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The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Ideal Day 3 DT Prospects For Eagles · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: The check O Daily. It's Andrew Dechecko here Eagles beat
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: reporter Friendsidethebirds dot Com, and we have reached Draft week
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: at long last. I can't wait to see how Draft
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: weekend unfolds throughout the league because this is the week
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: where you start to hear this player's rising, this player's falling.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: A lot of that is smoke screen, and this is
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: also known as smokescreen week. So tread carefully and you know,
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: we'll see where things go. But I want to focus
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: today's podcast on defensive tackle. When you look at defensive
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: tackle with Eagles, it's probably not a position that's front
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: of mine. And I can't say that I fault you
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: for thinking that because when you look at it, all
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: of the collection of talent that the Eagles had last
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: year return for twenty twenty six. Jayalen Carter and Jordan
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: Davis are heading that room. And let's not forget Jordan Davis.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: The Eagles gave him an extension in March, so he'll
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: be here for the future. And then a Lucra to
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: Payday awaits Jalen Carter, so that's going to be a
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: lot of money committed to that position. And then when
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: you get to Moro Jomo, who enters his fourth season
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: and final year of his rookie deal. He had six
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: sacks last season, so if he can replicate that or
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: offer similar production, much like Milton Williams, it's likely that
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: he's going to command a pretty sizable payday of his
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: own on the open market. And it's very difficult to
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: fathom the Eagles being able to commit that kind of
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: money to three different players when it comes to the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: team building standpoint. And then you have Ty Robinson. Yes,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the Eagles drafted him in the fourth round, but he's
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: kind of an unknown entity play all that much last season.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: He's a little bit of an older prospect, so it
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: would be something out of the realm of what the
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Eagles have traditionally done and banking on a younger player
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: that doesn't have a lot of experience, especially a depth piece,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and not necessarily arming themselves with optionality. So I do
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: expect that defensive tackle will be a focus because it's
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: not a short term need, it is a long term need.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: And then you look at Byron Young, who actually played
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: above Ty Robinson last season and his rookie contract expires
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: after this season, and he'll be slated for free agency,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: so there's some questions as to what the room could
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: ultimately look like down the road. We're not there yet, obviously,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: but the Eagles are always a team that's proactive. They
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: like to get ahead of things, and they don't build
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: the roster always for the here and now. They have
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: that long term view at at the forefront as well,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: and that's why they are routinely competitive and you rarely
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: see any sort of a drop off or a law.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: So with that, and I'm not suggesting that defensive tackle
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: is anywhere near as important this draft than it is
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: to find an offensive tackle for the future, or a
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: wide receiver for the future, a edge rusher for the future.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Those obviously are critical positions and I expect them to
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: take priority. But there are some intriguing mid to late
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: round options at interior defensive line that I want to
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: explore and maybe highlight some of those players for you
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: so that when you get to Day three. And there's
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: not a lot of a loure when it comes to
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Day three, unless you're a draft sicco like myself, it
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: tends to give you something more to look into and
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: maybe follow along with. So I want to start with
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: a player who is expected to go on Day two
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: and then we'll work our way down, and that's tyler
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: On Yedam from Texas A and M. Spent four seasons
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: at Iowa State, transfers to Texas A and M for
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: his final season. Six three two and ninety two pounds.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: He started twelve games last season for the Aggies. He
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: had forty nine tackles, nine and a half for loss,
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: three and a half sacks, and a force fumble. Uses
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: his length well, plays with great anticipation. He has good tools.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: But I think the most perplexing aspect of Onyatam's game
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: is that he wasn't a big sack producer in college.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: And when you see someone with that build, you're more
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: often than not, you're not going to thrive as a
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: run defender at the next level. So you would like
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: to see that player capitalize on their athletic traits and
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: be more of an upfield penetrator, a pocket collaps or
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: type of player. And he really wasn't that at Texas
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: A and M, or even at Iowa State for that matter.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: But this is the kind of talent that if you
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: bring him into a room and you have him team
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: with a coach like Clint Hurt, he's likely going to
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: develop those qualities and make that a strength. So that's
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: something to bear in mind. He does turn twenty three
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: in May. He started thirty three games over his final
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: three years of college, and he's a projected third round pick,
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: So if Eagles wanted him, they're likely going to have
