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The DiCecco Daily: Some Thoughts On Eagles Roster Structure · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello, all, Welcome into another episode of The check Odaily.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew di Checko, Eagles beat reporter friendsidethebirds dot Com.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: One news item to get to before we get right
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: into the podcast. It's not going to be a long
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: one today, but I will be beginning a abbreviated where
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Are They Now? Podcast series leading up to training camp
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: with some former Eagles, some training camp standouts of years past,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: and I have a really fun one that I just
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: recorded that I can't wait to share with you all.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Hope you'll enjoy it. And it's a really good story
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: of battling through adversity and identifying your passion and diving
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: in with both feet and flourishing. So there's something from
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: that story that everyone can take and I do believe
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: that you'll all find that to be a really good
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: blast from the past. Okay, so some of the thoughts
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: that I have today pertain to the roster and how
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: it might be structured. And these are random thoughts, but
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: as you all know by now, my mind is wired
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: to think about the Eagles pretty much every waking moment
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: of the day.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Kidding, but you get the point.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: As I'm driving, when I lay my head down to
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: go to sleep. I think about the different roster machinations
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: and things like that. And for me, and this idea
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: was sort of spawned by listening to Jeff and Adam
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: begin their Eagles at the three man roster projection, And
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: for me, the question begins, how many players will the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Eagles keep at a certain position. Let's start at quarterback,
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: where Jeff and Adam had the Eagles keeping four and
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Howie Roseman mentioned that the Eagles would be.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Open to keeping four quarterbacks.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: It's hard to argue against that given the amount of talent.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: You don't want to simp part with talent. You have
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Cole Payton, who they drafted, and of course there's a
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: lot of trust that they have in Tanner McKee is
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the immediate backup to jaywhen hurts seemingly Andy Dalton. The
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Eagles went out of their way to trade for him,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: so one would presume that he's high on their on
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: their list of players that they want to get a
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: longer look at. And he's played it and started in
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: a number of games in the NFL. So you look
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: at that and you try to take everything into account.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: But for me, and you parse through the roster and
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: you try to do this exercise.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Try it.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: You'll see that it's very difficult to envision the Eagles
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: keeping four quarterbacks. Now how that all shakes out, we
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: have no way of knowing. But I have to imagine.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: And I go back to something that I've said and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: I've written about in my in my way too early
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: fifty three, Mine was way too early. But I don't
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: necessarily view the Eagles as a team that can keep
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: that can afford to keep four quarterbacks, and the odd
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: man out to me and again things have to align.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: But would be Tanner McKee not because of a talent deficit.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: It's because I think he holds the most value. And
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: all it takes is one team to poke around give
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: the Eagles value that Howie Roseman feels is sufficient.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: And I think Tanner McKee.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: While I do believe that he's a little bit overvalued,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I think he's a solid backup quarterback that can be
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: a decent starter at the next level possibly, But I
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: think to say that he can be a surefire starter
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: and have a lot of success and all that, I'm
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: not there.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: I can't get there. I haven't seen enough.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: And that's not to say that he's not someone that's
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: valued around the NFL.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I do believe that he's viewed as.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Someone who can be a high end backup, of course,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: but also someone who can push for a starting spot.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: That being said, I think he has more value than
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: Andy Dalton. So I think a team might be intrigued
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: enough to offer the Eagles something for Tanner McKee. I
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: also simply don't view it as a position that necessitates
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: the Eagles going heavier. I don't know that they can
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: afford to do it. When you look at some of
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: the defensive positions and players that might preclude them from
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: keeping that might have more value. And I know it's
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: hard to look at the quarterback position and say or
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: look hard to look at this exercise and say, well,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: what position could possibly have more value than the quarterback? No,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: but when you look at it as a depth piece
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: who can help you, or when you look at it
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  Speaker 1: through the lens of someone who would have a defined
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: role on game day versus someone who would be inactive,
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  Speaker 1: I think you have to weigh that.
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  Speaker 2: It comes down to value, and I'm.
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: Curious to see how the Eagles decide to play it.
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  Speaker 1: Right now, I think the Eagles only can manage keeping
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: three quarterbacks, how about tight end, because tight end is
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: a position that you can make the argument for keeping three.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: I believe Jeff and Adam had the Eagles keeping three
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: in their offensive projection.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: But for me.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: Personally, I go back to the offenses that Sean Mannion
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: has a background in, and those coaches and how they
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: allocated roster spots, and they oftentimes went heavy at the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: tight end position, and the Eagles have strived to bring
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: in more balance to the tight end room. And if
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: you look at it from the perspective of Eli Stowers,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: their rookie second round tight end, I think he will
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: have a role, though I don't believe it'll be considerable
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: as a rookie, as he still needs.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: To learn the.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Details and the blocking and become more proficient in that
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  Speaker 1: area before he factors in prominently as the number two.
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  Speaker 1: Next season's a different story. I think he's primed to
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: be the Eagles starter next year and the tight end
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: of the future for that matter. But you have to
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: look at it and almost say, while it's not a
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: red shirt situation, how much will he really be able
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  Speaker 1: to be involved? Knowing that he doesn't give you all
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: that much as a blocker although he is willing. He
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: does give you, however, matchup optionality where you can line
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: him up in different formations.
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: You can line him up.
