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The DiCecco Daily: New Look Safety Room Blends Youth, Veterans · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's going on? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the check o'daly Andrew to check O Eagles beat reporter
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: for insidethebirds dot Com. The positional preview series continues on today,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: and we're looking at the safety room. Drew mccouba, in
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: his second NFL season, headlines this group. Right now, I
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: am anticipating a big leap in year two for Drew.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I know that in the beginning of last season it
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: looked like a rookie trying to find his way, and
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: that should be of no surprise to challenging position in
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: this particular defense. But I thought later in the year
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: it looked like he was navigating it fairly well. He
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: was playing with more confidence, playing faster, breaking on the football,
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: and he has a penchant for taking the football away
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: that I believe will reveal itself in twenty twenty six
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: high IQ player. You'll worry about the durability weighing about
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty six pounds, but I think everything
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: you're looking you're looking for in that position, he has it,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: and so I think he's ready to make that to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: take that next step in year two. Now, the big
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: question is and fic Fangil talked about it on Thursday.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Is the second safety spot. It's open right now. Understandably,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: there's some questions Legles don't have a lot of gaps
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: on the roster, A lot of questions maybe for depth,
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: but not in terms of starters. Safety is interesting because
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: you have Marcus Apps. Marcus Aps is thirty years old.
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: He's been in the NFL for a while. Sixth round
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: pick of the Minnesota Vikings in twenty nineteen, I believe,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: and he gave the Eagles some quality snaps at safety. Now,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: ideally you'd like to have him as your third safety.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: But he is instinctual, he's smart, he's tough, lacks for
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: the range and athleticism typically look for for that position,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: but he makes up for it with the IQ and
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: the instincts and being fundamentally sound and finding himself in
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: the right place at the right time. Those qualities are
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: valuable to someone like Vic Vangio, who values the consistency
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and someone who he can trust to put in a
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: big spot. Now, if you're the Eagles, you have to
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: wonder as you get towards the you know, get through
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: training camp. I assume they're going to add to this position.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: It's still relatively light, and I don't know that there
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: will be a big name or anything to that effect,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: but if you do, Marcus EPs would probably be the
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: player who would find himself squeezed. He can put him
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: on the practice squad. He's a veteran. He can be
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: that contingency plan. He began last season on the practice squad,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: but as of right now, he appears to be the
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: front runner for that spot opposite Drew mccoba. Michael Carter
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the second as a player that the Eagles are going
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: to keep in the mix at safety this year. And
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: if you watch the season finale, and I talk a
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: lot about this, uh, but he started, he didn't start well.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: He came in in relief of it of an injured
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Brandon Johnson and played over fifty snaps in that game.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: And when I spoke to him, he mentioned that was
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: the most snaps he's played at safety since he was
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: in high school and mentioned how sorry was and we
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: shared a laugh about that. But he has five ten,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty five pounds, So if he does
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: put his stamp on that second spot, you worry a
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: little bit about the size. He's won eighty five Macouba
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: win eighty six. That's a physically taxing position and you
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: have to get downhill. You have to make those tackles,
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: and you wonder about how that body type, how that
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: frame would be able to withstand the wear and tear
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: of a full complement of games in an NFL season.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: But what he does give you is football smarts. He's tough,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: he can make tackles, he does find the locate the
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: football well, he does cover ground. He's a nickelback, so
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: he has the short area quickness, the ability to match
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: and mirror and all that. But you worry about the
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: physicality and how that could potentially take a toll on him.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: But vic Vango said, they got to find out if
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: he can do it. You saw a little bit of
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: a sample size, but now is the true test. You
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: have to find out what is Michael Carter in this defense.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: Then you have Andre Sam. Andre Sam's a player who's
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: been on the practice squad for the last two years.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Was elevated for three games last year. Made a nice
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: play on special teams against the Chargers on kickoff. He
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: works really hard. He knows Joe Casper well. He was
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: a safety's coach for two seasons now the defensive passing
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: game coordinator. But he's a little bit of an older
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: prospect at twenty seven. But I like Andre Sam. I
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: like his attitude. I like his toughness. I like his
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: resilience and his story, and the Eagles seem to like
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: him a little bit. He's around for now his third season,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: so he's very familiar in the system. I think that
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: gives him some appeal going into this season. I still
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: think he's on the outside looking in, probably to make
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: the roster, but he shouldn't be counted out because he
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: can help you on special teams. He does have very
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: minimal NFL experience, but it is experienced four games in
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: his career and we'll see where lanzam. Then you have
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Kashina Kupina Ku Chicken, who's an undrafted free agent rangy
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: type of player, quickness, good foot quickness. The Eagles gave
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: him to two hundred and seventy two five hundred in
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: total guarantee. Look as an undrafted rookie're always gonna have
