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The DiCecco Daily: Impact Of EDGE Za'Darius Smith's Sudden Retirement On Eagles · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome into this edition of to check Odaily.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew de Chekov inside the Birds dot com and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: we have some news. Late Monday morning, Zadarius Smith on
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: his Instagram informed us all of his retirement, which is
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: abrupt because he was an impactful player and it all
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: seemed to be flowing pretty well in terms of how
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: he fit into this defense. But let me get into
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: the I'll read for you the comments that he posted
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: on his Instagram and he said, I knew this day
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: would come, but now that it's here, I'm feeling so
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: many emotions that never expected. Who would have thought that
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: a kid from Greenville, Alabama, with just one year of
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: high school football experience would go on to play professional
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: football in the NFL for eleven incredible years. This game
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: has given me the opportunity to meet great coaches, compete
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: alongside some of the best player ever, and represents some
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: of the greatest organizations in the league. Football has transformed
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: my life in my family's lives forever, and for that
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: I'm forever grateful. This career has taken me across the world,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: from earning my first passport stamp to visit countries I
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: always sew on maps to helping me start a foundation
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: that gives me back, that gives back to my community.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: There have been challenges along the way, but the rewards
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: have outweighed them all and helped me learn, grow and
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: evolve as a man. Then he quotes for unto whomsoever
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: much is given of him, much shall be much required
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Luke twelve forty eight. And to the fans, the biggest
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: thank you of all to every fan, from you, each
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: organization I've represented, thank you, Thank you, Thank you for everything,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: from wearing my jerseys, collecting my cards, sending letters, sharing
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: your opinions, good and tough ones alike, and most importantly,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: showing love. I felt it all as I step into
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: the newest season of my life. Please know this game
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: has meant the world to me. The lessons learned on
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: and off the field will stay with me forever.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: Love Z.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Hashtag ninety, hashtag fifty five, hashtag ninety nine, hashtag fifty two.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: So a couple of things.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: This move clearly depletes what was already a very thin
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: group of edge rushers for the Philadelphia Eagles. You know
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: they've lost Obo Okoronkwo for the season with the Triceeps.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Nolan Smith is on injured reserve with a triceps strain
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: and isn't expected back until sometime in November. And the
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: current group of edge rushers are now Jay Loox Hunt,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: you have a Zizo Jalari, you have josh Usha and
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Patrick Johnson. Of that group, only Patrick Johnson has registered
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: a sack. What I would say is that Zadarius Smith
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: brought a lot to the Eagles, and in just over
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: a month, because he signed in early September. I believe
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: his first introductory press conference was right in front of
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: his locker September eleventh, and he mentioned that he was
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: going to be playing, that was never a question, and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that he feels good, has a lot left in the tank,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: was really optimistic about coming to Philadelphia. Chose Philadelphia because
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: of the glowing feedback that he received about the organization,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: the culture, the prospects of playing again with his former
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: teammate and close friend Obo Okoronkwo all.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: Factored into the equation.
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: He also mentioned how much he loved Dom Desandro and
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: all of those reasons are why he chose Philadelphia apart
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: from some of the other suitors that were trying to
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: court him. Now This is a player who, at thirty
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: three years old, he had been out of football. He
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: didn't play in competitive competitively until I guess dating back
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: to January when he was in the postseason with the
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Detroit Lions. Didn't play in training camp, didn't start the
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: season on an NFL roster, signed with the Eagles right
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: before the game against the Chiefs, and imediately brought some juice,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: some toughness and physicality to that group. Made a couple
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: of tackles behind the line of scrimmage with Drew mccouba.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: I remember that very vividly.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: He clearly could still play, and with Nolan Smith out
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: of the equation for the short term, Zadarius Smith became
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: the starter opposite Jay Looks Hunt. But I think when
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: you watch him play, he saw a player who still
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: had something left in the tank, as he alluded to
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: when he first signed here, and he brought veteran experience.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: He was the Eagles' best pass rusher, which you know,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: say what you will about that.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: He had a sack and a half.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: He played one hundred and thirty one snaps thirty eight
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: percent of the defensive total, three quarterback hits, two tackles,
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: for loss, and he was a good influence in the
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: locker room. Talked about how he imparted wisdom on some
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: of the younger edge rushers, Jay Loox Hunt, Nolan Smith.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: He didn't necessarily specify which ones, but he talked about
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: how sacks come to you and how sometimes as a
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: younger player, you become infatuated with trying to pick up sacks.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: That's ultimately how you get paid, and that's what you're
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: measured by from the outside, what is your sack total?
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: And are you impacting the game in that way? But
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: what he shared with me.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Is that that was something that was crossing his mind
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: earlier in his career, and so much so that it
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: detracted his ability. It detracted from his ability on the
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: field to get the sacks and make the plays that
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: were in front of him. And it wasn't until about
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: year four where he completely said, I'm not worried about sacks.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: I'm just going to play my game and let the
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: chips fall where they may.
