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The DiCecco Daily: More Background Info On Recent Eagles Signings · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 2: Hey, what's going on? Everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welcome into this edition of to check O Deli. It's
• 0:13
  Andrew de Checko. And even going into Labor Day weekend,
• 0:18
  I don't want to leave you guys in the lurch.
• 0:20
  I always like to update you on all things Eagles
• 0:22
  related to keep you as informed as possible. And there
• 0:25
  were some roster moves today, and I want to delve
• 0:28
  a little bit deeper into some of the practice squad
• 0:30
  signings just to provide a little bit more background on.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Some of the players as I understand it.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Okay, so today the Eagles made some moves and they
• 0:40
  signed running back Audrich Estima and defensive back Ambry Thomas.
• 0:46
  Estima was a player that I've gotten asked about quite
• 0:49
  a bit over the past twenty four hours because when
• 0:51
  the initial practice squad was revealed, his name was not
• 0:55
  on it, despite reports that he was going to sign
• 0:59
  to the Eagles practice squad. Well, they brought him in
• 1:02
  yesterday and then today they signed him today. If you're listening, Friday,
• 1:08
  big bodied running back was drafted in the fifth round
• 1:10
  in twenty twenty four of the Denver Broncos. Kind of
• 1:13
  profiles a little bit like an AJ Dill and perhaps
• 1:15
  the Eagles can continue to develop him there. Montreal Johnson
• 1:20
  Junior was a running back with the Eagles had in
• 1:22
  training camp, but I thought did some really good things,
• 1:24
  missed a large chunk of it with a hamstring injury.
• 1:27
  But it looks like Estima, who was drafted by the way,
• 1:32
  maybe offers a little bit more upside and the Eagles
• 1:35
  liked what he brought to the table, maybe a little
• 1:37
  bit more than Montreal Johnson Junior. There's always that chance,
• 1:41
  as you know how the practice squad goes, there's always
• 1:44
  that tango that maybe Johnson Junior returns in some capacity.
• 1:48
  But for now, the Eagles carry one running back on
• 1:51
  the practice squad and that is Audric Estima. Ambry Thomas
• 1:55
  is interesting because he was a third round pick back
• 1:58
  in twenty twenty one of the San France forty nine ers,
• 2:01
  went to school at Michigan. He played for the forty
• 2:04
  nine ers, Colts and Vikings. At six foot one hundred
• 2:07
  and ninety pounds, you like the size there, and that's
• 2:11
  a player that kind of profiles the Eagles like those
• 2:14
  third round picks of the San Francisco forty nine ers,
• 2:18
  and he's played a lot of football over his three years,
• 2:20
  forty two games, eleven starts, two interceptions, twelve passes defended.
• 2:25
  That's the kind of upside edition that you want on
• 2:28
  the practice squad to sue what you have there. And
• 2:31
  now he gets to learn under defensive backs coach Christian Parker,
• 2:34
  cornerbacks coach Roy Anderson, and who knows, maybe they're able
• 2:38
  to kind of refine his skill set and revive his
• 2:41
  career and make him more of a player that the
• 2:43
  Eagles can look for in the immediate future even long term.
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Plans, and keep him around if they're able to.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: So that's Ambry Thomas and there are obviously the corresponding
• 2:56
  moves that came with it and released from the practice
• 2:58
  squad veteran wide receiver Terris Marshall and cornerback Eli Rix.
• 3:04
  Terris Marshall had a good training camp. I thought he
• 3:07
  was a good player to keep around. Perhaps he will
• 3:09
  return in some capacity. There's the familiarity there with not
• 3:13
  only Jayalen Hurts, who spoke fondly of him, but also
• 3:15
  DeVante Smith and aj Brown. Kind of reminds me a
• 3:18
  little bit of the Paris Campbell edition last season, where
• 3:21
  you have that veteran there. He's a positive influence on
• 3:24
  the room. He's played football quite a bit. He has
• 3:27
  over eight hundred yards receiving in the NFL. He's not
• 3:31
  exactly a developmental player. You already know what you have there,
• 3:34
  but he's a good safety net in case you need
• 3:36
  to elevate someone in light of injuries or things like that.
• 3:40
  You know you can kind of plug him in there
• 3:41
  and he can play. But for now he's off the
• 3:43
  practice squad. And Eli Rix, who for the past two
• 3:47
  seasons made the fifty three man roster outright, he was
• 3:51
  released from the practice squad. That's a player that I
• 3:54
  could easily see coming back in some capacity on the
• 3:59
  practice squad at some point down the line. But as
• 4:03
  certain players shake free and you maybe see a better fit,
• 4:07
  there's maybe a need there and you want to kind
• 4:09
  of fortify that area, or you just view them as
• 4:13
  more of a long term option in terms of your projection.
