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Football at Four: DiCecco's Eagles Training Camp Notebook · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Josh Edna filling it from Mike gil here on the
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  Sports Bash four o'clock hour, you know, on Nice seven
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  three ESPN. Yes, it's football for Eagles day two of
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  training camp. And of course we on Thursdays talk with
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  Andrew Checko. We got Eagles training camp. We also got
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  our Divisional preview series. So let's get into it right now.
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  Andrew the Checko of course inside the Birds podcast, inside
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  the Birds dot com for all of his excellent Eagles coverage,
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  and don't forget about the check O Daily which we
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  get on the Inside the Birds platforms as well. And
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  he joined us right now on ninety seven to three ESPN. Andrew,
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  welcome in.
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  Speaker 2: How you doing today, my friend, Hey, Josh.
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  Speaker 3: I'm doing great. Football is back in South Philadelphia and
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  it just feels right.
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  Speaker 2: Man, It definitely does feel right.
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  Speaker 1: So a couple of things I want to hit on
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  with you from today at training camp. You know, we
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  played the VIC Fangio press conference a little bit earlier
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  today and one of the questions he was asked about
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  is something Andrew that you at previews brought up last
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  year about Cooper dejene about how he was asked about
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  them using him at safety. And I want to get
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  your perspective on this because you are someone who keeps
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  a very close eye on the draft.
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  Speaker 2: You evaluate those guys every year.
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  Speaker 1: So knowing what you know about Degene coming out of
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  college and now looking ahead to what you're seeing from
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  him the last two years. Obviously last year's are the
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  year injured, but this year's all full go a training camp.
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  Is what they're doing with the Gene now more in
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  line with what you expected him coming out last year.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great question, Josh, and you have a
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  good memory. When I scouted him and evaluated him throughout
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  the draft process, I viewed him as a multifaceted defensive
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  back that I thought his strength actually was at safety.
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  I just think that his vision, his range, his anticipation
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  and instincts really translates to that. He's also a tremendous
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  corner obviously, But to your question, Yeah, I think that
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  this is kind of more of what I envisioned because
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  he's such a valuable asset to the defense, have him
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  being able to wear so many different hats, being such
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  a smart player, because you can only thrive and be
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  able to play multiple positions if you are intelligent have
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  a good idea of the full just the look the
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  full makeup of the defense and all those responsibilities. So
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  I think that it is something that is going to
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  serve a defense well. And it just really underscores how
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  important Cooper Dejene is for the defense success in twenty
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  twenty five.
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  Speaker 2: You just mentioned about the intelligence.
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  Speaker 1: If I get to ask you about that really quick,
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  because everyone talks about the Jeen's athleticism, right, you know,
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  he was a high school basketball player and all that
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  kind of stuff, But is maybe de Jean's football IQ.
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  Speaker 2: Well, could that actually be his most valuable trait?
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  Speaker 3: I think so. His football IQ's off the charts. And
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  that's one thing that if you go back and look
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  at all the different safeties that pig Vangio has presided over,
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  I can think of off the top of my head,
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  Dante Whitner, Eddie Jackson. They all have the same qualities
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  and they are instinctual, but they're also highly intelligent. And
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  I think you look at the nickel position, which I
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  would say is the toughest position to play on defense,
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  you have to be intelligent because you have to know
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  what all three levels of the defense are responsible for.
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  You also have to you know, be able to account
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  for different types of receivers, because it's not only you know,
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  the Chris Godwins that are playing in the slot, it's
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  also the Mike Evans type of receivers and you don't
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  have the sideline, and so I just think that, you know,
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  you take all that into consideration. Also his ability to
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  come up there and play the run and be a willing,
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  willing and run support and be that physical player. Yeah,
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  I think he really is such a well rounded player.
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  But at the top of the list has to be
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  his football intelligence.
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  Speaker 1: Talk with Andrew Cheko, of course with the Eagles training
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  camp today football and for empowered by the Inside the
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  Birds podcast. You got all of indiw Jecko's coverage of
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  the Birds over at Inside the Bird dot com. Sticky
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  on the Defense got to ask you about jahat Campbell.
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  Fangio talked about how you know, you know that basically
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  that what they were talking and showing him in mini
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  camp is already seemingly translating onto the field the first
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  two days of training camp.
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  Speaker 2: What are your takeaways from Campbell right now?
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  Speaker 1: Because it seems like if you if you're kind of
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  like to pay attention with Fangio is saying, it sounds
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  like if Campbell keeps performing the way he is in practice,
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  that he could be your Week one starter next to Bond.
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  Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I mean, we obviously have a long way
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  to go, but all all indicators are that he's ahead
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  of schedule, because the timeline we were all given back
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  in the spring was sometime in August. He's out there
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  in a limited capacity, but he's doing team drills and
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  with the second team, and talking to that Bond after
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  day one of training camp, he mentioned, yeah, he did miss,
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  you know, some valuable time in the spring, but it
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  doesn't look like he is very far behind. And I
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  think that again speaks to the football acumen. But you
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  can even see the traits, the length, just the range
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  and the coverage acumen that he brings to that position.
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  And it wouldn't surprise me if eventually he starts to
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  get some looks with the first team and they sort
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  of gradually implement him into that And it wouldn't surprise
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  me at all as well if he's the starting linebacker
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  week one. If he's healthy enough, you drafted him in
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  the first round, he's got to be your guy.
