Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Fangio Speaks at Eagles Camp And Looking at The AFC West
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- 0:00Speaker 1: And Football at Four powered by the Inside of the
- 0:02Speaker 1: Birds podcast. It is brought to you by the Fanatic
- 0:05Speaker 1: Sportsbook at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. The Football
- 0:09Speaker 1: at Four takes up the Eagles training camp and camp
- 0:14Speaker 1: is open for business. Yesterday, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni
- 0:21Speaker 1: did the honors.
- 0:22Speaker 2: They took the podium.
- 0:23Speaker 1: We just played for you the Vic Fangio press conference
- 0:29Speaker 1: from earlier Today. We'll get a couple quick Eagles questions
- 0:31Speaker 1: for Andrew before we look at the AFC West as
- 0:35Speaker 1: our division previews continue here on the Sports Bash Live.
- 0:39Speaker 1: The first question I would have for you, Andrew would be,
- 0:42Speaker 1: Jonathan Gernard will miss a good bit of training camp here.
- 0:47Speaker 1: Is this a concern hearing that come from Vic Fangio
- 0:50Speaker 1: on his first day that he meets with the media.
- 0:54Speaker 3: A mild one. It's not something that you just want
- 0:56Speaker 3: to say, there's nothing to see here. Jonason Gernard had
- 0:59Speaker 3: a shoulder injury last season that limited him to twelve games,
- 1:03Speaker 3: and he hasn't yet participated in team drills and I'm
- 1:06Speaker 3: including the spring. Of course, he is a veteran, he
- 1:10Speaker 3: has played a ton of football, but as Vic Vangio
- 1:12Speaker 3: outlined today, he's going to have to do some different
- 1:15Speaker 3: things that he hasn't had to do in his career.
- 1:18Speaker 3: So you would ideally like to get him on the
- 1:20Speaker 3: practice field and work him through some of those things.
- 1:23Speaker 3: But it doesn't it's not a long term concern as
- 1:27Speaker 3: of this time, and they're expecting him to be ready.
- 1:31Speaker 2: All right. Well, one other quick one.
- 1:32Speaker 1: He pleaded the fifth, I guess if you will on
- 1:34Speaker 1: the safety position, why does he not want to show
- 1:38Speaker 1: his hand at safety yet?
- 1:42Speaker 3: I think he was kind of joking when he said that,
- 1:45Speaker 3: but he also added that it's a competition and he's
- 1:49Speaker 3: not just going to hand the job over at first
- 1:51Speaker 3: of all, Cooper de Jean's going to be the safety
- 1:52Speaker 3: when the Eagles are in Nickel, But the question becomes, oh,
- 1:55Speaker 3: when the Eagles are in base Excuse me, the question
- 1:57Speaker 3: becomes who the safety when Eagles are in Nickel. Right now,
- 2:00Speaker 3: the front runner is Marcus EPs. I wouldn't roll out
- 2:03Speaker 3: Michael Carter the second, but you have to let that
- 2:06Speaker 3: play out. He's not gonna chip his hand one way
- 2:09Speaker 3: or the other because there's still a lot that has
- 2:11Speaker 3: to be determined.
- 2:12Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, Our Division Previews we're flying through. We're
- 2:16Speaker 1: almost to the NFC where the AFC West today, which
- 2:20Speaker 1: means we are getting really close to the start of
- 2:23Speaker 1: the season. And of course, the Eagles this season in
- 2:26Speaker 1: the AFC West, they will not play anybody from the
- 2:29Speaker 1: AFC West.
- 2:30Speaker 2: We will not.
- 2:31Speaker 1: See an AFC West team on the schedule. But one
- 2:35Speaker 1: of the big teams is the Kansas City Chiefs. As
- 2:38Speaker 1: we know, they did not make the playoffs for the
- 2:40Speaker 1: first time. I think since twenty fourteen that the Chiefs
- 2:43Speaker 1: have not made the playoffs. But let's get your initial
- 2:45Speaker 1: thoughts on what their offense will look like this year.
