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ITB: Latest Eagles Roster Developments During 2nd Week of Training Camp · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:09
Speaker 1: Hello again everyone. Welcome to another edition of Inside the Birds,
0:13
Speaker 1: the Training Camp edition. It's Adam Kaplan, that's Andrew Dchecko,
0:17
Speaker 1: and we're back for yet another show. During the second
0:21
Speaker 1: week of training camp. Andrew to Checko you as I
0:23
Speaker 1: welcome you back, and Andrew. So we're now getting close
0:28
Speaker 1: to the end of the second week. Andrew, coming in
0:32
Speaker 1: to training camp, there were a lot of questions on
0:34
Speaker 1: both sides of the football, but more on offense. You've
0:38
Speaker 1: now seen a lot on offense. Let's get started there.
0:43
Speaker 1: Did what you thought coming in? Did that kind of
0:46
Speaker 1: meet what you thought has been better or worse? What
0:48
Speaker 1: are your thoughts on that?
0:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been kind of as expected, Adam, we both
0:52
Speaker 2: knew going into this. I think it was widely expected
0:55
Speaker 2: that it was going to take some time for things
0:57
Speaker 2: to start to come together. Offensively, when you're talking about
1:00
Speaker 2: doing something that's this much of a drastic departure from
1:03
Speaker 2: what they've been doing, it's going to take time. There's
1:06
Speaker 2: going to be days where the offense looks like it's
1:08
Speaker 2: taking steps in the right direction. Then there's going to
1:10
Speaker 2: be other days where maybe it's very slow to get
1:13
Speaker 2: anything going in terms of positive momentum, So you have
1:17
Speaker 2: to always take that into consideration when you're assessing what's
1:21
Speaker 2: going on and taking stock and what the Eagles are
1:23
Speaker 2: doing right now. But defensively, they've sort of checked off
1:27
Speaker 2: every box that I was expecting going in.
1:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's as we develop what's happening with offense. Let's
1:33
Speaker 1: not forget a ton of coaching changes, brand new scheme,
1:36
Speaker 1: first time play Colnor and it is only his thirty
1:38
Speaker 1: year in coaching, and Sean Mannion parks Fraser for the
1:41
Speaker 1: first time in his career, will run a full quarterback room.
1:44
Speaker 1: That's an adjustment the quarterbacks, the three top guys are
1:48
Speaker 1: all showing the adjustment, although any Dalton's the only one
1:52
Speaker 1: who really has experienced in the scheme. I mean, he's
1:54
Speaker 1: had some days where the ball's coming out a little late.
1:56
Speaker 1: So yeah, it's I'd agree with Andrew totally there. It's
2:00
Speaker 1: been totally what I thought, work in progress, major work
2:03
Speaker 1: in progress. It's going to take several weeks, if not months,
2:06
Speaker 1: to if it does happen, to get to be what
2:09
Speaker 1: they want. But the thing Andrew I do like is
2:13
Speaker 1: we'll start with the starting quarterback number one. Jalen Hurts
2:17
Speaker 1: like you see some throws in particular to a guy that,
2:21
Speaker 1: let's call number thirteen. Not unlucky, it's lucky. It's Don
2:25
Speaker 1: Tavian Wicks. He's looked pretty good so far.
2:28
Speaker 2: Yeah, Doan Tavian Wicks. I wouldn't make the argument that
2:30
Speaker 2: he's had the second best training camp out of all
2:33
Speaker 2: Eagles wide receivers not named well, not named DeVante Smith really.
2:37
Speaker 2: But what you're seeing, or what we've seen, is a
2:40
Speaker 2: player who's building a rapport with Jalen Hurts. So he's
2:44
Speaker 2: essentially right now the last man standing of the top
2:48
Speaker 2: three wide receivers, so he's getting critical reps working with Jalen.
2:52
Speaker 2: There's a lot of timing throws that if you really
2:54
Speaker 2: pay attention, it's something that you can only get through
2:57
Speaker 2: reps where Jalen's hitting him in an outright, out right
3:00
Speaker 2: but splitting the defender right where only the receiver can
3:03
Speaker 2: catch it. And I would expect that to always grow
3:06
Speaker 2: and strengthen throughout the summer. And I like what he
3:09
Speaker 2: brings from a route running perspective, but also a frame
3:12
Speaker 2: and body type perspective because it's different from any other
3:17
Speaker 2: any of the other players in the room. You have
3:19
Speaker 2: your smaller guys like Hollywood Brown, Devonte Smith, Darius Cooper
3:23
Speaker 2: is sort of a compactly built wide receiver, and Dantavian Wix.
