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Yes, We Have Concerns With The Eagles (PST Episode 566) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:00
Hey there, everybody, it's Jeff. I wanted to let you know that
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we recorded this podcast episode on Wednesday, May fifteenth, twenty twenty four,
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so by the time you hear this, some things may have changed here or
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there, but we hope you enjoy the show. All right, folks,
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you're listening to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly
0:56
sports podcast show in the world. That's right eleven years strong that we've been
1:00
doing this podcast. We have got a very very good, yet abbreviated show
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coming your way this week where we've got a lot of Eagles talk. We've
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got our good friend of the podcast, Chris Diebler from the Party on Broad
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podcast and Birds of the Roundtable podcast. He's going to be joining us for
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a discussion about some Eagles off season storylines that we have been following, and
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some storylines also with what's going on in the NFC East as well. I
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do want to say that we do have an abbreviated show. As I just
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briefly stated, Eric was supposed to be on keeping Eric and his family in
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our thoughts. Let's send some positive energy their way, folks. They had
1:38
a personal matter that came up. Eric was going to be on to talk
1:42
about a new top three list. We were going to get into some listener
1:45
feedback. We're going to be talking about the NBA and what the Sixers may
1:49
end up doing with the draft. We're also going to get into some NFL
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quarterback talk as well, after Jared Goff signed a recent four year deal,
1:57
but again, emergency situation came up with Eric and his family and wishing him
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and the folks in his household the very very best. So an abbreviated show
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this week, Like I said, Chris Diebler from the Party on Broad podcast
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coming on in just a second here to really talk about this Philadelphia Eagles team,
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the offseason and some storylines that we have been following. Look, I
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think a lot of us are thinking about this Eagles team here in this offseason,
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and we're really excited, and for good reason. It's been a pretty
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good offseason, right, It's been a fun offseason, whether it was the
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draft or whether it was free agency. And this team looks really really good
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on paper. This team looks really good on paper, and I know Chris
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and I are going to get into it in just a little bit here,
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but I'm wondering as Eagles fans heading into this season training camp. I mean,
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we haven't even talked about what we may even see in training camp at
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this point, but I wonder if we need to temper our expectations about what
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this Eagles team can do. The schedule was just released this past week,
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and I know it's a huge event in the NFL with a lot of teams.
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Honestly, we never get into the schedule release. I think folks who
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have been on are following this podcast for as many years as you have long
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term, longtime listeners, you know, we just don't get into the schedule
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very much because at the end of the day, it never works out how
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we think it's gonna work out. It just doesn't when we're in this off
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season year after year after year. So we're not gonna get into the schedule,
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and I'm not going to get into the schedule with deeps coming up here.
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But what we do want to talk about are some of those concerns with
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this team. There are concerns with the Eagles when it comes to the offense.
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There are concerns when it comes to the defense as well. In maybe
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some areas that we've kind of taken for granted over the years. So let's
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get to the conversation with Chris Diebler right now. But first we are going
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to need to take a break. I know. Just listen to the ads,
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folks, It helps us out here. Just listen to them. Don't
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don't don't don't fast forward them. Okay, So we're gonna take a quick
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break here and I'm gonna be back with Chris Diebler in just a minute.
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Let's do the break right now. If you listen to the ads right there,
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thank you very much. I very much appreciate it. We appreciate it
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here at the PST Podcast Show. But let's get into some eagle storylines here.
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We've got a great conversation again with Chris Diebler from the Party on Broad
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podcasts and Birds of the Round Table podcast. Let's do it right now.
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It's what we're throwing down on the table and now on the table. You
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know him on Twitter as mister Crockpot coming to us from Party on Broad,
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that great podcast as well as Birds of the Round Table. He is again
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on Twitter slash x mister Crockpot. It is great to have him back on
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the podcast. Mister Chris Diebler, deeps buddy, how you doing, man,
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I'm doing well. Man. This is like my third time on this
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show. I'm psyched to be back. It's great to have you back because
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I really wanted to get into this Eagle off season with somebody who's got a
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lot of knowledge, a lot of passion about this Philadelphia Eagles team and this
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organization. And you're the perfect individual. You're the perfect individual to get this
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conversation going here this week. And I've been doing a lot of reflection with
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regard to this offseason Deeps, and I think you know, when we look
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at this Eagles organization and team, what they did in free agency, in
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the draft, I mean, this has been at least the fields and the
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vibes that I think a lot of us are getting. It's been a successful
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offseason in a number of ways, and it leaves us fans thinking that this
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team is going to be able to achieve some really promising playoff status. If
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I could say that, I'm wondering, how do you think we should be
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looking at this upcoming Eagles season from a more like macro perspective in terms of
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these expectations that we have because of how great this offseason has been, and
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what do you think the logical results might be. I know a lot of
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folks in Eagles Nation aren't too logical at times, but what do you think
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the logical results might be from this pretty amazing offseason, the offseason that we've
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Yeah, this question is a good one because I hate to go political on
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this, but from a big picture perspective, we've been there before, and
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I think it's justified to be fifty to fifty. I think the reality check
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Eagles fans have to have is the proof needs to be in the pudding.