- 2:49Speaker 1: With Patrick Mahones towards ACL is LCO LCL, but it
- 2:53Speaker 1: is expected that he will be back. He's got a
- 2:56Speaker 1: couple of new toys here.
- 2:58Speaker 3: Yeah, on paper, it should be a fairly dynamic Chiefs offense.
- 3:01Speaker 3: You added Kenneth Walker from the Seattle Seahawks. I think
- 3:04Speaker 3: he's one of the better running backs in the game
- 3:06Speaker 3: in my opinion. And then you, of course, you have
- 3:08Speaker 3: three speechters in Taekwan Thornton, Rashi Rice and Xavier Worthy.
- 3:13Speaker 3: The defensive line, Creed Humphrey leads the way there and
- 3:15Speaker 3: one of the better centers in the game, Kingsley, Sue
- 3:18Speaker 3: matteas a guard, Josh Simmons, and you have Travis Kelsey
- 3:22Speaker 3: still we'll see how much he ultimately has left, but
- 3:24Speaker 3: they have certainly pieces from which to build.
- 3:28Speaker 1: They did lose running back as today as Pacheco from Violent.
- 3:31Speaker 1: They also lost wide receiver Hollywood Brown to Philadelphia. You
- 3:35Speaker 1: take a look at that offense with Patrick Mahomes and
- 3:38Speaker 1: Kelsey adding Kenneth Walker, sounds like you like what they've
- 3:42Speaker 1: done offensively, But what about on the defensive side of
- 3:45Speaker 1: the ball. They lot Triff mcduffee. When you look at
- 3:48Speaker 1: their defense, does this eight championship level defense?
- 3:53Speaker 3: Well, I like Chris Jones up front, George carloftis they
- 3:56Speaker 3: added our Mason Thomas in the draft, Who's a player
- 3:59Speaker 3: that I really loved. I spoke to him at the
- 4:01Speaker 3: podium at the NFL scouting combine Peter Woods in the
- 4:05Speaker 3: first round. So like, they have pieces there, and you
- 4:10Speaker 3: look at the second level. Drew Tranquill's underrated player. I
- 4:14Speaker 3: think he's been around. Nick Bolton, someone who Eagles fans
- 4:17Speaker 3: are probably well accustomed, you know, well acquainted with with
- 4:21Speaker 3: his play in the Super Bowl fifty seven and then
- 4:23Speaker 3: you have a secondary that I'm not overly enthused with.
- 4:27Speaker 3: Anytime you lose at Trent McDuffie, you're not a better team.
- 4:31Speaker 3: At Jalen Watson, you're not a better team. And you
- 4:34Speaker 3: know you're talking about Eloie Gilman comes over from the Ravens.
- 4:40Speaker 3: Cater Coho from the Dolphins. I mean they did draft
- 4:44Speaker 3: man Sword Delane the kid from LSU, and I like him.
- 4:47Speaker 3: But it takes time for players to be able to
- 4:49Speaker 3: step in there and help you. And I don't know
- 4:51Speaker 3: if they have a ton there on the back end,
- 4:53Speaker 3: you could really hang your hat on year one, you know,
- 4:56Speaker 3: kind of ready to go. Lugarious Need is a player
- 5:00Speaker 3: who's bounced around while he's with the Tennessee Titans. He's
- 5:03Speaker 3: a little bit older. Now they have they have some pieces,
- 5:07Speaker 3: but I don't know if they have enough.
- 5:10Speaker 1: Well, they had a problem last year in one score games.
- 5:12Speaker 1: They were one and nine in one score games last season,
- 5:16Speaker 1: and in the division where they have dominated, they went
- 5:18Speaker 1: one in five in the division. They were twenty and
- 5:21Speaker 1: four in their previous four seasons. Their big addition, though,
- 5:24Speaker 1: was Kenneth Walker, who obviously was a huge factor for
- 5:27Speaker 1: the Seahawks last year. How much better do you think
- 5:31Speaker 1: or different will you?
- 5:31Speaker 3: Do?
- 5:32Speaker 1: You think Walker will be over what they've had in
- 5:35Speaker 1: the past at the running back position.