3:28
Speaker 2: Give you someone who can come up with some of
3:29
Speaker 2: those fifty to fifty balls and really build that trust
3:32
Speaker 2: with his quarterback, and I think that's away going to
3:34
Speaker 2: continue to grow.
3:36
Speaker 1: He attacks the football, it's a coaching term. He absolutely
3:38
Speaker 1: attacks it. And I know people have made light of Okay,
3:44
Speaker 1: he had some drops in Green Bay and clearly he
3:48
Speaker 1: was going to be a major struggle for him to
3:49
Speaker 1: make the team. But that was then. This is now.
3:51
Speaker 1: He's got a one opportunity here. He's got a two
3:53
Speaker 1: year deal. They gave him more money, were guaranteed money.
3:57
Speaker 1: They clearly believe in him. And there's ryanm Hafey, the
3:59
Speaker 1: receiver coach, excuse me, the Titans coach who was on
4:02
Speaker 1: their offensive stay with Green Bay. I'll see you a
4:05
Speaker 1: Sean Manny and that's a big reason why he's here,
4:07
Speaker 1: not only not only Andrew. Will he be one of
4:10
Speaker 1: the top three receivers. Makaile Lemon is so far behind.
4:14
Speaker 1: You know, he's in a tough spot. He's certainly gonna
4:17
Speaker 1: be one of the top three receivers. But for Week
4:19
Speaker 1: one against Washington, who knows how many snaps will play.
4:22
Speaker 1: He's got to make up for lost time. Wicks is
4:26
Speaker 1: the true big body receiver in that early part of
4:29
Speaker 1: the rotation. I'm thinking, maybe, I know, I know, it's
4:33
Speaker 1: only training camp, he has even played a preseason game.
4:35
Speaker 1: Maybe he wands up being a little bit better I
4:37
Speaker 1: thought he would be.
4:38
Speaker 2: He seems like he's a quarterback friendly option, and that's
4:42
Speaker 2: something that is pretty evident when you look at nothing
4:45
Speaker 2: really developing down the field. What happens you find on
4:48
Speaker 2: TV and Wicks in the intermediary levels. And he's had
4:51
Speaker 2: some nice receptions and good reps really against Quinyon Mitchell.
4:54
Speaker 2: So we're talking about him going up against elite talent
4:57
Speaker 2: at that position. You want to need to see that
5:00
Speaker 2: consistency throughout the summer. But right now, through six practices,
5:04
Speaker 2: I think there's a lot of reason for optimism with
5:07
Speaker 2: Don ta Vian Wicks and kind of going into training camp,
5:09
Speaker 2: if we're being honest at him, I viewed it as
5:12
Speaker 2: Don Tavian Wits having the slight edge over McKayle Lemon,
5:16
Speaker 2: just because of the fact that McKayle Lemon's a rookie
5:19
Speaker 2: and a lot of things have to you know, have
5:21
Speaker 2: to fall into place. He missed all the spring with
5:23
Speaker 2: the hamstring, and this is sometimes it takes a little
5:27
Speaker 2: bit of time for a young wide receiver to be
5:30
Speaker 2: able to really immerse himself fully into an offense, especially
5:33
Speaker 2: one that has a little bit more nuanced to it
5:37
Speaker 2: maybe than prior years.
5:38
Speaker 1: So the guy another standout, it's been Darius Cooper Andrew,
5:43
Speaker 1: what have you seen for me? Why is he stood
5:45
Speaker 1: out to us?
5:45
Speaker 2: What if you said, yeah, I actually just wrote a
5:47
Speaker 2: story about Darius Cooper and inside the Birds dot Com.
