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The DiCecco Daily: Breaking Down Eagles 17-Man Practice Squad · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: Hello everyone and welcome into another episode of the Checo Daily.
0:11
Speaker 1: It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com. And today
0:15
Speaker 1: what I would like to do for this podcast is
0:17
Speaker 1: now that the Eagles practice squad has been officially filled
0:21
Speaker 1: out and it's bound to change throughout the year, it
0:23
Speaker 1: always does, I would like to go through and highlight
0:27
Speaker 1: each player and provide a little bit more insight as
0:30
Speaker 1: to what they're all about, what I've observed from them
0:33
Speaker 1: throughout training camp, and we'll kind of go from there.
0:37
Speaker 1: And we'll start with Uar Bernard, who the Eagles drafted
0:41
Speaker 1: in the seventh round. The first time he put on
0:44
Speaker 1: a football helmet was rookie minicamp. But what was really
0:47
Speaker 1: cool about Uar's journey, and it's still very much ongoing,
0:51
Speaker 1: is that being there every day and watching practice, and
0:55
Speaker 1: I'm really talking about training camp, you could see the
0:59
Speaker 1: gradual progression. And You have to squint to see it
1:03
Speaker 1: because he is such a blank canvas here and a
1:06
Speaker 1: moldable ball of clay. You could see how he was
1:09
Speaker 1: responding to coaching and how teammates were taking him aside
1:13
Speaker 1: and showing him some different things. The preseason tape left
1:17
Speaker 1: a lot to be desired, but that shouldn't really be
1:19
Speaker 1: a surprise. But you see the freakish athleticism. You see
1:22
Speaker 1: the size. The Eagles have something to work with. This
1:26
Speaker 1: is going to be a very long-term project, but they
1:29
Speaker 1: are committed to seeing this through. And it's good to
1:32
Speaker 1: see him back on this practice squad. He knows this organization.
1:35
Speaker 1: They have a strong support system in place. He has
1:41
Speaker 1: relationships here with his teammates. This is the best spot
1:44
Speaker 1: for him to continue his growth in his first season
1:48
Speaker 1: in the NFL. So you can expect to see him
1:52
Speaker 1: benefit from a lot of reps in practice, but outside
1:54
Speaker 1: of that, We'll learn more about where he is in
1:57
Speaker 1: his progression next time we see him, which will be
2:00
Speaker 1: in spring practices. But the next player on this list
2:05
Speaker 1: is linebacker Chance Campbell. And Chance Campbell signed just before
2:10
Speaker 1: the Eagles' preseason finale last summer. And that tells you
2:15
Speaker 1: right there that the Eagles probably had some intel on
2:17
Speaker 1: him prior, and they clearly did. Linebackers coach Bobby King
2:22
Speaker 1: overlapped with Chance Campbell in Tennessee. And you also have
2:27
Speaker 1: to wonder if– and Chance Campbell suffered a knee injury,
2:30
Speaker 1: I believe, with the Titans the previous summer. So maybe
2:33
Speaker 1: it took him some time to really recover from that,
2:35
Speaker 1: and the Eagles wanted to get a head start in
2:37
Speaker 1: getting him in the mix. He played in that final
2:40
Speaker 1: preseason game, and he was signed to the practice squad
2:42
Speaker 1: and spent the entire 2025 season there. He was lauded
2:46
Speaker 1: for his work on the scout team, and he brings
2:49
Speaker 1: a lot of instincts, play recognition. He's a good athlete.
