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The DiCecco Daily/Positional Preview Series: Experienced, Diverse Cast Of TEs To Duke It Out · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's happened to everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into this edition of the Czech o'daly. I, of
• 0:12
  course am Andrew de Checo. Hope everyone's enjoying the position
• 0:17
  preview series on Inside the Birds. I'm enjoying writing about
• 0:20
  it and I'm enjoying talking about it with you all.
• 0:23
  And today, as promised, we're going to talk about the
• 0:25
  tight end group, a group that is extremely diverse, and
• 0:29
  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how all of
• 0:31
  these different pieces fit into the equation. Because you have
• 0:34
  experienced veterans, you have free agent editions. You also have
• 0:38
  some young players that I think are pretty exciting. So
• 0:42
  let's kind of break this all down. We're going to
• 0:44
  start with the headliner, and that's Dallas Goddard. Now, Dallas
• 0:49
  Goddard has an ability to really transform this offense. And
• 0:54
  what do I mean by that, Well, he has the
• 0:56
  vertical element. Of course, he's also very effective after the catch,
• 1:00
  and I think that he has been underutilized in the
• 1:02
  red zone. So while there may not be more volume,
• 1:06
  perhaps because there's only one football, the passing game does
• 1:09
  run through Dallas Gotter being one of those players AJ
• 1:12
  and Davante.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: But I think that you can.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: Get a little bit more creative in how you utilize
• 1:16
  Dallas Goddter because he does have that rapport with Jaywen Hurts.
• 1:20
  He is somebody that I think when you get him
• 1:22
  going early, that type of juice tends to radiate throughout
• 1:25
  the Eagles sideline. So I think that he's going to
• 1:29
  have another big season if healthy, and he has these
• 1:33
  dynamic qualities that I think the Eagles may look to
• 1:35
  exploit under new offensive coordinator Kevin Botulo. He's also the
• 1:39
  Eagle's best blocking tight end. Just a very well rounded
• 1:42
  player that I think is one of the players who's
• 1:44
  going to benefit most with this new offense. Grant Calcata,
• 1:51
  it has been a great story of development and he
• 1:53
  enters this summer entrenched at the number two tight end position.
• 1:58
  He's a pass catching tight end, he has some wiggle
• 2:02
  to his game. He's a good route runner. He doesn't
• 2:04
  give you much as a blocker, but he is willing.
• 2:08
  He's a willing blocker. But I think that that's an
• 2:10
  area that he's continually gotten better at, and it's not
• 2:12
  for lack of effort or trying. He definitely has made
• 2:16
  notable strides in sort of refining that area of his game,
• 2:19
  but it's far from a strong suit, I would say,
• 2:23
  But I think when you look at what he brings
• 2:25
  in terms of the pass catching element, and he had
• 2:28
  career highs last season with two hundred and ninety eight
• 2:31
  receiving yards twenty four catches. He scored his first touchdown
• 2:35
  in that twenty two to sixteen win over the Panthers.