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: an uphill battle to make the roster, of course, but
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: I think at worst, barring him completely flaming out in
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: training camp, I would imagine that they would try to
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: get him on the practice squad, but he's a player
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: that you should probably keep an eye on. The Eagles
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: obviously are intrigued enough to give him that kind of
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: total guarantee, along with Joshua Weiru who also got the
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: same amount. The ipp edge rusher from Kenya. Looking forward
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: to seeing what he can provide. But anyway, going back
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: to safety's Cole was Nesky drafted in the seventh round
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: out of Texas Tech. He's a tough player, extremely physical,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: six foot three two nineteen. You like the size there,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: can make plays in space. When it comes to tackling,
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you worry about the range and the long speed and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: his ability to transition and coverage. But talking to his
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: code defensive cordator Texas Tech, I wrote a story on
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: Inside the Birds dot com. You can go ahead and
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: grab that. He outlined that Cole was nisky and his
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: pronounce was Nesky. By the way, pronunciation is very important
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: with me, and he's a player that has a little
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: bit more athleticism than he's given credit for. I think
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: he would thrive on special teams immediately, maybe even as
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: a gunner as well on special teams, depending on how
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: the roster shakes out. But he is someone that is
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: and everyone that I've talked to highly intelligent. So I'm
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: expecting him to grasp the system. I don't want to
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: say in relatively short order. That's not fair, but I
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: would imagine that he is able to find his footing
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: a little earlier than he might expect a Day three prospect.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: That's a complicated position, but I think he's wired in
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: a way that lends itself to him being able to
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: kind of get off to a quicker start than than some.
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: So I like his prospects of sticking as the fourth safety.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: We'll see, though you never know. He could go into
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: training camp and light it up and all of a
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: sudden you have someone who's elbowing his way into the
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: number two safety conversation. Now, that's certainly not ideal, But
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: if he's the best player and everything remains unchanged in
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: terms of not adding an external piece, well that would
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: be positive and a really good draft selection. Another good
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: draft selection for Howie Roseman. So Brandon Johnson's another player
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: on this list that we do have to get to,
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: and I put him on my fifty three man roster
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: as a cornerback because he is a nickel cornerback by trade,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: but he has good athletic twitchiness, he's good in short areas,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: instinctual player, and the fact that he was able to
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: transition mid season and cross train at safety, it tells
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: you that this is someone who really has a firm
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: grasp on the game and the ins and outs, because
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: those are, in my estimation, the two most challenging positions
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: to play on defense, and he can play them both.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: He's twenty three years old and played twenty three snaps
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: in the preseason in the regular season finale. So I
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: look at Brandon Johnson kind of as a dark horse here.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: I like him quite a bit. He's a great kid.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I mentioned Andre Sam. Brandon Johnson also has a tremendous attitude.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: He's embraced this opportunity that he has with the Philadelphia Eagles,
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: and he seems to be a player that they like
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: a little bit. So maybe they're able to work with
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: him and develop them even further this year and he
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: can make that push onto the roster. He was on
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: the practice squad last season, was elevated for three games,
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: and I think he performed relatively well enough to earn
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: a start in the finale, but at a position that
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: he doesn't have a ton of experience playing, and I
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: guess it's going to come down to special teams and
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: that's where sometimes the the ultimate indicator is determined.
• 9:03
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• 10:01
  Speaker 2: twenty one.
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: And up, so we'll see where things go from here.
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: But the safety room is something I gotten a ton
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: of questions about and I don't have a definitive answer.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: I have four players right now who are on my
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: way to early fifty three, Drew mccoub of, Marcus Apps,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Cole Wiznsky, and Michael Carter the second do I expect
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: that group to remain as is not necessarily, but I
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: don't know how drastic of an improvement you're going to
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: realistically get. That's not a position that the Eagles historically value,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: and you can't pay everybody, so you have to It's
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: a give and take. You have to understand that, and
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: that kind of goes into the whole roster construction. You
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: allocate money to edge rushers and corners. They have two
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: defensive tackles, Jaywen Carter soon to be paid pretty handsomely,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: and then you have Jordan Davis, who was rewarded with
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: a three year, seventy eight million dollar contract extend in June.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: So you can quickly see that they're not going to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: be able to spend big everywhere. So if you're going
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: to be a little bit more resourceful. Safety is the
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: position to do so, and you have to have those qualities. However,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: the Vicvangio really values and you have to have a
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: good attention to detail, you have to be a good communicator,
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: you have to be fundamentally an assignment sound and if
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: you're able to do that and you check off some
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: of those boxes like the Red Blanket Ship did much
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: in that way, you're going to find your way out
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: of the field for Vic Fangio, all things equal, that's
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: going to do it. For this episode of the Checko Deli,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew to Checko and we'll catch you all on
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the next one.