Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Thoughts On How The Hollywood Brown Signing Helps The Eagles
Transcript
- 0:09Speaker 1: Hey, what's up. Everybody? Welcome in.
- 0:11Speaker 2: This is the check O Daily Andrew decheco here Eagles
- 0:15Speaker 2: Beat reporter Friendsidethebirds dot com, and we have some news.
- 0:18Speaker 2: This is a player that I mentioned when I talked
- 0:21Speaker 2: about my three wide receivers that I thought could be
- 0:25Speaker 2: of interest, would be a good fit for the Phoodelphi Eagles.
- 0:27Speaker 2: Juwan Jennings I mentioned Christian Kirk and the other one
- 0:32Speaker 2: Marquise Hollywood Brown, and the third Marquise Hollywood Brown, agreed
- 0:37Speaker 2: to terms with the Eagles, so one year deal worth
- 0:41Speaker 2: up to six point five million. The totals and figures
- 0:45Speaker 2: there provided by Jordan Schultz who initially reported it. And
- 0:50Speaker 2: this is an interesting signing because I look at what
- 0:52Speaker 2: Hollywood Brown represents, and he is a speed merchant and
- 0:58Speaker 2: he's never really been a volume based wide receiver. And
- 1:01Speaker 2: that's okay because that's not what the Eagles need. They
- 1:04Speaker 2: certainly don't need.
- 1:05Speaker 1: Someone that can handle a lot of volume.
- 1:07Speaker 2: They have enough issues getting the football to their top
- 1:10Speaker 2: receivers to Dallas Goddard consistently. But Hollywood Brown is a
- 1:16Speaker 2: four to three guy, diminutive in stature, five foot nine,
- 1:20Speaker 2: one hundred and eighty pounds, but he's proven over the
- 1:23Speaker 2: course of his career that he can be a complimentary
- 1:26Speaker 2: piece and accent what a team has already. In terms
- 1:30Speaker 2: of skill players, I talked about the vertical element. He's
- 1:34Speaker 2: always going to be a threat to get the football
- 1:36Speaker 2: and test a secondary deep but even when he's not
- 1:40Speaker 2: getting the football, and history would indicate that as a
- 1:44Speaker 2: third receiver in this offense, or.
- 1:46Speaker 1: At least in years past, you're not going.
- 1:48Speaker 2: To see the football all that much, but you have
- 1:51Speaker 2: to respect that speed and he could in theory clear
- 1:54Speaker 2: out opportunities for teammates and he can help with spacing.
- 2:00Speaker 2: So I think there's a lot of benefits here and
- 2:02Speaker 2: he's a good number three. I think he's probably best
- 2:05Speaker 2: suited to play inside. But let's go back because he
- 2:08Speaker 2: was drafted in the first round back in twenty nineteen
- 2:11Speaker 2: of the Baltimore Ravens. His best season occurred in twenty
- 2:15Speaker 2: twenty one, his third year in the NFL. He had
- 2:18Speaker 2: ninety one catches for just over one thousand yards. He's
- 2:22Speaker 2: never went over the thousand yard marks since. But he's
- 2:25Speaker 2: a fine, complimentary player and I think his skill set
- 2:28Speaker 2: actually really accentuates what this offense could do, and it
- 2:35Speaker 2: gives you a different type of dimension.
- 2:37Speaker 1: I'm not one to.
- 2:39Speaker 2: Get you to over sell an addition or a subtraction
- 2:46Speaker 2: without reason, right I mean, but I think on its space,
- 2:51Speaker 2: it's a fine signing. There weren't an abundance of receivers
- 2:54Speaker 2: on the open market that would have given you a
- 2:59Speaker 2: different fast potentially to the offense, and I think Hollywood
- 3:02Speaker 2: Brown will be just behind in doing so. He's not
- 3:05Speaker 2: a volume receiver. He's never really been that aside from
- 3:08Speaker 2: one season but last year with the Kansas City Chiefs,
- 3:13Speaker 2: and he had an interesting tenure with the Kansas City Chiefs,
- 3:16Speaker 2: but he caught forty nine passes for five hundred and
- 3:19Speaker 2: eighty seven yards and five touchdowns. I'm sure that anyone
- 3:23Speaker 2: would sign up for that if he's able to provide
- 3:25Speaker 2: that in Philadelphia. I don't think he's going to have
- 3:27Speaker 2: those opportunities most certainly, but he proved that he can
- 3:32Speaker 2: still factor into an offensive game plan. He can still
- 3:36Speaker 2: be a difference maker, and depending on how you view it,
- 3:40Speaker 2: that would be a difference maker. I think if he
- 3:42Speaker 2: catches twenty five to thirty balls and has that impact
- 3:47Speaker 2: with the speed where it forces defenses to play the
- 3:50Speaker 2: Eagles differently, then the signing's going to be worth it.