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: to take him at sixty eight or ninety eight. Ninety
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: eight would probably be more feasible considering the other needs
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: that they have that are a little bit more pressing.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: But that's a player that I like. Chris McClellan from
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Missouri is another one, and in my second mock draft
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: I actually mocked him to the Eagles in the fourth round. Well,
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: he was a starter in twenty one of his final
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: twenty six games at Missouri. He's twenty two years old.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: He has an upward trajectory by all accounts, and at
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: six foot four, three hundred and thirteen pounds. He spent
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: his first two seasons at Florida and then he went
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: to Missouri after that. But he's very strong at the
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: point of attack. He has active hands, he can disengage
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: from lineman, and you look at his tackles for loss,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: where he had eight tackles for loss. That's something that's
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: really appealing as being someone who can impact the game
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: behind the line of scrimmage. He had a career high
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: in sacks, which was six compared to the two point
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: five that he had the previous season. So by all accounts,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: this is a player who is starting to play his
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: best football. I view him more as a fourth round selection,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: so we're looking at pick one four or one thirty
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: seven if he were to be an Eagle, unless there's,
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: of course some trades and things of that nature. But
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: this is a player that when you look at his
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: experience he played in fifty one games over four seasons,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: you like that, you like the door ability, and I
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: think he's going to be more of a rotational piece.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: I think most of these players project as rotation pieces,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: but he does strike me as someone who can handle
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: volume if necessary at the next level. Grayson Halton from
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Oklahoma is another player on this list, and a little
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: bit more of an enigmatic type of player in that
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: he can bind for just ten starts. Over the past
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: two seasons. He did capitalize on his opportunities though he
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: had eight sacks over that span. Undersized again at six
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: foot two, two ninety three, he doesn't have the arm
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: length that you'd like at thirty one and one eighth inch,
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: but he is twitchy, he's explosive, and he has that
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: unrelenting motor that makes him fun to watch. And I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: watched quite a bit of Oklahoma football last season and
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: he had thirteen tackles for loss over the past two years.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: So again, like Chris mccleowan, you like the knack for
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: knifing through and making place behind the line of scrimmage.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: And I think what also adds to some intrigue here
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: is that Halton, who's twenty two years old. He provides
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: added appeal because of his alignment versatility. He'll need to
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: develop and advance his play strength to be able to
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: hold up at the next level, I would assume. And again,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: this is another rotational player, but I think he will
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: definitely provide some juice to wherever he lands as a
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: changeup option. And as I may have mentioned, I sort
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of have him slotted as a fourth round pick. This
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: player might need no introduction, because I've mentioned him a
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: few times on this podcast. One of my favorite interior
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: defensive alignment in this class, that would be Caleb Procter
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: from Southeastern Louisiana. He's garnered quite a bit of buzz
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: throughout the pre draft process. He's performed well at every turn,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and I've been bullish on him from the start. So
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: with Procter, it's the athletic traits and pass rush upside
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: that I feel his most appealing. And he had nine
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: sacks and thirteen tackles for loss a season ago. But
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: it was those down to down insistencies and disruptive tendencies
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: that I think was what reeled me in when I
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: was watching his tape. And he doesn't have prototypical size
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: at six foot two two hundred and ninety one pounds,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: but he doesn't he doesn't lack for athleticism and explosiveness,
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: and he atones for the lack of size with the
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: lateral agility, the twitchiness, violent hands, lightning, quick burst off
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: the snap. Those are all buzzwords and I understand that,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: but watching him play maybe to illustrate this a little better.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: His play style reminds me a little bit of Moro Jomo. Now,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: he doesn't have the arm length of a Moro Jomo
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: but he does have the athletic qualities, the violent hands,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: the quickness he can get under the pad level uses leverage. Well,
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: I know that that small school label can sometimes pose
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: as a stigma, but by all accounts, Proctor produced wealthy
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: East West Shrine Bowl. He also, and this is awesome,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: a really big indicator here he had two sacks against LSU.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: What are you looking for when you're seeing a small
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: school prospect go up against one of the heavyweights in
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: college football. Well, you want to see dominance, and you
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: want to see a player that's going to not necessarily
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: fade under the bright lights and the microscope. And he
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: absolutely took the bull by the horns there and really
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: was a disruptive force against LSU. You like that and
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: against top competition, that's what you're looking for. His skill set,
