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The DiCecco Daily: Which Prospects Are Most Ideal For Eagles At 23rd Overall? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's happening everybody? Welcome into another episode of The
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Checko Daily. Andrew de Checko here Eagles beat reporter Friendsidethebirds
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: dot Com, and Happy opening day to those of you
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: who observe. The Philadelphia Phillies kick off their season opener today,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: which is Thursday if you're listening today when it comes out.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: But there's still a lot to get into with the
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles, as there always is, and today I want
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: to spend some time talking about which positions and which
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: players make the most sense at twenty three, assuming the
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Eagles stand pat, and I want to kind of go
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: through that. And there's also some jersey number changes and
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: I want to keep everybody abreast as to what those
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: changes may be because I know there's some Jersey enthusiasts
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: out there. But I look at the first round at
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: pick twenty three, and for me, it's got to be
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: offensive tackle. Well, it doesn't have to be, but I
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: would think given the Eagles philosophical approach of really building
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: through the trenches, it would make a lot of sense.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Now at twenty three, I would assume that Caden Procter
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: would still be in play. The offensive tackle from Alabama
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: and Blake Miller is a player who I've talked about
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: in my mock Draft two point zero, on this podcast
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and also on Inside the Birds dot Com and at Clemson.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: He struck me as a player that would really fit
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: what the Eagles are now planning to do offensively in
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: terms of being able to have that fluidity and moving
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: laterally and getting out in space and being able to
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: acquit himself well there based off of the expected blocking
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: schemes and the changes that were expected to see upfront
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: for the Eagles. And he's more of a right tackle,
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: but I like his athleticism and I think he has
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the prototypical skill set of what I imagine Sean Mannion
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Cooper and Ryan Mahaffy are going to prioritize they're going
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: to value in the draft. And I think he's a
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: name that could be a little bit of a riser.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: And I'm not suggesting that he's going to be a
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: mid round, middle of the first round kind of prospect,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: but I think what you're seeing on some mock drafts
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: and things like that is that he's a late one,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: early two. I kind of view him right around twenty three.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: But then you have Caden Proctor, who is another player
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: that you should be keeping an eye on and absolutely highlighting.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: But at six foot seven, three hundred and sixty six pounds,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: it's easy to see the fit under Jeff Stoutland where
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: you had no questions as to whether or not he
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: was going to be able to make it work. Jeff
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Stoutland can make everything work, but he is a little
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: bit of a projection in the sense that you don't
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: necessarily know how he would fit within the scheme in
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: terms of getting out in space and just being able
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: to be nimble and all those things that you would
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: assume the Eagles are going to really value here. And
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: you got to take the best player. If you view
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Cayden Proctor as the best player, you take them and
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: you figure it out, and Chris Cooper here you go.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: This is your opportunity to make sure that he reaches
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: his potential. And I really like Caden Proctor, and I
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: think he would be a fit for any scheme, any
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: system for that matter. But if you have your choice
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: between those two tackles, let's say, and there's others, but
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: those are the two I really want to focus on,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: it would seem like a Blake Miller or somebody of
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: that ILK would make a lot more sense there. But man,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Caden Proctor just heavy hands, physical, powerful, and I still
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: think that he's only scratching the surface. But again, you
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: have the size. Is that what you're looking for. I'm
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: curious to see how the Eagles go about evaluating offensive
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: linemen because in the past, you would take the best player,
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: and you just were under the assumption, and rightfully so,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: that Jeff Stotlin was going to figure it out and
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: mold that player into someone who is going to be
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: either a high end starter or in the case of
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a Fred Johnson, a high end backup that can be reliable.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: Very rarely was a player not able to reach their
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: ceiling under a Jeff Stotlin. Chris Cooper is a little
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: bit of an unknown, and I'm fascinated to see which
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: direction they would go or which style of offensive linemen
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: they target in the draft, because I do believe they're
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: going to address the offensive line, and for me, I
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: would wait no longer than pick twenty three or in
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: the first round to get that player. There's also wide
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: receiver who could be in play, and I look at
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Omar Cooper as someone at that spot who would, it
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be a reach. And Omar Cooper is exceptional after
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the catch. He's a three level threat. He's a physical
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: player who will attack the football in the air, and
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I think you can also use him as a manufact
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: extra touch player, which, as I've said many times, the
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Eagles don't have that guy. And I'm also really intrigued
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to see what kind of players Sean Mannyon targets on
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: the offensive side, and then that'll maybe give me a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: clearer picture of how they envision this offense. But Omar Cooper,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: I think you can you can rest assured that he
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: can play inside, he can play outside, he can he
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: can get vertical. He's exceptional after the catch. And the
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Eagles really struggled last season being able to manufacture yards
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: after the catch. That was a byproduct of a lot
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: of things. And we're not going to rehash that. We've
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: talked enough about that, but there were a number of
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: reasons why players weren't necessarily put in the position where
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: they can catch the football and then be able to
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: get that yak that you see all these preeminent offenses
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: be able to manufacture. And so if they go wide receiver,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: I will look at Omar Cooper k C Conception one
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: from Texas. A and M is a player who I
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: really like. I mentioned here that the Eagles they met
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: with him. It was a formal interview at the NFL
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Scouting Combine, and talk about speed. He's a powish route runner,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: not necessarily the biggest receiver in the world if you're
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: comparing him to let's say an AJ Brown or a
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: DK Metcalf or whomever, but again, another movable player. He
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: can also help you in the return game, and I
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: think those are the two wide receivers that I'm particularly
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: looking at there. And then you have the edge rusher situation.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: A lot can obviously happen between now and then, and
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I don't think it's a finished product. They have j
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: loox Hunt, they have Noan Smith, they have Arnold Ebakatie,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: and they have Jose Ramirez. Jose Ramirez is more or
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: less a camp body, at least that's how I'm viewing
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: it initially until he gets on the field, But I
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: think his track record would suggest that you can't necessarily
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: hang your hat on him landing a final edge rusher spot.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: You never want to count anybody out, but I think
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: we can all say that that's not going to be
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: a suitable answer. They obviously need a headliner here, and
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: losing Jalen Phillips was huge. I still don't fault the
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: Eagles one bit for not being able to meet the
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Panthers or meet that level of thirty million a year.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: As a grossly they grossly overpaid for Jaylen Phillips. I
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: like the player quite a bit, but there's other avenues
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: that the Eagles can fortify that position, whether it's a
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: trade maybe at Jonathan Grenard, or maybe you look at
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: the NFL draft at pick twenty three and you try
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: to get either a Malchai Lawrence from UCF who's rising
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: a little bit. He was always viewed that way around
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the NFL, but you're starting to see in mock drafts
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: and draft circles his name's coming up a little bit.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: But I also really like Keldrick Falk from Auburn. Lengthy
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: guy at six foot six, and he's young. I don't
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: think he's twenty one years old yet, but he has
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: a skill set that I think is almost like a
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: clean slate. It's almost like a blank canvas, if you will,
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: not saying he's raw, but he's so young, and he
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: has the tools, and he has the length, and I
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  Speaker 1: do believe that he could even drop into coverage and
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: play in space if you need him to, which we've
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: seen edge rushers have to do in a Vic Fangio defense.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: And I think twenty three, late first round is kind
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: of where I have him pegged right now. So if
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: you're looking at some of those positions, those are some
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: of the players that I really like, and I even
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: considered when I was putting together my mock draft two
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: point zero, because they're positions of need, of course, but
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: they are also players that it wouldn't be a reach
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: by any means for them to come off the board
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: around that time or thereabouts. Safety I don't view that
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: as a position that the Eagles would target in the
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: first round. Never say never, obviously, but it's not a
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: position that they traditionally value, and so for those reasons,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I don't think you would see an Emmanuel McNeil, Warren
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: or somebody to that effect come off the board of
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: twenty three. I think that'd be a little rich for
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: a safety. I believe I had in the fourth rounds
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: a Key Wheatley, the safety from Penn State, and again
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: that's another position that they might be able to acquire
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: via trade as well. So just because they don't have
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: an abundance of players or maybe somebody that you feel