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  Speaker 1: Creatively to initiate a matchup that you think is going
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: to be favorable. But then that leaves you that would
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: leave you in theory with let's say a Dallas Goddard
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: and a Johnny Mount. Johnny Mount is a proficient, highly
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: proficient blocking tight end, but that's really his calling card.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: That's what he does, and he's very good at it.
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: He doesn't factor all that much as a receiver throughout
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: his career, and we still have to see if he
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: has anything left in the tank in training camp when
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the pads come on and you have to really embrace
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the physicality, and that's really a better measuring stick with
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: regard to how his skill set really will translate. Dallas
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Goddard has regressed as a blocker, but he's at the
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: top of the pecking order. The Eagles clear and away
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: best tight end.
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: That they have for now, and.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: He'll need to bounce back as a blocker. But as
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: you can see, I just listed three tight ends. They
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: all offer something different. But I think to give you
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: another you know, give you some buffer, give you another
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: to give you some cushion there and.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Maybe another option for me.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I look at Cam Latu and it doesn't didn't necessarily
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: have to be Cam Lato. It could be any tight
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: end that you view as the fourth. I know that
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of day Kwon Wright fans out there.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: I think that's a little early because you haven't seen
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: him in training camp yet. But I like the profile.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: I like the player in college, but I'm not ready
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: to go there without having seen how he acquits himself
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: when the stakes are highest, So little pause on that.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: And with Cam Latu, he's a good blocker.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: We don't know if the Eagles are going to choose
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: to implement a fullback in the offense under Sew Mannion,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: but he is somebody that gives you some some optionality there.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: He's also a tremendous special teams player, so on game
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  Speaker 1: day you could conceivably see all four tight ends active
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: and they would all have a defined role and with
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: lots two would be on special teams and maybe even
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: as a fullback.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Is if he's asked.
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  Speaker 1: The moonlight there where you have Munt who's the established
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: inline tight end, and Eli Stowers who's more of the
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: matchup nightmare.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: He's not necessarily.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: I don't envision him contributing all that much on special teams.
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: And so that's where LAT two comes into play. And
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: when I go back to the offenses, that Sean Mannion's
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: coming in, some of the influences that he's coming in with,
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  Speaker 1: and how they stock the roster and how they assign spots.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: They tend to go heavier at tight end, and it's
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: not hard for me to envision the Eagles deciding to
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: go that direction. They also happen to have an influx
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: of players at that position that I think are going
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: to make for some really challenging cuts.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: But that sort of is where I'm at with all
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: that offensive line. And we'll keep this just to offense today.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: Things that I think about the Eagles from an offensive standpoint,
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: we'll call it that I think they keep.
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  Speaker 2: Well, let's go through it.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Jordan Milatta, Landon Dickerson, Cam Jurgens, Tyler Steen, Lane Johnson,
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: the backups, markl Belfred Johnson, Drew Kendall.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: That's where it gets a little tricky. We were at
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  Speaker 2: eight and.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: I like Cameron Williams as a backup tackle and I'll
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: say Michael Morris because I believe that they can get
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: a veteran guard like Michael Jordan on the practice squad.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: So when you really look at it in those terms,
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  Speaker 1: I think ten offensive linemen would be adequate. Again, I
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: don't know if they can afford to go eleven offensive
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: linemen there when you look at the potential of having
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: to go heavier on the defensive side at a certain
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: position that I don't want to get into right now
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: because I will spend time tomorrow talking about that. But
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: the secondary is another position, another area, and without me
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: giving the specifics of the players, I'll name the position.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: That's an area that the Eagles could have to go
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: heavier at. And so you have to weigh the you know,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: you have to strike that balance. Can you get that
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: player on your practice squad and sort of extend the
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: roster that way, and all of a sudden there are
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: a game day elevation if you need someone like a
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Michael Jordan to be a veteran death piece, or is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: it a must have which you look at someone maybe
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: like a Michael Morris. The rookie guard from Georgia the
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: Eagles draft in the sixth round is he a player
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: that you fear clearing waivers, or is he someone that
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: maybe doesn't have the best training camp, but you see
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: the potential and you want to keep them on the
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: roster because of that. There's so many factors here. But
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I just look at you know, from a sheer numbers standpoint,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: and I don't know that the Eagles can really afford
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: to go super heavy on the offensive line. They've gone
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: nine years past, they've gone ten, they've gone eleven.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I think they go ten here.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: And that's without me mentioning you know the likes of
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Miles Hinton, and I know Willie Lampkin seems to be
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: a fan favorite. But you know, we'll find out what
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: he's all about. Great story, huss he hustles, He plays
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: with great energy, or at least he moves around with
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: great energy.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: We have to see how he plays. That's what training
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: camps for.
• 11:27
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• 11:31
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• 12:26
  Speaker 1: The Eagles do have a lot of really intriguing decisions
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: to make with regard to the reserve offensive linemen, but
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I can understand the school thought of needing to keep eleven.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: The Eagles do prioritize keeping offensive linemen and building and
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: developing them. But I think this roster is unique in
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the sense that they have a lot of depth elsewhere
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: that they may choose to that they might may find
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: more value in trying to stockpile a player there versus
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: risking losing them the waivers. It's a risk reward game
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: that teams often play at this, you know, during cutdowns,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: and it's a it's a fascinating exercise and one that
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: I'm very much looking forward to following along with.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: That's gonna do it for this episode of The check
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: O Daly.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Dcheco and I'll catch you all in the
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: next one.