5:49
Speaker 2: And this this is a player that every day, Adam
5:52
Speaker 2: he shows up and makes a play. And he mentioned
5:56
Speaker 2: that he still carries this chip on his shoulder that
5:59
Speaker 2: really stems from having to really scrape for everything throughout
6:02
Speaker 2: his football career. He doesn't take anything for granted. He's
6:05
Speaker 2: never once conveyed a sentiment that he's arrived. So he's
6:09
Speaker 2: always hungry and he approaches it like a business. So
6:11
Speaker 2: every day he goes out there like a job, all dish,
6:14
Speaker 2: like a job interview, and every day is an audition.
6:17
Speaker 2: And in doing so, he's made some highlight reel catches.
6:21
Speaker 2: He's really if Jalen Hurts actually gave him a mention
6:25
Speaker 2: when asked by NFL Network yesterday or the other day,
6:29
Speaker 2: whatever day, it was about which receiver has emerged, and
6:31
Speaker 2: he said Darius Cooper that there's no coincidence there. Jayleen's
6:35
Speaker 2: saying it what we're all seeing out there. And he's
6:38
Speaker 2: also willing to do whatever the Eagles need him to do,
6:41
Speaker 2: so he's not focused on how many reps am I
6:44
Speaker 2: going to get? How many targets am I going to get?
6:46
Speaker 2: Whatever the team needs me to do, meaning if I
6:48
Speaker 2: need to block and do the dirty work, or if
6:50
Speaker 2: I have to run down the field on kick coverage,
6:52
Speaker 2: if I have to block on kick return, he's willing
6:55
Speaker 2: to do it. And I think that that's a really
6:57
Speaker 2: good quality to have, especially for a back end of
7:00
Speaker 2: the roster type of player.
7:02
Speaker 1: And I would add this, he's played multiple receiver positions,
7:05
Speaker 1: and I'd just say practiced at multiple receiver positions in
7:08
Speaker 1: training camp. But did notice that whether it was the
7:11
Speaker 1: EX or the Z position. So that's very important. Now
7:14
Speaker 1: let's get back to quarterback. It's been wildly inconsistent unfortunately
7:19
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. The defense of Vic Fangio is so funny.
7:22
Speaker 1: During his press coverence on Wednesday, he made it clear
7:24
Speaker 1: how much the the defenses ahead of the offense. You've
7:28
Speaker 1: been every practice, you know that. But what I do
7:32
Speaker 1: like with Hurts, We'll get started with him when it's happened. Well,
7:36
Speaker 1: a lot of it's been with Don Tavian Wicks. That's
7:38
Speaker 1: important for a guy who's going to play a lot
7:39
Speaker 1: at receiver this season.
7:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, with Jalen Hurts, I mean he hasn't had a
7:44
Speaker 2: ton of pass attempts the past couple of days. But
7:47
Speaker 2: what you're looking for is not necessarily the gaudy stats
7:51
Speaker 2: or anything like that. What I'm looking for is is
7:54
Speaker 2: the ball coming out on time? Is the offense in rhythm?
7:56
Speaker 2: Is he keeping things on schedule? And how's the protection
7:59
Speaker 2: in front of little things like that that are going
8:01
Speaker 2: to be big things come the fall. And I think
8:04
Speaker 2: by and large, I mean, yes, there was a day
8:06
Speaker 2: on Monday where the offense looked like they were turning
8:08
Speaker 2: the corner in a positive direction. Then Tuesday you were
8:12
Speaker 2: there with me that was not that practice didn't go
8:15
Speaker 2: so well for the offense. There's context that's required there.
8:18
Speaker 2: They were missing two of their top receivers and Lane Johnson,
8:22
Speaker 2: but there's also way too many penalties. They just need
8:25
Speaker 2: to be able to generate some consistency. Success and progress
8:29
Speaker 2: is not linear, and I think that's important to keep
8:31
Speaker 2: in mind here, especially as you have to have the
8:34
Speaker 2: understanding that there's going to be growing pains here with
8:36
Speaker 2: this offense.
8:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, with Tanner McKean number sixteen, as he is in
8:40
Speaker 1: a battle for the number two job with Andy Dalton.