- 5:38Speaker 3: I liked Isaiah Piciceco. I think he's a nice story
- 5:40Speaker 3: as a seventh round pick, local guy at the Rutgers,
- 5:43Speaker 3: and they just they upgraded pretty significantly in my estimation,
- 5:48Speaker 3: with Kenneth Walker. That's something that they could really lean
- 5:51Speaker 3: into the ground game. And they have de Marcado Amari
- 5:54Speaker 3: de Marcado, who they believe he was with the Cardinals
- 5:57Speaker 3: if I'm remembering that correctly. They drafted Emmitt Johnson in
- 6:02Speaker 3: the fifth round as well, So I think they're they're
- 6:04Speaker 3: gonna lean into the running game because for as talented
- 6:07Speaker 3: as they are at receiver, I mean, I Taekwon Thornton
- 6:11Speaker 3: is sort of an unproven entity. He's a speech there,
- 6:14Speaker 3: but there's still questions there. And then you have Rishi
- 6:17Speaker 3: Rice and Xavior Worth and so yeah, I like Kenth Walker.
- 6:20Speaker 1: All right, the Chiefs did not make the playoffs. We'll
- 6:23Speaker 1: see if Andrew thinks they will be back there. Let's
- 6:26Speaker 1: go to the Chargers. Eleven wins under Harball and he
- 6:30Speaker 1: has done that each of his first two seasons, but
- 6:33Speaker 1: they have not won a playoff game here, and when
- 6:36Speaker 1: you take a look at the ad and subtractions here,
- 6:39Speaker 1: not a big name that jumps off the roster. They
- 6:41Speaker 1: got rid of Greg Roman, They're gonna have a new
- 6:43Speaker 1: offensive coordinator there. But this is Justin Herbert now in
- 6:46Speaker 1: season number seven. Can he finally get this Chargers team
- 6:50Speaker 1: deeper into the playoffs?
- 6:53Speaker 2: Yeah?
- 6:53Speaker 3: I mean Justin Herbert is a very talented quarterback. I
- 6:56Speaker 3: feel like that needs to be reiterated because I know
- 7:00Speaker 3: he takes some you know, he takes some shots, not
- 7:04Speaker 3: necessarily nationally but locally because of the lists that come
- 7:08Speaker 3: out and who he's compared to. But yeah, I mean
- 7:11Speaker 3: he needs to be able to deliver in the postseason.
- 7:13Speaker 3: Playing it simple, but there's a lot of layers as
- 7:15Speaker 3: to why the Chargers haven't reached the expectations. He hasn't
- 7:19Speaker 3: played well in the postseason, but he's also a big
- 7:21Speaker 3: reason why they are they're viable. So yeah, I mean
- 7:25Speaker 3: I think he's I mean I feel like I say
- 7:27Speaker 3: this every year, but I feel like he's ready to
- 7:29Speaker 3: take a step forward and lead the team to another
- 7:35Speaker 3: postseason run.
- 7:36Speaker 1: Yeah, fifty four sacks last year, their offensive line was
- 7:39Speaker 1: a mess.
- 7:40Speaker 2: But you know, Andrew, when their offensive line.
- 7:42Speaker 1: Was healthy, you can make a strong argument that they
- 7:45Speaker 1: possibly could have been a Super Bowl contending team.
- 7:49Speaker 3: Yeah, they just didn't have the offensive line, and I
- 7:51Speaker 3: think it. You know, if those out there haven't watched
- 7:55Speaker 3: Chargers football, think back to the Eagles Chargers game when
- 7:58Speaker 3: the offensive line was it's just really leaky. And I
- 8:02Speaker 3: mean Justin Herbert was playing banged up in that game
- 8:04Speaker 3: and he took a lot of hits. They they've added
- 8:07Speaker 3: different pieces, like Jake Slaughter out of Florida. He's going
- 8:10Speaker 3: to play guard for them. I believe they took him
- 8:12Speaker 3: in the second round. They had Piatas at center, Cole
- 8:16Speaker 3: Strange comes over, Joe Walt is there at tackle with
- 8:19Speaker 3: Shaun Slater. So if they're healthy, and that's a big if,
- 8:23Speaker 3: I think they should have enough pieces up front to
- 8:25Speaker 3: support what they have in the skill position with Quinton
- 8:29Speaker 3: Johnson and Lad McConkie, who I like quite a bit
- 8:31Speaker 3: as a route runner. He's really good working the intermediate
- 8:33Speaker 3: levels of the field, and Mario Hampton at running back.