2:53
Speaker 1: He's been sort of snakebitten by injuries, but the Eagles
2:56
Speaker 1: are very deep at off-ball linebacker, as evidenced by Jeremiah
3:00
Speaker 1: Trotter Jr., Smile Mondin behind the starters, and Zach Bond
3:03
Speaker 1: and Jihad Campbell. and it's really tough to justify keeping
3:06
Speaker 1: five linebackers on the 53-man roster. Do I envision a
3:10
Speaker 1: scenario in which Chance Campbell sees an elevation or two
3:13
Speaker 1: at some point this season? I do. Special teams is important,
3:17
Speaker 1: and sometimes there's a lot of attrition that comes with
3:20
Speaker 1: special teams and things like that, so it'll be good
3:22
Speaker 1: to have someone like that on standby. Vic Fangio clearly
3:26
Speaker 1: likes him. He said don't sleep on Chance. That's a
3:29
Speaker 1: soundbite that's certainly made its rounds. since he said it
3:33
Speaker 1: at last month and so it made a lot of
3:35
Speaker 1: sense to bring him back on the practice squad where
3:37
Speaker 1: he will continue to give a lot of really good
3:39
Speaker 1: looks on the scout team. Britton Covey's back and Britton
3:44
Speaker 1: Covey is a vested veteran so he wasn't subject to waivers.
3:48
Speaker 1: There's a lot of familiarity there obviously. Britton Covey is
3:51
Speaker 1: a very effective punt returner. There's a trust there with
3:55
Speaker 1: him when he's back there. He's very sure handed. He's
3:58
Speaker 1: going to maximize the yardage that he can, that he can.
4:02
Speaker 1: He always wants to put the offense in the best
4:04
Speaker 1: field position possible. He doesn't really concern himself with his
4:09
Speaker 1: own personal stats. He's a selfless player and very much
4:12
Speaker 1: beloved by everyone in that locker room. And this is
4:16
Speaker 1: another really good spot for him because I could see
4:19
Speaker 1: him elevated to early in the season or at some
4:21
Speaker 1: point because of his special teams prowess namely returning punts
4:26
Speaker 1: and I think he's done some good things in training
4:28
Speaker 1: camp as a receiver and there's a part of me
4:31
Speaker 1: that always wants to see a little bit more of
4:33
Speaker 1: what he could have done as a receiver especially a
4:35
Speaker 1: couple years ago it feels like maybe that ship has
4:38
Speaker 1: sailed a little bit the Eagles have a lot of
4:40
Speaker 1: players there so he's not going to get a ton
4:42
Speaker 1: of reps and he certainly didn't in training camp but
4:45
Speaker 1: you see the short area quickness that he has and
4:47
Speaker 1: he's such a smart player I've talked a lot about
4:52
Speaker 1: the special teams, the sort of nature of that, and
4:57
Speaker 1: he has it down to a science. He... can walk
5:01
Speaker 1: you through his thought process and he watches all the
5:04
Speaker 1: punters and he just goes, he's just very detailed in
5:08
Speaker 1: his preparation and diligent and having someone like that on
5:11
Speaker 1: the practice squad is very valuable. I'm sure there are
5:14
Speaker 1: some who are wondering why keep returning to the well
5:16
Speaker 1: with Britton Covey. Well, he provides a lot of value
5:19
Speaker 1: behind the scenes and a lot of stability, probably most
5:23
Speaker 1: importantly as a punt returner and he will be on
5:25
Speaker 1: standby if the Eagles need them. So yeah, He's always
5:29
Speaker 1: a great guy to talk to in the locker room
5:31
Speaker 1: as well. Just very knowledgeable. He's always available and very affable,
5:37
Speaker 1: and that comes across when you hear him speak. So
5:39
Speaker 1: Britton Covey will be back, and that now brings us
5:43
Speaker 1: to defensive tackle Gabe Hall. Gabe Hall is a good
5:46
Speaker 1: football player. He's sort of a victim of being cast
5:50
Speaker 1: in such a deep defensive line room that it's really
5:53
Speaker 1: hard for him to leapfrog any of the players ahead
5:56
Speaker 1: of him. But you see the length that he has.
5:59
Speaker 1: He made the team last year at a training camp.
