Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Projecting Training Camp Stars From The Offense

Transcript

The DiCecco Daily: Projecting Training Camp Stars From The Offense · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everybody? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the check O Daily. It's Andrew Dechecko, Eagles beat reporter
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: for insidethebirds dot Com, here with you. Today's podcast will
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: be me predicting the training camp stars on offense, and
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'll do the defensive one on Monday. There won't be
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: a podcast Sunday on Father's Day. But every year there's
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: always a handful of players who really flash in the summer.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: I could think off the top of my head on offense.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Last year it was wide receiver Darius Cooper.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: On defense, linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Junior, and there were a
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: number of others. But it's always fun to kind of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: forecast it, and you take a lot of different things
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: into account. How many opportunities are they realistically going to get.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: So you might not see a third or a fourth
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: teamer on this list because opportunity just so much more
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: infrequent relative to those who stand to see a lot
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: of work in the summer. And we'll see sometimes it
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: comes to fruition in the regular season, other times it doesn't.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: But we'll start with running back, where Tank Bigsby for
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: me is a training camp stand out just waiting to
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: shape itself. And when I look at Tank Bigsby, this
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: is a player who runs with great physicality, good leverage,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: he creates his own holes. He's really fun to watch
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: because there's an unorthodox and an unpredictable style.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: Whenever he gets the football.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: He almost refuses to take a loss on a play
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and you never quite know what he's going to what
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: he's going to do. We'll end up being a five
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: yard pickup or a fifteen or a twenty yarder. And
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: we never got a chance to see him actually practice
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: because he was acquired via trade in September. And I
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: think once the Pads come on, you're gonna see a
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: lot more from Tank Bigsby in terms of just his burst,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: a loose inness, probably some physicality. I imagine you're going
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: to see some pads popping, and his play style really
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: lends itself to someone who's going to see consistent production
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: every practice and occasionally be able.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: To turn out those wow type of moments.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: So Tank Bigsby's on there for me and then will
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Shipley as well. Knowing that the Eagles have already been
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: utilizing the running backs quite a bit in the spring
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: in the passing game. One can't help but wonder what
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: it's going to look like in the summer when the
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: system starts.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: To ramp up a little bit more.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Will that be a mainstay that remains in the offense.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: And Will Shipley, as I mentioned, is the Eagles' most
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: natural pass catching running back. I think he stands to
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: benefit if the Eagles are going to throw the football
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: to the running backs, and he caught a flury of passes.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: In the spring.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: He caught a number of passes last summer as well,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: including a lot of wheel routes, and I think you're
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: going to see a lot of that.
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: That is going to signal.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: A lot of interest in maybe some intrigue as to
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: whether or not the Eagles are actually going to incorporate
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: that within the offense. But I think from a receiving element,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that's where my selection of Shipley comes into focus here. Also,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: with the schematic changes up front with regard to the
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: running game, I do believe that that's going to suit
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Will a little bit more favorably than the inside zone.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: So you might see some more splash type of runs
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: and things like that. So I think both Tank Bigsby
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: and Will Shipley are primed to be training camp stars
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: at wide receiver. Well, we'll start with the first round
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: pick McKay lemon. McKay lemon was sidelined for most of
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: the spring with the hamstring injury. There's going to be
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: a lot of eyes as they ordinarily would anyway being
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: a first round pick on McKay lemon once training camp opens,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: to see where he is in terms of his development
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: within the offense.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Having missed so much time.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: There's always so much you can do watching from the
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: sideline and getting those mental reps. But we'll see what
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: he's able to do when he's on the field, and
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: I think his skill set, his route running prowess, his
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: ability to really work the middle of the field. I
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: do believe that you're going to see that really reveal
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: itself early on. I imagine that Jayalen Hurts is going
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: to look to involve him early into the process and
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: they should be able to form a pretty good connection.
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: And he strikes me as someone who's going to.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: See a lot of volume in the summer, and that's
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: kind of where my thought process is here, and he's
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: certainly going to see a lot of opportunities knowing that
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: he's going to have a vital role in this offense.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: So I do think that Makai Lemon is someone that
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: is going to one see a ton of volume, but
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: also to be able to create some plays after the
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: catch and maybe shed some tackles and have some of those.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Ooh and ah type of moments.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: The other wide receiver that I have, well, I have
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: two Johnny Wilson.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Johnny Wilson, of.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Course, being the receiver who is typical size at six
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: foot six and some change, and he's coming back from
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: the injury. He made a couple of really nice receptions
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: in the spring on inbreakers. You can see his ability
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: to use his body to shield defenders and you go
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: up and come down with some of those contested cats situations.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: It looked like last summer in the second half of camp,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: he was really becoming a little bit more of a
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: of a more polished product as a wide receiver, connecting
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: with Jalen Hurts on a couple of passes and especially
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: on those back shoulder throws. So I have to think
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: that Johnny Wilson is gonna He already seems to generate
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: a lot of interest because of his size and the
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: trajectory that he was on or the role that it
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: looked like he was primed to undertake last season prior
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: to the injury. And then you look at the body
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: type and I imagine that he's going to be someone
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: that's involved in the red zone situations.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: And when you have someone of.