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We've been champions on paper before. We've given Howie's recent drafts a plus is
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in the past, but at the end of the day, man, and
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at some point we have to see the results on the field. I think
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expectations for this season truly start and end with Jalen Hurts, and which Jalen
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Hurts we see in twenty twenty four. Built around Kellen Moore's offense. We
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all know how bad it was last year second in average DAFT per target twenty
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six in time to throw. The progress we need to see from Jalen Hurts
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this season revolves around a few kyaokey areas. Number One, seeing the middle
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of the field simply Hurts to not throw them in to the middle of the
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field. Last year. That needs change. It was eleven percent last year,
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down from seventeen percent in twenty twenty two. He and Hurts has to
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be a bigger rushing threat. You look at the numbers, he only had
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two rushes of twenty yards or more. I know he was hurt, but
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getting Hurts more involved in the offense, utilizing his legs, getting defenses back
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the second guessing is everything. And of course the turnovers. You know,
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we forced the ball into too many tight coverages. So there's a lot on
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deck that I need to see Jalen Hurts recover and bounce back from. All
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in all, I think it's very realistic to see Hurts return to foreman twenty
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twenty four. But currently I'm in waiting see mode because every time, yeah,
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we praise and praise and praise the offseason, I'm forced, you know,
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to kind of take a step back and look at the big picture.
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I'm excited, don't get me wrong, but let's see it. HA been
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in September. Yeah, I think I think that's a really good way to
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put it, because you look on paper at what this Eagles organization has done
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and like you said, it's like a plus and it happens year after year
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after year. It's like, all right, the right moves are being made
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here, but when you know, when the rubber meets the road, we
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haven't always seen it come to fruition that success that we think is going to
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happen season by season. Again based on the results that you're talking about,
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and as we move along with the discussion and talking about the offense in particular,
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and you mentioned an individual and new coach, new personnel and Kellen Moore,
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I'm going to be very interested to see how his relationships manifest because the
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one thing we've been talking a lot about on this podcast platform over the years
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is how coaches and players' relationships really matter to the point where productivity happens on
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the field. And with Kellen Moore, he has promised that changes to the
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Eagles offense of approach is coming this season. And while they seem like the
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team's going to be using probably a lot more or maybe the same amount of
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eleven personnel as their go to package, I'm wondering what kind of changes we're
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gonna end up seeing from a schematic and play calling standpoint from Kellen Moore,
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and not just how that play calling and scheme mesh with what happens on the
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field, but the player's personalities too in those relationships. So I'm wondering your
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thoughts. You know, what do you think we're gonna end up seeing from
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a play calling standpoint, A schematic standpoint from Kellen Moore. Here, this
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is where it gets really exciting. This is what I cannot wait to see
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come OTAs and training camp. But not to get too heavy into it,
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but I'm excited for the creativity. If you watch the Eagles offense last year,
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you're probably bored to death. The Eagles never did anything and never did
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anything unique. Even when nothing was working, they seemingly, you know,
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refuse to adjust to the blitz. It was mind numbing at times. Even
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if they had a jet sweep deeps it was boring. A jet sweeper boring.
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Yeah, but Kellen Moore is absolutely that dude that should take this offense
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to the next level. We're going to see receivers utilized in the run game.
