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The DiCecco Daily: Looking At Eagles QB Situation Now Compared To End Of 2025 Season · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hey, what's happened? Everyone?
0:10
Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of The Checko Daily. Andrew de Checko,
0:14
Speaker 2: Eagles beat reporter for Inside the Birds dot Com. Today
0:17
Speaker 2: feels like a good day to pick things up with
0:21
Speaker 2: the better, same or worse series with the quarterback position.
0:24
Speaker 2: Given the discourse around Jalen Hurts that really transpired after
0:29
Speaker 2: the release of the ESPN article in the middle of
0:31
Speaker 2: the week, and I haven't talked a lot about it
0:34
Speaker 2: here on this podcast, but I've talked a lot about it.
0:37
Speaker 2: I've had to answer a lot of questions about it
0:39
Speaker 2: in different interviews and things like that. But I'll just
0:41
Speaker 2: touch on it here as we run through the quarterback room.
0:44
Speaker 2: And I think that the story was interesting. I mean,
0:49
Speaker 2: if you cover the team and you're around them all
0:52
Speaker 2: the time as I am, nothing was earth shattering. I
0:55
Speaker 2: mean a lot of that was relatively known. Some interesting
0:59
Speaker 2: things in there, and I imagine if you don't cover
1:03
Speaker 2: the team and you're not privy to some of those things,
1:05
Speaker 2: it was certainly an eye opening read for you out there.
1:08
Speaker 2: And what it did was it provided some context to
1:11
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurtz's role in the offensive shortcomings and look, Jalen
1:16
Speaker 2: Hurts is a headstrong quarterback.
1:18
Speaker 1: He's not uncoachable.
1:19
Speaker 2: You can get through to him, but you have to
1:22
Speaker 2: really sell your vision to him and to be able
1:26
Speaker 2: to get that complete buy in. And I think it's
1:29
Speaker 2: not a typical for a franchise quarterback as accomplished as
1:34
Speaker 2: Jaywen to be headstrong, to be committed in the way
1:39
Speaker 2: that you play offense and the way that you view
1:41
Speaker 2: the game. Because he's won a lot of football games,
1:43
Speaker 2: he's won a Super Bowl, it's been an MVP in
1:45
Speaker 2: that game. I don't have to go through the resume,
1:48
Speaker 2: but he's built up enough equity that it's natural to
1:51
Speaker 2: have those kind of tendencies and be a little bit
1:54
Speaker 2: more headstrong. Some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history
1:58
Speaker 2: are wired in a similar But that being said, you
2:03
Speaker 2: have to be accepting of the change that's coming because
2:07
Speaker 2: it's going to be a drastic departure from what's been
2:11
Speaker 2: administered under the Knick Sirianni and different coordinator offenses that
2:15
Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts has been a part of since he's been
2:19
Speaker 2: the starting quarterback.
2:20
Speaker 1: And this very much feels like.
2:24
Speaker 2: The offense that the Eagles are going to adopt and
2:28
Speaker 2: commit to moving forward. So to me, it does feel
2:32
Speaker 2: like this train is at the station. This is what
2:34
Speaker 2: they're doing. Kind of get on board, or it's going
2:37
Speaker 2: to lead without you. And what we do know about
2:41
Speaker 2: Jeffrey Lourie is that he values and covets a dynamic,
2:47
Speaker 2: high flying passing offense. And the Eagles for the past
2:51
Speaker 2: two seasons have had a passing offense that's been among
2:55
Speaker 2: the league's worst considering what it is invested in terms
3:01
Speaker 2: of the skill players.
3:03
Speaker 1: That's not going to cut it.
3:05
Speaker 2: And so with that change was inevitable, and it's going
3:10
Speaker 2: to come in the form of doing some things like
3:13
Speaker 2: pre snap motion and under center play action, being able
3:18
Speaker 2: to make quick decisions with the football. The ball has
3:20
Speaker 2: got to come out. Timing is going to be paramount
3:23
Speaker 2: ball placement where players can run after the catch and
3:27
Speaker 2: move those chains. He hasn't really had to lean into
3:32
Speaker 2: many of those things on a week to week basis.
