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Football at Four: DiCecco on Eagles Offensive Changes and More · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Football and four powered by the Inside of the Birds podcast,
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  Speaker 1: which you can get on all podcasting platforms, and of
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  Speaker 1: course it's brought to you by the Fanatic Sports book
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  Speaker 1: at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, Big screens, big bets,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Game Day, hits different at Ocean, we've got our summer
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  Speaker 1: mailbag questions. Now, a lot of these questions are addressed
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  Speaker 1: to Jeff because Mosher's usually on Monday. It's a Mosher Monday.
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  Speaker 1: But Andrew to check o pinch hitting today for Jeff Boscher.
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  Speaker 1: So a lot of these questions for Jeff doesn't matter
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  Speaker 1: who answers him. But some of the questions refer to
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  Speaker 1: Jeff in the question. So we'll just change that to Andrew,
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  Speaker 1: who joins us right now on a Monday edition. We
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  Speaker 1: have a Monday mail bag with Andrew to check. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: this is a nice change here, buddy.
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  Speaker 2: How are you. I'm doing well, Mike. How's everything on
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  Speaker 2: your end?
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  Speaker 1: Everything's good. It's good to talk to you on a Monday.
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  Speaker 1: We usually get Andrew on Thursdays, of course, on Football
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  Speaker 1: at four our summer mail bag continue here. All right,
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  Speaker 1: let's get right into him because Tommy and Wawood cit
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  Speaker 1: says Jeff, which would now be Andrew with Shawn Mannion
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  Speaker 1: run the offense. Now, he brought in Josh Grizzard from
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  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay as the pass game coordinator, which lad has
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  Speaker 1: not been discussed a lot. How different Andrew do you
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  Speaker 1: think this pass game will really look?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? I actually wrote a story on Josh Grizzard after
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  Speaker 2: having talked to him. That's on inside the BRSE dot com.
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  Speaker 2: And it's going to be a collaborative approach. That's something
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  Speaker 2: that Sean Mannin has talked a lot about. Josh Grizzard
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  Speaker 2: spoke about that. Ryan Mahappy has talked about that as well.
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  Speaker 2: And with Grizard, he's coming off a season in which
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  Speaker 2: he was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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  Speaker 2: It didn't go well. There are a lot of injuries there,
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  Speaker 2: there's a lot of reasons why it didn't go well.
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  Speaker 2: He's a really young court, he was a young coordinator,
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  Speaker 2: and now he's stepping into a role that he held
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  Speaker 2: before as a pass game coordinator, which it allows you
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  Speaker 2: to almost zoom out a little bit and approach it
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  Speaker 2: a little bit differently, where you're fixating on the passing
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  Speaker 2: game and kind of being a sounding board for the
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  Speaker 2: offense coordinator and working in concert with him. And I
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  Speaker 2: think you're gonna see more spacing. You'll see some different
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  Speaker 2: route concepts and spreading teams out a little bit more
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  Speaker 2: and it won't be as compressed. And for someone like
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  Speaker 2: Devonte Smith, I think you'll find that Grizard and you know,
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  Speaker 2: the brain trust there looking over the offense, we'll find
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  Speaker 2: a way to get him turned loose a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: You can check out the article on Grizzard over at
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  Speaker 1: Inside the Birds dot com from Andrew to Checko. Let's
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  Speaker 1: go to our next mailback question from Franken egg Arbor
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  Speaker 1: Township see kwon twenty nine, ninth year in the league.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think they will actively try to reduce his
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  Speaker 1: snap count this year?
