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The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Eagles TE Room, Its Changing Dynamics · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's up, everybody? Andrew de Checko here with another episode
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of to check O Daily, and I want to spend
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: some time today really delving deep into the tight end
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: room and looking at all the players who make up
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: that group right now, how they fit into the twenty
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: twenty six equation, and then where the Eagles may ultimately
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: go from there. So we'll obviously start with Dallas Goddard,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: who's a pending free agent. Last May he agreed to
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: a restructured deal worth around ten million a season, goes
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: out there and has the most receiving touchdowns of his career,
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: beats Pete retz last record, long standing record, and was
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: just such a reliable presence over the middle of the field,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: especially in the red zone, and his rapport with Jalen Hurtz.
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: I don't think that that can be overstated how important
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: that was for the overall efficiency of what was a
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: really static offense last season. I think when you look
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: back on at Dallas Godder proved to be one of
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the lone pillars of stability, if you will, that the
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Eagles really had. And at thirty one years old, he
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: does have that injury history as well. It's fair to
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: wonder what his market will be. I have no idea.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: I'm curious to see how many teams are in the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: mix for him. But I would have to think, given
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: the age and the injury history and his connection to Philadelphia,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: perhaps the Eagles will do whatever they can to keep
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard in the building for at least another season,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and then that's where you would see them in this draft.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: I would have to imagine they draft a tight end
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: and he can kind of learn under got it for
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: one year. But with the window of opportunity open and
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the Eagles having no other players on the roster under
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: contract come March, I think and it would serve them
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: well to keep Dallas Goddard in house. But then you
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: have other players that are also going to be free
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: agents in Grant kaal Katara and Kylon Grantson. So Grant
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: kaal Katara only had nine receptions for seventy six yards
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: as the Eagles second tight end. He played quite a
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: bit of event, quite a bit of snaps, but didn't
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: necessarily factor in offensively all that much as a receiver,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: which is really his calling card. Now with Grant and
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Kylon Grantson, who had seven receptions, for forty yards played
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: in all seventeen games. Was a special team stalwart, sort
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: of a movable piece there as a tight end, not
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: a traditional player at the position. He can play h back,
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: you can align him in the backfield, you can move
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: him out wide and do a lot of things with him,
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: but they never were really able to get him in
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the mix offensively. But you have Grant ka Katerra and
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: you have Kylon Grantson. They're both pending pre agents, so
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: is Dallas Goddard. I would think if you're the Eagles,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: you want to keep one of those guys in the
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: building just to add some depth and competition in the
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: summer to the room. So I look at Dallas Goddard,
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: I would probably resign Grant kal Katara, but put him
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: in a role in which he's more ideally suited, meaning
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: probably a third tight end. You're not asking him to block.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I know that he caught a lot of scrutiny last season,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and I understand that his blocking was far from ideal.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: But that's not all Grant. That's on the coaches for
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: putting him in those positions where he's not able to
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: really optimize his skill set. He's a receiver by trade,
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: but I still think he's best suited as a third
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: tight end, So it's probably not going to cost you
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: all that much to keep him in the building. And
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: then with Kylon Grant Kylon Grantson, I would imagine that
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: they're going to move on from him, and he probably
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: would want to go somewhere where he's going to have
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: more of an opportunity to factor in offensively. It didn't
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: really work out here in that regard, but he was
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: stellar on special teams. Then after Kylon Grantson, you have
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: two players who are under contract in EJ. Jenkins and
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Jahem Bell, both of which signed reserve futures deals. E J.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Jenkins played in two games for the Eagles last season,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: was elevated from the practice squad, played in eight games
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: the season before, had two targets. His first NFL catch
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: was a seven yard touchdown from Tanner McKee. And so
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: he's a player that the Eagles like. They've spent some
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: time working with and developing him. I think he's made
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: a lot of strides as a blocker. He talked to
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: me how that's been a point of emphasis for him.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: And he's such a big body guy, six foot six
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: about two sixty, though he said he won to probably
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: drop five pounds or so in the offseason just for
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: longevity purposes. It's less pressure on his knees and all that.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: But still he has an imposing frame that to me
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: suggests untapped potential. He was a collegiate wide receiver, played
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: at three different colleges, including Saint Francis in Pennsylvania, and
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: he started to come together last summer until he had
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: a practice in which he dropped like three consecutive throws
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: his way. I thought he might have had a chance
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: to make the roster because of his size and blocking ability,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: knowing that Johnny Wilson was injured. But it didn't happen.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: But he was on the practice squad for the whole season,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: and he will be with the Eagles through the offseason
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: and we'll see what he looks like com OTAs, but
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: he has a good shot at sticking as maybe the
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: third tight end, depending on what the Eagles to obviously do.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: But I think that there's been tangible strides in his game,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: and they've kept him around for a reason. They've been
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: continuing to develop him behind the scenes. And then Jaheim
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Bell was the seventh round pick of the Patriots in
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, played in fifteen games for them to
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: catch his thirty yards kind of built similar to Kylin
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: Granson and that he is about six two two thirty
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: five ish and can move around formations and you can
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: kind of get creative and how you use them athletic
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: player liked them coming out of Florida State. He was
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: on the Eagles practice squad briefly in October, then they
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: released them from there and he spent time with another team.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: Then he came back to the Eagles late in the
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: season and they signed him to a reserve futures deal.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: So that's your tight end room. We'll see what the
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Eagles ultimately do in terms of filling that room out,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: because you gotta do something. And the only two players
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: under contract right now, as I mentioned, EJ. Jenkins and
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Jaheim Bell.
• 6:35
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• 10:00
  Speaker 1: I think the most logical course of action will be
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: to try to reach an agreement with Dallas Goddard keep
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: him in house for continuity purposes. He's still playing at
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: a very high level, prove that he can stay healthy
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: off season. Last year he missed the Chiefs game, But
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: aside from that, pretty clean bill of health and there's
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: the chemistry with Jalen Hurts that I think is paramount
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: to trying to get this offense headed in the right direction.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Certainly having someone like Dallas Goddard will be a welcomed
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: edition for Sean Mannion in his first year as Eagles
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. But where else they go from there, we're
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: going to find out. This has been a wild rye
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: of an offseason thus far, and things are just getting
• 10:40
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• 10:44
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• 10:46
  Speaker 1: there and continuing that on right here on To check
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: O Daily. But for now, that's going to do it
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: for this edition of To check O Daily. I'm Andrew
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: de Checko, and I'll catch you all on the next one.
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: OD