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The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Some Dark Horses Entering Eagles Training Camp · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's up gang. Welcome into this edition of to
• 0:12
  Checko Daily. I am, of course your host, Andrew de Checko.
• 0:16
  Training Camp is right around the corner, and I could
• 0:19
  not be more excited about it. Hopefully you can hear
• 0:22
  the passion that I have for this sport and it's
• 0:24
  a privilege and honor to be able to provide you
• 0:27
  guys with daily updates and some of my musings. And
• 0:31
  today we're gonna kinda look at some dark horses, which
• 0:35
  I like to do because really, in training camp, we
• 0:38
  all know that Saquon Barkley is stellar at his job
• 0:43
  and probably one of the best running back in the NFL.
• 0:46
  You all know that AJ Brown is perhaps the best
• 0:49
  wide receiver in the NFL. He is in my eyes,
• 0:53
  and Jalen Hurts and all of those players.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: But the summer, by and large, has a lot to.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Do with depth pieces and slotting out those roles, but
• 1:02
  also those players that are under the radar that don't
• 1:05
  often get talked about. Now, I take a lot of
• 1:08
  pride in being able to tell you everything about players
• 1:10
  one through ninety and really, when these players emerge in
• 1:15
  the summer, that's where you start to hear their names.
• 1:17
  Come up and a lot of you, some of you
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  may be looking to google who is this guy and
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  try to find out a little bit more about him.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I'm gonna.
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  Speaker 1: Lay out a handful of players that I view as
• 1:30
  dark horses or players to highlight that you're gonna want
• 1:33
  to keep an eye on as training camp approaches and
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  as we get through the preseason. So first and foremost,
• 1:40
  I'm going to look at the wide receiver position, and
• 1:44
  that player is Danny Gray. He is a player who
• 1:48
  was drafted by the forty nine ers in twenty twenty two.
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  Speaker 2: He was a third round pick.
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  Speaker 1: Fast, he runs a four to three to three, caught
• 1:55
  the ball very well in OTAs and mandatory mini camp.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: There were a couple drops in there, but you.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: Can see the speed, you can see the explosiveness out
• 2:04
  of his stance. And I think that when you look
• 2:07
  at that receiver four or five and maybe even six,
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  that spot is sort of wide open. It's very fluid
• 2:14
  right now as we approach training camp, and Danny Gray
• 2:16
  gives you a vertical element for one, but he can
• 2:19
  also perhaps double as a kick returner. He's repped there
• 2:23
  a little bit in practice last season, and for what
• 2:26
  we got to see in the open practice that we're
• 2:28
  attended by the media this spring.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: He got some opportunities there as well.
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  Speaker 1: So this is the player that if he's able to
• 2:35
  help you on special teams and he gives you something different. Right,
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  He's a fast receiver who could stretch teams. And even
• 2:42
  if he does make the Eagles, he would be a
• 2:44
  player who isn't going to factor all that much into
• 2:47
  the offensive plans in all likelihood, but he does give
• 2:51
  you something different. And if he has a big training
• 2:54
  camp in a big preseason, well that's a player that
• 2:57
  I don't know that he makes it to the practice
• 2:58
  squad because he does have that pedigree. He is just
• 3:01
  twenty six years old, and I think that being with
• 3:04
  the Philadelphia Eagles all last season on the practice squad,
• 3:07
  it gave him a different perspective, and I think he's
• 3:09
  a player who's going to enter hungry, not taking anything
• 3:12
  for granted, but also having that chip on his shoulder
• 3:15
  where I feel like he's going to do something special and.
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Probably get the best of some of the defensive.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Backs in training camp where his speed can really be showcased.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: The tight end position.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: Now, this player has a tough road obviously, with the
• 3:30
  signings of Harrison Bryant and Kylon grantson in free agency, Grant,
• 3:34
  Calcaterras and Trench as the number two spot. But I
• 3:37
  got a question about this player when I was on
• 3:39
  the Morning show on ninety seventy five The Fanatic, A.
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  Speaker 2: Listener actually texted in asking me about e J. Jenkins. Well,
• 3:46
  I happen to know a little bit about EJ.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Jenkins, and that's a player that he had a really
• 3:51
  good summer last year. I view him as perhaps the
• 3:54
  second best blocking title on the Eagles behind Dallas Goddard.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: He does have a.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: To kind of be able to overcome in order to
• 4:03
  make the roster. But six foot six, two hundred and
• 4:06
  sixty pounds, he ended up being signed to the Eagles
• 4:09
  last season in light of injuries, and he dressed and
• 4:13
  played in the Super Bowl in all the postseason games,
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  so he does have some experience. He has the body
• 4:19
  type that I think can be you've developed even further
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  under with tight ends coach Jason Michael. But when you
• 4:25
  talk about Kyline Grants and you talk about Harrison Bryant,
• 4:28
  those are established players.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: E J. Jenkins is still relatively new to the position.