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  Speaker 2: No, I'm not under that impression. I believe that the
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  Speaker 2: run game is going to be at the forefront this
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  Speaker 2: year and that has been a successful recipe largely for
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  Speaker 2: the Eagles, especially with Saquon Barkley, you know, leading the way.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that while there's been so much conversation
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  Speaker 2: Mike surrounding the passing game, it's all going to revolve
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  Speaker 2: around the effectiveness of the run game. And the players
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  Speaker 2: up front blocking for Saquon Barkley. But Saquon doesn't look
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  Speaker 2: like a player who has lost a step. And I
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  Speaker 2: know that he's handled the football quite a bit. I
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  Speaker 2: think it was, you know, three over three hundred attempts
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  Speaker 2: in the last two years, and you would suggest, I
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  Speaker 2: would suggest there's plenty of wearant there. But he looks
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  Speaker 2: like the same player to me. You talk to players,
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  Speaker 2: they say he's the same guy. There's no lack of birth,
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  Speaker 2: the vision hasn't diminished or anything like that. And I
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  Speaker 2: would expect the Eagles to continue to for speed him
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  Speaker 2: the football in the ground game while finding different spots
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  Speaker 2: to work in Tank Bigsby. But you're not taking Taquon
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  Speaker 2: Barkley off the field and finding ways to get the
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  Speaker 2: ball to Tank Bigsby. This is going to be the
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  Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley show. And that's kind of what I'm expecting
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  Speaker 2: going into twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: My good stuff. There you go, Frank. Let's get to
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  Speaker 1: Matt's question. He wants to know rookie receivers sometimes takes
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  Speaker 1: some time to adjust. What kind of adjustment do you
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  Speaker 1: think for Mackai lemon.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's going to be even more so
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  Speaker 2: with mackay Lemon having missed the majority of spring practices
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  Speaker 2: with the hamstring. That wasn't something that the Eagles were
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  Speaker 2: going to rush him back, and then you run the
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  Speaker 2: risk of reaggravation, especially in the spring, and he was
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  Speaker 2: getting those mental reps, but you can't replicate those on
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  Speaker 2: field opportunities going through the motions and learning on the
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  Speaker 2: on the spot. You're getting coached on the spot, and
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  Speaker 2: you know, the receiver can be a little bit of
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  Speaker 2: a challenging a challenging position to master in this offense.
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  Speaker 2: And if you listen to what don Tavian Wicks had
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  Speaker 2: to say, he said, it's all about the details and
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  Speaker 2: knowing what your what your responsibilities are and when there's
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  Speaker 2: so much thrown at you. And I'm glad that this
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  Speaker 2: question was asked because it seems not everyone, but it
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  Speaker 2: seems like there's this widespread belief that young players should
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  Speaker 2: be able to acclimate if you're a first or second
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  Speaker 2: round pick, where you're coming from a school of pedigree
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  Speaker 2: or something like that. It depends on the position and
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  Speaker 2: the learning curve is different for every player, and I
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  Speaker 2: think in the case of Makai Lemon's We still have
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  Speaker 2: to find out and learn a little bit more about him,
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  Speaker 2: but I'm basing it off of him not getting those
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  Speaker 2: opportunities in the spring to work through some of those
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  Speaker 2: challenges and learn on the fly. But everything that I've
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  Speaker 2: gathered behind the scenes suggests that he's a sharp minded
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  Speaker 2: football player. His attention to detail is extremely high, and
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  Speaker 2: so it's all about putting that together in training camp
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  Speaker 2: and making sure that you're available and consistent each and
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  Speaker 2: every prec All.
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  Speaker 1: Right, answer to check us here, answering your mail bag questions,
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  Speaker 1: and of course are summer mail bags continue, Let's go
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  Speaker 1: to Dave and del Rand, He says. Jonathan Garnard's in
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  Speaker 1: the mix. What's the realistic expectation for guys like Nolan
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  Speaker 1: Smith and Jaelex Hunt now that Grenard's or how will
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  Speaker 1: he help those guys out immensely?
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  Speaker 2: Immensely. I've gone on record with you and elsewhere, and
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  Speaker 2: I've written about it that I do believe that Jalox
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  Speaker 2: Hunt will be one of the Eagles breakout stars this year.
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  Speaker 2: He's been trending in that direction every the past two years.
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  Speaker 2: He's made leaps from year one to year two, playing
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  Speaker 2: two hundred and forty one snaps six ninety three last year,
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  Speaker 2: led the Eagles in sacks, quarterback hits, interceptions, and the
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  Speaker 2: more opportunities that he gets, the better he becomes. And
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  Speaker 2: he's sort of rounding into the player that the Eagles
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  Speaker 2: envisioned when they drafted him. And you saw the production
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  Speaker 2: that he had when Jalen Phillips arrived. It was in
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  Speaker 2: week ten and from week ten to the end of
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  Speaker 2: the season, that's when jalox Hunt combined for or he
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  Speaker 2: compiled five and a half sacks, and prior to the
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  Speaker 2: arrival of Jalen Phillips had one bell. Playing alongside someone
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  Speaker 2: like Grenard who's going to command a lot of attention,
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  Speaker 2: it should unlock the the potential of jay loox Hunt
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  Speaker 2: and a Nolan Smith, and I think the defense as
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  Speaker 2: a whole is going to benefit from that, because while
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  Speaker 2: you're looking at Grenard through the lens of last season,
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  Speaker 2: he played in twelve games, just three sacks. But I
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  Speaker 2: don't think that that tells the whole story, because if
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  Speaker 2: you look at the pressure rates and all those advanced metrics,
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  Speaker 2: it tells you that he's the same guy. He just
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  Speaker 2: wasn't able to finish and wrangle the quarterback when he
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  Speaker 2: got there, and he talked about that in his opening
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  Speaker 2: press conference. So I think that the Eagles as a
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  Speaker 2: whole were going to benefit immensely from the arrival of
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  Speaker 2: Jonathan Bernard. And I would also say that that is
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  Speaker 2: the eagles best edition this offseason.