• 2:37
  He just keeps getting better and for a six round pick, again,
• 2:41
  great story of development. I also think that it's worth
• 2:44
  talking about that he does have the trust and confidence
• 2:47
  of Jayalen Hurts. So that's a player that kind of
• 2:50
  to me feels entrenched at that number two spot. And
• 2:54
  the question that I had beyond that is are the
• 2:57
  players that are sort of beyond them on the depth chart,
• 3:00
  are they vying for a role that may or may
• 3:02
  not even exist. Well, it's something to think about because
• 3:06
  last season the Eagles had a lot of success elevating
• 3:10
  tight ends from the practice squad and then eventually signing
• 3:13
  that player that was e. J. Jenkins last season, but Harrison,
• 3:17
  they signed a pair of frie agent tight ends. The
• 3:19
  first one is Harrison Bryant. He's interesting because he's athletic,
• 3:24
  he had some experience. He played in seventy eight games
• 3:26
  thirty three stars during his time with the Browns and
• 3:28
  the Raiders. He was a twenty twenty fourth round pick,
• 3:32
  and he has eight hundred and seventy seven yards and
• 3:34
  ten touchdowns on ninety eight catches over that span. I
• 3:39
  liked his ability to move. I like his ability to
• 3:41
  kind of work the intermediate levels.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Of the field.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: He has a really good feel, at least from what
• 3:45
  we've seen in the three media attended practices this spring,
• 3:49
  for where to find those soft spots, and he does
• 3:53
  offer that fluidity and range as a receiver. And probably
• 3:57
  helping him most is the fact that he participates on
• 3:59
  space teams. He played six hundred and ninety nine career
• 4:03
  snaps in that area, so he's going to be one
• 4:05
  to pay attention to. The other friege in addition at
• 4:08
  tight end was Kylon Granson. He brings to them sixty
• 4:12
  two games of experienced seventeen starts. He was a fourth
• 4:15
  round pick of the Colts in twenty twenty one, caught
• 4:17
  eighty six passes for nine hundred and fifty eight yards
• 4:20
  and a touchdown over his four seasons. He's more built
• 4:23
  like an h back at six foot three, two hundred
• 4:25
  and forty two pounds. I think that he has the
• 4:28
  ability to be able to work the seams a little bit,
• 4:31
  but he strikes me as somebody who's going to kind
• 4:33
  of slide in as a security blanket, probably an intermediary option.
• 4:38
  That's what he was really thriving in during OTA's I
• 4:42
  thought that there were quarterbacks depending on whoever the quarterback was.
• 4:46
  He was someone who was targeted in those intermediate levels
• 4:49
  of the field and nothing really flashy, nothing notable down
• 4:52
  the field. But you see the secure hands, you see
• 4:56
  his ability to move a little bit, good body control,
• 5:00
  He has that versatility, and he is a plus blocker,
• 5:04
  which should help him a little bit. He's also played
• 5:07
  some special teams in his career two hundred and sixty
• 5:09
  five snaps in twenty twenty four.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: So you look at Bryant, you look at Granson.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: That's going to give them naturally a leg up over
• 5:16
  maybe some of the other players because it comes down
• 5:18
  to value, and when you kind of whittle down that
• 5:22
  game day roster, you can only dress so many players.
• 5:25
  The back end of it, a lot of it is
• 5:27
  predicated on who can help you on special teams, So.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: That's a player that potentially could do that.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: The next one is one who I've talked about, I've
• 5:38
  covered him, and I've gotten to know him a little bit.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: That's E. J.
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  Speaker 2: Jenkins, who made the successful switch from collegiate wide receiver
• 5:44
  at NFL tight end. He had a good camp last year,
• 5:47
  he made the practice squad and that was eventually signed
• 5:50
  to the active roster. He burned through those elevations and
• 5:53
  then the Eagles made a decision and brought him up,
• 5:55
  especially when Goddard was injured. Jenkins probably is the second
• 5:59
  best blocking type on the Eagles, which I think gives
• 6:02
  him a little bit of a boost here. He's kind
• 6:04
  of forgotten about because of the two free agent additions,
• 6:07
  but he's somebody that you should be kind of keeping
• 6:09
  an eye on. Six foot six, two hundred and sixty pounds,
• 6:12
  played in eight games last season, all four postseason contests,
• 6:16
  and recorded his first NFL touchdown on his first NFL catch.
• 6:20
  Cool story there, But again, the competition's going to be fierce,
• 6:24
  so this is where someone like Jenkins has to stand Apart. Obviously,
• 6:29
  there's the blocking acumen that is going to be something
• 6:32
  that I think the Eagles way heavily in their decision making.
• 6:36
  But I would argue that Jenkins probably has more upside
• 6:39
  than a Bryant or a Granson because he's so new
• 6:43
  to the position and he seems to be a player
• 6:46
  who keeps getting better, and I think he's going to
• 6:48
  be someone who really shines when the pads come on
• 6:51
  this summer, where you can see that physicality and his
• 6:53
  ability to use his frame against linebackers and safeties.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: There's another player.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: By the name of Nick Muse who you know, kind
• 7:03
  of pulled to George Costanza and left on a high note.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: In spring practices, he shined.
