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The DiCecco Daily: Which Eagles Will Make The Pro Bowl In 2026? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:08
Speaker 1: What's happening And welcome into another episode of to check
0:11
Speaker 1: O Delhi. It's Andrew de Checko, Eagles beat reporter for
0:15
Speaker 1: insidethebirds dot Com. And the Eagles report to training camp
0:19
Speaker 1: a week from today, Tuesday, July twenty eighth, and the
0:23
Speaker 1: first practice will be after that, probably the next day
0:28
Speaker 1: or so. But football is right around the corner. There's
0:32
Speaker 1: probably no one happier about that than myself. But today
0:36
Speaker 1: I want to take a look at the projected Pro
0:40
Speaker 1: bowlers for the Eagles in my view, and we'll start
0:43
Speaker 1: on the offensive side. A player who I think is
0:48
Speaker 1: destined to be a twenty twenty six Pro Bowler for
0:51
Speaker 1: the Eagles is running back Saquon Barkley. And when I
0:54
Speaker 1: look at Saquon Barkley, yes, he's coming off a down
0:58
Speaker 1: season by his standards, rushing for eleven one hundred and
1:00
Speaker 1: forty yards. There were not a lot of running lanes
1:05
Speaker 1: for him last year.
1:06
Speaker 2: There was injuries up front.
1:08
Speaker 1: We talked about maybe some of the pressing nature that
1:12
Speaker 1: inevitably accompanies an offensive line that isn't able to generate
1:17
Speaker 1: a lot of push upfront. And if you're Saquon Barkley
1:20
Speaker 1: coming off the twenty twenty four season where he was
1:23
Speaker 1: virtually untouchable. Naturally, you're going to try to find ways
1:28
Speaker 1: to create the home run when things aren't there.
1:32
Speaker 2: And he's still the same player.
1:34
Speaker 1: And when I look at this offense with Sean Mannion,
1:37
Speaker 1: it's going to revolve around the running game.
1:39
Speaker 2: And the Eagles have a healthy offensive line.
1:42
Speaker 1: Saquon Barkley will now be adapting to a different run
1:45
Speaker 1: scheme and that's going to be a lot of outside
1:48
Speaker 1: zone and stretch plays, which may take a little bit
1:51
Speaker 1: of acclamation, but with someone of that kind of talent,
1:55
Speaker 1: I don't know that that's going to be super drastic.
1:57
Speaker 2: It should actually.
1:59
Speaker 1: Help him, I would think, And he's the same player
2:02
Speaker 1: that he was in twenty twenty four.
2:04
Speaker 2: There were no signs of.
2:06
Speaker 1: The wear and tear that a lot of folks maybe
2:09
Speaker 1: were expecting last season.
2:11
Speaker 2: He didn't look sluggish.
2:13
Speaker 1: He still had the power and the juice and the explosiveness.
2:16
Speaker 1: And I think this year he's going to continue to
2:19
Speaker 1: see a ton of volume, even at age twenty nine.
2:23
Speaker 1: And the offensive line at this time is healthy. So therefore,
2:27
Speaker 1: if that's going to be their foundational approach with the offense,
2:30
Speaker 1: which I believe it will be. You need a healthy
2:33
Speaker 1: offensive line right now. They have that, and they have
2:35
Speaker 1: someone in Saquon Barkley who I'm sort of going into
2:39
Speaker 1: the season expecting is gonna attack it with a motivated mindset,
2:44
Speaker 1: knowing that he's coming off a down year, knowing that
2:47
Speaker 1: there are going to be questions about this offense and
2:49
Speaker 1: understandably so. So all of those components sort of fuse
2:54
Speaker 1: together for me and really strengthen my thought process here,
2:58
Speaker 1: So Saquon Barkley will be one of them. I also
3:00
Speaker 1: think that Davonte Smith gets elected to his first Pro
3:03
Speaker 1: Bowl this season, now he's going to see more targets.
3:08
Speaker 1: I am not expecting that to drastically spike, because at
3:13
Speaker 1: the end of the day, this is not going to
3:14
Speaker 1: in all likelihood be a volume based passing offense, but
3:19
Speaker 1: he should have more opportunities to find the end zone.
3:22
Speaker 1: And with this offense, where I think that they're going
3:26
Speaker 1: to utilize Davante as more of a three level.
3:29
Speaker 2: Threat and get him involved, get him on the move.
3:31
Speaker 1: The route concepts could stand to be. I think they're
3:35
Speaker 1: going to be a little bit more creative and advanced
3:39
Speaker 1: in that regard, which should open things up and be
3:42
Speaker 1: able for and create a path for DeVante to showcase
3:46
Speaker 1: more of what he could do.