6:01
Speaker 1: After the first game, he was waived. But this is
6:04
Speaker 1: a good developmental story. Again, the Eagles have such a
6:08
Speaker 1: deep defensive line that it's really hard for Gabe Hall
6:11
Speaker 1: to break through. But he flashed a little bit in
6:14
Speaker 1: the preseason games. He had a quiet summer, but he
6:17
Speaker 1: does use his length to his advantage. He has a
6:19
Speaker 1: good feel for this scheme at this point. And another
6:22
Speaker 1: really valuable addition to the practice squad because I think
6:26
Speaker 1: the Eagles should be fortunate that he returned because I
6:29
Speaker 1: have to imagine that if you look at other defensive
6:31
Speaker 1: line rooms across the league, I'm sure that there are
6:35
Speaker 1: teams that maybe aren't as deep as the Eagles could
6:38
Speaker 1: have a spot for Gabe Hall as one of the
6:40
Speaker 1: final defensive tackles there. But he's on the Eagles. He
6:43
Speaker 1: does provide positional versatility as well, which is another added benefit.
6:47
Speaker 1: And we'll see. But it's sort of a luxury to
6:50
Speaker 1: have such a stockpile of quality defensive linemen.
6:56
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10:11
Speaker 1: Outside linebacker Keyshawn James Newby returns. The Eagles drafted him
10:14
Speaker 1: in the seventh round. He had a, Decent start to
10:18
Speaker 1: training camp. He had an interception. You could see the
10:20
Speaker 1: twitchiness that he has. He moves really well. He's a
10:23
Speaker 1: little bit undersized, but he's more of a speed rusher.
10:26
Speaker 1: Missed a lot of training camp with an ankle injury.
10:29
Speaker 1: Was able to get back in time for the preseason finale.
10:32
Speaker 1: Had a sack. You could see his ability to turn
10:35
Speaker 1: the corner when he chased down Josh Johnson. And this
10:37
Speaker 1: is the kind of player that the Eagles would love
10:40
Speaker 1: nothing more than to continue to develop I kind of
10:43
Speaker 1: view him more as a, not more, but I kind
10:46
Speaker 1: of view him in the similar sense as a Patrick Johnson,
10:49
Speaker 1: where you can see the speed, kind of a similar build.
10:52
Speaker 1: I imagine that if he is able to ever get
10:57
Speaker 1: elevated for a game, he would be a force on
10:59
Speaker 1: special teams just because of his speed and his ability
11:02
Speaker 1: to close. But I think that there just wasn't enough
11:07
Speaker 1: time for him to really flash and Had he been
11:10
Speaker 1: healthy for the entirety of training camp, maybe we're having
11:12
Speaker 1: a different conversation because maybe he elbows his way onto
11:16
Speaker 1: the 53-man roster. So I think this is another no-brainer
11:19
Speaker 1: addition to the practice squad, and he'll continue to grow there.
11:23
Speaker 1: Center guard Jake Majors. I've talked a lot about Jake
11:26
Speaker 1: Majors this summer. He kind of flew under the radar,
11:29
Speaker 1: but I was going into training camp with a watchful
11:32
Speaker 1: eye on the young interior offensive line because the depth
11:36
Speaker 1: was obviously very inexperienced, but they had some intriguing players.
11:41
Speaker 1: And Jake Majors was on the practice squad last year.
11:43
Speaker 1: I remember talking to Brett Toth, and he brought him
11:46
Speaker 1: up unprompted when I was talking to him about Drew Kendall.
11:49
Speaker 1: And so it piqued my curiosity a little bit. I
11:51
Speaker 1: did like Jake Majors coming out of the draft. The
11:54
Speaker 1: previous year out of Texas, a lot of starts, set
11:56
Speaker 1: a program record there, and I thought he did a
11:59
Speaker 1: nice job in training camp, particularly in the second half
12:03
Speaker 1: of training camp. He cross-trained at guard. He's a center
12:06
Speaker 1: by trade, and I thought he really acquitted himself nicely there. Again,
12:10
Speaker 1: got kind of caught in a numbers game, and it's
12:13
Speaker 1: hard to... It's not hard to fault the Eagles for
12:16
Speaker 1: not wanting to go with 11 offensive linemen given some
12:19
Speaker 1: of the other roster situations that they had to consider.