- 8:36Speaker 3: So yeah, I mean, I do like their complement of
- 8:39Speaker 3: skill players.
- 8:40Speaker 1: Defense. They by the way they changed coordinators on offense
- 8:43Speaker 1: and on defense. Their defense was really good last year.
- 8:45Speaker 1: Jesse Minter he is now the head coach in Baltimore.
- 8:49Speaker 1: When you take a look at the defense, they drafted
- 8:51Speaker 1: Messador from Miami in the first round. There, what do
- 8:54Speaker 1: you when you look at that defense, this is a
- 8:57Speaker 1: pretty darn good defense. If that offense can be more consistent.
- 9:02Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean the defense isn't too bad. A player
- 9:04Speaker 3: who I really like who's not quite a household name
- 9:07Speaker 3: but he should be, is Dian Henley their linebackers. Is
- 9:10Speaker 3: a sort of an undersized outside linebacker, but he's extremely fast,
- 9:14Speaker 3: covers a lot of ground. Twoey Twoy below two is
- 9:18Speaker 3: an edge rusher that they have. I like him. And
- 9:22Speaker 3: Tarheeb Still, one of their corners out of Maryland is
- 9:25Speaker 3: someone that I was at his pro day and I
- 9:28Speaker 3: thought pretty highly of him. He was drafted in the
- 9:30Speaker 3: fifth round in twenty twenty four. He's slated to start
- 9:33Speaker 3: for them. They also have Cam Hart at a Notre Dame.
- 9:37Speaker 3: I interviewed him before the draft in twenty twenty four.
- 9:41Speaker 3: Another really interesting player there. And yeah, I mean their
- 9:44Speaker 3: back end, you know, apart from Derwin James, maybe has
- 9:48Speaker 3: some questions because they're not exactly household names, but I
- 9:52Speaker 3: think that there's a lot of really interesting pieces for
- 9:55Speaker 3: them to really work with.
- 9:58Speaker 1: All Right, they're the Chargers. This is really division. I
- 10:00Speaker 1: think you can really make an argument for any of
- 10:02Speaker 1: these three. We'll see who Andrew liked. At the end
- 10:05Speaker 1: of our AFC West preview, we go to Denver, who
- 10:09Speaker 1: was neck and neck last year. They lost bow Knicks
- 10:12Speaker 1: in the playoff game last year and that really changed
- 10:15Speaker 1: the whole dynamics from they did add Jalen Wattle. You
- 10:19Speaker 1: could possibly say that is that the difference making move
- 10:23Speaker 1: for the Denver Broncos.
- 10:28Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I like this offensive bunch you're talking
- 10:30Speaker 3: about bo Nix, and I'm expecting him to take a
- 10:33Speaker 3: leap forward next season having that postseason experience. He's coming
- 10:37Speaker 3: off the injury, of course, so we'll have to wait
- 10:39Speaker 3: and see. But the running back situation, they have JK. Dobbins, R. J.
- 10:45Speaker 3: Harvey at a UCFU. His teammates with Eagles cornerback Mac McWilliams,
- 10:49Speaker 3: Courtland Sutton is primarily he's an underrated player. It was
- 10:53Speaker 3: sort of a big body, possession guy, but someone who
- 10:55Speaker 3: knows how to use his frame to his advantage and
- 10:57Speaker 3: he's a quarterback friendly option. Jalen Watts comes over. Troy
- 11:01Speaker 3: Franklin from Oregon is there. He was a fourth round
- 11:04Speaker 3: pick in twenty four Yeah. I mean, I think that
- 11:07Speaker 3: this is a unit that you look at it and
- 11:09Speaker 3: there's a lot of continuity there. And with bo Nicks,
- 11:12Speaker 3: I think, and being such a young quarterback, I think
- 11:14Speaker 3: that'll be especially paramount.
