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The DiCecco Daily: Eagles Who've Stood Out So Far in Training Camp · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome into another episode of The check Odaily.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew de Checko, Eagles beat reporter for insidethebirds dot Com,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and Friday there.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Was just a walk through for the Eagles.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: It was close to the media, but things resume as
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: usual on Saturday morning when they returned to the Jefferson
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Health Training Complex practice fields at ten am. Still going
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: through the acclamation period. The pads won't be on until
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: sometime next week. But I do want to mention a
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: few players who really stood out to me through the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Eagles first two training camp practices.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: And we'll start on offense.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm gonna say running back Tank Bigsby leads the
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: way here and Tank Bigsby and I've talked a lot
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: about this, and there's always so many different ways that
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I could say it, but I believe it. And it's
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the urgency and the desperation that he approaches every opportunity,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: the home run, hitting a bill that he presents he
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: has juice. The explosiveness is evident whenever he touches the football.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to see what he can do when
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: the pads come on. And it's imperative that the Eagles
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: find a defined role for Tank Bigsby this year. Now,
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: that shouldn't come at the expense of Saquon Barkley. To
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: be clear, Sakuon Barkley is regarded as one of the
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: better running backs in football for a reason. But Tank
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Bigsby can offer you something different in terms of just
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: a skill set and what he's able to provide. And
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: he plays the game one hundred miles an hour like
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: his hair is on fire. You love the way that
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: that he sort of attacks every every day and makes
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: the most of every opportunity.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: But you look at what he was able to do
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: in such.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: A small sample size last year, and it leaves you
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: wanting more.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: It can't help but sort of.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Bring to the surface, I guess is a good way
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: of saying it, about what he might be able to
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: do with a larger workload. He's still a young player
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: at twenty three years old. It won't be twenty four
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: into August. That's twenty four in NFL years.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: But it could come down to.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Just maybe if you're the Eagles and you're trying to
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: preserve Saquon Barkley and alleviate some of that wear and tear,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: maybe Tank Bigsby sees a little bit more work. He's
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: seen quite a bit of work through two practices and
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: again when the pads come on. He's a player that's
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: at the top of my list of who I'd like
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: to see in action. So Tank Bigsby for me on offense,
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: someone who has stood out to me. I'll give you, Yeah,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I'll give you two wide receivers. I'll say Davante Smith
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and DeVante Smith. That goes without saying. He's so steady,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: he's so consistent, a smooth operator as a route runner,
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: has a really good feel for spacing, knows how to.
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Find the saw spots and coverage.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Is a three level threat, catches everything that comes his way.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: But it's his ability to separate at the top of
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: routes I noticed through two practices, specifically on a couple
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: of really nice throws from Jalen Hurts, where Davante was
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: able to separate from Quinnon Mitchell to realin those passes.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: And with Davante he makes everything look so effortless, almost
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: like poetry in motion. But for those who have any
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: questions as to whether or not Davonte can be a
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: top receiver, I mean he's done it before. He's been
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: a top receiver. He's had nearly a thousand yards. Times
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: have changed and expectations have changed as well, but he
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: can do it. And the Eagles for a couple of years,
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: for a few years, really had two top end receivers,
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: and I think Davante is equipped to step in as
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: the number one volume.
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Based wide receiver. And volume base is all.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: Relative, because I don't expect this to be one of
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: those offenses that becomes suddenly, you know, a volume based
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: passing offense. But I think he's more than equipped to
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: handle it. His chemistry with Jalen Hurts can't be overstated.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: They've worked together for a number of years. You can
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: see it reflected in their timing and the their ability
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: to kind of have an idea with what the others
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: looking to do, where he needs to be, the landmarks
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: and all that. So I think DeVante Smith has sort
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: of checked off a lot of boxes in training camp
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: through two practices.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: That's the whole point of this.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Players who have stuck out to me thus far, and
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: I would also say Dantavian Wicks and Dan Tavian Wicks.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: I still need to see more to be clear, but
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: for someone who's coming in with such a limited resume,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: never had more than thirty nine receptions in a season,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: never had more than seventy four seventy five targets in
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: a season. There's a lot of questions. Naturally, drops have
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: been a problem for him in Green Bay, the lack
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: of consistency in catching the football. But he's a good
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: short to intermediate receiver who can separate the top of routes.
