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The DiCecco Daily: Are Eagles Better Or Worse At Wide Receiver? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's going on?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Everyone, Welcome into another episode of the check O Daily
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Andrew to check O Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds dot com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Make sure you check out the recent interview that I
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: conducted with former Vanderbilt tight end and twenty twenty five
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: John Mackey Award winner Eli Stours. We had a great
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: conversation and he even revealed something that really resonated with me.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: You can see by my expression on the screen.
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: There, But those of you who know me know that
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: I'm a big music aficionado and as evidenced by me
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: wearing a skid Row shirt Thursday on the air.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: But a lot of really good stuff there from Eli.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: We talked about pretty much everything from Eagles related to
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: going from quarterback to tight end, and I think that
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: you will really enjoy that interview, so make sure you
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: check that Out'll be available beginning on Saturday, and we'll
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: have some really cool NFL draft stuff coming your way
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: from myself, from Jeff, from Adam of course Greg Cosell.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: So make sure you stay plugged into what we have
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: going on. But I want to do I want to
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: begin a series where I go position by position in
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: no particular order, where I sort of rate it the same,
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: better or worse, And today I decided I'm gonna go
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: with wide receiver, and I will wait till the end
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: after assessing every position and comparing it to the previous year,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: before I reach a conclusion. But right now Aj Brown's
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: on the roster, so I'm adding him into this equation.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to do hypotheticals. Well, we'll have plenty
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: of time to worry about that down the line. But
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Aj Brown, DeVante Smith, nothing's changed. Johan Dotson is a
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: good wide receiver, but he didn't really add another element
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: to this Eagles offense and wasn't overly productive. Didn't get
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: a ton of opportunities, but wasn't overly productive thirty seven
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: catches over two seasons and never had one of those
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: go to traits that added something different to the offense.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Whereas I look at Hollywood Brown, who I'm presuming will
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: be the third receiver barring something that transpires over the
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: next month and maybe in the draft. But Hollywood Brown
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: is a better fit for this offense, meaning he provides
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: a different element, a different dimension that it was so
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: sorely lacking, and that is someone who can take the
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: top off of a defense. He can clear out space
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: for teammates. I think he at different points in his
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: career kind of showed he exhibited glimpses of the player
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: that he could be. He was a former first round pick.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: You see the talent, but it wasn't something that was
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: consistent and that's why he's bounced around a little bit.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: But in Philadelphia, I think he would have a clear cut,
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: define role as the three and that speed that he
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: hasn't really had much of a chance to cork in
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: his career. If you look at his yards per yards
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: per reception, it's strikingly low considering how explosive and dynamic
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: of a talent he is. I think in Philadelphia, playing
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: with a quarterback like jaywhen Hurtz, who throws an exceptional
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: deep ball, that's probably his go to his bread and butter,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: I think Hollywood Brown would serve this offense well. And
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: for that reason, I think that that is an upgrade.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: But then you get to the fourth receiver spot. Now,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: last season they didn't have Johnny Wilson, they relied on
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Darius Cooper. Darius Cooper is back and presumably in that
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: fourth role. Again, he's been a good story of development.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: He can play on special teams, He's tough in the
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: push play.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: He was one one of the.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: Pushers or one of the protectors on the ends, I
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: should say, and I think that he really carved out
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: a role as someone who's willing to do with dirty work.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: He got better every training camp practice.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: He was consistent and you could clearly see that the
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: team is high on him. I think he's probably gonna
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: slide in as the four this year, help on special teams,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: have a defined game day role, and so that's sort
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: of a wash. He'll be the four. And he had
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: nine receptions last year. I should also add, I don't
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: know if he'll have more than that at maybe twelve
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: or so, But there's only so many opportunities in this
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: offense and a low volume passing attack. But I think
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: for a fourth wide receiver, Darius Cooper is I think
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: he's I think he's going to really thrive in that role.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: And so that's the same fifth receiver. Well, I'm gonna
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: just say we'll say Johnny Wilson right now, because Johnny
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: Wilson has been around he it provides a certain quality
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: that you're not going to find amongst any of the
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: other players at that position, and he's in meaning that
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: he can block. He can do a lot of different
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: things to free up teammates. He can get physical in
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: the run game. He just brings a toughness and a
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: frame that is really hard to come by, and you
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: can see last season that the Eagles sorely missed Johnny
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Wilson and his blocking ability. He can also help on
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: special teams. But because he's so uniquely built at six
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: to six, and he's coming off an injury, so you
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: have to see how he returns from the Knian Anco injury.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: But I think that because he's such a unique player
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: and he's been in the building for a couple of years,
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: I would tend to lean into him being there. I
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: like that last season they had Britain Covey, they had
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: Xavier Gibson, and neither player was really able to help
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: them off offensively. Britain Covey could still be around in
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty six as the punt returner, but he would
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: be a little bit further down in the pecking order,
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: one would assume, And Xavier Gibson was always here for
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: a few games active and fumbled away a pretty critical
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: punt or he fielded it. Yeah, he fielded it first
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: in the Dallas game, which is a no no. And
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: he's now on the New York Giants, so I'm glad
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: to see him get another opportunity. Really good guy, but
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: he didn't really factor in his receiver to receptions six
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: yards and was never really.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: Never really a factor in that area.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: But I would also say that this year they added
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Elijah Moore, and Elijah Moore carry some intrigue, and I
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: spoke about Elijah yesterday on the podcast. Talent wise, you
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: could certainly make a case for him being the fourth receiver,
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: but from a practicality standpoint, as your fourth receiver who
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: doesn't play special teams Darius Cooper does, Johnny Wilson does,
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Britain Covey does, And if you're up on game day
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: as the fourth receiver, you're not going to see a
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: ton of snaps.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: At wide receiver in all likelihoods.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: So that means that you have to be able to
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: serve a purpose on special teams, and we have yet
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: to see if he can do that. This isn't to
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: say who's going to make the roster or not. I'm
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: just trying to add a little bit of context here
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: as I'm viewing it as I'm talking through this, but
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: I think you feel good about the depth that they've
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: added in Hollywood Brown and Elijah Moore.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: You get Johnny Wilson back, We'll see.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: What version of Johnny Wilson you're going to get, the
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: healthy twenty twenty four version or someone who's maybe impeded
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: by injuries, depending on how he recovered from that. But
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: on the surface, I think that that is an upgrade
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: to add him into the mix, and you could still
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: draft a wide receiver think the Eagles potentially could want
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: from that position is right in front of them. If
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: they want to add to that group, They're going to
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: have some opportunities at fifty four where I think there's
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: an abundance of players. You can even be aggressive and
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: trade up in the second round because there's some players
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: that I really like, maybe Alabama's Jeremy.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Bernard, who could be a good fit there, and.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: You're gonna get younger there, and you're gonna get more
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: explosive and dynamic if you take a receiver in the
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: first or the second round. I think the second round
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: might be the sweet spot. But you add a player
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: like that into the fold. And again I'm still counting
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: Aj Brown this equation until he's not here. But I
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: will say you have Aj Brown, DeVante Smith. Let's say
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: you have a rookie. Then you have Hollywood Brown, you
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: have Elijah Moore, you have Johnny Wilson, you have Darius Cooper.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: You have other players who are a little bit further
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: down in the pecking order, like a Danny Gray and
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: a Quez Watkins and a Covey. But I think the
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: Eagles what they've done a good job of right now
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: because I didn't think season they had much depth at
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: all at wide receiver.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: They've added experience and.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: Varying skill sets, and I think they could still add
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to that group. So I'm gonna say right now, definitively,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: without having seen any of these players take a snap,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: except for those who were on the twenty twenty five
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: and beyond earlier Eagles, without seeing how Hollywood Brown or
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: how Elijah Moore fits or Johnny Wilson returns on paper,
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I will say that the twenty twenty sixth group has
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: shaped up to be better than the twenty twenty five group.
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: And I thought that the twenty twenty five receiving corps
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: left something to be desired. They were just missing something.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: They didn't have the explosive game breaker. They didn't have
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: like beyond aj and Davante. They didn't have a lot
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of versatility in terms of skill set, and I think
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: there were times last season where the lack of depth
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: was was evident and it doesn't seem like the Eagles
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: are positioned to make those same mistakes again. They've sort
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: of draft proof the roster so they can go into
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: it not having.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: A dire need at any one area.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Well, you can look at safety or edge, but there's
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: still time, but looking at it purely through the lens
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: of the wide receiver position, they've draft proofed it so
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: that they can go into it without having to feel
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: compelled to draft the receiver in the first round because
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: of an apparent need. Right, I mean, I think that's
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: the whole that's the whole purpose of free agency is
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: to supplement your roster and add pieces here and there
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: so that you go into the draft not needing not
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: having ten you know, distinct holes that need addressing.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: That's not a good that's a tough way to live.
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: And when you add someone like like the two veteran
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: wide receivers that I mentioned a couple times now that
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: really it arms you with optionality in the draft.
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  Speaker 2: I do think that if they want to go receiver
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: in the first round, you have Omar Cooper ksey conception
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: own down there. He's gonna have to clean up his drops.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: But an explosive player really good in space like Cooper
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: could be a manufactured touch guy. But I think the
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: sweet spot would be at fifty four if you want
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: to go receiver, because Chris Brazil, the second from Tennessee
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: I've mentioned, I mentioned Jeremy Bernard.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: There's other players that I haven't.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: That I've talked about, but those are the two that
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: I think would make the biggest impact and what could
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: realistically be there at fifty four, and the Eagles are
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: gonna have a chance to take one of those players.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: You bring that into the fold potentially with what you
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: already have, and I think it's head and shoulders better
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: than the group that they rolled out last season. And
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: that's not a slight to anyone, but it's the way
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: that I view it right now because I just think
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: that they have a lot more optionality, They have a
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: lot more.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: A lot more playmakers to.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Furnish that group, whereas last season I thought it was
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: kind of bare bones. So that's the way I see it.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: We'll go into another position at you know, the next
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: time we speak, but again, make sure you check out
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: that Eli Stowers interview. I think you'll enjoy it and
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: you can grab that beginning on Saturday.
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Let me know what you think.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: And that's one of the premiere players in this draft
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: class in terms of tight ends. He's my second can
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: rate it tight end in this class and it's it's
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: a fun conversation. So with that, that's gonna do it
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: for this episode of The check O Daily. I'm Andrew
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: de Checko and I'll catch you all on the next one.