- 11:16Speaker 1: They traded their first round pick away to get Jalen Lotnell.
- 11:19Speaker 1: Fourteen wins for the Broncos last season, but they got
- 11:23Speaker 1: sixty eight sacks, eleven more than any other team. When
- 11:26Speaker 1: you think about the Broncos, their fourteen wins weren't because
- 11:29Speaker 1: of this high fly and.
- 11:30Speaker 2: High power offense. This might be the best defense in football.
- 11:34Speaker 3: Andrew, Yeah, Mike, it's really interesting. They have a lot
- 11:38Speaker 3: of pieces and every time I've talked to a young
- 11:41Speaker 3: pass rusher at the podium at the Combine, a lot
- 11:44Speaker 3: of those players were comparing their skill sets to Nick Benito,
- 11:48Speaker 3: and that seems to be someone who is widely recognized
- 11:52Speaker 3: as and rightfully so, as one of the premier pass rushers.
- 11:55Speaker 3: He has a lot of intriguing tools. He leads the
- 11:57Speaker 3: way there they have Jonathan Cooper, another pass rusher, Zach Allen.
- 12:02Speaker 3: On their defensive line, DJ Jones, Alex Singleton former Eagles linebackers.
- 12:09Speaker 3: There their secondary, they have Riley Moss. J Kwan McMillan's
- 12:13Speaker 3: been a really good story as an undrafted free agent.
- 12:15Speaker 3: He was a really when I look at Christian Parker,
- 12:18Speaker 3: that was really his first developmental project there and he's
- 12:23Speaker 3: really established himself as one of the better nickelbacks in
- 12:25Speaker 3: the nfls and Patrick Surtense, you know, he needs no introduction.
- 12:31Speaker 1: Andrew obviously, you take a look at that team, the
- 12:34Speaker 1: Denver Broncos, it's going to be Knicks. Where are you
- 12:38Speaker 1: on bow Knicks? They need a healthy Knicks. But I
- 12:40Speaker 1: don't even know what the healthy knicks are.
- 12:42Speaker 2: They good enough.
- 12:44Speaker 3: I had my doubts, especially you have a quarterback that
- 12:48Speaker 3: I'm not quite sure that he has, you know, the
- 12:51Speaker 3: I don't know that they have the infrastructure in place
- 12:53Speaker 3: to be a pass happy offense. And I think with
- 12:57Speaker 3: a young quarterback like that, you need a running game,
- 13:00Speaker 3: a strong running game to be able to support that.
- 13:02Speaker 3: I don't know that they have that. JK. Dobbins has
- 13:04Speaker 3: been awfully banged up of late RJ. Harvey's a really
- 13:08Speaker 3: good complimentary piece, more of a pass catching back, has
- 13:11Speaker 3: good quicks. But I mean, I don't know that they
- 13:14Speaker 3: have enough their offensive we to really make a dent.
- 13:16Speaker 3: They're gonna have to be a defensive heavy team. They're
- 13:19Speaker 3: going to probably win a lot of their games based
- 13:21Speaker 3: off of their defensive prowess.
- 13:23Speaker 1: I would imagine, all right, let's finish up with the
- 13:26Speaker 1: team that had the number one overall pick, and that
- 13:28Speaker 1: was Fernando Mendoza. Right now he has listed as the backup.
- 13:32Speaker 1: They went out and made a ton of moves. Tyler
- 13:34Speaker 1: Linda Bob. They got a new coordinator, they got a
- 13:35Speaker 1: new head coach, they got the Kobe Dean on defense,
- 13:39Speaker 1: you got Kirk Cousins, who currently is the starter. When
- 13:42Speaker 1: you look at this Raiders team, have they made significant steps?
- 13:45Speaker 1: Let's start on the offensive side of the ball, man.