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  Speaker 1: All Right. I like that answer because obviously the Eagles.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what your taking is on the Max
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  Speaker 1: Crosby stuff that there was a report that they were
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  Speaker 1: nuclear involved in Crosby here. I don't know that if
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  Speaker 1: looking for an edge rusher is still something that's in
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  Speaker 1: the cards for them.
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  Speaker 2: I think edge rusher right now, in my estimation anyway,
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  Speaker 2: is the deepest position on defense for the Eagles. And
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  Speaker 2: when you're talking about someone like an Ajfanessa, who was
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  Speaker 2: a second round pick in twenty twenty, played ninety one
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  Speaker 2: game started nineteen and all of a sudden, he's your
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  Speaker 2: projected fifth edge rusher, that speaks to the depth and
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  Speaker 2: how they've sort of reconfigured this room. And I you know,
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  Speaker 2: Max Crosby's a name and he's been highly productive, but
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  Speaker 2: he's also a player that's accumulated over nine hundred snaps
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  Speaker 2: year after year after year, there's a lot of wear
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  Speaker 2: and tear on the player, and you also don't know
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  Speaker 2: how he would fit in a Vic Fangio defense when
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  Speaker 2: a lot is asked in terms of you have to
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  Speaker 2: do more than just rush the quarterback. You have to
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  Speaker 2: drop in the coverage and do some other things. It
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  Speaker 2: didn't work out all that well for someone like Bryce Huff,
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  Speaker 2: So it's not always a perfect match despite the pedigree
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  Speaker 2: and the reputation, right, I mean, but I do believe
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  Speaker 2: that the Eagles have adequately, more than adequately addressed the
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  Speaker 2: edge rusher room and made it a pretty well round group.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew checkout football for Brian and kJ Courthouse wants to
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  Speaker 1: know do you think Tyler Steen is the biggest question
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  Speaker 1: mark on the offensive line with all the injuries they
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  Speaker 1: had last year? Do you look at Steen still as
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  Speaker 1: a question mark or is it somebody else? Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: I really like this question because I want I take
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  Speaker 2: every opportunity I can to address it. No, I don't
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  Speaker 2: think Tyler Stein's a question mark. I believe that he
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  Speaker 2: had a solid year last year. If you're one who
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  Speaker 2: subscribes to the pro football focused metrics, which I know
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  Speaker 2: that some tend to when it skews towards their narrative
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  Speaker 2: if it supports their narrative. Well, he was regarded as
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  Speaker 2: one of the top guards in the NFL, and I
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  Speaker 2: understand that he was replacing the Kai bect In, who
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  Speaker 2: was a dominant force in the run game for the
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  Speaker 2: Eagles historically effective offensive line in twenty twenty four. But
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  Speaker 2: I thought, while there are different players, I didn't think
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  Speaker 2: that there was much of a drop off at all.
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  Speaker 2: For being honest, I think the big question that I
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  Speaker 2: have is is the health of Cam Jurgens and Landon Dickerson.
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  Speaker 2: I would say that Landon Dickerson might be the biggest
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  Speaker 2: question mark for me. Obviously, not from a talent perspective.
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  Speaker 2: He's one of the best guards in football. But there
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  Speaker 2: were any different injuries through last year. There's another year
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  Speaker 2: of added, you know, attrition, so there's always gonna be
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  Speaker 2: questions there. But for me, it's just stems from the health,
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  Speaker 2: not the not not the production.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, By the way, it looks like the
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  Speaker 1: Lions have released Terry.