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  Speaker 1: A lot of people on social media have been chirping
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  and giving out opinions on Keeley Ringo. I want to
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  get your perspective, Andrew, because people might not remember this,
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  but this was a five star recruit out of high
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  school before he got to Georgia, and he's actually one
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  of the youngest guys on the roster even though he's
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  been here for a couple of years. So what is
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  your perspective on him right now early on in camp.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, the star ranking and being young and all that,
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  it doesn't really matter into this roster battle, this competition.
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  It's about being consistent day in and day out and
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  seizing opportunities. And yeah, he had a tough practice Day one.
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  Today was sort of unremarkable. There were no big plays
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  and he didn't make any plays. But it's going to
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  be the ups and downs. You're going to constantly see
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  Adorri Jackson and Kielee Ringo, you know, rotating back and forth.
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  You know, Kilee Ringo started the first day and then
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  yesterday or today he was you know, with the with
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  the first team on seven on seventh and a Dori
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  Jackson open practice with the starters. I don't know that
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  you can really gauge where he's at after two days
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  of practice. He's he needs to be more technically sound,
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  that's for sure, because I think where he struggles sometimes
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  is he gets handy. Sometimes it looks like he has
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  trouble stopping or finding the football, And those are things
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  that you has it in and you have to make
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  sure that those areas are refined if you want to
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  nail down a starting spot in any defense, but especially
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  one with Vick Vangaio presiding over it, who really prioritizes
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  being assignment sound. It's never been about the leticism when
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  it comes to Kithi Ringo. It's been about It's now
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  about can you be technically refined and can they have
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  confidence in you because you are going to get targeted.
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  Can they have confidence in you to hold down or
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  be effective enough in that spot? Opposite QUINNYA Mitchell.
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  Speaker 1: Andrew, I've been willing to ask you this question all week,
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  and that is about we had a conversation order this
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  week about the running back position. And you are someone
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  who has kept a very close eye on Will Shipley,
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  a guy that you covered very closely over inside the
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  Birds dot Com with your series with him throughout last year.
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  Is he in line you believe to be the primary
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  third down back or do you think he still needs
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  to show that he can do some more things aside
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  from being a third down back in order to become
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  the bonafide number two behind Saquon No.
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  Speaker 3: I think he is going to be the third down
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  back and the change of pace. When you look at
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  Saquon Barkley and what he brings, I think from the
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  ideal compliment to Saquon Barkley would be someone like Bill Shipley,
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  who has a lot of juice. He's explosive, he catches
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  the ball well. Saquon Barkley highlighted his footwork. It's going
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  to come down to pass protection and where he's at
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  in that area of his game, and we'll find out
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  more about that when the pads come on. But I
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  just really think that he is the quintessential change of
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  pace option, whereas aj Dillon. If Saquon Barkley wore to
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  miss a game or two, you know that he can
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  handle a volume, he would be the guy in that situation.
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  But in game Josh, I think that would be Will Shipley,
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  And I mean you just see the different dimension that
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  he provides to the offense every time he's been in
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  there really since the spring.
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  Speaker 2: Check out more coverage of Eagles training camp.
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  Speaker 1: The corner competition continues over at Inside the Birds dot com.
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  Andrews check out here for football at four power by
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  the Inside the Birds podcast Andrew. Before we get out
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  of here, let's just do a quick overview of the
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  AFC South that is part of our weekly series through
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  previewing each division. Tell me what are the teams you
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  are keeping the closest eye on. Who is your favorite
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  in the AFC South and why?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll be keeping a close eye on the Houston Texans.
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  I really like c J. Stroud. Obviously he was probably
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  anointed a little bit too quickly as being one of
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  the more elite quarterbacks in the NFL, but I like
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  his receiving corp Nico Cowens. They drafted Jayden Higgins in
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  the second round this year. Christian Kirk is there. They
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  also have some pieces on the offensive line that I
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  think suggest that, you know, they're going to give him
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  enough time to be able to facilitate the ball to
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  those players, including you know, Cam Robinson, Lake and Tomlinson.
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  Titus Howard's a player who I really like coming out
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  of Alabama State. I think it was twenty nineteen, and
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  they have Dalton Schultz there, and I think they have
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  enough pieces offensively to keep that thing going. I also
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  like the leadership of Demiico Ryans. I think that he's
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  really has has left his mark on that team, that
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  he has a commanding press and really good leadership. I
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  can't really emphasize that enough. Without that foundation, you're not
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  going to go anywhere, and they certainly have that solidified
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  with him. And then defensively, you got guys like Will Anderson.
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  I talked a lot about him going into the twenty
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  three draft, and Daniel Hunter is there right So CJ.
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  Counter Johnson was traded there from Philadelphia. So they have
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  a lot of players on both sides of the ball
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  that are impactful and offer playmaking ability. Now it becomes
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  can CJ. Stroud become the player that he was in
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  year one or closely resembling the one in year one
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  and keep this thing moving forward?
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  Speaker 1: From one NFL covers follow him on the X platform
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  and Andrew the Checko. Of course, all of his work
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  over right inside the Birds dot Com and he joins
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  us each week here on the sports Bashion Football at
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  four On ninety seven, three es Be and Andrew great stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Give the great work my man.
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  Speaker 3: I appreciate it. Josh, take care man,