3:47
Speaker 2: He's been a.
3:48
Speaker 1: Really solid, steady and consistent player who's made strides each season,
3:52
Speaker 1: but in this offense where he really thrives in the
3:55
Speaker 1: intermediary levels of the field. That's where I believe that
3:59
Speaker 1: Chemist Street what Jay when hurds is going to lead
4:01
Speaker 1: to some early season connections, some big plays, and I
4:06
Speaker 1: believe that Davante will ride the wave. He's now stepping
4:09
Speaker 1: into the top spot. I'm sure Davante, while he'll never
4:15
Speaker 1: admit it, I'm sure he's very much looking forward to
4:17
Speaker 1: this opportunity. He's come a long way since the last
4:20
Speaker 1: time he was in this top spot, which was year
4:22
Speaker 1: one as a rookie and he was just shy of
4:25
Speaker 1: a thousand yards and so I think he's going to
4:27
Speaker 1: take this opportunity and run with it. We'll see if
4:30
Speaker 1: he's able to add to his touchdown total, because it's
4:33
Speaker 1: been I mean, it's been relatively tame in that area,
4:37
Speaker 1: but he has been someone that is a consistent presence
4:40
Speaker 1: each and every week and you have to be aware
4:42
Speaker 1: of where he is on the field at all times.
4:44
Speaker 1: He also should benefit from the complimentary cast. I mentioned
4:48
Speaker 1: Sakwon Barkley a moment ago. There's also mackay Lemon, who
4:52
Speaker 1: should work the middle of the field and find success there.
4:55
Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard and the other tight ends that the Eagles
4:57
Speaker 1: have should be prominently featured as well. So teams may
5:00
Speaker 1: not be able to just simply key in on DeVante Smith,
5:04
Speaker 1: but I am expecting the Slim Reaper to have more
5:08
Speaker 1: opportunities this year to create bigger plays.
5:11
Speaker 2: On the offensive line.
5:13
Speaker 1: I'm looking at two players, the first being Lane Johnson,
5:16
Speaker 1: who at thirty six years old, is still playing at an.
5:19
Speaker 2: Incredibly high level.
5:20
Speaker 1: He certainly was last season prior to the list frank injury.
5:25
Speaker 1: Lane attacks the process. Unlike most players. He is in
5:29
Speaker 1: tremendous shape and he is someone that when you look
5:35
Speaker 1: at how that last season ended, he's going to be motivated.
5:39
Speaker 1: He's still one of the best players at his position
5:42
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and there are moments where he's still dominant,
5:49
Speaker 1: so I don't think that's going to change anytime soon.
5:51
Speaker 1: I also believe at the blocking scheme, the angles and.
5:54
Speaker 2: Some of the.
5:57
Speaker 1: New wrinkles that are going to be entailed with this
6:00
Speaker 1: offense are going to serve Lane well, and he talked
6:06
Speaker 1: about this, but he's going to get a little bit
6:07
Speaker 1: more guard help this year. He's never really had guard help.
6:11
Speaker 1: He's had to win one on ones, and at this
6:13
Speaker 1: stage of his career that could be hugely critical. I
6:16
Speaker 1: also think that the outside zone and things like that,
6:21
Speaker 1: getting out in space, stretching defenses horizontally should at least
6:25
Speaker 1: in theory, alleviate some of the pressure and burden and
6:29
Speaker 1: that grinding nature that tends to wear offensive linemen down.
6:33
Speaker 1: So Lane Johnson, as long as he's on the field,
6:36
Speaker 1: as long as he's healthy, there's no reason why he
6:39
Speaker 1: shouldn't be regarded as a Pro Bowl talent each and
6:42
Speaker 1: every season. That's an easy decision for me, and then
6:45
Speaker 1: maybe a bit surprising, but I'm going back to the well,
6:49
Speaker 1: he was a Pro Bowler last year. Probably shouldn't have
6:52
Speaker 1: been based off of performance. But Cam Jurgens center. Cam
6:57
Speaker 1: Jurgens is a player that I am expecting to respond
7:00
Speaker 1: to the offensive shift here. It really caters to his
7:05
Speaker 1: strengths where he's able to use his speed and athleticism
7:09
Speaker 1: to climb to the second level and do some different
7:12
Speaker 1: things athletically cam Jurgens will have to wait and see
7:16
Speaker 1: where he is in terms of health, but based off
7:18
Speaker 1: of what he had to say in the spring, I
7:20
Speaker 1: think he should be really optimistic about his outlook going
7:22
Speaker 1: into the.