8:43
Speaker 1: The thing with McKee is he's got to cut the
8:45
Speaker 1: ball loose. He's just been a little bit too hesitant
8:48
Speaker 1: checking some balls down. I understand Smith is missing time
8:52
Speaker 1: now and mkayle Lemon has missed almost all of the
8:56
Speaker 1: six practices, not all of most of them, so that's
8:59
Speaker 1: i'll say concern. But one of the things that made
9:01
Speaker 1: him jump out off the page a little bit in
9:06
Speaker 1: years two and three and practices and so forth was
9:08
Speaker 1: his ability to just cut the ball loose and drive
9:11
Speaker 1: the football. He's not consistently doing it. He's he's just
9:16
Speaker 1: thinking a little bit too much out there just watching him.
9:18
Speaker 1: You know, I want to see him cut that ball
9:20
Speaker 1: loose because man as Jordan, a lot of calls in
9:23
Speaker 1: the Mormon missile for a reason. The guy could spin it.
9:25
Speaker 1: But these are the growing pains when you're learning a
9:29
Speaker 1: new offense and that you don't want to because you're
9:32
Speaker 1: you're waiting a little bit too much rather than put
9:35
Speaker 1: the ball to the pass target like he used to do.
9:37
Speaker 1: So we need to see him do a little better
9:38
Speaker 1: job of that.
9:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's hesitant, and to that end, I would say
9:42
Speaker 2: that all four quarterbacks have had moments where they're holding
9:45
Speaker 2: onto the ball a tick too long. But it's all
9:48
Speaker 2: part of this process. And that's kind of been my
9:50
Speaker 2: understanding going into it, that you have to take all
9:53
Speaker 2: of this into account. As they're installing, they're actively installing
9:56
Speaker 2: a new offense. But for Jalen To, there's been some
10:00
Speaker 2: moments where he's really being willing to rip it in there,
10:03
Speaker 2: take some chances, fit the ball into tighter windows than
10:06
Speaker 2: maybe he has in the past. You'd like to see
10:08
Speaker 2: that carry over into the games because I think sometimes,
10:11
Speaker 2: you know, taking risks is a good thing and it
10:14
Speaker 2: opens things up offensively. And then with Andy Dalton, you
10:17
Speaker 2: mentioned his experience in an offense similar to this. It
10:21
Speaker 2: shows a lot of times where he's ripping the football
10:25
Speaker 2: and some of his savviness really comes into play when
10:27
Speaker 2: you watch him command that second unit whenever he is
10:30
Speaker 2: operating with the second team, and then the other two
10:32
Speaker 2: Tanner McKee and Cole Payton, I think having flashed nearly
10:36
Speaker 2: as much. And you know you want to see how
10:38
Speaker 2: they progress moving forward.
10:41
Speaker 1: And let's get to the running back position, Tank Bigsby.
10:43
Speaker 1: If you wanted a rank hoop in the standouts, he's
10:45
Speaker 1: certainly my top five, if not top three. He's built
10:49
Speaker 1: his body up even more. This is a big year
10:51
Speaker 1: for him. Finally yevers rookie deal, so he's got a
10:53
Speaker 1: lot to play for only average three point six carries
10:56
Speaker 1: per game after the trade from Jacksonville. In the sixteen
10:58
Speaker 1: games he played for the Eagles, it's not a lot,
11:01
Speaker 1: but he looks so damn good Andrew, how could they
11:03
Speaker 1: get in less than five carris game? Are you with me?
11:05
Speaker 1: The guy's got the ballmart, doesn't he?
11:07
Speaker 2: Yes, certainly, not the expense of Saquon Barkley. But what
11:11
Speaker 2: I will say is this year you would like to
11:14
Speaker 2: see the Eagles implement more of a defined role for
11:18
Speaker 2: Tank Bigsby rather than six carries one week, three the next,
11:21
Speaker 2: maybe two the next week he is, and I would
11:24
Speaker 2: make the argument he's one of the Eagles' best skilled players,
11:28
Speaker 2: and when you have someone that has those kind of
11:30
Speaker 2: explosive qualities that can hit the home run, you want
11:33
Speaker 2: to find a way to incorporate him on a more
11:35
Speaker 2: regular basis. I think he's a really good change of pace,
11:37
Speaker 2: complimentary piece with Saquon Barkley, and man does he bring
11:42
Speaker 2: a lot of energy and juice to practice. Every time
11:44
Speaker 2: he touches the ball, you don't know what's going to happen,
11:47
Speaker 2: and it could be a fifty yard run or it
11:50
Speaker 2: could be one where he kind of just creates his
11:52
Speaker 2: own hole. But I think he's been definitely one of
11:55
Speaker 2: the stock up players. And he was on my Decheco
11:57
Speaker 2: Daily podcast.