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We're finally going to see an offense that gets guys like DeVante Smith into
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motion, get him into open space. Kellen Moore is a guy that,
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unlike previous offenses, is going to want to stretch defenses horizontally. He's gonna
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utilize a lot of twenty one personnel. We're gonna get a lot of two
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running backs on the field, one tight end, two wide receivers. We're
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going to see you know, that second running back kind of utilized as an
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extra blocker in the run game or as a release have receiver. We're going
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to see, you know, more toss plays I think with running backs to
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kind of get defenses going side to side. And more importantly, we're going
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to see Jalen Hurts under center more this year, which we didn't see a
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lot of last season. And you know that doesn't mean Moore isn't going to
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be aggressive. I think Kellen Moore is a guy that utilizes this horizontal approach
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to kind of set up shots downfield. All signs pointing to aj Brown being
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an amazing fit for this, But there are some concerns when it comes to
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changing to a Kellen Moore system that I don't think people talk about enough.
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You know, the obvious one is this is going to be the first time
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in a while that this change in scheme for all these kind of offensive players,
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most notably the O line. The offensive line is going to have to
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kind of shift their thinking to running more outside zone. The receivers we're going
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to see kind of be asked to run more concepts based on timing, not
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just isolation down the field type of plays. And I think lastly is going
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to be a really big test for Jalen Hurts. You know, Kellen Moore
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is going to ask a lot from Jalen Hurts to do a lot of different
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things, some things that might be out of his comfort zone. He hasn't
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been under center in a long time. He hasn't been asked to kind of
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turn his back to the defense on play action. He hasn't shown that he
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can run an offense yet that really focuses on hot routes when the defense blitzes.
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So it's gonna be a lot fun to kind of watch this whole thing
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develop. I think it makes some really good points there. And as we
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were talking about earlier, even though we feel confident, we're excited to see
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what the season brings. I mean, it's not all lollipops and rainbows here.
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I mean, I think one of the more underlying concerns and even storylines
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coming into this season. Deeps from an offensive perspective for me, is actually
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the offensive line. I mean yes, I mean there's some really really good
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talent there. There has been some good talent on this offensive line to protect
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and protect Jalen Hurts, open up some holes for Saquon Barkley. But the
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reality is there will be two positions on that offensive line getting two new starters.
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And of course we all have trust in Jeff Staltlin based on how he's
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coached this offensive line over the years. But I wonder if you have some
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of those concerns with a brand new center, a brand new right guard coming
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into this season. So I mean, I have to say on my concernometer,
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honestly, I'm around like a five when it comes to the offensive line
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and how things are gonna mesh with them losing Jason Kelsey, the uncertainty of
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the right guard position. What are your thoughts, your deems? Yeah,
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it's a great question, and I think five is totally justified. I think,
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just as I said earlier, we're going to see more under center,
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a more under center run game this year, which might takeaways a little bit
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of Jalen Hurts his mobility, you know, I include him in the rushing
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attack with this offensive line, and how this clashes with Jeff Stoutlin and how
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it impacts the Eagles offensive run game positively or negatively, will be a lot
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of fun to watch. But when you get to the O line, I
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think this really boils down to in Jeff Stoutland. I trust the Eagles have
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been the gold standard for the past several seasons due to that continuity that you
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just alluded to. And for the first time, man, we're gonna really
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see this Eagles level of talent tested. And you talk about Cam Jurgens at
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center, Tyler Stein at right guard. Cam Jurgens specifically, I don't think
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was that great last year. He allowed twenty two pressures on three hundred and
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eighty three pass blocking snaps. He missed some time with injury. I thought
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he struggled in past protection as the season progressed. Tyler Steen, he's an
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uber athlete. He's gonna get a shot. He's gonna be the first one
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out there. But you gotta be honest, like, at least on paper,
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he's a downgrade from Jurgens at right guard. Dudes in experience only seventy
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one snaps last year, so the jury is out on that one. Currently.
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I'm a little less worried about Cam Jurgens because center is his natural position.
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He was literally recruited from Jason Kelsey the Goat, and you know,
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when it comes to his athleticism and ability to get to the second level,
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I think Jurgons will hold up fine. But how me specifically, how Jeff
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Stoutlin and how quickly Jeff Staltlin coaches up Tyler Stein at right guard is going
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to be, without a doubt, one of the bigger storylines this training camp,
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and guys like Trevor Keegan and maybe even McKai Becton could be all in
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play for that right guard position. It's going to be a great battle to
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watch. It'll be a great battle to watch in training camp for sure.