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  Speaker 1: He was a collegiate wide receiver, and so when you
• 4:35
  take all those things into consideration, I still think that
• 4:39
  he has room to grow and develop, and I think
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  for that reason, if there even is a third tight
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  end spot for the taking, I think that he is
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  somebody that, with another good summer and some good tape
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  in the preseason, could open up some eyes and should
• 4:55
  be on your radar. On the offensive line, I'm looking
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  at someone by the name of Darrin Cannard who was
• 5:01
  on the roster last year.
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  Speaker 2: Didn't play.
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  Speaker 1: I think he played in two games, but he was
• 5:07
  primarily a backup right tackle.
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  Speaker 2: He offers some guard versatility.
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  Speaker 1: I think that when he made the roster it was
• 5:13
  more so looking at it through the lens of he's
• 5:16
  not going to factor into our immediate plans, but he's
• 5:19
  somebody that we're going to continue to develop. And I
• 5:22
  think Jeff Staltlin has done a very good job, to
• 5:25
  put it mildly in his career at developing reserve offensive linemen,
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  because whenever they're pressed into service, the offense seems to
• 5:32
  get off without a hitch.
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  Speaker 2: So Canard.
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  Speaker 1: There's a lot of players vying for depth roles along
• 5:38
  the offensive line. There's Matt Pryor, there's Kenyon Green. Those
• 5:43
  are two established players. You have Trevor Keegan, you have
• 5:48
  two draft picks, and Miles Hinton and Cameron Williams. So
• 5:53
  I mean there's a lot of competition there. But he's
• 5:56
  entering his second season with Philadelphia and.
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  Speaker 2: I think he has.
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  Speaker 1: He brings some power to the position, but also some
• 6:05
  intriguing athletic traits. And I think the fact that he
• 6:09
  does off regard versatility, you sort of see the value there.
• 6:13
  We'll have to see how things play out, but the
• 6:14
  Eagles do like Darrin Knard, and I think that he's
• 6:18
  a player that shouldn't be discounted. Now, flipping things over
• 6:22
  to the defensive side, Gabe Hall, the second year defensive lineman,
• 6:27
  is somebody who should absolutely be on your radar. I'm
• 6:31
  looking at it in terms of big picture here, because
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  you look at the Eagles defense right now. Eventually they're
• 6:36
  going to have to pay Noan Smith, Jalen Carter, they
• 6:41
  already paid Zach Bond. You look at the defensive back situation,
• 6:46
  Reid Blankenship, Cooper dejen Quinyon Mitchell, so you know, long term,
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  they're probably going to have to stockpile cost effective depth
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  to kind of fill out the roster. And when I
• 6:58
  look at someone like Gabe Hall, he did not flash
• 7:00
  last summer, but he does have really good versatility and
• 7:05
  that he can play every position on the defensive line.
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  Speaker 2: He has good length.
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  Speaker 1: He's playing at about two ninety five, and he talked
• 7:13
  about last season and when he was on the practice
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  squad all season how much going against Landon Dickerson really
• 7:20
  helped him, and that Landon Dickerson obviously got the better
• 7:24
  of those matchups. But I think that he's somebody that
• 7:27
  if Eagles do go heavy at that position, and they
• 7:30
  have in the past a couple of years ago they
• 7:32
  kept seven defensive tackles.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: He obviously has to.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Make a significant leap in training camp to catch the
• 7:37
  coaches eye and warrant the Eagles going heavy at that position.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, but Gabe Hall is a player that I.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: Liked when he was coming out of Baylor, and I
• 7:47
  think he has something to offer. But now he has
• 7:50
  a second year of working with defensive line coach Clint Hurt,
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  so that that counts for something. And I really do
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  think that he's somebody that might get glossed over, might
• 7:58
  get a little bit overlooked, but he should be on
• 8:00
  year radar. Andre Sam the safety, the second year safety
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  who I've talked a lot about. That is a player
• 8:07
  that spent all last season on the Eagles practice squad.
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  I thought it was notable that he had one of
• 8:12
  the perimeter lockers all season. That's usually reserved for players
• 8:16
  on the active roster or an established veteran like a
• 8:19
  Parry Nickerson who was also on the practice squad.
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  Speaker 2: But Andre Sam was more or less a younger brother
• 8:24
  to CJ. Gardner Johnson.
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  Speaker 1: They trained together at the Lab Strength and Performance in
• 8:28
  New Orleans last season. Last offseason he was the He
• 8:34
  was LSU's defensive Player of the Year in twenty twenty three,
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  bounced around a little bit, went to McNee state that
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  he went to Marshall, ended up at LSU.