- 3:55Speaker 2: But his five hundred and eighty seven receiving yards were
- 3:58Speaker 2: second on the Kansas City Chiefs, behind only tight end
- 4:01Speaker 2: Travis Kelcey. Now the Eagles receiving group is now made
- 4:07Speaker 2: up of aj Brown, DeVante Smith, Hollywood Brown, Johnny Wilson,
- 4:12Speaker 2: Britton Covey, Darius Cooper, Qus Watkins, and Danny Gray. Do
- 4:17Speaker 2: I expect the Eagles to draft the receiver, Yes, I do,
- 4:22Speaker 2: but they don't have to feel compelled to reach. They
- 4:27Speaker 2: sort of draft proof the roster from that position where
- 4:31Speaker 2: you don't go into the draft saying to yourself, Okay,
- 4:34Speaker 2: I have to get a wide receiver. You're okay there
- 4:38Speaker 2: at least right now, depending on what could happen down
- 4:41Speaker 2: the line. But I think they have enough there where
- 4:44Speaker 2: if a player falls to them and the fit is right,
- 4:48Speaker 2: then you make you make the you make the selection.
- 4:51Speaker 1: But right now, I think that the receiving.
- 4:53Speaker 2: Corps needed a veteran depth option in the absence of
- 4:56Speaker 2: Johan Dotson. And I'm not sitting here suggesting that you
- 5:00Speaker 2: Dotson was a prominent player within the offense and that
- 5:04Speaker 2: they couldn't get by without him.
- 5:05Speaker 1: But I just read the names to you.
- 5:08Speaker 2: You take Johan Dotson out of the mix, and let's
- 5:09Speaker 2: say for this instance, you take Hollywood Brown out of
- 5:11Speaker 2: the mix, then you have Darius Cooper, Johnny Wilson, Britain Covey,
- 5:15Speaker 2: Qus Watkins, and Danny Gray. It lacks for experience. And
- 5:20Speaker 2: now you have a player who has played with the
- 5:23Speaker 2: Baltimore Ravens for three seasons. He played for the Arizona
- 5:26Speaker 2: Cardinals for two years. He was actually traded. The Cardinals
- 5:30Speaker 2: traded their first round pick to get him. He was
- 5:33Speaker 2: coming off that big season and they traded the twenty
- 5:36Speaker 2: third overall pick to the Ravens. And they believe the
- 5:39Speaker 2: Ravens sent over Hollywood Brown and a third round pick.
- 5:43Speaker 2: So that tells you about how he was viewed in
- 5:44Speaker 2: the league.
- 5:45Speaker 1: Then a lot's changed.
- 5:46Speaker 2: He did his time with the Cardinals for two years,
- 5:49Speaker 2: and then he spent two years with the Chiefs. His
- 5:52Speaker 2: first season, he injured himself in the preseason, missed most
- 5:56Speaker 2: of the regular season and played in the final two games,
- 6:00Speaker 2: and then they re signed Hywood Brown and he came
- 6:03Speaker 2: back last season and played in sixteen games, started six
- 6:06Speaker 2: So he still is a productive player. He's twenty eight
- 6:10Speaker 2: years old, and I think for the one year of
- 6:14Speaker 2: the one year deal variety, there's some upside here with
- 6:18Speaker 2: this signing. I also want to take a look at
- 6:20Speaker 2: the safety position because and I'll run through the names
- 6:24Speaker 2: of who's currently on the roster, but the Eagles sorely
- 6:27Speaker 2: need a veteran safety to this round out this group,
- 6:31Speaker 2: especially going into the draft. Marcus EPs is still available.