7:22
Speaker 2: Twenty twenty six season.
7:24
Speaker 1: He did, along with Landa Dickerson, go to medin at
7:28
Speaker 1: some point this offseason for stem cell treatment, so he's
7:31
Speaker 1: taking different measures to ensure he's as healthy as possible,
7:34
Speaker 1: but he is. Let's not forget last season. There were
7:37
Speaker 1: reasons behind his regression, but let's not forget what he
7:42
Speaker 1: was able to do in twenty twenty four blowing up
7:46
Speaker 1: the defensive lineman off the ball, and I think when
7:51
Speaker 1: you look at what he's able to do from a
7:53
Speaker 1: movement perspective, that should be something that should excite you.
7:57
Speaker 1: It's all going to come down to how does the
8:00
Speaker 1: act respond when you get the pads on and you're
8:05
Speaker 1: getting into the hand to hand combat with defensive linemen.
8:08
Speaker 1: But right now, you know, on the surface, with an
8:12
Speaker 1: you know look with an overview look at the season.
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9:14
Speaker 1: I believe that you're gonna see Cam Jurgens revert back
9:17
Speaker 1: to his previous form on the defensive side. There's a
9:21
Speaker 1: number of players that you can certainly make a case for,
9:23
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna whidow it down because you can't. I
9:26
Speaker 1: don't want to, I don't want to get too I
9:28
Speaker 1: don't want to get too crazy here, but on the
9:30
Speaker 1: defensive line, this feels like a year where Jalen Carter
9:36
Speaker 1: rounds back into form.
9:38
Speaker 2: He's presumably gonna be.
9:40
Speaker 1: Healthier with the shoulders, and when healthy, he's been one
9:44
Speaker 1: of the best defensive tackles in football. We'll have to
9:47
Speaker 1: wait and see if the Eagles take a different approach
9:50
Speaker 1: with him this year, because they've really leaned heavily on
9:53
Speaker 1: him in the past two years. He's accounted for eighty
9:55
Speaker 1: four percent of the defensive snaps. He can still be
9:58
Speaker 1: an impactful player playing less. You certainly don't want to
10:01
Speaker 1: take him off the field all that much, but you
10:03
Speaker 1: don't want to wear him down. You don't want the
10:05
Speaker 1: shoulders to become a factor. But this is someone that
10:08
Speaker 1: whether he's being double teamed to triple team by offensive linemen,
10:11
Speaker 1: he still finds ways to make plays.
10:13
Speaker 2: He's a disruptive.
10:14
Speaker 1: Player behind the line of scrimmage, and he can bring
10:16
Speaker 1: down the quarterback. Jayalen Carter is my pick on the
10:20
Speaker 1: Eagles defensive line in terms of pass rush.
10:24
Speaker 2: I'm going Jay Loox Hunt.
10:25
Speaker 1: I have to double down here because I've been really
10:28
Speaker 1: strong in my endorsement for Jay loox Hunt. Going into
10:30
Speaker 1: this season, he's playing opposite Jonathan Grenard. I think that's
10:34
Speaker 1: going to help unlock his potential. He's got him from
10:37
Speaker 1: week one onward. When you look at jay Loox Hunt's
10:41
Speaker 1: progression from year one to year two, he made a
10:44
Speaker 1: significant leap. I'm expecting that to continue in twenty twenty six.
10:49
Speaker 2: Where he had five sacks.
10:52
Speaker 1: I think down the stretch last year from week ten
10:56
Speaker 1: when Jalen Phillips got there.
10:58
Speaker 2: He's going to pick up where he left off.
11:00
Speaker 1: He has sort of refined his approach as a pass rusher.
11:05
Speaker 1: He has considerably more of a bag of tricks in
11:10
Speaker 1: terms of his pass rush moves. He has more moves
11:12
Speaker 1: to lean on and his attention to detail, which jay
11:15
Speaker 1: loox himself said has been an area of his game
11:18
Speaker 1: that is.
11:19
Speaker 2: Different from last season and the year prior. I think
11:24
Speaker 2: this guy is truly the limit for jay loox Hunt.
11:27
Speaker 1: The abilities there, the athleticism's there, He's filled out his.
11:30
Speaker 2: Frame, so he's a two way threat.
11:33
Speaker 1: But as a pass rusher is where you make your
11:36
Speaker 1: presence felt, especially with regard to Pro Bowl consideration, and
11:40
Speaker 1: I'm expecting jay oaks Hunt to push for double digit sacks,
11:44
Speaker 1: become an Eagles breakthrough, breakout player really and represent the
11:49
Speaker 1: Eagles pass rush group in the Pro Bowl.