11:58
Speaker 1: Oh that's right, Andrew check out Andrews the Checkout Daily
12:02
Speaker 1: Report where he does stock up and stock down with
12:04
Speaker 1: the player group. So let's get to the tight end
12:08
Speaker 1: position behind Dallas Goddard. They have seven tight ends to me, Andrew,
12:15
Speaker 1: we already know who's gonna be on the team. Dallas
12:17
Speaker 1: got it, Eli Stowers and probably Johnny Munt as of now,
12:21
Speaker 1: and they're gonna play plenty of twelve personnel because they're
12:23
Speaker 1: gonna be a running team, But I don't have a
12:26
Speaker 1: feel for is there a possibility we've you and I
12:29
Speaker 1: have liked him Latu from the very beginning. Yeah, he
12:32
Speaker 1: doesn't wasn't quite used the way we thought he would be,
12:35
Speaker 1: and they made it tight end a coach change. I
12:38
Speaker 1: don't have a great feel for how they're gonna use
12:40
Speaker 1: these guys behind God, what's your feeling on this group? Yeah?
12:43
Speaker 2: I like cam Latsu's chances adam of sticking because of
12:48
Speaker 2: his special team's prowess. When you look at and On,
12:51
Speaker 2: no one often thinks about special teams three phases. It's
12:54
Speaker 2: very important. And they lost two of their top five
12:57
Speaker 2: contributors from last season and Kyleon, Grantson and Sidney Brown,
13:02
Speaker 2: so you have to be able to fill that void.
13:04
Speaker 2: Cam Latu was amongst the top five and snaps share
13:08
Speaker 2: and not only that, I think he offers a little
13:10
Speaker 2: bit more from a receiving perspective than he's really been
13:14
Speaker 2: able to showcase thus far. But when I watch him play,
13:17
Speaker 2: and I really really have naturally been drawn to players
13:20
Speaker 2: like this. He plays with such a nastiness, there's a
13:23
Speaker 2: physicality to him. He laid a block when he came in,
13:26
Speaker 2: he got a first team repid fullback, laid a nasty
13:29
Speaker 2: block on Jay Looks Hunt driving him off the ball.
13:32
Speaker 2: Was extremely physical and I think that's just a glimpse
13:35
Speaker 2: of what he could potentially provide as an inline blocker
13:38
Speaker 2: even and I think that for the Eagles to really
13:40
Speaker 2: take this to another level in the run game, you
13:43
Speaker 2: like to see a way for them to incorporate Cameron
13:45
Speaker 2: Latu as more of an inline blocker this year.
13:48
Speaker 1: I did notice him that the it's called the F position.
13:50
Speaker 1: It might have been what you were looking at, the
13:52
Speaker 1: F position. This offense is offset and Kyle Shanahan does
13:58
Speaker 1: it a lot now, not just with Coley call Uschek
14:00
Speaker 1: who is a pure fullback form a tight end at Harvard,
14:05
Speaker 1: but they will use that guy as a wrap around
14:08
Speaker 1: blocker and lots of it on your point. And we
14:12
Speaker 1: know in special teams he does it. He lays dudes out.
14:15
Speaker 1: Now you can't hit practice, but he lays dudes out.
14:18
Speaker 1: I know what you're getting at, Like he can do
14:20
Speaker 1: that and there.
14:21
Speaker 2: Is another play at him. This was late late in practice.
14:24
Speaker 2: They were focusing on kick return so they had three
14:26
Speaker 2: rows of kick returners and in front of them. They
14:30
Speaker 2: had two blockers and two players that were looking to
14:32
Speaker 2: defeat the blockers. On one, Rep Cameron Lotsu steamroll Darius
14:37
Speaker 2: Cooper put him on his backside, just ran right through him.
14:40
Speaker 1: That's great.
14:41
Speaker 2: I mean, he just plays the game at one hundred
14:43
Speaker 2: miles an hour, and I think that he's someone that
14:46
Speaker 2: every team would want a Cameron lot To on the roster.
