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The DiCecco Daily: Eagles Free Agents Who Are More Valuable Than You Think · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everyone? Welcome into another edition of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Checho Daily.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Andrew decheco here Eagles Beat reporter friends, sidethbirds dot com
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: if you get a chance, and it should be available
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: on audio and probably in a day or so WBCB.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: It was the season finale and it was myself and
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: my fellow Eagles Beat reporter Ed Kratz. Great conversation. Always
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: good to catch up with Eddie, who I'm used to
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: seeing every day during the regular season. So we had
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: a lot to catch up on, including the hiring of
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Sean Manning and Josh Gizzard, the Vic Vangio news, and
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: we had to talk about the Super Bowl as well,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: a lot of former Eagles in this game, many of
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: which we both covered. So I enjoyed that conversation very much.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: But today I kind of want to talk about a
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: couple of free agents on the offensive side of the
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: ball that aren't getting talked about enough, that are extremely valuable,
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: and I'll explain why. So you look at offense and
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: you see Dallas Goddard, you see Johan Dawson, Grant Calcatara,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Kylon grantson. But I think there's a couple of players
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: here who are sort of being overlooked. And the two
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: players that I'm talking about are Fred Johnson and Brett Toave,
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: two extremely valuable backup offensive lineman. Fred Johnson started nine games.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: If you're including the postseason.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: I thought he did a solid job stepping in for
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: an injured Lane Johnson look to back up a little bit.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Howie Roseman had one of the best moves of the
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: offseason by reacquiring Fred Johnson, who left for the Eagles
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: in free left the Eagles in free agency, signed with
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the Jacksonville Jaguars with a chance to start. That wasn't
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: going to happen in Philadelphia, But once it was understood
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: that it wasn't necessarily going to happen for him there
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: in Jacksonville, Howie Roseman was able to strike a deal.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: They get Fred Johnson before the season.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: He ends up stepping in and doing a solid job
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: at right tackle, and he may have proved enough for
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: some team to say that he can be a starter
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: for their offensive line.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: And that very well may be the case.
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: And I assume that if you're Fred Johnson, you're twenty
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: eight years old, you're going to try to see if
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: you can land with the team that gives you an
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: opportunity to be a starting offensive tackle. But if not,
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: that's a player that I said this last offseason that
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: he was going to be missed if he left or
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: when he left. I believe that I wrote a story
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: saying that was going to be an instrumental loss for
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: the team because he was that reserve swing tackle one
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: game day, they lacked for depth behind Lane Johnson and
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: Jordan Mailatta, and I believe that Fred Johnson, whenever he's
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: been called upon, has done a solid job. And so
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: you look around the pending free agents around the NFL,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: I don't know if you're going to find a better
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: player than Fred Johnson. Again, if Fred Johnson has an
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: opport you to start, he's likely going to pursue that.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: But if not, it would behoove the Eagles to find
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: a way to keep him in house, knowing that you
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: never know when his number is going to be called.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: And when it has been called, he stepped in. Was
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: it perfect? Not by any means. There were some penalties
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: that he had. I think early on there was some
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: rough patches, but ultimately he settled in and performed a
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: little better than you would expect from a reserve offensive lineman.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: So he's someone.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: That I think is extremely valuable and the Eagles should
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: do whatever they can if within reason, to keep him.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: In the building.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: The other player is Brett Toth, and I would argue
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: that Brett Toath might be even more important than Fred Johnson,
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: because let's not forget the Eagles also have Cameron Williams
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: and they have Miles Hinton, two second year players now
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: who have been in the building for a year, and
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: they've been in Stoutland University for a year. They've been enrolled,
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: so they're gonna be more well versed and a little
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: bit more refined than maybe they were last summer.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: You bring them in and maybe they're able to make
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: a run.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: I didn't think Cameron Williams did all that bad when
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: he was pressed into service in the final game of
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: the season.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: In fact, you look a little ahead of schedule. So
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: if I'm the Eagles, I feel pretty good about where
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: he is in terms of his development.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: So you have those two players you're likely going to
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: draft the tackle and so this all leads me to
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: why it's arguably more important to retain Brett Toath and
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Brett Toath to back it up and zoom out a second.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: This is someone who I classify as a survivor. He's
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: persevered through the NFL. His career has often been in limbo,
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: which is the case for most players who were on