11:53
Speaker 2: Zach Bond for me.
11:54
Speaker 1: At linebackers an easy selection because he's delivered every year
11:58
Speaker 1: that he's been in Philadelphia.
12:00
Speaker 2: But with Zach Bonn, now he's the centerpiece.
12:03
Speaker 1: All eyes are going to be on him and there
12:06
Speaker 1: should be more of a focus on what he's doing.
12:08
Speaker 1: Last year, you had in the Kobe Dean entering the
12:10
Speaker 1: picture midway through the year once healthy, and with Zach
12:14
Speaker 1: Bonn he's been a one man wrecking crew. He can
12:18
Speaker 1: not Awaly just rush the quarterback, not always defend the run,
12:22
Speaker 1: but he's also an impactful player in coverage. He can
12:28
Speaker 1: do it all and he's continuing to grow. And you
12:32
Speaker 1: may think that that sounds a little ridiculous at this
12:36
Speaker 1: stage of his career, but when he was with the Saints,
12:39
Speaker 1: he was exclusively used on special teams. Maybe he had
12:43
Speaker 1: a cameo on defense, so there isn't a lot of
12:45
Speaker 1: wear and tear, and in Philadelphia he's transitioned very well
12:50
Speaker 1: to this defense. He's responded to the coaching of Vic
12:53
Speaker 1: Vangio and linebackers coach Bobby King and I look at
12:57
Speaker 1: the season that he had last year and I still
12:59
Speaker 1: think that there's another level that he can reach. So
13:02
Speaker 1: he's already regarded as one of the best off ball
13:04
Speaker 1: linebackers in the game as long as he can stay healthy,
13:07
Speaker 1: and that sentiment remains for all players.
13:11
Speaker 2: You got to be able to stay healthy.
13:13
Speaker 1: But he's such a critical piece to this defense and
13:17
Speaker 1: someone that I think that if he can stay healthy
13:20
Speaker 1: continue that progression forward, he will be a Pro Bowler
13:23
Speaker 1: once the dust settles.
13:26
Speaker 2: On the back end. I don't view it as me
13:30
Speaker 2: calling my shot.
13:31
Speaker 1: I feel pretty confident that cornerbacks or cornerback Quinyon Mitchell
13:37
Speaker 1: will be in the Pro Bowl and do it all.
13:39
Speaker 1: Defensive back cooperen will make an appearance there as well.
13:44
Speaker 2: So let's break this down.
13:46
Speaker 1: Quinjon Mitchell and Cooper dejen were both All Pros last season.
13:50
Speaker 2: They are.
13:53
Speaker 1: Sort of regarded around the league as ascending.
13:56
Speaker 2: Players, but also.
13:58
Speaker 1: Uniquely there regarded as one of the best at their
14:01
Speaker 1: positions respectively. And Quinyon Mitchell is a top caliber a
14:07
Speaker 1: cover corner on the outside.
14:08
Speaker 2: He can defend the run, he can.
14:12
Speaker 1: Challenge the bigger bodied receivers like the Mike Evans of
14:15
Speaker 1: the world, and he can also match up with some
14:17
Speaker 1: of the shiftier, shirt area quickness inside type of receivers
14:21
Speaker 1: that you typically see.
14:23
Speaker 2: He plays on an island.
14:24
Speaker 1: He takes on the top receiving option from every team
14:27
Speaker 1: every week. That in and of itself should garner recognition
14:31
Speaker 1: enough so to garner Pro Bowl consideration.
14:36
Speaker 2: He's a household name.
14:37
Speaker 1: He's not going to sneak up on anybody this season,
14:40
Speaker 1: and because of that, sometimes you.
14:43
Speaker 2: Have there's league wide bias, it seems.
14:47
Speaker 1: But with Quinyon Mitchell, he delivers every week, and aside
14:50
Speaker 1: from that playoff game where DeMarcus Robinson had a nice
14:55
Speaker 1: showing against him early in that one, there hasn't really
14:58
Speaker 1: been a receiver that's been able to have their way
15:00
Speaker 1: with Quinnon Mitchell, and he's someone who continues to improve
15:04
Speaker 1: each season. He should be recognized as a top three
15:09
Speaker 1: corner in this league. I'm certainly going to make that argument,
15:12
Speaker 1: and because of that, he's going to be a Pro Bowler.
15:14
Speaker 1: Would you like to see more interceptions, certainly, and in
15:18
Speaker 1: the postseason he has come up with a handful of those.