3:35
Speaker 2: He's done a lot of those things before, so he
3:38
Speaker 2: deserves credit. It's not like he can't do it, but
3:40
Speaker 2: the questions lie more so along the lines of can.
3:45
Speaker 1: He do it consistently?
3:47
Speaker 2: If something doesn't work initially, will he revert back to it? Well,
3:51
Speaker 2: we have a willingness to go back to it, knowing
3:53
Speaker 2: that it's ultimately going to help the Eagles and help
3:56
Speaker 2: promote growth for himself as a quarterback and allow him
3:59
Speaker 2: to make even reach another level of his game. I
4:03
Speaker 2: would like to see Jayleen run the football a little
4:05
Speaker 2: bit more because what he's able to do as a
4:09
Speaker 2: plus one in the running game and really as a
4:11
Speaker 2: triple threat. Don't forget arm, legs and mind.
4:14
Speaker 1: As Jalen says it.
4:16
Speaker 2: It To not do that deprives the offense of a
4:20
Speaker 2: component that makes it so special.
4:22
Speaker 1: It makes Jalen special.
4:24
Speaker 2: And I think last season there was a lot of
4:28
Speaker 2: focus on Kevin Petullo as being the root and really
4:31
Speaker 2: the face of the Eagles offensive issues. And I'm not
4:34
Speaker 2: going to sit here and tell you that he wasn't
4:37
Speaker 2: a part of it. Of course he was. He was
4:39
Speaker 2: the play caller. But I think for many to sit
4:43
Speaker 2: there and have this sentiment that all of a sudden,
4:47
Speaker 2: Nick Sirianni and Kevin Petullo aren't able to craft an innovative,
4:52
Speaker 2: creative offense and they lean primarily on hitch routes. Well,
4:56
Speaker 2: that's a little naive to think they've reached the pinnacle
4:59
Speaker 2: of their professions for a reason. They certainly know how
5:02
Speaker 2: to do that. But as any coach in those positions
5:05
Speaker 2: will do, you're going to tailor your offense to the
5:09
Speaker 2: strengths of your quarterback, namely because he's the quarterback. Everything
5:13
Speaker 2: revolves around the quarterback. He touched the ball in every play.
5:16
Speaker 2: He's the most it's the most important position in sports.
5:20
Speaker 2: And it wasn't as though they were running these plays
5:24
Speaker 2: and the franchise quarterback I had no say in it
5:27
Speaker 2: or anything like that. He was a culprit, just like
5:30
Speaker 2: Kevin Petula was a culprit, just like the banged up
5:33
Speaker 2: offensive line. And there are run game inefficiencies also contributed
5:37
Speaker 2: to it.
5:38
Speaker 1: And whenever I'd.
5:39
Speaker 2: Been asked about the offense, and I've said this on
5:41
Speaker 2: this podcast, I've said it over the airwaves, i said.
5:44
Speaker 1: It on everywhere that you know, everywhere that.
5:47
Speaker 2: I've been, that it's never about one coach, one player,
5:52
Speaker 2: one scheme. Whenever you see an offense with this much
5:56
Speaker 2: talent on it falter in the way that it did,
5:59
Speaker 2: it can't be just one culprit when something like that
6:04
Speaker 2: goes awry. And that's what I tried to focus on,
6:07
Speaker 2: that it was a multi layered conversation. It's a nuanced
6:10
Speaker 2: one that it seemed like at the time no one
6:14
Speaker 2: really wanted to hear. But that's the reality of the situation.
6:18
Speaker 2: And the big question that I have is consistency. Will
6:25
Speaker 2: Jalen be able to be consistent week in and week out.
6:28
Speaker 2: We've seen him do it before, so it's not like
6:31
Speaker 2: it's a projection. It's a projection in the sense that
6:35
Speaker 2: will the Eagles be able to go full steam ahead
6:39
Speaker 2: and completely reimagine this offense without having to add an
6:44
Speaker 2: overabundance of some of the principles of previous years, or
6:50
Speaker 2: will Jayalen really be able to take to it and
6:53
Speaker 2: embrace the change and understand that there might be some
6:56
Speaker 2: early hurdles. But this is the way that the Eagles
7:00
Speaker 2: feel to be trending offensively. They also pride themselves under
7:04
Speaker 2: Jeffrey Lourie about being cutting edge, and this is the offense.