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: And he picked up a lot.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: He was a lot more productive, and he mentioned that
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: and conveyed that to a lot of the younger players.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: Just play your game and let the plays come to you.
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: So to not have.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Him in that room right now leaves them with four
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: edge rushers. Patrick Johnson's primarily a special teamer and he's
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: given them some quality snaps off the edge. Jay looks hunt.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: A lot has been placed on his shoulders in year two.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: He has yet to factor into that column. Now, I
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: will say this, you can't always determine the value of
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: an edge rusher based solely on sacks. I think to
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: do that would be a little bit shortsighted. They've generated
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: a lot of pressure. They haven't quite gotten home. But
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: this unit, and we said this throughout training camp, We've
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: chronicled this, We've been talking about this for a number
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: of months now. It left some questions, and I had
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: questions about their depth, and clearly the Eagles did too,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: signing Zadarius Smith ahead of week two to kind of
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: boaster that group and add some veteran experience. It's a
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: youth infused group and he definitely provided a joel. But
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: the group still, even with Zadarius Smith in the fold,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: needed another reinforcement. I mentioned Nolan Smith potentially coming back
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: in November. At some point that's not going to be enough. Still,
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: they have to add another player. Whether and now. I mean,
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: you can make that argument even when they had Zadarias
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: Smith in the fold, but even more so now they're
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: going to have to look externally to add a reinforcement
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: to this unit.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: There's names that are out there.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: You can look at some of the bottom feeders, so
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: to speak, in the NFL teams that are going to
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: be looking to be sellers. But bear in mind that
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: most teams that are contenders are going to be looking
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: for pass rush help. It's easier said than done. We're
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: not sure whether or not Howie Rosman will be able
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: to pull off bringing in a premier player at the
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: position or someone who has some experience and can certainly help.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: But right now that is a serious need for this team.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: I would argue that edge rusher, even before the retirement
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: of Zadarias Smith, was more important than corner if you
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: have to pick between the two, because the rush should
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: be able to help the coverage. But it's certainly abrupt
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: and for a player that was really excited about being here,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: and you know, he liked the culture and everything, it
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: seemed to be a really good match. He leaves on
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: his own terms, which is always a really good thing.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: And you know, hats off to Sadarius Smith for a
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: very productive career. He finishes his career having played for
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: six teams, made an impact on every team he was
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: a part of, and I thought that he was a
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: big part of the culture here in Philadelphia, even in
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: his short time. Five games, two starts, and that's something
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: that they're going to have to that's a void that
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: they're going to have to fill. But it becomes a
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: little bit more urgent now than it even was just
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: a few days ago. And I will I have to
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: believe that Howie Roseman will be aggressive in trying to
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: acquire an edge rusher, because that's what Howie Roseman does.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: He leaves no stone unturned. It was a need before this,
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: it's certainly a greater need now.
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  Speaker 1: But again, hats off to Zadarius Smith for a lengthy
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and productive career and was one of my favorite guys
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: to talk to in the locker room. Very enlightening he
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: gave he pulled from a lot of his past experiences.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I recently wrote a story about him on inside the
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Birds dot Com before the Broncos game that came out
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: the day of the Broncos game about the past Rush
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: group as a whole and what he's providing behind the
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: scenes and his messaging to some of the younger players
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: and how he believed that they had everything that they
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: needed in house to go out there and be.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: A formidable group.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: So a really interesting twist to what has been an.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: Interesting week for the Phoodelphie Eagles.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: But there's never a dull moment, and now that need
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: goes to the top of the list in light of
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: these Darius Smith retirement. So just something, just another thing
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: to think about here is the Eagles start to prepare
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: for a game against the Minnesota Vikings. They travel to
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: Minnesota this week and they have sort of a longer
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: week to prepare and get things, you know, go back
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: to the drawing board and get some things in order
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: here and now this kind of adds to that and
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: how they're going to manufacture pressure in the short term.
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: But keep an eye on Howie Roseman.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: The Phodelphie Eagles, because they're always on the they're always
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: the aggressor when it comes to the trade deadline. They're
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: always looking to explore and enhance the roster in any
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: way possible, and now it becomes O see a very
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: big need. But I just wanted to check in with
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: this podcast on a Monday afternoon, a Drury Monday afternoon,
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: and update you on some of my thoughts. By the way,
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: it's my understanding that Zadarius Smith informed the Eagles of
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: his decision to retire this morning, and again all the
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: best to him in the next chapter of his life.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: This has been to Checko daily. I am Andrew de Checko,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: and I'll talk to everybody Tuesday following the coordinators and
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: I'll offer my thoughts on that as well. Have a
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: great rest of your Monday and I'll talk to you
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: soon