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: the fringes of an NFL roster. He's entering year eight,
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: believe it or not, but year seven was a breakthrough
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: for Brett because there was a crowded field of offensive
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: lineman in training camp. A lot, you know, a lot
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: was made about some of the other players who were there,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: some veterans.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: You had Kendall.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Lamb, you have Matt Pryor, who was brought in to
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: presumably be that swing tackle. They didn't pan out, so
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: he had to get Fred Johnson. But I think Brett Toath,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: for as long as he's been around, was kind of
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: an afterthought when you're assessing the offensive line group in
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: the summer. Now give Brett credit because he's extremely tough
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: on himself, but I think he's someone who is a
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: really good story of development under Jeff Statlin, who thinks
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: very highly of Brett Toth, and he was able to
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: kind of navigate the preseason, perform well enough in the
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: games to earn another roster spot and he just keeps
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: hanging around. And when you're able to hang around like that,
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: you are obviously providing value inside the building. You are
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: invaluable in meetings or on the practice field. I can
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: also tell you that Brett has been a very good
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: mentor for some of the younger offensive linemen in the
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: locker room, like Drew Kendall, who lockered a couple of
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: stalls down from him, or a Jake Majors who's on
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: the practice who was on the practice squad he signed
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: a reserve futures deal. That is something that he has
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: talked to me about paying it forward because he came
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: up through the ranks of the Jason Kelsey's, Jason Peters,
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Isaac Sayamavlu, Brandon Brooks. So there's that rich ancestry of
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: offensive lineman that he's sort of grown up and came
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: through the ranks with. And so now it's almost like
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: he views it as his turn to pay it forward
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: and a little bit about you know, maybe and still
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: the culture of the players who came before him. And
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: I think every time I've talked to Brett, I come
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: away learning something new. I come away enlightened based off
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: of his perspective on things, and I think that he
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: is a player that aged twenty nine, it's come together
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: for him. He stayed the course, and I think he
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: deserves a lot of respect for showing up every summer
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: wherever he's been, whether it's Carolina or Arizona, wherever he's.
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Been, he's shown up. He's given it his best.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: And this year was when everything sort of came together
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: and he became Eagle's top backup at center and guard.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: And I would argue that the games that Brett Toath
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: had to start at center, he performed better than Cam Jurgens.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Now I'm not suggesting that he's a better.
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: Player than Cam Jurgens, all things being equal, but the
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: reality is is that Brett played better, Especially that Giants game.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: I thought he did a really nice job in space,
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: climbing to the second level the pin and poll blocks.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: I also thought that he looked a little bit better
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: at guard. The more opportunities that he got. That first
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: Giants game was shaky, but the more reps that he got,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: and he played a career high in reps. In fact,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: the reps that he had in twenty twenty five, it
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: was more than any season that he's had combined to
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: that point, so it puts things in perspective.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: He was around for a while, but.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: He hadn't really played in games, and he was on
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: the practice squad, he was on the active roster of teams,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: but he stayed the course and I think he deserves
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: a lot of credit for that. And I think the
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: byproduct of going through all that is that he is
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: a dependable player that can step in and give you
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: interior value and that has to be worth something, especially
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: when you're an Eagles team right now that has a
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: lot of questions in terms of depth.
• 8:16
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  Speaker 2: Look, Matt Pryor is going to be a free agent,
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: and I don't view him as someone that they're gonna
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: have back. You do have younger players like Willie Lampkin
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: and Jake Majors, who I view more as centers. You
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: have Drew Kendall, who can probably give you a little
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: guard versatility, but Brett gives you that veteran experience at
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: two positions really three.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: I think he can play right guard as well.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: And by the way, he can play tackle because that's
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: what he played at Army. So he gives you that
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: multi alignment versatility that I think will be really appealing.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: And you know Jeff that one's going to pound the
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: table for him. So when you look at the Eagles,
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: free agents. These guys might be a little bit further
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: down the list, but I just outline why they're important
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: and that shouldn't be discounted when you're going through the
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: free agent process because both while they may not be
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: stars or household names, provide a lot of value and
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: they will if they're on the twenty twenty.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Six Philadelphia Eagles. This has been to check O Deli.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I am Andrew de Checko and I'll catch you all
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: on the next one.