- 6:34Speaker 2: I thought he did a nice job filling in for
- 6:37Speaker 2: Drew mccouba when he suffered the fractured ankle in late
- 6:40Speaker 2: November against the Cowboys, and Marcus Epps is a steady,
- 6:44Speaker 2: consistent player. He doesn't have other worldly athleticism. He doesn't
- 6:48Speaker 2: have a ton of range. He reminds me a little
- 6:50Speaker 2: bit of Reblanket Ship in a way, but he got
- 6:54Speaker 2: to add more athleticism there. But he's really a third safety,
- 6:57Speaker 2: and I think that's really what they need, assuming that
- 7:00Speaker 2: identify who they want to start next to Micuba in
- 7:05Speaker 2: the draft. Unless you see a temporary placeholder and free agency,
- 7:09Speaker 2: I thought Geno Stone would have been a nice fit,
- 7:11Speaker 2: but he signed elsewhere. Marcus Heps would make a lot
- 7:14Speaker 2: of sense to get a one year deal in place,
- 7:17Speaker 2: not going to cost a ton. He knows the system,
- 7:20Speaker 2: He's played well in this city before. Bring him in,
- 7:23Speaker 2: and then he would add to in theory that group
- 7:26Speaker 2: of Drew mccuba, Sydney Brown, Andre Sam and I want
- 7:32Speaker 2: to break that group down a little bit because Macuba,
- 7:35Speaker 2: I thought had a solid rookie season. It didn't start
- 7:39Speaker 2: out particularly smooth, but he settled in. I think he
- 7:43Speaker 2: got more comfortable. He saw him flying around. He was
- 7:46Speaker 2: more confident and sure of what his assignments were. That
- 7:49Speaker 2: was apparent to the eye. And then talking to him
- 7:52Speaker 2: throughout the season, it was very apparent to me that
- 7:56Speaker 2: he was starting to come into his own. That's a
- 7:58Speaker 2: tough position, certainly in a Vic Fangio defense. And late
- 8:01Speaker 2: in the year it was unfortunate that he got hurt
- 8:04Speaker 2: because it impeded his progress because I thought that he
- 8:08Speaker 2: was really starting to come on. He had two interceptions
- 8:10Speaker 2: last year. He's a rangy guy, and going into this season,
- 8:14Speaker 2: he is likely going to be the Eagles' top safety.
- 8:17Speaker 2: So get to know Drew mccouba and go back and
- 8:19Speaker 2: watch his tape because you're likely to see a lot
- 8:23Speaker 2: of what I was just saying that he really improved
- 8:26Speaker 2: throughout the season, and then we go to Sidney Brown.
- 8:29Speaker 2: Sidney Brown is a special teams player primarily, he's a
- 8:33Speaker 2: box safety by trade, but he is really utilized only
- 8:37Speaker 2: on special teams. He got a chance to start initially
- 8:41Speaker 2: when Macouba got hurt, didn't perform particularly well in that game,
- 8:46Speaker 2: and I just think he leaves a lot to be
- 8:48Speaker 2: desired from a discipline standpoint. He's not always fundamentally sound.
- 8:52Speaker 2: He's kind of a wildcard out there. And what have
- 8:54Speaker 2: we learned about what it takes to be a safety
- 8:57Speaker 2: in a Vic Fangio defense. You have to be fundamentally
- 9:00Speaker 2: you have to know your assignment. You can't play one
- 9:02Speaker 2: hundred miles an hour because there's a considerable amount of
- 9:05Speaker 2: responsibility placed on your shoulder. So if you break down,
- 9:08Speaker 2: if there's a lapse in judgment, a lapse in coverage
- 9:11Speaker 2: or decision making, the play is likely to be it's
- 9:16Speaker 2: likely to be a lead to a busted coverage. And
- 9:17Speaker 2: that happened to Makooba earlier in the season, but that
- 9:20Speaker 2: started to get eliminated as he got more comfortable and
- 9:24Speaker 2: sort of acclimated to a pretty challenging defense.
- 9:27Speaker 1: From that position, So Sidney.
- 9:30Speaker 2: Brown, I don't necessarily think that under Vic Fangio he's
- 9:34Speaker 2: going to factor into the safety conversation as a starter
- 9:38Speaker 2: or even someone who can be that third safety and
- 9:40Speaker 2: play sporadically. I think he's best to you to be
- 9:43Speaker 2: a special teamer and as a third round pick. That's
- 9:46Speaker 2: tough to digest, but that's the that's what we have
- 9:50Speaker 2: to go off of.