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: as I mentioned, reminds me a little bit of Moro Jomo.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: So one would presume that the fit would already be
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: pretty well aligned, and you would have an idea of
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: what that kind of play style would look like in
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that defense. I think he's a fourth round pick, but
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: it wouldn't surprise me if he sneaks into the back
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: end of Day two and then we have Demante kpe
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Hart from Clemson. He's a little bit older, older than
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: most players on this list. Well, every player on this
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: list besides the ones I'm going to get to in
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: a minute. Turns twenty four in July, and his career
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: at Clemson was a bit of a slow burn. He
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: arrived in twenty twenty and red shirted. Then he played
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: in just five games the following season due to an injury,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: and I think it was a knee scope. But it
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: wasn't until twenty twenty four that cape Hart even logged
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: a start. He started twelve games over his final two seasons.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: His size and traits are really what should entice a
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: team on day three. At six foot five, three hundred
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: and fifteen pounds, he has the lengthy you look for.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: He's far sprier than one might expect from someone that size.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: But when I really watched his game, what stands out
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: the most is the strength and the power at the
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: point of attack and the fear striking ability. Just an
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: imposing defensive lineman. Now, he wasn't overly productive at Clemson,
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: and he was more or less a spot starter or
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: a rotational piece, which is kind of how I have
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: him pegged at the next level, but thirty four inch
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: arms you like you have to be worried about the
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: injury history and the age and the lack of production.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: But this would be more banking on player development and
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: bringing him into a building and getting him on a
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: team that could accentuate what he does well. And I
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: think he could provide a boost in short yarded situations.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: And if I were to guess now, I have him
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: slotted as more of a six round pick due to
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: what I know do to what I mentioned earlier, with
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: the injuries and the lack of overwhelming production that he
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: had there.
• 12:41
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• 13:41
  Speaker 1: There's other names to know, and these players, I should
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: note are more along the lines of what if the
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Eagles were to acquire a pick in the seventh round
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: or maybe even garner consideration as priority free agents. There's
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: three players here, Gary Smith the third at a UCLA,
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: Aaron Hall from Duke, and Josiah Green from Duke. Just
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: a little background here. The Eagles met with Smith the
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: third at the East West Shrine Bowl and NFL scouting combine.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: He's six foot one, three hundred and nineteen pounds, more
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: of a one dimensional space eater type of defensive lineman.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: But if you're looking for a cost controlled nose tackle
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: or maybe someone that you want to bring into camp,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: he has a shot for like the practice squad or
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: something to that effect, but he spent his first two
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: seasons at Duke before transferring to UCLA for his final
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: four seasons. He missed the twenty twenty four season due
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: to injury, but he was a twenty twenty five honorable
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: mention All Big Ten selection. A little bit older, though
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: he turns twenty five in November. The other two players
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: the Eagles were on hand for Duke's pro day, and
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: I can definitively say they met with Green while they
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: were there. Green is grossly undersized, five eleven and seven
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: two hundred and eighty four pounds and thirty one and
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: five eight inch arm length, but he's quick and last
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: season he totaled three and a half sacks and seven
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: tackles for loss. He performed well at the school's pro day.
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: He had a one sixty five ten yard split, four
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: to four to three shuttle, and seven four to three
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: three cone. He also totaled thirty six reps on the
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: bench press, which is a program record, so you like
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: the testing numbers that he had there. He's probably more
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: of an undrafted player, but I could see someone like
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: that being a good fit if the Eagles are looking
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: to add him post draft and Aaron Hall is someone
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: who spent his entire five year career at Duke. He
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: had twenty seven starts and six sacks over the past
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: two seasons six two hundred and ninety seven pounds, so
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: he has a little bit more of a leaner bill
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: relative to his height. He was a team captain last
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: season and earned twenty twenty five to third team All
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: acc recognition. So that rounds out my mid to late
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: interior defensive lineman options that I think would be appealing
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: for different reasons for the Philadelphia Eagles. We'll see where
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: they go. Right now, they only have eight picks and
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: that's always subject to change. When Howie Roseman is at
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the helm. This is going to be a fun week.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Make sure you keep it plugged in right here on
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: inside the Birds, on inside the Birds dot Com, and
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: right here on to checkodaily. With that this has been
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: to checkodaily, I'm Andrew to CHECKO and I'll catch you
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: all on the next one.