12:22
Speaker 1: But I'm actually a little bit surprised that Majors cleared waivers,
12:26
Speaker 1: but he'll be another young developmental lineman that the Eagles
12:29
Speaker 1: can continue to groom on the practice squad. Tackle John
12:34
Speaker 1: Ujuku is someone that caught my eye in the spring. Now,
12:39
Speaker 1: the Eagles signed him. think he was a reserve futures
12:43
Speaker 1: contract signing he was originally an undrafted free agent signing
12:47
Speaker 1: of the Tennessee Titans in 2023 played in 16 games
12:51
Speaker 1: started nine but he gives you the ability to play
12:54
Speaker 1: both tackle spots which he did this summer he even
12:57
Speaker 1: played a little bit of guard and I thought he
12:59
Speaker 1: handled himself nicely at all the positions that they asked
13:03
Speaker 1: and it does speak to his performance because the Eagles
13:07
Speaker 1: gave him a lot of second team reps in training
13:10
Speaker 1: camp but it caught my eye in the spring that
13:13
Speaker 1: he was sort of working in with the twos. I
13:16
Speaker 1: didn't know a lot about him. I followed college football clearly,
13:19
Speaker 1: but I didn't know a ton about John Njuku. And
13:23
Speaker 1: I learned a lot more about him in training camp.
13:26
Speaker 1: And he seems to be a player the Eagles like,
13:28
Speaker 1: and they want to continue to work with. And he
13:29
Speaker 1: does give you that positional versatility, much like Jake Majors.
13:33
Speaker 1: So they were able to to keep some of their
13:35
Speaker 1: young developmental linemen. It's an extension of the 53-man roster,
13:39
Speaker 1: and they are setting themselves up to have a lot
13:42
Speaker 1: of built-in options if injuries were to surface. But if
13:46
Speaker 1: for no other reason you have a couple of quality
13:49
Speaker 1: developmental prospects, to continue to work with if you're offensive
13:53
Speaker 1: line coach Chris Cooper, who has done a really nice
13:55
Speaker 1: job so far with that young group of interior linemen,
14:00
Speaker 1: Drew Kendall, Willie Lampkin, Micah Morris, Jake Majors, and I
14:04
Speaker 1: think John Ajuku sort of flashed a little bit in
14:07
Speaker 1: training camp enough so that he was able to latch
14:10
Speaker 1: on the practice squad. Running back Damian Pierce, I've talked
14:14
Speaker 1: a little bit about him. He looked at one point
14:18
Speaker 1: to be the future at the running back position for
14:20
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans, he rushed for just under 1,000 yards
14:24
Speaker 1: as a rookie. Injury sort of mounted a little bit,
14:27
Speaker 1: and it poured a little bit of cold water on
14:29
Speaker 1: his ascent. And he was never really the same player
14:32
Speaker 1: that you saw then. But in training camp, early in camp,
14:36
Speaker 1: you could see the physicality. His pad level really stood
14:39
Speaker 1: out to me. And there's just a toughness to his
14:42
Speaker 1: running style. Then he missed a lot of time with
14:45
Speaker 1: a hamstring injury. I never believed the Eagles were going
14:47
Speaker 1: to keep four running backs. That's a luxury. but he
14:50
Speaker 1: does offer kick return upside. So having that as sort
14:54
Speaker 1: of a, an added bonus on the practice squad, I
14:57
Speaker 1: think is hugely important. And in the, in the final
15:01
Speaker 1: preseason game, you saw his ability to run through tackles,
15:06
Speaker 1: that contact balance, the acceleration up the middle. And as
15:09
Speaker 1: a fourth running back, that that's pretty good value there.