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: He dazzled on the mandatory mini camp day, the loan
• 7:12
  practice the league has had before they broke for the summer,
• 7:15
  and there's a play where he laid out like an
• 7:17
  outfielder to bring in a pass from about twenty five
• 7:20
  yards out. He used his frame and positioning to haul
• 7:23
  in that red zone touchdown despite tight coverage from Andre
• 7:26
  sam And I know that that doesn't mean a whole
• 7:29
  lot right now in June, but if he's able to
• 7:32
  kind of parlay that and sustain that kind of production,
• 7:36
  he could be somebody who quietly emerges and sort of
• 7:40
  forces his way into the conversation. Obviously, he's a long shot,
• 7:44
  but he was drafting the seventh round by the Vikings.
• 7:47
  One career catch for twenty two yards. He's played in
• 7:51
  sixteen games over three seasons, and oddly enough, here's a
• 7:54
  little fun fact. He overlapped with EJ. Jenkins at South
• 7:57
  Carolina muse played over e J. Jenkins for the game Cocks.
• 8:02
  But that's a little interesting nugget there. All I can
• 8:05
  say is that Nick News did his part in making
• 8:07
  an impression. What that all means come July twenty second
• 8:11
  one players report, Well, we're gonna find out about that.
• 8:13
  But he's also somebody that I find pretty interesting to
• 8:16
  see how he acclemate, continues to acclimate to the offense,
• 8:21
  and if he's able to kind of continue that success
• 8:23
  that he had.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: In the spring.
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: Rounding things out, we have Cameron Latu. Cameron Latu six'
• 8:31
  five two forty four is an interesting player because he
• 8:34
  was a third round pick of the forty nine ers
• 8:36
  back in twenty twenty, three and he bounced around a
• 8:40
  little bit since he inked a reserve futures contract with
• 8:43
  The eagles last winner just twenty five years. Old he
• 8:46
  did miss his rookie season with The, tormentiscus and last
• 8:50
  summer he didn't make the forty nine ers, Roster so
• 8:52
  obviously you're going to have some skepticism or at least
• 8:55
  some questions.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: There but who.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Knows who knows what an offseason can do and how
• 9:01
  he's going to fit in this. Offense, now he doesn't
• 9:04
  give you a ton as a blocker because he doesn't
• 9:06
  necessarily have the frame to support.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: That he's more of a pass catching tight.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: End and The alabama product is now on his third,
• 9:14
  TEAM i should note.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: That SO i mean when you sit that far in
• 9:19
  the pecking.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: Order, again AS i repeatedly, say opportunities are going to
• 9:23
  be so. Limited so it's up to lot too to
• 9:25
  maximize those. Opportunities and he can really help himself by
• 9:30
  flashing on special teams and showing an ability to become
• 9:34
  a willing blocker or at least a capable. Blocker those
• 9:37
  are obviously qualities that are going to go a long
• 9:38
  way to realistically trying to get yourself from the outside
• 9:42
  looking in to maybe getting.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: Yourself realistically on the.
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: Bubble so that's the group of tight ends for The,
• 9:47
  eagles right now you can see that they have a
• 9:49
  wide range of players and different roles that can be.
• 9:52
  Fulfilled i'm curious to see who fits and what The
• 9:56
  eagles are looking for from that potential third position and
• 9:59
  how it shakes. Out that'll be one of those storylines
• 10:02
  THAT i continue to. Follow this is a fun position
• 10:04
  to sort of, chronicle AND i look forward to delivering
• 10:08
  the latest on each throughout the. Summer this has been
• 10:11
  to Czech. ODIHLY i Am Andrew dcheco And i'll talk
• 10:14
  to everybody.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow