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The DiCecco Daily: Who's Stock Is Down After Eagles Spring Camps? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's going on? Everybody.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of to check O Daily. It's
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Andrew de Checko, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds dot Com,
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: here with you and while Friday's podcast consisted of my
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: assessment of stock up Eagles based off of their spring performance,
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: today's going to focus on stock down.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: I'm always going.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: To provide context because I think sometimes it's easy to
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: get carried away with some things, but you also have
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: to take into account that these are spring practices.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: They're trying out and learning a lot of things.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: In the case of some other players, they might be
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: stocked down through no fault of their own.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I'll explain.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: But the first player I'll mention here is Cole Payton,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: the Eagles fifth round quarterback out of North Dakota State.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: He didn't get a ton of reps in the.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: He averaged maybe three to anywhere from three to six
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: of practice, so when you look at that, that's not
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: exactly a big sample size. But there were a lot
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: of moments, and I really sequenced his snaps because they
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: were so infrequent that I wanted to kind of see
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: if I could pick up any trends or some things
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that I noticed were prevailing theme and for him, a
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: lot of times he held the ball a little bit
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: too long. There were also times where the ball was
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: being delivered inaccurately. He was a couple there was a
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: couple instances where he could have been picked off.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: That really shouldn't be a surprise.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: He's a fifth round quarterback learning this offense, trying to
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: become a more polished passer.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: These are the first NFL.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Snaps that he's really taken, so it's going to be
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: a gradual process.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: It always was going to be. And all that being said, he's.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Probably a little bit further along as a passer than
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: I thought he would be, which says a lot because
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: I always believe that he would be a work in progress.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Very athletic, but in drills like seven on sevens, you
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: would like to see the quarterback get the football out
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: a little quicker than he does. It's designed for the
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: offense to really thrive. They have built in options. It's
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: really a passing camp. It's set up that way, and
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: there were times where he was tucking the ball and running.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: That's not something that you want to see from a
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: quarterback in a seven on seven setting, And I think
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: it's just gonna He'll improve with repetitions, as anybody will,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: familiarizing himself within the offense.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: But I thought, particularly towards the latter.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Stages of the practices open to reporters, he looked a
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: little shakier in terms of accuracy and ball placement. We'll
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: see how what he's working on over the next six
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: weeks and how that correlates into training camp. Does that
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: correlate into training camp a little bit more, some improving,
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: but I think he would qualify as one. I also
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: think Tanner McKee has to be on this list for
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the reason that he really didn't in the practices open
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: to reporters take a lot of snaps with the second
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: team as the second team quarterback, that was mostly Andy Dalton.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: On the final day of mandatory mini camp, Tanner McKee
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: work with the second group. Now, the Eagles and Nick
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: Sirianni have mentioned the rotating there, but it seemed that well,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, all we were going off of is what
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: we saw, and that was a lot of Andy Dalton
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: as the second quarterback. So the fact that it's even
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: a rotation that we're talking about right now is a
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: little interesting in of itself. Because we all know that
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: the Eagles truly valued Tanner McKee what he brings. He's
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: been in this system, he's been around this group for
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: some years now. He's highly valued inside the building. But
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: they bring in someone like Andy Dalton who's thirty eight
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: years old. He's familiar with this system and he's eating
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: into your second team work all of a sudden. So
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I think for that reason alone, Tanner McKee has to
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: be a stock down. And this will be something that
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: I monitor as the you know, the training camp weeks
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: start to progress. Is that something that continues or does
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Tanner McKee eventually reclaim his spot as the number two
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: quarterback and all? As you know all as well, it's
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: the status quo. But because there's even a rotation, that's
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: why for me, Tanner McKee also has to be a
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: stock down.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Now these other two.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: Players, I want to be abundantly clear, it has nothing
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: to do with performance. It has everything to do with
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: injuries or maybe not getting as many of those opportunit
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: unities that factors in to my, you know, my assessment here.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: And I think first and foremost would be wide receiver
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: McKay lemon.
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: McKay lemon Eagles dratrom in the first round.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: We saw them early in OTAs the voluntary. Then he
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: suffers a hamstring injury and he ends up having to
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: miss valuable time on the practice field. That's not something
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: you ever want to see as a first round receiver,
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: knowing how pivotal his role is going to be in
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: the offense this year, to not be out there while
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: the offense is going through the installation process. Now he
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: was out there watching, but being out there and being
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: able to go through the motions is an entirely different thing.
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: And so when you get to training camp, that's really
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: going to be the first time that McKay lemon is
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: going through the you know, the details and the nuances
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: of this new offense and listening to Dontavian Wicks, the
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: detail aspect of the thing is really the most imperative
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: to make sure that you really have that dialed in.
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: So you have to wonder about how quickly he'll be
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: able to pick things up early in training camp you
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: have six weeks. You have a lot of idle time
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: that you can recover from the hamstring.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not worried about that part of it.
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: It's all about the mental aspect of learning the position
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and mastering all of the intricacies needed to step in
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: and contribute early. And again, not his fault that I
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: would consider him a stock down.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: But anytime you're a player that has a large.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: Role awaiting and you're not able to be out there,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: you suffer an injury that precludes you from.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Being out there and going through.
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: It and getting the work and the repetitions with your quarterback,
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: naturally that's going to be a stock down.
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: So that was unfortunate.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: But the Eagles were smart and not rushing him back,
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: not thrusting him into a situation where you could potentially
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: reaggravate the injury. Now you have six weeks to get
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: right return to you arrive in training camp at full
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: strength and be able to kind of go full steam ahead.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: There.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: The other player is another rookie and tight end, Eli Stowers.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Now he again, to make this abundantly clear, I don't
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: want anybody running with anything here, but he would be
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: a stock down in the sense that he really wasn't
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: out there all that much in terms of team drills.
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: On the final day, I noticed that he had a
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: right sleeve on his right leg, which this is the
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: spring so naturally you're not going to push players that
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: you're depending on. You know, if you have anything, if
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: you have an illness or anything, they're not going to
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: put you out there in the spring.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: It's just you play the long game. When it comes
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: to injuries, ailments, whatever.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: You want to make sure that the player is as
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: healthy as possible. Once training camp rolls aroun because that's
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: where that's where.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: You see a noticeable.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: Ramp up when it comes to intensity, and that's really
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: when the pads come on, and that's the proving grounds.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: You want to get everybody to the starting line.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: And you know, you didn't see much of Eli Stowers.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: I saw him in the voluntary practices, caught some passes
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: over the middle. Again, you're not going to know how
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: he's gonna fare as a blocker. There's no pads on,
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: so it's kind of hard to gauge that one way
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: or the other. Training camp is going to be the
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: ultimate indicator of where he is in terms of his development.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: But other players were able to get some valuable reps. Now,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: obviously Eli Stowers was drafted to be a critical piece
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: of this offense for the future. I'm not sure how
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: much will actually play as a rookie because he is
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: someone that is a work in progress as a blocker,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: but he is also a mismatch option that you can
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: move around formations. He can play outside, he can move
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: him inside, you can detach him. He's not going to
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: be an inline blocker, but I think you'll see him
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: utilized in some capacity.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: I just don't know how frequently.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: And that's why, much like makay Lemon to miss valuable
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: reps out there, valuable opportunities to continue to build and
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: establish an early progression as a young player. That's the
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: only reason why he would be on my list, not
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: because of what they did on the field and things
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: like that. What they weren't able to do, the missing
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: those valuable growth opportunities.
• 9:43
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  Speaker 2: And then I guess rounding out this list, I would
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: say Joe Tryon Shoyinka, the edge rusher who the Eagles
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: signed in uh at the start of the NFL owners meetings.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: They sign him to a one year deal.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: He was a first round pick of the Tampa Bay
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Buccaneers out of Washington, and you like the size. In theory,
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: it would be a good fit because he gives you
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: a player who's a lengthier, he plays with some pretty
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: good power, can play the run, also can drop in
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: the coverage a little bit. But in the practices open
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: to reporters, including the two mandatory mini camp practices. He
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: wasn't there now could be for many reasons, but it
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: was a little curious.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: And we haven't yet seen him.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: With the Eagles in an Eagles uniform out there on
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: the practice field, so we'll see. And I think it's
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: also a stock down for me because the Eagles signed
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: aj Epenesa, who's another player that is coming in with
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: a better resume as a second round pick in twenty twenty.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: He liked the size, his ability to be a power
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: defensive end, kind of a skill set that's atypical based
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: off of what they already have. And so now Joe
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: try On sho Yinka is he already was behind the
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: eight ball. He already had a tough path, but now
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: it becomes all the more daunting when you add someone
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: like an aj At Panessa, who's played in ninety one
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: game started nineteen, has a different type of skill set
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: that I believe can compliment what they have in jay
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: loox Hunt and Nolan Smith and Jonathan Grenard and on
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: on a Bikatie.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: So the path to make.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: The roster got a little bit more challenging for Joe
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: try On show Yanka. Again, not certain why he wasn't available,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: why he wasn't present for the mandatory mini camp practices.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: He also wasn't there for the voluntary ones that were
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: open to reporters. But when you add a player like
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: aj A Panessa and he has his own challenges that
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: cloud his path because he's had injuries and things of
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: that nature that he'll have to make sure that he's
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: able to overcome to give him a realistic shot at
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: carbon out a roster spot. But I feel a little
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: bit more. I think I'm a little bit more bullish
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: on an Ajapenessa than I would be for Joe tryon
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Sho Yenka, because I've seen Ajpanessa be an effective player
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: on a more consistent basis, and I think he gives
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: you something from a skill set standpoint that you don't
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: already have. So for those reasons, I think that he
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: would also classify as a stock down. Kind of interesting
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: to think because he's a stock down for simply not
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: being there, and now you have more competition, so it
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: makes his chances a little bit more, a little bit
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: more challenging in order to stick on the Eagles fifty
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: three men roster. So there you have it. There's my
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: stock downs. I'm not going with anything overly strong as
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I've talked about, as I've outlined, and I'm going to
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: do it again because you never know, it could be
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: a different audience. The offense is still undergoing the implementation,
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: and it's really not I don't think it's fair to
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: highlight certain key players. You know, a player drops a.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: Pass, you know the.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Ball is not coming out quickly, and things like that.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: That's all baked into it, and it kind of should
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: be taken into consideration as the spring is really geared
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: towards the onboarding process and familiarizing your personnel and figuring
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: out what they do best, so you have that information
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: already established when you get the training camp and there's
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: not that introductory phase where every practice is so meaningful
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: and every time on all the time on task can't
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: be wasted doing this. Now, the coaches have the information,
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: the players have the information, but I'm not going to
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: ever be you know, deceiving and saying a certain player
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: didn't stand out when you're factoring in the context. And
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: as you can see as I went through my reasonings
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: for each player, there's obviously clear cut reasons why they
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: would be a stock down for me. But I don't
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: ever read too much into spring practices, and I try
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: to give you all the full picture so that you
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: guys have as much information as as you can possibly
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: have going through the next six weeks and training camp
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: Well, that's going to do it for this episode of
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: The Checko Daily.
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Decheco and I'll catch you all on the
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: next one.