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  Speaker 2: In between there he flirted with Tulane.
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  Speaker 1: But this is somebody that he did get a handful
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  of first team reps in the spring, and a lot
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  of safeties were rotating in and out opposite Red Blankens ship,
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  so you never want to make too much of that.
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  But for Andre Sam, I just think that he has it.
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  I think he can help you on special teams. He's
• 9:02
  a smart player. I think being around CJ. Gardner Johnson
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  last season and really's just sort of being in the
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  meeting rooms with him, being in the drills with them,
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  and then training together, there's a certain accountability piece. I
• 9:15
  think CJ pushed Andre to be the best that he can.
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  He sort of showed him what it's like to be
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  a pro. And he has skills. He was a highly
• 9:24
  coveted UDFA last spring. And another year in the system,
• 9:29
  another year of working with safety's coach Joe Casper, I
• 9:32
  think is really going to help him.
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  Speaker 2: And when you look at the safety room.
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  Speaker 1: Right now, you have red blanket ship, you have Drew
• 9:38
  mccoob of the rookie, Sidney Brown still there entering his
• 9:41
  third season, Tristan McCombs, a player of the Eagles really like,
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  and then after that, I would put Andre sam over
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  Lewis Seene right now. And that's really if you're looking
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  at the allocation of reps in the spring. I mean
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  that's the way that it is. Things could obviously change
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  in training camp, but I think for a second year player,
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  he's coming in with a lot of knowledge and perspective.
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  Now he has to go out there and make some plays.
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  But I think that he has it in him to
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  perhaps make that leap and could force the Eagles hand
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  to potentially keep five safeties. If he can really really
• 10:17
  prove his worth on special teams, that's a player that
• 10:21
  really could open up some eyes. Now another dark horse
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  for me would be Eli Rix. That's the final one
• 10:29
  I'm gonna talk about today. And he's a player that
• 10:31
  did not factor into the defensive equation last year.
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  Speaker 2: He played three hundred and one snaps as.
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  Speaker 1: A rookie, played in the sixteen games showcase some versatility
• 10:39
  to play nickel. Now, he is an outside corner by trade.
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  But what I saw from Eli Rix is, at least
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  as a rookie, he battled through some things. He was
• 10:49
  put in a position that he wasn't familiar with. But
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  I think the fact that as a rookie, as a
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  rookie free agent, nonetheless, the fact that he was able
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  to endear himself to that coaching staff Sean Desai and
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  Matt Patricia, I think it speaks to his football acumen
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  and his versatility. But he does have some good length
• 11:07
  at six two one eight and some coverability. Now he
• 11:11
  leaves something to be desired in terms of tackling and
• 11:14
  the physicality, which is why he didn't factor into the
• 11:17
  game day equation on special teams.
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  Speaker 2: He played in just seven games last.
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  Speaker 1: Year, but as a twenty three year old, lengthy corner
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  with coverage ability, Yeah, that's a player that the Eagles,
• 11:28
  you know, you might.
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  Speaker 2: Not want to part with. And I think to kind
• 11:31
  of take this conversation even further, when you.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Look at last season, there is a lot of roster
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  toggling Eli Rix. His spot was never in jeopardy, and
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  so when you look at it, they obviously see value
• 11:43
  there and they know that other teams likely see the
• 11:46
  same value. He plays a premium position and he's going
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  to now be in his second year in Vic Fangio's system.
• 11:53
  I thought he came on a little bit late in
• 11:55
  training camp, and he's somebody that really, you know, his
• 11:59
  first training camp, he didn't really have a great summer
• 12:02
  on the practice field, but when the lights came on,
• 12:04
  he picked six to Anthony Brown, the Ravens quarterback, and
• 12:08
  that was a pass that was really telegraphed to him,
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  but he made plays. And I think of that Colts
• 12:13
  game in the preseason where he was going up against starters,
• 12:16
  and I thought he quitted himself. Well, so that's somebody
• 12:19
  that you look at the quarterback situation and it's kind
• 12:22
  of hard to see that maybe keeping six though they
• 12:25
  probably will if Eli Rix showcases some value and put
• 12:29
  some good things on tape, that might be a player
• 12:31
  that they can't part with because you might not get
• 12:34
  him back on the practice squad.
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  Speaker 2: So there you have it.
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  Speaker 1: There's just a handful of players that sort of crossed
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  my mind as we're getting to training camp that aren't
• 12:41
  going to be discussed a ton, but they're going to
• 12:44
  get a lot of reps in practice, they're going to
• 12:46
  get a lot of game tape in the preseason, and
• 12:50
  those are guys to keep an eye on.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: You heard it here and this is the Czech o'dely.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Dicheco and I'll talk to everybody tomorrow and