14:48
Speaker 2: He's one of those guys that you want it, you
14:50
Speaker 2: feel comfortable bring him down a dark alley because he's
14:53
Speaker 2: kind of an imposing presence.
14:55
Speaker 1: Andrew, let's get over to the offensive linemen. And imposing
14:59
Speaker 1: presence was your Those were your last words there on
15:03
Speaker 1: the ted end position on the last show that we did.
15:07
Speaker 1: You had you know you. You and I agree that
15:09
Speaker 1: they're going to be eight offensive linemen at least on
15:11
Speaker 1: the roster, but after that they may not have anyone.
15:14
Speaker 1: They should almost certain two. But every time I go
15:17
Speaker 1: to practice, and the more I work I do on
15:21
Speaker 1: number sixty seven Jino Joku, I'm more impressed. He was
15:25
Speaker 1: at a nfl p A Boll participant, five time Academic
15:30
Speaker 1: All American, five times, by the way, All Mountain West
15:34
Speaker 1: Academic All American, so excuse me. Academic All mount West,
15:39
Speaker 1: not All American, but five time academic All Mountain West.
15:43
Speaker 1: Yet he wasn't drafted. He looks to me and you're very,
15:46
Speaker 1: very athletic. So if you had to put him on
15:48
Speaker 1: your fifty three, I know it's early, but you've always
15:51
Speaker 1: liked doing your early fifty three, would you have him
15:54
Speaker 1: on it?
15:55
Speaker 2: Yes, And I would really have to think hard about
15:59
Speaker 2: maybe finding a way to put Jake Majors on just
16:01
Speaker 2: because we're early right now, it's not the final test.
16:07
Speaker 2: I think Jake Majors is a really interesting player. He's
16:10
Speaker 2: done some nice things at guard. He's not the biggest
16:13
Speaker 2: guy in the world. There's been moments where I think
16:14
Speaker 2: he's gotten handled. Moro Jomo Byron Young have gotten him
16:18
Speaker 2: a couple of times. But he moves really well and
16:20
Speaker 2: he's highly intelligent. I do get the sense that the
16:23
Speaker 2: Eagles maybe like him a little bit. He was on
16:25
Speaker 2: the practice squad last year. Look, he has an uphill
16:28
Speaker 2: battle to make the roster, to be sure, but he's
16:31
Speaker 2: someone that you mentioned John Adubo. Jake Majors is another
16:34
Speaker 2: player that I have sort of highlighted for the preseason.
16:38
Speaker 1: All right, Andrew. We've done the offense, let's get to
16:40
Speaker 1: the defense. So on defense, we kind of know what
16:46
Speaker 1: the starting group looks like, with one exceptions at safety
16:52
Speaker 1: next to Makooba, though again Cooper Dejane's going to be
16:54
Speaker 1: on base downs. But let's get started up front. The
16:58
Speaker 1: thing we haven't talked about this much Jalen Carter. You know,
17:01
Speaker 1: walking by him the other day, I was like, wow,
17:03
Speaker 1: is that Jalen Carter put it? He lose weight. I
17:04
Speaker 1: wonder what his weight is, and the Vic Fangio and
17:07
Speaker 1: his press confers kind of alluded to it. He looks
17:10
Speaker 1: like last summer. Remember he was last summer. I knew
17:14
Speaker 1: it was not a good sign. He was on their
17:15
Speaker 1: initial entry put with a shoulder problem, which we knew
17:17
Speaker 1: it was going back many years. It was the same issue.
17:20
Speaker 1: But man, he looks really really good. He got his contract.
17:26
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know how you've ranked you because
17:27
Speaker 1: we already talked about Wicks being one of the most
17:29
Speaker 1: impressive offensive players.
17:31
Speaker 2: Carter's on my stock up absolutely, yeah.
17:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, would you have him number one guy you've seen
17:35
Speaker 1: on defense? So far?