- 13:49Speaker 3: I don't think so. I look at Tyler Lindarbaum, who
- 13:53Speaker 3: I'd like. He's their center. They have Jackson Powers Johnson
- 13:57Speaker 3: out of Oregon. He's their guard. So interior from an
- 14:00Speaker 3: interior perspective, I like it. But in terms of just
- 14:04Speaker 3: their overall group of skill players, aside from brock Bowers,
- 14:08Speaker 3: and I mean you're looking at you're talking about Trey Tucker,
- 14:13Speaker 3: you're talking about Ashton Genty where I don't know if
- 14:16Speaker 3: they have enough from an offensive line standpoint to really
- 14:20Speaker 3: for him to really be able to make a difference.
- 14:21Speaker 3: Nor do I believe that they'll be in a position
- 14:24Speaker 3: where they can lean into the running game. I think
- 14:26Speaker 3: they'll be throwing a lot, and I don't know that
- 14:28Speaker 3: they have a lot of options there. Jack Beck is
- 14:33Speaker 3: another interesting player. They signed Jaalen Naylor, who I think
- 14:36Speaker 3: is a really good number three option. He was with
- 14:37Speaker 3: the Vikings if you remember.
- 14:39Speaker 1: So.
- 14:40Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we'll have to see how things shake,
- 14:42Speaker 3: but right now I think that that's going to be
- 14:44Speaker 3: a really really lackluster offense.
- 14:47Speaker 1: Nakobe Dean is there, Kway Walker's there, They got Max
- 14:50Speaker 1: Crosby back, quit he pay they signed.
- 14:53Speaker 2: Have they done enough on defense to make them interesting?
- 14:56Speaker 3: They also have again Thomas Booker, who former Eagles defensive tackle.
- 15:01Speaker 3: He's a starter for them, and he was acquired in
- 15:05Speaker 3: that trade that Jacryan Bennett got to Philadelphia. The quitty Pay,
- 15:10Speaker 3: Klay Walker, and na Kobe Dean. I like that group
- 15:13Speaker 3: right there. That adds some structure, some stability to that group.
- 15:17Speaker 3: You talk about Max Crosby, Jeremy Chin. I liked him
- 15:21Speaker 3: quite a bit coming out of Southern Illinois. He hasn't
- 15:24Speaker 3: really been able to stick Eric Stokes with the Green
- 15:28Speaker 3: Bay Packers. I was a little higher on him coming
- 15:31Speaker 3: out of the draft out of Georgia, I believe, and
- 15:34Speaker 3: he really hasn't been much more than a number two,
- 15:37Speaker 3: a capable number two corner. So yeah, I mean you
- 15:41Speaker 3: can see some you could see the progress. I still
- 15:44Speaker 3: don't know that they're ready to contend for anything from
- 15:47Speaker 3: a divisional perspective this year. They still feel like they're
- 15:50Speaker 3: a couple of years off. Especially by that point, Mendoza
- 15:53Speaker 3: should be up to speed and they should have a
- 15:56Speaker 3: little bit more firepower offensively to help him out.
- 15:59Speaker 1: All right, Andrew, let's see who wins the AFC West.
- 16:02Speaker 1: What is your predictions for this season.
- 16:06Speaker 3: I'm gonna say the Chargers, Mike, I'm gonna go with
- 16:08Speaker 3: the Chargers to win this division, followed by the Kansas
- 16:11Speaker 3: City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos, and the Robbers.
- 16:15Speaker 2: All right, so Denver fourteen wins.
- 16:18Speaker 3: Yeah, Denver was a tough one for me. I just
- 16:20Speaker 3: don't know if they have enough offensively there to be
- 16:23Speaker 3: able to put up enough points. You're gonna be asking
- 16:26Speaker 3: an awful lot of your defense every week based off
- 16:28Speaker 3: of how things look on paper.
- 16:30Speaker 2: All right, we will stay in the West.
- 16:32Speaker 1: We'll go to the NFC West next week when we
- 16:34Speaker 1: look at our division previews. The Eagles training camp continues.
- 16:38Speaker 1: Andrew Tochecko for the Inside the Birds podcast Inside the
- 16:40Speaker 1: Birds dot Com here on today's football for all right, man,
- 16:44Speaker 1: appreciate it, no problem,