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: He's done that to this point.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: He's been on the receiving end of some Jalen Hurst passes,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: perhaps none more notable than the one from Thursday's practice
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: where jaywen Hurts rolls to his left, he heaves won
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: down the field in a double coverage. Rookie safety Coal
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: was Nesky's in coverage, and so is cornerback Jacory and Bennett.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: It looked for a second like z Nesky was gonna
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: come across and get the interception, but for some reason,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know whether they didn't read it, they overran it,
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: whatever the case was. It was a nice catch by
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Dantavian Wick staying with the football, tracking it and going
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: up and making a leaving reception. And I think to
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: a larger point here, you'd like to see Jay when hurts,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: take some more chances in practices ending games really, because
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: for the offense to really open things up and sort
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: of move away a little bit at least from the
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: risk averse style, you need to be able to take
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: some more chances, and sometimes that means putting the ball
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: in harm's way. That had the potential to be a
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: turnover worthy play, but one it was a nice throw
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: and he put a lot on it to be able
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: to make that throw and get it off, but also
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: it was it was good by Don Tavian Wicks and
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: kind of illustrates what you know, Green Bay Packers, what
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: he was able to do with the Green Bay Packers
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: and being someone who can make those contested catches win
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: those fifty to fifty situations, and thus far he's been
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: able to do that. I will be keeping an eye
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: on the drops and things like that throughout the summer
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: because that's one an area that I am really, you know,
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: on alert for, not high alert, but it's something I'm
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be monitoring throughout the summer.
• 6:36
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• 6:41
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• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And I'm gonna mention another wide receiver here because this
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: player deserves to mention. It is Elijah Moore. I didn't
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: want to go too heavy from the wide receiver room,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: but that's kind of the way that I'm leaning right now.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: And Elijah Moore, He's bounced around he's been in different offenses,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: he's played for different teams. He's really an interior wide
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: receiver who doesn't offer much in terms of special teams upside.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: He's played just nineteen special team snaps in his career.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: But when you look at what he can do with
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: the short area quickness, he's really, you know, a dump off,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: mid range type of option. He's not going to stretch
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: teams vertically or anything like that.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: But I think, and.
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: This really put is planted the seed yesterday when I
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: watch him on the end around and he's been on
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: the receiving you know, he's been involved in some of
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: the motions and things like that, even dating back to
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the spring, and you can't help but wonder what that
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: might look like and some of the challenges that that
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: could potentially present to a defense when you have I
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: don't think I don't think it's fair to classify as
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: a gadget player, but someone who can be a manufactured
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: touch type of player, like what the Eagles probably believed
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: they were getting in an Ayas Smith.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Well, you might have that in Elijah Moore.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: The problem is is there a room for him and
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: what would his role be if he's on the roster
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: because as the fifth or sixth receiver, special teams becomes
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: hugely critical and as I mentioned, very limited experience there. Now,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: what is interesting is that on the first day the
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Eagles were working on special teams in the mid portion
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: of practice, and of those three players all were wide receivers.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: It was Britain Covey, Mackay Lemon, and Elijah Moore. Everyone
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: asks what should you be watching for in the preseason,
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: And while this won't be at the top of the list,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: it will certainly be one of the things that I'm watching,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: and that is how Elijah Moore affairs as a punt
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: returner and can he provide added value on special teams,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: because if you can, there is a path in which
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: he can probably stick around on the fifty three. Of course,
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: it also would make some sense to keep them on
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: the practice squad, and I can't imagine there would be
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: a team clamoring to get him on there. But if
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: you have a role for him offensively and he can
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: be your punt returner, you know that that's going to
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: be a season long thing. Why do the three week
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: deal and then sign them and sort of delay the inevitable.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: That's a question that you can always ask yourself, especially
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: with the maybe, let's say a long snapper situation. They had,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: you know, Brittin Covey on the practice squad last year
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: and he was a punt returner. You're elevating him. You
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: know that he's you're gonna have to eventually sign him.