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And again, folks, we are talking to Chris Deebler Deebs from The Party
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on Broad podcasts, Birds of the Round Table podcast as well at mister Crockpott
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on Twitter slash x. Give them a follow. He's a great, great
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follow, always great content coming from Chris. Now, Chris, I want
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to shift directions here and talk about the defense because defensively, this front office
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and Howie Roseman did what it needed to do this offseason by making changes to
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the secondary, and rightfully so, after they were consistently the Achilles heel last
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season for this entire team. But I do have some concern about the defensive
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line too. I mean, look, there's a lot of unknowns I think
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about the defensive line, a unit that's been a priority for the Philadelphia Eagles
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over so many years. I mean, certain players are getting old, Brandon
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Graham, certain players haven't been on the field very much, Nolan Smith,
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certain players dramatically dropped in their production last year as the season war on,
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Josh Sweat, Jordan Davis. Again, I'm around like a five ish on
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my concernometer here for the defensive line. What are your thoughts here in terms
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of any concerns you may have for the defensive line. Just to be clear,
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the higher you are on this Concerno meter means you're more concerned. Correct,
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that is correct? Yes, I'm about eight. I'm about night about
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an eight, all right? Yeah, And you know, let's be real
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here. It is May fifteen, and we're not even remotely close to the
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started training yep. So that's a key variable there. But yeah, the
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defensive line took a major steps backwards last year. The defense was a complete
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mess. The Eagles in five man fronts was absolutely got offul to watch.
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He saw opposing offenses pick it apart. They would throw a receiver in motion
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across the formation, force the Eagles to drop edge rushers into coverage Man Hassan
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Reddick, Josh Sweat just it was really difficult to watch Yees secret fans and
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hopefully you know Vic Fangeo, our new defensive cordinator, throws those five man
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fronts out the window for a new playbook in twenty twenty four. And to
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be real, like when you look at the drafting of Jalx Hunt, who
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I think is a fun prospect. I think he's got a lot of intriguing
17:37
upside and tools, but he's a former safety and you can kind of fill
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that role and it reminds me really really quick deeps Like I was talking to
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our friend Oj Spivey from the Philadelphia Tribune about this and I said, it
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kind of reminds me of the Davian Taylor pick a little bit, a guy
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with tremendous upside and ceiling just incredibly athletic, but never really had like you
18:00
were saying he was a safety, never really had that place on the defense
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where he was able to really hone in on his skill perfect it to the
18:07
best of his ability. He's going to be a project, and I don't
18:11
necessarily care for projects in this day and age, especially with his Eagles team
18:15
that wants to contend for a championship. Yeah, he needs to be coached
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up, no doubt about it. Yeah, but it was a reach.
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It is what it is. But I think the real concern with this defensive
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line is the depth. You know, we all saw Jordan Davis and Jalen
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Carter's production take a major hit during the second half of last year. You
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know, right now, I think they're counting on Milton Williams to really take
18:42
a major step forward. I think Gabe Hall is another undrafted rookie that has
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upside. He has tools like Jaylexan and needs to get coached up. But
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man, I would not be surprised to see the Eagles at at least one
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guy to this defensive line rotation an interior on the edge before training camp,
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before during training camp, after training camp, before the season starts, because
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they I mean, look, even Milton Williams is a guy that could have
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a breakout year, and guess what, he's probably not going to be a
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Philadelphia Eagle in a year's time. I don't know if they will be able
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to afford him. So if we look at the biggest needs, I know,
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like from a big, big perspective, that's definitely a need for the
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Eagles defensive line. So I'm not ane. All right, well, I
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think that you know what, you may have bumped me up there. I'm
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right around maybe I'm around a seven right now, so you know. Moving
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over to the NFC East, I wanted a couple more topics to get into
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before I let you go here. I wanted to talk about the Dallas Cowboys.
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This team is absolutely intriguing to me, and not in a good way
19:55
necessarily, and I guess I would say for their fan base as well,
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at how they look coming into this season, the vibes that were getting from
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them, I mean, year after year, they seem to be a very
20:06
poorly run organization anymore. It's at the point here in twenty twenty four,
20:11
Dak Prescott's price tag keeps getting more and more expensive. They have a franchise
20:17
quarterback. There they do, and they're screwing around with it. I mean
20:19
they have completely mishandled the situation with Dak Prescott in my opinion, so deems
20:26
objectively, how should we be looking at the Dallas Cowboys heading into this season?