15:13
Speaker 1: And you're not going to find many that, um, are
15:17
Speaker 1: of that age and have some experience in the NFL,
15:20
Speaker 1: and they're kind of miring on your practice squad. So
15:23
Speaker 1: another good signing there for Philadelphia. Safety Maximus Pulley, a
15:28
Speaker 1: rookie free agent out of Wofford, had, I believe, five
15:31
Speaker 1: interceptions in his final season there. And he was sort
15:37
Speaker 1: of viewed in the same lens as Kapina Gushikin, the
15:42
Speaker 1: other undrafted defensive back. Gushikin, of course, got claimed. off
15:46
Speaker 1: waivers by the Colts. I thought Gushikin had the better summer.
15:51
Speaker 1: They were close, but I just thought that Kapina flashed
15:54
Speaker 1: a little bit more. He has the nickelback and safety versatility,
15:59
Speaker 1: but Pulley looks the part. It didn't look like the
16:02
Speaker 1: moment was too big for him in training camp. He
16:04
Speaker 1: was flying around, throwing his body around a little bit.
16:08
Speaker 1: And in the first preseason game, he caught my attention
16:11
Speaker 1: due to his special teams performance. And as a young
16:14
Speaker 1: developmental safety, this is a good spot for him. The
16:18
Speaker 1: Eagles are light at safety. Not so much when you
16:21
Speaker 1: consider Cooper Dejean playing safety and base. But Pulley is
16:24
Speaker 1: a player that I like the physicality that he plays with.
16:28
Speaker 1: It seemed like he was picking up the defense and
16:32
Speaker 1: trending in the right direction there. And we'll see where
16:35
Speaker 1: this goes. But I would imagine that he would be
16:38
Speaker 1: the first man up in terms of elevation if the
16:42
Speaker 1: Eagles have an injury at the safety position.
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Speaker 1: Outside linebacker Mason Rigger And this is a player that
17:52
Speaker 1: was an undrafted free agent signing of the Miami Dolphins.
17:57
Speaker 1: He went to Louisville, then he finished his career at Wisconsin.
18:01
Speaker 1: He's 6'5, 251 pounds. He hit a 40-inch vertical at
18:03
Speaker 1: the NFL scouting combine, 4'7, 8'40, and a 10'5 broad jump.
18:09
Speaker 1: He has sort of a narrow frame, but I like
18:11
Speaker 1: the way he moves. He has good athleticism. He's a
18:14
Speaker 1: twitchy type of edge rusher. He had five sacks in
18:17
Speaker 1: his final season. And those are the kind of dart
18:19
Speaker 1: throws that you're looking for if you're Howie Roseman. You
18:22
Speaker 1: get a young pass rusher on your practice squad alongside
18:25
Speaker 1: Keyshawn James Newby, and you work with them. And Jeremiah
18:28
Speaker 1: Washburn has an extensive track record of developing defensive linemen,
18:33
Speaker 1: pass rushers, I should say. Clint Hurt oversees the defensive line.
18:37
Speaker 1: But that's another interesting addition to the practice squad, and
18:40
Speaker 1: we really won't get a full gauge here. as to
18:43
Speaker 1: where he is until the spring and that's assuming that
18:47
Speaker 1: he is on the roster at that point there tends
18:49
Speaker 1: to be a lot of roster tinkering throughout the season
18:52
Speaker 1: so we'll just have to wait and see there running
18:55
Speaker 1: back Carson Steele we've talked plenty about and Carson Steele
19:00
Speaker 1: is someone who can be a running back he can
19:02
Speaker 1: be a fullback you like the energy and the tenacity
19:05
Speaker 1: that he plays with he was a long shot to
19:08
Speaker 1: make the roster, but he flashed in the preseason games.
19:10
Speaker 1: He did more in the games than he did in practice.