7:08
Speaker 2: These are the offensive principles, the Kyle Shanahan Sean McVay
7:12
Speaker 2: offenses that are in vogue and many teams have had
7:15
Speaker 2: success doing this.
7:17
Speaker 1: If you can, if.
7:18
Speaker 2: You're Seaun Mannion and when him and Jalen eventually talk,
7:21
Speaker 2: if you can really sell him on your vision and
7:24
Speaker 2: illustrate how that's going to allow Jalen to take his
7:28
Speaker 2: game to another level and how it's going to benefit
7:31
Speaker 2: the offense and open things up, especially in the run game.
7:34
Speaker 2: I think the run game is going to see even
7:36
Speaker 2: more dramatic changes than the passing game. But the passing
7:40
Speaker 2: game has been the sticking point for two years, which
7:43
Speaker 2: is why it's been the driving force of the conversation.
7:47
Speaker 1: But that's where things are.
7:50
Speaker 2: I'm a little bit more optimistic that Jalen will be
7:53
Speaker 2: able to take to the change, but until you see
7:56
Speaker 2: it happen, until you see it enacted on the field
7:58
Speaker 2: and OTAs in training camp and the regular season, you
8:01
Speaker 2: really have no way of knowing. And what Jaywen has
8:03
Speaker 2: done in his career is he's adapted to a lot
8:06
Speaker 2: of change, more so than most would. And Sean Mannion
8:12
Speaker 2: is going to be his sixth play caller, So Jaywen
8:16
Speaker 2: deserves credit for navigating the different voices and maybe different
8:21
Speaker 2: directives that have been.
8:25
Speaker 1: Ingrained in him over the years.
8:27
Speaker 2: You have to learn different things, and same goes for
8:29
Speaker 2: quarterback coaches. They've been churning in and out. But from
8:32
Speaker 2: an offensive play calling standpoint. It's one thing to be
8:36
Speaker 2: able to navigate the change when the offense more or
8:41
Speaker 2: less is pretty much the same. It's another thing when
8:46
Speaker 2: you're completely adjusting to a new system and being asked
8:50
Speaker 2: to do things that you really haven't administered all that
8:52
Speaker 2: much during your time as being starting quarterback. And so
8:57
Speaker 2: that's where the big mystery lies. I also go back
9:00
Speaker 2: to the Kellen Moore situation. When Kellen Moore was brought in,
9:05
Speaker 2: much was expected in the way of pre sting that motion,
9:09
Speaker 2: quick decision making, easy answers, and.
9:14
Speaker 1: Just more play action and things like that.
9:17
Speaker 2: And for about three or four weeks, he saw the changes,
9:22
Speaker 2: he saw the eye candy, but the play on the
9:26
Speaker 2: field left a lot to be desired, right. I mean,
9:29
Speaker 2: there were a lot of turnovers they mounted, and it
9:32
Speaker 2: looked largely dysfunctional, and the Eagles had to scale it back,
9:36
Speaker 2: revert back to what they'd done previously, and really lean
9:39
Speaker 2: into their historic rushing performance. And I think a lot
9:45
Speaker 2: of where the maybe where the stubbornness comes from last
9:50
Speaker 2: season is that, yes, you're going to try to implement
9:53
Speaker 2: the same approach that just won you a Super Bowl.
9:56
Speaker 2: The offensive line played at a historic level sa Kwan
9:59
Speaker 2: Barkley Rush for over two thousand yards. The big issue
10:03
Speaker 2: was the lack of explosives, but that's where there wasn't.
10:07
Speaker 1: A big They didn't really deviate.
10:09
Speaker 2: Too far from their recipe for success. And when things
10:14
Speaker 2: weren't working, you're not going to completely rip out the
10:16
Speaker 2: foundation in the middle of the season and expect, you know,
10:20
Speaker 2: there to be no hitches, no pun intended, no no hitches,
10:25
Speaker 2: And so they kind of had to go with what
10:29
Speaker 2: Jalen was comfortable with, what they thought was going to
10:32
Speaker 2: benefit the offense for the situation, and it was just
10:35
Speaker 2: as a collective, that's the word I like to use,
10:38
Speaker 2: it just wasn't esthetically pleasing, and it wasn't good enough,
10:42
Speaker 2: not for the investment, not for what's been invested in
10:46
Speaker 2: that offense.