- 9:51Speaker 1: We've seen enough of Sidney.
- 9:53Speaker 2: Brown, and we've learned enough about Sidney Brown over the
- 9:56Speaker 2: last couple of really three seasons, that it it's hard
- 10:00Speaker 2: to see the fit within this defense. Andre sam is
- 10:04Speaker 2: a player who the Eagles like, but I'm not so
- 10:07Speaker 2: sure that they view him as anything more than a
- 10:10Speaker 2: practice squad safety who can be elevated and give you
- 10:13Speaker 2: competence snaps if needed. Those type of players are valuable
- 10:19Speaker 2: to have around. I think that he has proven to
- 10:22Speaker 2: be a better safety, a more reliable safety than Sydney Brown.
- 10:26Speaker 1: That's just my two cents.
- 10:28Speaker 2: I think he deserved to be on the fifty three
- 10:29Speaker 2: man roster last season, and I know from talking to
- 10:32Speaker 2: Andre that he's made a lot of strides in his
- 10:35Speaker 2: game and he looks at every opportunity and with the
- 10:38Speaker 2: mindset of seizing it and he got to get into
- 10:43Speaker 2: three games last season. He was elevated and we'll see
- 10:46Speaker 2: what happens this summer. He's twenty seven years old. As
- 10:49Speaker 2: I mentioned, he played in three games last year, won
- 10:52Speaker 2: as a rookie against the Panthers, mostly on special teams.
- 10:56Speaker 1: They also have.
- 10:57Speaker 2: Brandon Johnson, who, if you remember, in that final game
- 11:01Speaker 2: of the season, he started at safety. He was playing,
- 11:05Speaker 2: he almost had an interception, and then he suffered an
- 11:07Speaker 2: ankle injury early in that game, forcing Michael Carter to
- 11:10Speaker 2: go back there. And Michael Carter played, as he told
- 11:14Speaker 2: me after the game, the most safety reps that he's played,
- 11:17Speaker 2: I think he said since high school. So and then
- 11:21Speaker 2: Michael Carter's interesting because he's a hybrid defensive back. I
- 11:28Speaker 2: thought that while he has Nickel appeal and that's really
- 11:32Speaker 2: what he's done in his career, he can play safety.
- 11:35Speaker 2: He played safety at Duke, hasn't played it all that
- 11:38Speaker 2: much in the NFL, But I think he puts some
- 11:40Speaker 2: quality things on tape in that finale that maybe, if
- 11:43Speaker 2: you're the Eagles, you're giving that some thought as to
- 11:46Speaker 2: maybe we can really cross train this guy and view
- 11:49Speaker 2: him more as a safety, so it balances out the
- 11:52Speaker 2: room a little bit more. I like Michael Carter. I've
- 11:54Speaker 2: had some really good conversations with him. Smart guy played
- 11:58Speaker 2: at a high level. When he was with the Jets
- 12:00Speaker 2: as a nickel corner, his play sort of tailed off
- 12:02Speaker 2: a little bit, but I think that that is someone
- 12:05Speaker 2: who is a sharp mind and he can tackle.
- 12:08Speaker 1: Well. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but
- 12:11Speaker 1: clearly the.
- 12:12Speaker 2: Eagles wanted to give him a longer look, and he'll
- 12:14Speaker 2: be in training camp and they traded for him at
- 12:16Speaker 2: the trade deadline. They renegotiated his deal, so he may
- 12:20Speaker 2: be someone who finds his way into the safety mix
- 12:22Speaker 2: as well.
- 12:23Speaker 1: What capacity, Well, we're gonna find all that out.
- 12:25Speaker 2: But then Brandon Johnson, he's also a nickel corner by trade.
- 12:29Speaker 2: He can play outside, but he's really an inside guy.
- 12:32Speaker 2: And then he's proven and he really started to learn
- 12:35Speaker 2: this during the season that he was sort of cross
- 12:38Speaker 2: training at safety, and I think having that versatility is intriguing.