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  Speaker 2: I just saw that way.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we were talking about him on Thursday and the
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  Speaker 1: decision that the flood the Eagles had, but they have
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  Speaker 1: waived terry On Arnold. No, he has maintained innocence in
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  Speaker 1: this whole situation. This is a bizarre situe. I don't
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  Speaker 1: know what for you information or anything you have saw
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  Speaker 1: about this thing, but what a bizarre situation this thing
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  Speaker 1: has turned into. But this was a player who was
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  Speaker 1: a first round pick and the Eagles were choosing basically
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  Speaker 1: right between him and Guinyon.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they were sort of toggling between the two. And
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  Speaker 2: this is another example of where you have to tip
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  Speaker 2: your cap to the Eagles evaluation process, to the scouts,
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  Speaker 2: and they spend so much time vetting these prospects and
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  Speaker 2: they want to bring in players that they believe are
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  Speaker 2: going to not only fit the culture, but of course
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  Speaker 2: be high end players. And so you look at Quinyon
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  Speaker 2: Mitchell and he was my top rated corner that year,
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  Speaker 2: but it was you know, you look at someone like
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  Speaker 2: coming from a you know, a program like Alabama, obviously
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be enticing. But with Quinya Mitchell, there
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  Speaker 2: is a connection there and the familiarity that Nick Sirianni
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  Speaker 2: had with Jason Kandell over there in Toledo, so they
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  Speaker 2: were able to have unique insight and perspective into the
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  Speaker 2: prospect and be able to then project what he was
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  Speaker 2: going to provide at the next level. And I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you don't often find a corner coming from Toledo who's
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  Speaker 2: a starter week one, and all of a sudden, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it quickly ascends to the top corner in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: So one of the time up cornerbacks in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that's a testament a hugestmate be Eagles
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  Speaker 2: evaluation process and all those involved, because they got one right.
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  Speaker 2: And it was pretty evident early on that Quinya. Mitchell
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  Speaker 2: was going to be a big time player.
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  Speaker 1: Wild story, wild story. Let's go to Chris in Ocean City.
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  Speaker 1: He wants to know about Jacory and Bennett. Will he
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  Speaker 1: have a role in the defense? He seemed a little
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  Speaker 1: bit disappointing with that trade last year.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Chris, I like that question. You know, it's not
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  Speaker 2: something that it's a little bit off the beaten path.
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  Speaker 2: But when the Eagles when they traded for Jacorey and
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  Speaker 2: Bennett in August, it was widely expected, or at least
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  Speaker 2: by some, that he was brought in to contend for
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  Speaker 2: a starting spot. I was of that belief and it
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  Speaker 2: just never really manifested. He ended up tearing his peck
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  Speaker 2: on the Jordan Davis Rams play at the end of
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  Speaker 2: the game there, and was never before that. He really
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  Speaker 2: never factored into the defensive equation. It was really a
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  Speaker 2: Dori Jackson and Keilee Ringo learning that defense where it
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  Speaker 2: is relatively complex and you have to make sure that
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  Speaker 2: you have your details fine tuned be able to master
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  Speaker 2: that in a matter of weeks. That just wasn't really realistic.
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  Speaker 2: But then I think probably a little bit more concerning
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  Speaker 2: is that he was never really able to edge his
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  Speaker 2: way into the competition there, especially when Kielee Ringo and
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  Speaker 2: a Dori Jackson weren't performing well. Then Jakoryan Bennett gets
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  Speaker 2: in the finale and I think he had three or
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  Speaker 2: two or three pass interference calls on him, just really
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  Speaker 2: handsy and look like he was sort of bailing on
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  Speaker 2: his technique a little bit. And I mean, he's bringing
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  Speaker 2: experience to the competition this year, but it's going to
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  Speaker 2: come down to special teams. He's not going to be
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  Speaker 2: one of the top four corners in all likelihood, and
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  Speaker 2: Kille Ringo's a dominant special teams player for the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: To keep six Jacoreyan Bennett would have to be awfully
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  Speaker 2: special on special teams to be able to nudge his
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  Speaker 2: way in, because there's just a lot of players in
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  Speaker 2: the mix here and he hasn't done anything to this
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  Speaker 2: point to separate himself. All right.
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  Speaker 1: Our summer Eagles mailbags continue with the Football at four Guys.
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  Speaker 1: Our Monday edition is in the books Andrew to checko
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  Speaker 1: answering your Eagles and NFC questions. Of course, the NFC
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  Speaker 1: East July twenty eighth, less than a month, the Eagles
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  Speaker 1: will be back on the practice field and Andrew and
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  Speaker 1: the Football at four Guys will have it all covered
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  Speaker 1: here on the Sports Bett. Hey, great job, pinch hitting man.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I do my best. I have big shoes to
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  Speaker 2: fill there with most Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: We've got a lot of great questions from our listeners.
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  Speaker 1: We appreciate them as well.