10:46
Speaker 1: That's what I'll say.
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13:07
Speaker 2: But Jalen Hurts heads the room in twenty twenty six,
13:10
Speaker 2: and I think there's a really good opportunity here for
13:14
Speaker 2: Jalen to continue his growth as a quarterback and expand
13:18
Speaker 2: some of the different things and build off of what
13:21
Speaker 2: has made him so successful, and I think he's going
13:23
Speaker 2: to continue to win a lot of football games for
13:25
Speaker 2: this team. And I also think that he has built
13:30
Speaker 2: up enough equity in this city as the starting quarterback
13:35
Speaker 2: to warrant the benefit of the doubt that he will
13:38
Speaker 2: be able to take to these changes. Beyond Jalen Hurts,
13:41
Speaker 2: you have Tanner McKee as the number two quarterback. The
13:44
Speaker 2: Eagles really value Tanner McKee. He didn't perform all that
13:47
Speaker 2: well when pressed into service in Week eighteen. And I'm
13:52
Speaker 2: probably not as bullish on Tanner McKee as some may be.
13:56
Speaker 2: I think he's a high end number two in the
13:59
Speaker 2: right situation. I do believe that he could contend for
14:02
Speaker 2: a starting spot, but as we know, he's stationary back there.
14:05
Speaker 2: He doesn't give you much as a runner. And yeah,
14:11
Speaker 2: I mean he throws with touch, he throws with anticipation,
14:14
Speaker 2: keeps the offense on schedule, all the things you want.
14:17
Speaker 2: He's also been a good sounding board for Jalen Hurts.
14:19
Speaker 1: But I'm not.
14:20
Speaker 2: Sold on the fact that he can be a set
14:23
Speaker 2: it and forget it starting quarterbacks somewhere else. And until
14:28
Speaker 2: you have enough evidence, it's hard for me to really
14:31
Speaker 2: it's hard for me to run with that.
14:33
Speaker 1: I have to see more.
14:33
Speaker 2: I've seen plenty of Tanner McKee in training camp in
14:36
Speaker 2: the preseason, but there's just not enough demonstrated performance for
14:39
Speaker 2: me to say, Yeah, Tanner McKee could be a starter someplace,
14:43
Speaker 2: but he is a good number two. I do know that,
14:45
Speaker 2: and I do know that he's a good teammate and
14:47
Speaker 2: a good player to have in that room with Jayalen Hurts,
14:50
Speaker 2: bringing that continuity, bringing that communication and chemistry that they have.
14:54
Speaker 2: And then you look at the third quarterback position, and
14:58
Speaker 2: last offseason, the Eagles traded for Sam Howell right before
15:02
Speaker 2: the regular season, and that's sort of par for the
15:06
Speaker 2: course when you look at how much the Eagles value
15:09
Speaker 2: the quarterback position, perhaps more than any other team, and
15:12
Speaker 2: they saw that Kyle mccorr, their a rookie six round pick,
15:15
Speaker 2: wasn't cutting it. He didn't have a good summer, didn't
15:17
Speaker 2: have a good preseason. And you couple that with the
15:20
Speaker 2: fact that Tanner McKee suffered a finger injury and training
15:24
Speaker 2: and training camp and.
15:27
Speaker 1: Missed a few games.
15:29
Speaker 2: You want to pad the roster, pad that room with
15:33
Speaker 2: another experienced quarterback in case someone has to step in.
15:37
Speaker 1: Now.
15:39
Speaker 2: Sam Howe never had to step in. I think he
15:41
Speaker 2: was the number two for about three weeks and he
15:43
Speaker 2: never played a snap for the Eagles.
15:45
Speaker 1: But really good player.