- 12:42Speaker 2: I'm not saying that he's going to be a starter,
- 12:43Speaker 2: but if you're looking for sort of a dark horse
- 12:45Speaker 2: back of the roster guy or someone to follow through
- 12:48Speaker 2: Rotier's in training camp. My pick right now for you
- 12:51Speaker 2: would be Brandon Johnson.
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- 15:13Speaker 2: There's obviously room to improve that safety group, and I
- 15:17Speaker 2: believe the Eagles will. It's only mid March right now,
- 15:21Speaker 2: There's a long way to go.
- 15:22Speaker 1: It's a marathon.
- 15:23Speaker 2: I know that there are some that want to see
- 15:25Speaker 2: moves made instantaneously. That's not how this works. But I
- 15:29Speaker 2: get the urgency. But best believe that Howie Roseman isn't
- 15:33Speaker 2: going into a season without a plan. It's just a
- 15:35Speaker 2: matter of trying to identify what that plan can be,
- 15:39Speaker 2: and then when it's enacted, how the pieces may fall
- 15:42Speaker 2: into place and how the fit might be. But he'll
- 15:45Speaker 2: have a plan, just as I like to say, just relax,
- 15:48Speaker 2: stay patient, and understand that Drew mccooba has a lot
- 15:52Speaker 2: of really good football ahead of him.
- 15:54Speaker 1: He can be that top safety.
- 15:55Speaker 2: And then I believe that in the modern era, you
- 15:58Speaker 2: need to get a little bit more athletic back there anyway,
- 16:01Speaker 2: which I've mentioned when I was talking about reblanket ship.
- 16:04Speaker 2: Macouba's athletic, he covers a ton of ground. I would
- 16:08Speaker 2: like to see the Eagles, especially in this defense, add
- 16:12Speaker 2: a safety with more versatility, because I think that will
- 16:14Speaker 2: help the defense play a lot more cohesively and give
- 16:18Speaker 2: vic Fangio more optionality. And I'm someone who likes to
- 16:21Speaker 2: really hone in on the details and just the overall
- 16:24Speaker 2: schematics of a vic Fangio defense, So selfishly, I'd like
- 16:28Speaker 2: to see a more rangey safety to pair with mcuba
- 16:31Speaker 2: to see what this defense can look like, because there
- 16:35Speaker 2: is a lot of possibilities in terms of what they're
- 16:38Speaker 2: able to accomplish if you get.
- 16:40Speaker 1: Somebody like that in there on the back end.
- 16:42Speaker 2: But that's the position right now that's being talked about
- 16:45Speaker 2: a lot, and rightfully, so they're really lean there and
- 16:47Speaker 2: I kind of wanted to give you an overview of
- 16:49Speaker 2: that group right now, and I still think that if
- 16:53Speaker 2: you're looking towards the draft, Emmanuel McNeil Warren out of Toledo,
- 16:58Speaker 2: six foot four, He's somebody that I would attention to.
- 17:02Speaker 2: ZAKEI Wheatley from Penn State. They have their pro day
- 17:05Speaker 2: on Wednesday. I'll be monitoring that and trying to check
- 17:09Speaker 2: around and seeing if the Eagles are in attendance. I
- 17:12Speaker 2: like his game quite a bit. There's Bud Clark from TCU.
- 17:15Speaker 2: He's a talker on the field. He kind of reminds
- 17:17Speaker 2: me a little bit of CJ. Gardner Johnson hearing him
- 17:19Speaker 2: talk at the podium at the NFL Scouting Combine. So
- 17:23Speaker 2: there's names out there, and there's a lot of different
- 17:26Speaker 2: fits that would be appealing I would imagine for the Eagles,
- 17:29Speaker 2: and you know, the free agent well hasn't dried up
- 17:33Speaker 2: quite yet.
- 17:33Speaker 1: They can find a veteran.
- 17:34Speaker 2: I think they need to add a veteran to this
- 17:36Speaker 2: group because they're really young and inexperienced. So I think
- 17:39Speaker 2: the most logical course of action for me would be
- 17:42Speaker 2: to bring back Marcus EPs, who knows the system and
- 17:45Speaker 2: you know that he can.
- 17:45Speaker 1: Play competently if need be. But for now, that's going
- 17:49Speaker 1: to do it.
- 17:49Speaker 2: For this edition of the Czech Odaily, I'm Andrew Decheco
- 17:53Speaker 2: and I'll catch you all on the next one. O