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: So sometimes you're you're buying yourself some time as the
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: roster shapes out. But that's Elijah Moore is another player
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: that I wanted to mention there on the defensive side.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: We'll close things out here. Jaylyox Hunt is the player
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: for me, and it was more noticeable on day one
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: than Day two. But when you're watching a player like
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: this who's just grown exponentially over the past two seasons,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: he's just a you know, a handful of years removed
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: from being a safety at Cornell. He's grown into his frame.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: He's become a better, more refined pass rusher. He has
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: a more nuanced approach as a rusher, and he has
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: a better understanding of how offensive tackles are looking to
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: combat them. That has now caught up to his athletics.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: So he's playing with more confidence, with more discipline and
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: freely not thinking as much. He's letting his natural ability
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: take over. The first step burst is something that I
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: think you'll notice right away when you watch him.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: But he's become an effective two way player.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: He's filled out his frame and he can help at
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: against a run as well. He should benefit immensely from
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: the presence of Jonathan Grenard whenever he returns to the fold.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: But I think this guy's the limit for Jalox Hunt.
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: I don't want to put expectations to, you know, to
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: out too far, you know, too unrealistic, but it wouldn't
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: surprise me if he challenges for double digit sacks and
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: becomes the egals breakout player on defense in twenty twenty six.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: I think there's legitimate upside there that this year should
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: really reveal, because everything's sort of aligning if you look
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: back to the way that things have been trending played.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I think two hundred and forty one snaps is a
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: rookie six hundred and ninety three last year, where he
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: led all edge rushers in snaps. He led all edge
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: rushers and pressures with twenty four, sacks with six and
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: a half and interceptions with three.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: That's the other component to this.
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: He's such an effective player when dropping into coverage, you
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: see the natural ability that he's probably able to tap
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: into his safety background where he can make some adjustments
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: his eye discipline, he knows how to break on certain things,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: and that makes him all the more lethal as a rusher,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: especially in this defense where you have to do a
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: little bit more than simply playing the run and pinning
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: years back and going after the quarterback. You have to
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: do some things athletically in space and coverage, and Jay
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: looks Hunt really fits that to a t. I you
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: know what, I'll throw one more player in there, and
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: that's going to be linebacker Jahid Campbell. Jahid Campbell is
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: someone that when you look at the spring, he had
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: a shoulder procedure. Again, he mentioned that he wanted to
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: get a little a little fix up is what he
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: called it, to get ahead of things before training camp.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: So that didn't become a problem. So he be healthy
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: and available, so he reclaimed the starting spot at linebacker
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: opposite Zach Bond. He also reclaimed his old jersey number
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: in eleven, and that's going to draw comparisons naturally to
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: AJ Brown. But it's important to note here that Jehi
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: Campbell and he said this, it's a number that he's
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: worn in high school and college, and for some reason,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: numbers can do this. He looks faster Zach Bond. When
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: he met with us, I think it might have been
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: the first day of practice. He mentioned about how Jahad
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: has added some muscle to his frame, how he's really
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: comte can play any of the linebacker positions if needed.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: So he's a student of the game. But he also
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: presents a lot of unique athletic qualities that I don't
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: think that I don't think are talked about enough or
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: focused on enough. And he has an eighty inch wingspan
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: which helps him in coverage sideline to sideline range and
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: the unique ability to cover athletic move tight ends and
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: running backs out of the backfield. So while he may
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: not be the thumper and the run game than Nakobe
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: Dean was, he's not going to be ni Kobe Dean,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: and that's okay.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: He's a different kind of player.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: But what Jahid Campbell can give you is more splash plays,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: which I think will lend itself to him having a
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: breakthrough twenty twenty six campaign.
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: He's just got to stay healthy.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Two shoulder procedures and consecutive springs is certainly something that
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: I will be monitoring moving forward. But from a skill
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: set standpoint, from an overview, a twenty twenty six overview,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of reason for optimism with Jahied Campbell.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Different kind of player than na Kobe Dean. The Kobe
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Dean also brought other things like leadership and just an
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: inherent knowledge and being the quarterback of the defense that
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: is going to frankly take some time. Some players can
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: never step into those shoes and be able to be
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: able to walk in those shoes, and that's fine, and
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: it's not something that should be discounted. But the Eagles
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: are getting an upgrade from an athletic standpoint at that position.
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: Whether or not he's able to give you quality production
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: and be a consistent presence there opposite bond, whether they
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: play off each other as well, that remains to be seen.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: But Jahad Campbell is a player who caught my eye
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: on a different on a couple of different occasions.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: So that's where we'll leave it. That's going to do
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: it for this episode of the Checko Deli.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew de Checo, and I'll catch you all on
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: the next one.