15:21
Speaker 1: You'd like to see that manifest in more regular season
15:24
Speaker 1: production because the opportunities have been there. They're not going
15:28
Speaker 1: to be as frequent, however, because you're going to go
15:31
Speaker 1: elsewhere with the football, So he has to seize those
15:34
Speaker 1: opportunities when they present themselves. But if he can do
15:37
Speaker 1: all that and continue his upward ascent, Quinnon Mitchell will
15:41
Speaker 1: most certainly be a Pro.
15:42
Speaker 2: Bowler this season.
15:43
Speaker 1: And with the gene who, let's not forget, is going
15:46
Speaker 1: to be playing safety when the Eagles are in base,
15:49
Speaker 1: you can make a case that he is one of
15:52
Speaker 1: the if not the most well rounded defensive back in
15:55
Speaker 1: the game today. He is a nickelback that's going to
15:59
Speaker 1: be his area of focus, but he can also play safety,
16:03
Speaker 1: and he looks to have filled out his frame a
16:05
Speaker 1: little bit more. But he has a little bit more
16:08
Speaker 1: ball production than Quinnon Mitchell. I think while both players
16:12
Speaker 1: haven't really come up with that in the regular season,
16:15
Speaker 1: Cooper's skill set and you look at what he was
16:17
Speaker 1: able to do in the Super Bowl, which supports my
16:19
Speaker 1: thought process here. I think he's going to have more
16:22
Speaker 1: opportunities to take the football away this year.
16:25
Speaker 2: He can also.
16:28
Speaker 1: Be an effective blitzer. He's willing against the run. He's
16:32
Speaker 1: someone that can handle the full gamut of wide receivers.
16:37
Speaker 1: I talk about quinnyon Mitchell being able to take on
16:39
Speaker 1: the bigger bodied wide outs and be able to battle
16:43
Speaker 1: them down the field.
16:44
Speaker 2: He can do that, certainly.
16:46
Speaker 1: Cooper dejen can also work the middle of the field
16:49
Speaker 1: where some of those shiftier inside receivers are able to
16:52
Speaker 1: make their hay. But he can also when he's on
16:56
Speaker 1: the back end and the action happens a little bit slower,
17:00
Speaker 1: that should allow him some opportunities to break on the football,
17:04
Speaker 1: lean into his football IQ and haad those stats a
17:07
Speaker 1: little bit, which should help him when the Pro Bowl bouting.
17:11
Speaker 2: Is in effect.
17:12
Speaker 1: So those two players right there, and you know what
17:16
Speaker 1: I think I'm gonna do it. I think I'm going
17:19
Speaker 1: to actually, you know what I was gonna say, Riek
17:21
Speaker 1: wollen five players I have as Pro Bowl predictions for
17:26
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense. I think that's a pretty solid number.
17:30
Speaker 1: I think Riek Wollan's gonna have a good season. I
17:33
Speaker 1: don't know if there's going to be three cornerbacks from
17:36
Speaker 1: the Eagles, three defensive backs that are going to be
17:39
Speaker 1: in the Pro Bowl. We've seen it back in two
17:42
Speaker 1: thousand and two. I think maybe, yeah, two thousand and
17:45
Speaker 1: two or No, No, No. Two thousand and four with
17:50
Speaker 1: Ledo Shepherd, Sheldon Brown and Michael Lewis. I think, but
17:54
Speaker 1: in any event, it's not likely to happen. But I
17:57
Speaker 1: think he's gonna have a good season and and the
18:00
Speaker 1: stats should be able to put him in that conversation.
18:05
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna go with those five players on the
18:08
Speaker 1: defensive side. I listed four on offense. That's a pretty
18:12
Speaker 1: good representation right there for the foot off Eagles.
18:14
Speaker 2: Is that likely to happen. We'll have to wait and see.
18:17
Speaker 2: I feel stronger.
18:18
Speaker 1: I feel more strongly about certain players like say Kuon Barkley,
18:22
Speaker 1: like Quinya Mitchell and Cooper dejen and Zach Bond.
18:26
Speaker 2: But well, we'll have to let things play out.
18:28
Speaker 1: But going into the season, those are the players I
18:30
Speaker 1: feel pretty confident in that they are going to find
18:35
Speaker 1: their way into that conversation. When the season reaches its
18:39
Speaker 1: end and the Pro Bowl ballots are in effect, that's
18:42
Speaker 1: going to do it. For this episode of The check Odaily,
18:44
Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Deceeco and I'll catch you all on the
18:46
Speaker 1: next one.