19:13
Speaker 1: Reps were very scarce in practice. Understandably. So when you
19:16
Speaker 1: have four players ahead of you, but he caught the football. Well,
19:19
Speaker 1: he has soft hands. I would imagine that he would
19:24
Speaker 1: have to have had to have done more to warrant
19:26
Speaker 1: consideration at some point this season for an elevation on
19:30
Speaker 1: special teams, because I didn't really see a lot there.
19:33
Speaker 1: I don't know that he got a lot of opportunities,
19:36
Speaker 1: but yeah, He's an interesting player as well. The Eagles
19:38
Speaker 1: are loaded at running back on the practice squad because
19:40
Speaker 1: we're going to get to another player who was a
19:43
Speaker 1: recent addition momentarily. Outside linebacker Joshua Wairoo is someone that
19:49
Speaker 1: he is an IPP player. He's from Kenya, has a
19:53
Speaker 1: rugby background. So he had a little bit of a
19:56
Speaker 1: head start over Bernard. But to be clear, the first
19:59
Speaker 1: time he also put on a football helmet was rookie minicamp.
20:02
Speaker 1: But you can see the athleticism, the size, the speed
20:05
Speaker 1: that he has. I don't know that he was really
20:08
Speaker 1: challenged in the preseason. You could see that there was
20:11
Speaker 1: a little bit of a– in that preseason finale, really,
20:14
Speaker 1: you could see that he had trouble disengaging from blocks. Look,
20:18
Speaker 1: he's a developmental prospect. That's to be expected. But I
20:21
Speaker 1: thought he flashed a little bit and offered encouraging signs
20:25
Speaker 1: of what he could eventually become. And I say could
20:28
Speaker 1: because we just don't know. They're so far out right now.
20:31
Speaker 1: But he's also on the practice squad. Him and Uar
20:33
Speaker 1: Bernard are good friends. So they'll be able to continue
20:36
Speaker 1: their journey as rookies in the NFL together. That'll be
20:40
Speaker 1: fun to kind of talk to them throughout the season
20:43
Speaker 1: and monitor their progress and see how things are going.
20:47
Speaker 1: Safety Cole Wisniewski. was drafted in the seventh round by
20:51
Speaker 1: the Eagles. He didn't practice all that much. He had
20:53
Speaker 1: a hamstring injury that kept him out for quite a while.
20:56
Speaker 1: Then he comes back. He suffers a concussion, a big
20:59
Speaker 1: bodied safety at about six foot three, 220 pounds. Doesn't
21:03
Speaker 1: move all that well, but he's very sharp minded. That's
21:06
Speaker 1: something that talking to his former defensive coordinator at Texas tech,
21:09
Speaker 1: he outlined that. And he was very clear about, about
21:13
Speaker 1: how he believed that Cole would be able to transition
21:15
Speaker 1: to a Vic Fangio defense, how he would be able
21:17
Speaker 1: to absorb it because of his football acumen, because he
21:20
Speaker 1: was coming from a similar background. We didn't get a
21:22
Speaker 1: chance to see a ton of him, so it's really
21:24
Speaker 1: hard to assess what he did. All I can tell
21:27
Speaker 1: you is what we've observed, and that was that he
21:29
Speaker 1: missed a lot of time. But certainly, as a seventh-round pick,
21:32
Speaker 1: you don't just want to punt on that. You want
21:34
Speaker 1: to give him an opportunity to continue to grow, and
21:36
Speaker 1: he will have that opportunity on the Eagles practice squad.
21:41
Speaker 1: The Eagles also added a few other players of interest
21:46
Speaker 1: to round out this group. Wide receiver Danny Gray, who
21:50
Speaker 1: was in training camp with the Eagles this year. He
21:52
Speaker 1: was in training camp with the Eagles last year. He
21:54
Speaker 1: suffered an injury last year and was waived before he
21:56
Speaker 1: got a chance to play in the preseason. He was
21:58
Speaker 1: on the practice squad in 2024 as well. So he's
22:02
Speaker 1: a player that the Eagles like, and he is a
22:04
Speaker 1: good practice player. I'm sure that there are folks wondering why.