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: That size, ordinarily they're always going to be a training
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: camp star. Think back to a Fani MoMA or any
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: other plus sized receiving target, and I think Johnny Wilson
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: is going to continue to build off of where he
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: left off last summer because he was putting together a
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: pretty strong training camp. The other receiver that I have
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: listed is Britain Covey. Now, remember Britain Covey last season
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: was not on the Eagles roster. He was with the Rams,
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: So it's easy to forget that he's a player that.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Has tremendous short area of quickness.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: He knows how to separate the top of his routes,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: He's extremely shifty. Jalen Hurts is also a fan of
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Britain Covey, and so Britain's familiar with not only Jalen
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: but also Tanner McKee. So there's not going to have
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: to be that filling out phase where you're trying to
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: familiarize yourself with your receiving targets and things like that.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: Britain is coming in with an established rapport, and I
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: think that his route running ability and run after the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: catch and just overall elusiveness is going to lead to
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: more than a handful of those wild type of moments
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: where he's able to shake free. And if you've had
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: a chance to catch the video of Britain Cobby running
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: a route on social media during an Eagles practice, I recently.
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: Saw this where he's running his route.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Well, he gets out of his release and he begins
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: his route, then for a brief moment he pauses, grabs
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: his hamstring, and then he continues on with his route
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and it's wide open. It's the Hammi route or whatever
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: whatever it is called. But I saw a video of
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: that and it's kind of funny. But Britain does add
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: some explosive qualities that I think would really translate into
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: a training camp setting. And I think back to two
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: summers ago, he made quite a few big plays and
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: so I think that you might see more of the
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: same this year. Opportunities for him. He's not as far
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: down as some of the other players, Otherwise I probably
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: would have put Danny Gray here. So I think Britain
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: will certainly get enough reps to make himself a candidate
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: for a training camp star tight end. I could have
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: went in a number of different directions. Eli Stowers, I
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: think is going to have a really steady training camp
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: as a receiver. You see the body and how he
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: can be utilized moving him around formations. But I'll go
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: with the off the beaten path one and I'll say
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: e J Jenkins a plus sized option at over six
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: foot six, he's two hundred and fifty five pounds or
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: thereabouts converted wide receiver. He's the kind of talk about
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: Johnny Wilson like this sometimes when players have that kind.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Of size and.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: That ability to affect the game as a receiver as
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: well when the pads come on, I think EJ's really
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: going to stand out as a blocker, and he did
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: get a number of really really critical snaps in the spring,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: so if that trend continues, he's not going to be
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: in all likelihood predominantly working on the third team or
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: on the developmental team. Has to catch the ball more consistently.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: But when you see him out there, his play style Again,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: that really translates into becoming a training camp star, and
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: where I think he'll really separate is when the pads
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: come on. To be clear, he's a long shot to
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: make the team. The Eagles have a well stocked tight
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: end room with a lot of balance and a lot
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: of players who would appear to have define roles, but
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: we're talking about in a training camp setting, So that's
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: where I think you'll see EJ flash. He had a
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: couple of really nice receptions down the scene, one from
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Jayalen Hurts and Andy Dalton. In the spring, on the
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: final day of mandatory mini camp, he took a screen
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: pass and you could kind of see the burst that
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: he had and it's clear that with that kind of
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: size and that ability to work the middle of the field,
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: which is where I think the Eagles are really going to.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Drill in training camp.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that's a natural pick for me not
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: to say that Eli Stowers or even another rookie and
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Daikwon Wright wouldn't be coundidates, because they absolutely are.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: But I want to go with a little bit more of.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: A creative selection there and then sort of illustrate my
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: reasoning behind it.
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Hey, Philly fans.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Game day is stressful enough.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Parking, traffic, long lines, We've all been there, But when
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: it comes to your cannabis, Camden Apothecary makes it easy.
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: This is the dispensary for sports fans, just minutes outside
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: of Philly, with plenty of free parking. You'll be in
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: and out fast, no hassle, no waiting, and they don't
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: just care about convenience. Camdn Apothecary is all about the
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: guest experience. Their staff makes sure you feel taken care
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: of every time you walk in. Plus, they carry only
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: the best quality cannabis at the fairest prices, so whether
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: you're stocking up for the tailgate, the watch party, or
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: celebrating a big win, you know you're getting the good
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: stuff without overpaying. They even show love to the community
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: with specials for fans, students, service members, and healthcare pros.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: Camedn Apothecary top quality cannabis, great prices, and an experience
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: made for Philly fans.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: Twenty one and up.
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: Offensive line, I'm gonna say Willie Lampkin and Willie Lampkin,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: needless to say, does not sport the typical size for
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: an offensive lineman.
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Five to eleven.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: I think he's listed as that might be generous. But
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Willie Lampkin's another player that we haven't had a chance
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: to see as reporters on the practice field because they
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: got him after cutdowns and he was on IR and
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: all that.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: So now we get.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: To see when the pads come on, how does that
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: leverage really manifest? Is he able to really use that
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: to his advantage? Where does the wrestling background come in.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Does he cross train maybe at guard a little bit.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: But when you see someone that's that athletic and that undersized,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: and plus he's.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: A really really great guy.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: When you couple all that together, you just you see
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the you know, there's obviously going to be a lot
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: of interest. I know that in his initial press conference
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: you could clearly see his personality shine through. And when
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: you see a player like that who's kind of built
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: like Nick Cole, if you can remember from Eagles of
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: years past, you kind of want to see what they're
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: able to do. Because there was some buzz surrounding Willy
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: Lampkin when the Eagles acquired them.
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: He put out some really quality tape in the preseason.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of bodies, there's a lot of names
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: that he has to climb over on the depth chart
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: in order for him to stick. But again, we're not
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: talking about fifty three man roster projections, not just yet.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: We're talking about players that I believe will be Training
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: Camp stars and flash in a tangible way, and Willy
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Lampkin checks off a number of those boxes. We'll get
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: to the defense as I mentioned on Monday, but those
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: are my offensive selections for training camp stars. That's going
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of The Checho Daily.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Andrew de Checo have a great weekend.