  Speaker 1: a huge piece for this offense now. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: it is going to be predicated on the health of
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: the players blocking in front of him. But and I
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: don't want to tip my hand too much for my
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: other bounce back candidate, but it's I know that when
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  Speaker 1: you're dealing with an older player like Lane Johnson who's
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: thirty six, and you have someone like Lannon Dickerson who's
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: battled injuries throughout his entire career, you never want to
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: say lightning can't strike twice. But for the Eagles to
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: be that beaten, that beat up along the offensive line.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: It just doesn't seem like history will repeat itself for
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: a second season. And even if the Eagles are somewhat
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: plagued along the offensive line, I do think that they'll
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: still be able to generate a push. And by the way,
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: the expected schematic shift that the Eagles are undergoing right
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: now and how that's going to directly affect the running
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: game with the wide zones and things like that, the
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: different angles and the demands for the running back, I
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: think that's going to help Saquon Barkley and Sakwon. Barkley
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  Speaker 1: mentioned that he believes that you have to be you
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: have to have more patients with the inside zone, which
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  Speaker 1: is what they've adopted for years, especially under offensive line
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: coach run game cordator Jeff Stoutland. But I think that
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: this shift and the new run designs should help Saquon
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  Speaker 1: Barkley be able to get to the perimeter, hit those creases,
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  Speaker 1: and it does cater to the strengths of the offensive
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  Speaker 1: linemen in front of him, where they're able to tap
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  Speaker 1: into their athleticism moving laterally, climbing to the second level
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  Speaker 1: and kind of getting a body on a body and
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  Speaker 1: paving the way for Barkley. I think he's going to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: handle a pretty sizable workload this year. I wouldn't expect
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  Speaker 1: any drastic measures or reductions with regard to reductions in
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  Speaker 1: his in his carries or touches. And I think he's
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  Speaker 1: going to be what makes this offense go and be
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  Speaker 1: a huge, huge piece of what this offense is going
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  Speaker 1: to do in twenty twenty six, for better or for worse.
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  Speaker 1: But I think Saquon is primed for a monster season.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know that I want to put a number
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  Speaker 1: on it, and I'm not saying it's certainly not saying
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  Speaker 1: it's going to be two thousand yards, but I can
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  Speaker 1: tell you that I know he had eleven forty last year. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I will put a number on it. I'll say, I'll
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  Speaker 1: say fifteen hundred, with the potential to go to go
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: north of that. And there's also the potential and I
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: say potential, and I'm sure that there are some collective
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: eye rolls out there, but the potential to utilize him
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: in the passing game. That's something that I've mentioned. I
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: observed in the spring when the Eagles were out there,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Saquon caught a flurry of passes. Look really natural and
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: fluid in doing so. And if he's able to factor
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  Speaker 1: in as a receiver, that's going to open up another
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  Speaker 1: dimension to this offense and add to the dynamicism that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: he can provide as a running back. I really do
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  Speaker 1: think that he is going to be a two way
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  Speaker 1: threat this year. I know the other part of it,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: the receiving part of it. It's you need to see
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: it to believe it. But because of all of that
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  Speaker 1: and what I've seen and what we know about the
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: Eagles and how that is foundationally what they want to do,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: run the football and set the pace there, I think
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  Speaker 1: that Saquon Barkley's going to be the guy on offense
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  Speaker 1: for a bounce back candidate. The other player is going
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: to be for me center Cam Jurgens. And Cam Jurgens
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I mentioned he had a few weeks after the Eagles
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl. He had back surgery. He battled
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: through the playoffs there, and it takes time to recover
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  Speaker 1: and he wasn't able to get into the mix with practice,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: you know, with everybody else. It took him a little
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: bit of time last summer and you saw it the
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: you know, I guess the ripple effect of the recovery
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: process manifest in real time every single week. He wasn't
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  Speaker 1: moving like the player that he was the year prior.
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  Speaker 1: He wasn't able to do certain things that made him
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  Speaker 1: recognized that you know, got him recognized as one of
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: the NFL's best centers, and he spoke about that. He
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: also went to medine in the offseason for stem cell
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: treatment and taking every measure possible to ensure that he's
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: going to be as close to full strength as possible.
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  Speaker 1: And I go back to this offensive system and listening
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: to Cam Jurgen's talk and seeing how eager he was
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: and almost looking refreshed now that he's healthy. And again,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: things have a way of changing once the pads come
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: on and you're you know, you're kind of going through
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: the daily grind of training camp. We'll learn more about that,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: but right now, there's a lot of reason for optimism
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: and plenty of reasons to suggest that Cam Jurgens is
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: going to revert back or to twenty twenty four form
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: or close to that. And sometimes with the back surgery,
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  Speaker 1: it just takes time, and that is probably something that
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: isn't necessarily always taken into account when you're looking at it,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: but it is something that now that he's further removed
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  Speaker 1: from that, I think that this system really is going
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: to tailor to his strengths as a center, immenseally athletic
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: and someone who I think is going to respond well
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: to the you know, to the changes up front. The
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  Speaker 1: Eagle's gonna be going under center a lot more, and
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  Speaker 1: that communication with jay One Hurts is gonna have to
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  Speaker 1: be paramount. But Cam Jurgens is such a smart player.
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  Speaker 1: He's a tough player. I think he deserves a ton
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: of credit for battling through what he did last season,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: but he clearly wasn't himself and there were moments, if
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: we're being frank, that when Brett told was in the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: game at center, the offense just functioned a lot cleaner,
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: a lot more cohesively, and they're able to accomplish a
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: lot more. But Cam Jurgens, when you look at the
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: offensive line, I could have went with Lannon Diggerson, but
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: injuries have followed him throughout his career. He just sort
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: of battles through it.
• 9:41
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• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Lane Johnson. It's hard to call him a bounce back
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: candidate because last season I thought he was playing in
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: a pretty exceptional level prior to the injury. But cam
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: Jurgens fits the bill as someone that saw a clear
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: drop off in production and there's reasons for that. But
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: I think he's going to be key in what the
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: Eagles are looking to accomplish, especially from a run game standpoint,
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: with the different the different blocking and what's going to
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: you know, what's entailed with that. And we'll see if
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the stem cell treatment is sort of the magical cure.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: But what I can tell you is having watched a
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: lot of these offenses what Seaun Manning is looking to
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: bring to Philadelphia, a lot of the wide zone and
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: those type of things, I've noticed a lot of athletic
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: centers have great success in that scheme, in that running
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: that system. And so I look at Cam Jurgens and
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: if he's healthy, and that's the big question, you're going
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: to see him return to form. He was a pro
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: bowler last year. Reputation probably followed him on that and
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: gave him that bump. But I think this year he's
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: going to check off the boxes necessary and leave no
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: doubt that he is one of the better centers in
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: the NFL. So those are my two bounce back candidates.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: I couldn't really go with Dallas Goddard he had a
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: career season last year. I couldn't go with Davonte Smith
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: because Davonte Smith had a pretty damn good season last year,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: I couldn't go with you know, a Johnny Wilson. I
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: guess I could have, you know, suppose I guess I
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: suppose I could have. But he still has to make
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: the team. But I'm going with two critical components to
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: this offense, and I do believe that Saquon Barkley and
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: Cam Jurgens are going to be key to their success.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: That's going to do it for this episode of The
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: Checko Daily, Andrew Decheco and I'll catch you all on
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: the next one.