22:08
Speaker 1: why is Danny Gray resigning on the practice squad? What
22:10
Speaker 1: did they see in him? Well, it goes far beyond
22:13
Speaker 1: what you see in the preseason. They take practice into
22:16
Speaker 1: heavy consideration and he is a good practice player. In fact,
22:20
Speaker 1: I linked a story when I posted this on X
22:24
Speaker 1: to somebody asking me about that, because I wrote a
22:26
Speaker 1: story a couple of years ago about Danny Gray and
22:29
Speaker 1: his impact on the scout team. And there's quotes in
22:32
Speaker 1: there from Quinn Young Mitchell, who said he just gets
22:34
Speaker 1: us ready and, Cooper DeGene I asked him about Danny
22:38
Speaker 1: as well and he just said he's really really fast
22:40
Speaker 1: and he gave a good answer there as well so
22:42
Speaker 1: there's a lot of value there he was a third
22:44
Speaker 1: round pick of the 49ers in 2022 brings 4-3-3 speed
22:49
Speaker 1: he's very competitive he plays with an edge those are
22:52
Speaker 1: the kind of players that you want on the scout
22:54
Speaker 1: team because they're going to push the starters and much
22:57
Speaker 1: like Chance Campbell I kind of look at Danny Gray
23:00
Speaker 1: as as the offensive version of that, as someone who's
23:03
Speaker 1: going to continue to push players to be better and
23:06
Speaker 1: prepare them for Sundays. So that one made a lot
23:09
Speaker 1: of sense to me. Then we have an offensive lineman,
23:14
Speaker 1: Karan Amagaji from Florida. He was a draft pick of
23:19
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. He's 6'5, 326 pounds, the third round
23:22
Speaker 1: pick in 2024. Played in six games with one start.
23:27
Speaker 1: He dealt with injuries. He wasn't very consistent. He was
23:30
Speaker 1: a raw player when they drafted him. But the upside
23:33
Speaker 1: was something that you don't want to miss the boat on.
23:37
Speaker 1: And I should mention he went to Yale. But the
23:41
Speaker 1: arm length, 36 and 1 eighth. He is athletic. and
23:44
Speaker 1: maybe you bring him in here, and offensive line coach
23:47
Speaker 1: Chris Cooper is able to work his magic as he's
23:49
Speaker 1: really worked to develop some of these other younger players
23:52
Speaker 1: that I just outlined, and that's another dart throw that
23:56
Speaker 1: you feel pretty good about, bringing him in here to
23:58
Speaker 1: Philadelphia where you have a coaching staff that prioritizes and
24:03
Speaker 1: values player development. I think this is a good landing
24:06
Speaker 1: spot for him, and we'll see where it goes. Cornerback
24:10
Speaker 1: Robert Longerbeam. was a draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings
24:15
Speaker 1: in 2025, but he missed the season with a knee injury. Now,
24:17
Speaker 1: I went to Roberts Pro Day at Rutgers. This is
24:20
Speaker 1: a smooth operator as a defensive back in terms of movement.
24:24
Speaker 1: He didn't test there because he tested through the roof
24:28
Speaker 1: at the NFL scouting combine. For perspective, he ran a
24:31
Speaker 1: 4-3-9 40-yard dash. He leaped a 36.5-inch vertical, and he
24:33
Speaker 1: had an 11-foot 2-inch broad jump We'll see how he
24:40
Speaker 1: returns from the injury. He's 5'11, 175 pounds, probably more
24:44
Speaker 1: in the mold of a nickelback with maybe outside versatility.
24:48
Speaker 1: But I like the way that he moves. He's so
24:50
Speaker 1: smooth in and out of breaks. And I am curious
24:54
Speaker 1: to see if he's still on the roster by the
24:56
Speaker 1: spring and where we're able to get a longer look.