15:47
Speaker 2: And I say really good player because I believe that
15:50
Speaker 2: he is a high end number two as well, that
15:53
Speaker 2: was cast as a number three, and a young player
15:56
Speaker 2: who's played a lot of football in the NFL can
15:58
Speaker 2: make some plays with his leg.
16:00
Speaker 1: So I believe it he'll be the number two in Dallas.
16:03
Speaker 2: He's talented enough, certainly, and for a number three quarterback,
16:08
Speaker 2: he was arguably one of, if not the best number
16:11
Speaker 2: three quarterback in the NFL. That said, it wasn't likely
16:16
Speaker 2: that he was ever going to see the field in
16:17
Speaker 2: Philadelphia because I didn't he was never going to leave
16:20
Speaker 2: Frog Tanner McKee. And yeah, I mean he will have
16:24
Speaker 2: an opportunity in Dallas. He'll be the number two, which
16:27
Speaker 2: is where I think he's best suited. But the Eagles
16:30
Speaker 2: didn't necessarily need him. But then now in twenty twenty six,
16:34
Speaker 2: they've added Andy Dalton. They traded for him, got him
16:37
Speaker 2: from the Carolina Panthers. They're not paying him all that much.
16:40
Speaker 2: Really good value for your number three quarterback. But let's
16:43
Speaker 2: say you get to training camp and on all of
16:45
Speaker 2: a sudden, Andy Dalton maybe doesn't have it anymore. Maybe
16:50
Speaker 2: he's not who you thought you were getting, or he's
16:54
Speaker 2: not the player that you thought maybe he was two
16:56
Speaker 2: years ago. He is thirty eight years old, and sometimes
16:59
Speaker 2: the drop off can be steep, it can be drastic,
17:02
Speaker 2: and I think when you take all those things into consideration, yeah,
17:07
Speaker 2: I mean, there's always an inherent risk or a dart throw,
17:10
Speaker 2: if you will, when you trade a seventh round pick
17:12
Speaker 2: for an old quarterback like that. But you're bringing in
17:15
Speaker 2: someone who started so many games in the NFL, played
17:18
Speaker 2: in a number of different offenses, and offers a different
17:22
Speaker 2: perspective and really ties together the loop in that three
17:26
Speaker 2: person quarterback room, and you get different voices and different perspectives,
17:32
Speaker 2: which I think is really going to be critical moving forward.
17:36
Speaker 2: And he may even be someone who can help Jalen
17:39
Speaker 2: Hurts onboard even faster, because when you're peers with someone
17:45
Speaker 2: and you're in the midst of you're in the midst
17:47
Speaker 2: of learning it yourself. Maybe you see some things that
17:51
Speaker 2: and you're able to relate to the player, maybe more
17:54
Speaker 2: so than a coach can. Sometimes it's just a different
17:56
Speaker 2: viewpoint or a different teaching point that you're maybe able
17:59
Speaker 2: to to get across.
18:01
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think it's a really interesting room.
18:04
Speaker 2: But I don't know that I could say that it's
18:06
Speaker 2: definitively better than the one from last season. I think
18:09
Speaker 2: it's more the same because what it comes down to
18:11
Speaker 2: is Sam Howe versus Andy Dalton. Is there a steep
18:14
Speaker 2: drop off? Is there one who you prefer more than
18:16
Speaker 2: the other? I can't say that. I think if Andy
18:19
Speaker 2: Dalton is who he's been, that's sort of a wash
18:24
Speaker 2: at that third quarterback position. And I would expect the
18:27
Speaker 2: Eagles to look into the draft to bring in a quarterback,
18:31
Speaker 2: which is interesting in the sense that if it's let's
18:33
Speaker 2: say round four, that quarterback is going to make the roster,
18:37
Speaker 2: it's not a Day three flyer, so then what would
18:40
Speaker 2: you do. But the Eagles are the quarterback factory. They
18:42
Speaker 2: do value that position, and it wouldn't surprise me at
18:46
Speaker 2: all if they do select a quarterback in April's draft,
18:50
Speaker 2: which is just a couple weeks away. But for now,
18:52
Speaker 2: that's going to do it for this episode of The
18:54
Speaker 2: Checho Daily, I am Andrew Decheco and we'll catch you
18:57
Speaker 2: all on the next one and