• 4:17
  There's a lot of things that go into it, but
• 4:19
  for now, Eli Rix is off. That's a player that
• 4:22
  the Eagles obviously like they've kept them around for two seasons.
• 4:24
  They brought them back on the practice squad. Doesn't necessarily
• 4:27
  give you a ton on special teams. That's not his forte.
• 4:30
  He's a lengthy cover corner and I think he's offered
• 4:34
  glimpses of a player that is worth developing. And I've
• 4:38
  been very high on Eli Rix. I think he has
• 4:40
  NFL ability. I think he has fifty three man roster
• 4:43
  potential as we've seen. I think he belongs on a
• 4:46
  fifty three man roster, but it's hard to see where
• 4:48
  he would fit in this equation as purely a cover
• 4:52
  corner with limited special teams. Upside appeared in seven games
• 4:55
  last season for the Eagles, fifty one snaps on special teams,
• 4:59
  just fourteen on d But at twenty three years old,
• 5:02
  he has the pedigree from LSU and Alabama, and he
• 5:05
  does have familiarity in the fic Fangio system.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: The Eagles know him very well.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: That's a player that could reunite with the Eagles down
• 5:12
  the line if another team doesn't grab him beforehand. And also,
• 5:18
  the Eagles released cornerback Tary Castro Fields he was waived
• 5:23
  injured with an injury settlement. And perhaps more notably, the
• 5:27
  team also plays guard center Willy Lampkin on the injured
• 5:30
  reserve list. Willy Lampkin of course was acquired via waivers
• 5:35
  during cutdowns. The Eagles obviously really like them. They want
• 5:37
  to develop them. Undersize at about five to eleven, and
• 5:41
  depending on where you look at his weight, I see
• 5:42
  two seventy nine from his pro day. The RAMS listed
• 5:45
  him at two ninety. He's grossly undersized, but I came
• 5:49
  away really impressed talking to him meeting him on Thursday.
• 5:53
  Has a great personality, sort of plays with a chip
• 5:57
  on his shoulder, and he's somebody that you shouldn't be
• 6:00
  counting out when you look at the Eagles' long term
• 6:03
  plans along the offensive line. He has a lot of
• 6:06
  really good tape. I liked him coming out of North Carolina.
• 6:09
  Really good at utilizing leverage to his advantage, which you
• 6:12
  have to at five foot eleven. He has the wrestling background,
• 6:15
  a very decorated wrestling background. I believe he was forty
• 6:18
  seven and zero, and he talked about using the underhook
• 6:21
  and certain moves that he learned from wrestling, and he
• 6:25
  was able to sort of translate that into his game.
• 6:28
  That's a player that I'm really interested to see how
• 6:32
  he can play. I'd be lying if I said I
• 6:34
  sat there and I watched Rams preseason games. But the
• 6:37
  injury that you're seeing there was from the preseason game
• 6:40
  against the Chargers when he suffered a knee injury and
• 6:43
  a sprained ankle. But he spoke to us yesterday, it's
• 6:48
  not The designation isn't clear, so I don't want to speculate,
• 6:53
  but if he was talking to us, and I believe he,
• 6:56
  one of the quotes that he said was I'll be
• 6:57
  back soon, or I'll be ready soon, something to that effect,
• 7:01
  suggests that it's not going to be something that should linger.
• 7:04
  But it's obviously important to keep an eye on. And
• 7:07
  that frees up a spot on the fifty three man roster,
• 7:09
  so that's important to keep in mind as the Eagles
• 7:12
  now have some decisions to make and how they're going
• 7:16
  to allocate a resource to fill that spot. Wide receiver
• 7:21
  Javon Baker was brought in today for a visit and so,
• 7:27
  and it's been reported that it's imminent that he signs
• 7:30
  with the practice squad, so keep an eye on that.
• 7:32
  Javon Baker was a fourth round pick of the New
• 7:35
  England Patriots. I do remember watching him when the Eagles
• 7:38
  had their joint practice up in Foxborough last summer for
• 7:41
  the one day and made some nice plays there. Started
• 7:44
  his career at Alabama, finished at UCF. Liked his tape
• 7:48
  during the pre draft process. For whatever reason, they cut
• 7:51
  ties with him early. He played in eleven games last season,
• 7:54
  only one catch for twelve yards. Perhaps a change of
• 7:57
  scenery learning under wide receivers coach Aaron moorehead who Nick
• 8:00
  Sirouni credited heavily for the development of wide.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Receiver Darius Cooper.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Maybe that's all he needs to get back on track
• 8:09
  and start to revive his young career. But that's an
• 8:12
  interesting signing as well. And wide receiver Brendan Rice, son
• 8:16
  of Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice, was also
• 8:19
  in Friday for a workout, and if you may remember,
• 8:23
  if you follow along with my pre draft coverage going
• 8:25
  into the twenty twenty four draft, I reported that he
• 8:29
  was coming in on a thirty visit to Philadelphia, but
• 8:32
  eventually that visit was ultimately canceled, But that does signal
• 8:37
  that there was some pre draft interest there, some familiarity
• 8:40
  with the player. We'll see if anything transpires from there,
• 8:43
  but as of right now, it looks like Javon Baker
• 8:45
  will be next added to the practice squad. We'll keep
• 8:48
  you posted on what that corresponding move might be. Okay,
• 8:54
  let's take a look at the Eagles practice squad because
• 8:57
  there are a number of players that I wanted to
• 9:01
  sort of expand on or give you a little bit
• 9:03
  of background, because one thing I love, one of the
• 9:06
  things that I love about this fan base is that
• 9:08
  I'll get questions about the IPP the international player program player.