24:59
Speaker 1: But he also strikes me as a player that, depending
25:01
Speaker 1: on how things shake out, another one that I wouldn't
25:04
Speaker 1: be surprised if he eventually gets a game-day elevation is
25:07
Speaker 1: But a lot of that is going to be predicated
25:08
Speaker 1: on how they view his ability to handle the special
25:11
Speaker 1: teams component. But I think that's another one that makes
25:14
Speaker 1: a lot of sense. You have a young defensive back.
25:17
Speaker 1: He was injured, so there's not really any tape on him.
25:19
Speaker 1: He didn't play last season. There's preseason tape, of course.
25:23
Speaker 1: But I liked him coming out of Rutgers. I believe
25:25
Speaker 1: he was a fifth-round pick. The Eagles have another young
25:30
Speaker 1: developmental defensive back there that I think is pretty intriguing.
25:34
Speaker 1: And then rounding things out, we have running back Jaden Blue,
25:37
Speaker 1: went to the University of Texas, was drafted in the
25:40
Speaker 1: fifth round by the Cowboys in 2025, had 38 carries,
25:43
Speaker 1: scored a touchdown, three kick returns for 72 yards. He's
25:47
Speaker 1: under 200 pounds at 5'9, very fast, runs a 4.38.
25:52
Speaker 1: In theory, he could be a good pass catcher. He
25:54
Speaker 1: may give you some upside down the line as a
25:56
Speaker 1: kick returner. But he is being 22 years old and
26:01
Speaker 1: not having a ton of experience. But you see the
26:04
Speaker 1: flash plays in college. That's intriguing. We don't want to
26:08
Speaker 1: get ahead of ourselves here, and we're not going to
26:10
Speaker 1: because the Eagles now have three running backs on the
26:12
Speaker 1: practice squad. But that's what the practice squad is for.
26:16
Speaker 1: You take a player that, for whatever reason, found themselves
26:20
Speaker 1: on the outside looking in. It didn't work out at
26:22
Speaker 1: their previous stop. But you like the tools that they have,
26:26
Speaker 1: and you're banking now on the player development aspect and
26:29
Speaker 1: getting them up to speed. And maybe they're able to
26:33
Speaker 1: push the starters forward. in practice. And maybe he can
26:37
Speaker 1: do some different things in practice where you line them
26:39
Speaker 1: up and, and things of that nature, but a really
26:42
Speaker 1: interesting signing. And I'm surprised, frankly, that the Cowboys gave
26:46
Speaker 1: up on them this early. Now, full transparency. I didn't
26:51
Speaker 1: follow the Cowboys training camp. I wasn't looking at their
26:54
Speaker 1: beat writers, observations and things like that. So assumed that
26:58
Speaker 1: he had a pretty, that he had a rocky camp,
27:01
Speaker 1: but still he, as a third running back, you'd think
27:04
Speaker 1: that they would give them the benefit of the doubt,
27:05
Speaker 1: maybe give them another year, but hastily they, they parted
27:10
Speaker 1: with them hastily, perhaps. I don't, I don't know the full,
27:14
Speaker 1: you know, what transpired there, but the Eagles get a
27:17
Speaker 1: player that I was sort of, I was curious about
27:22
Speaker 1: in the pre-draft process because of, The straight line speed
27:26
Speaker 1: and the potential of how you could deploy him offensively
27:29
Speaker 1: and things like that. The kick return aspect. And we'll
27:34
Speaker 1: see where that goes. But he is the final piece
27:37
Speaker 1: on the practice squad. So there you go. I just
27:40
Speaker 1: outlined all the players on the practice squad, gave you
27:43
Speaker 1: a little bit more insight into those players. Hopefully that
27:46
Speaker 1: helps and provides a little bit more clarity. And with that,
27:49
Speaker 1: that will do it for this episode of DiCecco Daily.
27:52
Speaker 1: I'm Andrew DiCecco, and I'll catch you all on the
27:55
Speaker 1: next one.