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: comfortable with heading that group those respective rooms, doesn't necessarily
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: mean that it's a finished product that they're going to
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: go into the draft with their with their hopes hinging
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: on identifying those players. There's still a lot of time
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: between now and then, But I mean, that's that's Those
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: are two positions that are really light and I really
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: and I'm interested to see how the Eagles fulfill those roles.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Elijah Moore is another player that I wanted to talk
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: about for a moment because I like the signing to
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: be clear, I like the signing in the sense that
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: you're taking a low risk flyer on a twenty six
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: year old wide receiver who was drafted in the second round,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: wasn't put in the most optimal or dynamic offenses with
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: the Jets and the Browns. But he is on his
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: fifth team, and that's important to note. He shouldn't be
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: assured anything. He's certainly a far cry from being a
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: roster locke. And let's just go through this exercise for
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: a moment. You have aj Brown, you have DeVante Smith
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Hollywood Brown I like as the three. And then let's
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: say Elijah Moore is your four, which I think there's
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: a lot out there who are assuming or maybe penciling
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: him in that might be a little premature. Those your four,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: let's say hypothetically, who's playing special teams? Of the backup receivers.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: You also have Johnny Wilson, who does a nice job
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: as a blocker. Now he's only played one season. We'll
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: have to see how he returns from the injury, but
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: he provides a different facet and a different element that
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: I think was so sorely needed last season. And we'll
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: see how he returns, because I do think that there's
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: growth potential with him as well. Then you have Darius Cooper.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Darius Cooper does play special teams. Darius Cooper is a
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: homegrown player who was now going to be in his
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: second season with the Eagles, first year in a new system.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: But he does give you third phase value. And by
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: the way, who would be your punt returner? Elijah Moore
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: doesn't return punts. Hollywood Brown isn't going to be that
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: guy in all likelihoods, So what direction would you go
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: as a punt returner If those are your top four receivers,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: that leaves you teams carry five or six. Well, if
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Johnny Wilson, Darius Cooper they don't return punts, well who
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: would be your punt returner? And I'm not saying that
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: to make it out to be this big ordeal, but
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: these are things to keep in mind because this is
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: how evaluators view view things when they're piecing together a
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: fifty three man roster. So we have to see how
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Elijah Moore performs in camp. He gives you a lit
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: little bit of a different skill set than Hollywood Brown.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: I like his short area of quickness, his ability to
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: affect the short to intermediate levels, whereas I like Hollywood Brown,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: at least in theory. He hasn't done a lot of
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: it in his career, but threatened teams vertically and they
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: finally have he finally lands with the team that I
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: think can exploit his speed downfield because Jalen Hurts throws
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: a really good deep ball. So that's just a little
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: thing I wanted to add in there with Elijah Moore
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: and just kind of get the wheels turned and get
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: maybe get some get the the thought process going maybe
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: in a different direction. That's kind of how I'm approaching that,
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: going into the offseason a low risk, potentially solid reward
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: and taking a flyer on that. Those are the players
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: that you want to take those one year swings on
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: because they've shown ability at some point in their career,
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: and then it now becomes what are they going to
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: do with this opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: Now, lastly, as we close things out, I want to
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: get to the number changes here because I know that
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of folks who really they really enjoy
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: the jersey changes. So the Eagles put this out today.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: Hollywood Brown, speaking of will wear number zero. Cornerback Reek one,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: will wear number two. Running back Tank Bigsby switches from
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: thirty seven to eight. Wide receiver Elijah Moore goes with thirteen.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: Quarterback Andy Dalton fourteen, outside linebacker Arnold Ebacadie seventeen, safety
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Marcus EPs twenty nine, cornerback Jonathan Jones thirty two, running
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: back Damian Pierce thirty nine, safety j T. Gray forty,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: tight End Johnny Munt eighty three and tight End Stone
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Smart eighty seven. Those are your highly anticipated Jersey numbers
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: for the new editions. In the case of Tank Bigsby,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: he simply just changed. He upgraded really from thirty seven to.
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Eight and.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: That is that's the latest on that front. So all
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: that being said, that's going to do it for this
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: edition of the Checko Daily. I'm Andrew Dcheco and I'll
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: catch you all on the next one.