17:38
Speaker 2: It's either him or Jalb's Hunt. But I mean, Jalen
17:41
Speaker 2: Carter with Vic Vanjo. He mentioned that he's now doing
17:44
Speaker 2: the little things better and they and he sort of
17:47
Speaker 2: alluded to the fact that it's probably a byproduct of
17:50
Speaker 2: coming into training camp in better shape. If you remember
17:52
Speaker 2: last year, Vic's the truth tower. He's going to let
17:55
Speaker 2: you know exactly what the score is. And you know
17:57
Speaker 2: he didn't pull any punches there last summer. It's been
17:59
Speaker 2: a different story this time around. He looks quicker, He's
18:03
Speaker 2: been disruptive on almost every snap, and I think that
18:07
Speaker 2: that really bodes well for a nice rebound season for
18:10
Speaker 2: Jal Carter.
18:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that he's healthy and that's that's the cool
18:14
Speaker 1: thing about it. Getting over to the inside backer group,
18:22
Speaker 1: Jehad Campbell, I don't know what he weighs. He looks smaller,
18:27
Speaker 1: but he does look really quick. Maybe that's helping him.
18:30
Speaker 1: He has stood out a little bit when I've watched him.
18:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, what are your.
18:33
Speaker 1: Thoughts on him and the overall ILB group.
18:36
Speaker 2: It's funny. Zach Bond actually said that he thinks Jahad
18:39
Speaker 2: put on muscle in the off season, but to me later,
18:42
Speaker 2: to my to my eye, it does look like maybe
18:44
Speaker 2: he's a little slimmer. I don't know it's hard to
18:48
Speaker 2: but yeah, maybe he's later. I don't know, but yes,
18:50
Speaker 2: to your point, I think he's had a decent camp
18:53
Speaker 2: so far. You're quickly, you know, you're quickly taken by
18:58
Speaker 2: his sideline the sideline range. He has really good length.
19:02
Speaker 2: This is someone with an eighty inch wingspan, and I
19:05
Speaker 2: think that that's greatly going to help the Eagles and coverage.
19:07
Speaker 2: We'll have to wait and see how that translates over
19:10
Speaker 2: to run defense because the Kobe Dean was an unstoppable force,
19:14
Speaker 2: a heat seeking missile coming downhill. He's not that type
19:18
Speaker 2: of player Johat Campbell. But we'll see if he can
19:20
Speaker 2: at least be adequate in that area. But the Eagles
19:22
Speaker 2: did upgrade athletically opposite Zach Baught.
19:25
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're super deep with young players trout juniors
19:28
Speaker 1: that clear three Mondon.
19:30
Speaker 2: He's had a really good.
19:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Vic talked about it. This has been his
19:34
Speaker 1: best camp. They came in together same year in twenty
19:36
Speaker 1: twenty four. We've talked about Chance Campbell. Jeff and I
19:39
Speaker 1: did on our shows throughout the off season that he
19:42
Speaker 1: was a guy that might be one of the shockers
19:44
Speaker 1: to make it. Then then Vic said in his press coverence,
19:46
Speaker 1: don't sleep on them, guys, for those of you do
19:49
Speaker 1: your fifty three man roster, don't sleep on him really well, he.
19:51
Speaker 2: Said, don't sleep on him. And he said Chance is
19:53
Speaker 2: a good football player. We like Chance. Well, well, you
19:56
Speaker 2: don't often when when Vic offers praise your best, you know,
20:00
Speaker 2: really pay close attention to it, because he doesn't offer
20:03
Speaker 2: hollow praise. Now, Chance Campbell has a little bit of
20:07
Speaker 2: a ways to go here, and I think he's a
20:09
Speaker 2: really interesting story. I look at the special teams element
20:13
Speaker 2: Adam and we talked about the two players who the
20:14
Speaker 2: Eagles lost who were among their top five contributors last year.
20:18
Speaker 2: They're gonna have to fill the void somewhere. And if
20:20
Speaker 2: you listen to what he had to say about Jeremiah
20:22
Speaker 2: Trotter Junior about maybe getting in the mix a little
20:25
Speaker 2: bit at linebacker, Vic sounded like he might he could
20:28
Speaker 2: potentially be open to it. He didn't commit to it
20:30
Speaker 2: one way or the other. But let's just say you
20:33
Speaker 2: do do that. Well, you have smile Monden Junior, and
20:36
Speaker 2: you might need another player to help fill the void
20:38
Speaker 2: there on special teams a little bit more.