20:32
Love to see it, but yeah, offensively it doesn't look good man,
20:36
No when just speaking offensively, because we can stop start that countdown clock
20:44
till Parsons is a Phoadelphia Eagle. But anyway you look at from an explosive
20:49
play standpoint and that offensive line, that's those are two key areas, you
20:55
know. And twenty twenty three, the Cowboys were tied for the ninth worst
21:00
in the NFL with just seven plays of forty yards or more. In the
21:04
passing game, they only had one rush of over forty yards. And when
21:10
you look at the Cowboys heading into twenty twenty four, it could get a
21:14
lot worse. You know, they had significant losses on the offensive side of
21:18
the ball, Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadas, Tony Pollard, and they replaced
21:23
two of those three in the draft with a guy and Tyler Geydon and Cooper
21:29
BB. But the loss of Tony Pollard as their main weapon, a guy
21:33
that I wanted quite frankly the Leagles to look at. His efficiency two years
21:38
ago was among the tops in the league. I think he's underrated and he's
21:44
going to be missed. You know. It was a down year for Pollard
21:45
last year with the Cowboys, but he did account for eight plays of twenty
21:49
yards or more last year. The return of Ezekiel Elliott does nothing for me,
21:53
does not move the needle whatsoever. I'm not buying the stock of who's
22:00
fawn on that offensive line. Terrence steel Man one of the most cooked right
22:04
tackles in the league last year. Yep is he's horrible. He's stunk,
22:11
He's stunk it up. And they lost Zack Martin, who was elite,
22:15
so for the first time in a while, just kind of like the Eels,
22:19
but not as bad. You know, the Dallas Cowboys offensive line looks
22:23
almost like bottom tier of the league, which feels weird saying because that's something
22:30
that they've always been able to rely on. So they're hurting. Absolutely are
22:36
all right. Well to close us out here, Deebs, sticking with some
22:38
NFC East talk here. I really think the Commanders are an interesting organization and
22:44
one that could potentially surprise us this year. Yeah, new leadership, new
22:48
coaching, lots of new talent. How should we be looking at this Commander's
22:52
team here in twenty twenty four to close us out here? Yeah, I
22:56
think they look interesting. Maybe not so much for a twenty twenty five,
23:00
but absolutely down the road for the long term. Yep, they got their
23:03
guy, Jayden Daniels. I actually think they made the wrong pick there.
23:07
I had Drake may rated higher than Daniels, but he's a solid quarterback prospect.
23:11
There is a right no doubt about that. I think the Commander has
23:15
had a sneaky good draft and improved in a lot of areas. You know,
23:18
Johnny Newton is a great pass rusher on the interior. Mike Samerustill is
23:22
one of the best athletes in this draft as a slot corner. You watched
23:26
that Michigan defense which was absolutely loaded last year, and Mike samerstill one of
23:32
my favorite players in the draft, was consistently making plays. That dude is
23:37
a ballhawk. Ben Sinnett is another guy that I really liked that tight end.
23:41
I think those are all guys that I'm really excited to watch as we
23:47
get ready for the schedule release and when we're gonna be facing the Commanders.
23:51
But there are some big question marks for the Washington Commanders left tackle. They
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brought in Brandon Holman, who I think a third or fourth round pick,
24:03
who I think they expect to kind of have that job, so that is
24:07
a major concern. They also still have some major question marks in the secondary.
24:11
We all remember the Eagles absolutely torching Emmanuel Forbes their first round pick two
24:18
years ago. I don't really like their depth at wide receiver either. Johan
24:22
Dotson's expected to make a significant leap in twenty twenty four, might be one
24:27
of the breakout store breakout stars in the league, So if you're a fantasy
24:33
football owner, definitely watch out for that guy. But I seen them around
24:36
six to seven wins next year. I'm not fully buying the kool aid,
24:40
but I do think unfortunately they're heading in the right direction. They are they
24:44
are for sure again, folks. Chris Diebler. You can hear him and
24:48
his co hosts on The Party on Broad podcast also Birds of the Round Table
24:52
as well. Search them out on x slash Twitter at mister krock Pott.
24:57
He's a great great follow Chris buddy, thank you so much for taking the
25:00
time to join us here on the show this week. I'd love to have
25:03
you back on down the road, my friend, you know it, just
25:06
name it, I'll be there. Thanks for having me on and that's going
25:10
to do it for us this week. Make sure to share the Philadelphia Sports
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