• 9:15
  I'll get asked about how they're gonna look at the
• 9:17
  practice squad, who could be elevated. I've gotten questions during
• 9:21
  the fifty three man roster period about Patrick Johnson and
• 9:26
  certain fringe players. I find it fascinating and I respect
• 9:30
  the fact that a lot of folks have questions not
• 9:33
  about always the superstar players, but really everybody from players
• 9:37
  one through seventy. That that is just tremendous dedication and
• 9:42
  devotion to this team. And that's what I look to
• 9:44
  provide for you each and every podcast, with every story
• 9:47
  that I write and all of my reporting. So let's
• 9:51
  look at the practice squad here. Linebacker Chance Campbell was
• 9:54
  a six round pick of the Tennessee Titans back in
• 9:57
  twenty twenty two. He missed the twenty twenty two season
• 10:01
  and the twenty twenty four season. The twenty four season
• 10:03
  he had an ACL injury. But I find it interesting
• 10:07
  that he signed just a couple of days before the
• 10:09
  preseason finale and showcased enough to warrant a spot on
• 10:14
  the practice squad over maybe someone like a Dallas Gan
• 10:16
  or Lance Dixon. Lance Dixon, I mentioned, suffered a knee
• 10:19
  injury in the preseason finale and he hasn't signed anywhere
• 10:25
  as of the recording of this podcast. But Campbell also
• 10:29
  overlapped with Eagles linebackers coach Bobby King in Tennessee, so
• 10:33
  there's some familiarity there. Bobby King knows what chance Campbell's
• 10:37
  all about. I liked I liked him come when he
• 10:40
  was with Maryland, and that was earlier in his college career.
• 10:44
  But he does have some special teams upside, has played
• 10:47
  in some games in the NFL, has three career tackles.
• 10:50
  That is why that signing makes a little bit of sense,
• 10:52
  especially when you look at the rapport or the crossing
• 10:57
  pass with Bobby King, who has all of the intel
• 11:01
  on him, and we look further down Cameron Latu. I
• 11:07
  know that there may be some questions as to why
• 11:09
  the Eagles maybe have five tight ends total. If you're
• 11:13
  looking at the active roster and the practice squad, it's
• 11:16
  a little different to have two tight ends on the
• 11:18
  practice squad, but both EJ. Jenkins and Cameron Latu offer
• 11:21
  something different. So Cameron Latu was sort of buried on
• 11:25
  the depth chart throughout the summer. He was the third
• 11:28
  round pick of the forty nine ers. If you notice
• 11:29
  the theme here, He's fast, he can move, and what
• 11:35
  I'd noticed from him, he was a special team stalwart
• 11:38
  in the preseason. I think he had four tackles four
• 11:41
  combined tackles in the finale.
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: He's a tough kid.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: He had some really nice blocks against Jehad Campbell at
• 11:47
  different points when I was really honing in on the
• 11:49
  blocking aspect of the tight ends, because Jahad Campbell comes
• 11:53
  through like a heat seeking missile. He's incredibly physical, uses
• 11:56
  his hands well and attacks and I thought while most
• 11:59
  tight ends ruggled, including Grant Calcatara and Nick Muse who
• 12:02
  since moved on, I thought Cameron Latsu held his own
• 12:05
  at the point of attack. So that's an interesting player
• 12:08
  and one worth keeping an eye on. He's twenty five
• 12:10
  years old. Believe it or not, he hasn't played in
• 12:12
  an NFL game despite being a third round pick of
• 12:15
  the forty nine ers. But I can understand why the
• 12:17
  Eagles want to continue to see that development through because
• 12:20
  I do think that, granted the sample size was limited,
• 12:23
  he showcased flashes of what he could potentially grow into. Well,
• 12:28
  that's going to do it for this edition of the
• 12:30
  Czech Odaily, just some of my musings that I didn't
• 12:33
  want to leave you guys waiting until Sunday when the
• 12:35
  Eagles hit the practice food again to deliver it to you.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: So hopefully this will tide
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: You over through Labor Day weekend and I will talk
• 12:43
  to everybody on the next podcast.