20:40
Speaker 1: Yeah, you only played two at a time, Bond and
20:43
Speaker 1: campb are going to play a lot of the snaps,
20:46
Speaker 1: if not all of them. Now the question is does
20:48
Speaker 1: Vic for the first time and I could remember sort
20:50
Speaker 1: of rotate a little bit just to keep guys fresh.
20:53
Speaker 1: We'll have to see if he's willing to do that.
20:55
Speaker 1: But he hasn't shown the willingness to do it. But right,
20:57
Speaker 1: it's good.
20:58
Speaker 2: Actually, Adam, you mentioned it's something pretty interesting there because
21:02
Speaker 2: Campbell does have the shoulder history and yeah, you know,
21:06
Speaker 2: to maybe lessen some of the wear and tear and
21:08
Speaker 2: preserve him a little bit. I mean, it would make
21:11
Speaker 2: some sense. We'll have to see if that's his approach
21:13
Speaker 2: because traditionally you're right, he has.
21:14
Speaker 1: Not done that, hasn't done it really anywhere he's been
21:18
Speaker 1: let's go to the Edge group. But it's funny you
21:20
Speaker 1: brought it up with me at Bicetti how he really
21:23
Speaker 1: impressed you then Vic. It was like it was like
21:25
Speaker 1: Vic was hearing you say this, and he, for whatever reason,
21:29
Speaker 1: he said, look, he was trying to learn the scheme
21:32
Speaker 1: in the OTAs and then now he's gotten it. And
21:36
Speaker 1: I was I was like, wow, he you would you
21:38
Speaker 1: and Vic see it the same way? What did you
21:40
Speaker 1: like so much about ebuicutting in the early going here
21:42
Speaker 1: in practices?
21:43
Speaker 2: Well, sometimes, like I like to focus on edge rushers
21:46
Speaker 2: and try to really assess what they're doing beyond generating pressure.
21:50
Speaker 2: And he's done a nice job setting the edge. He's
21:53
Speaker 2: been really physical. He had a couple of good reps
21:55
Speaker 2: against Fred Johnson, and then in coverage he made a
21:58
Speaker 2: nice play might have been against the Hours. Nevertheless, he
22:01
Speaker 2: also made a nice play to wrap up Tank Bigsby
22:04
Speaker 2: on a handoff. I think that might have been Monday
22:07
Speaker 2: when they're in the practice bubble. So he's quietly made
22:09
Speaker 2: the most of his opportunities. And I mentioned this to
22:12
Speaker 2: you last time. As a fourth edge rusher, let's say
22:15
Speaker 2: maybe fifth, we'll see you could do far worse than that.
22:19
Speaker 2: And I think he's he gives a little bit of
22:21
Speaker 2: a little bit of upside there, maybe some untapped potential.
22:24
Speaker 2: And then Epanessa is another player that I know you
22:27
Speaker 2: really liked.
22:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, Epenessa has been a standout because I've I've followed
22:33
Speaker 1: his career and I've talked to people work with him.
22:35
Speaker 1: You like a lot about him because he sets the
22:37
Speaker 1: edge really really well, has got great length, was overdrafted
22:40
Speaker 1: a little bit in Buffalo in terms of because you
22:43
Speaker 1: don't draft a guy in the second round was just
22:44
Speaker 1: a good run stopper. But to their credit he became
22:47
Speaker 1: his and the Bills credit he became a much better
22:50
Speaker 1: pass rusher over time, and whatever the Browns had a
22:53
Speaker 1: problem with and his physical the Eagles have had no problem.
22:57
Speaker 1: He's been one of the standouts. To me, it's, you know,
23:00
Speaker 1: I didn't know what to expect from him, but he
23:02
Speaker 1: looks good. Their edge group overall is so deep. They've
23:06
Speaker 1: got experience. Now they've got youth. When Grenard comes back, Andrew,
23:11
Speaker 1: think about this. Grenard Hunt, who's been it's been phenomenal,
23:15
Speaker 1: Nola Smith on a contract, drive, Ebiketty, who's had a
23:19
Speaker 1: good camp, who's they guaranteed four point three million. He's
23:22
Speaker 1: going to be on the team, Epinessa and Nickel could
23:26
Speaker 1: play inside if you want him to. He could play
23:28
Speaker 1: on the D line. If you want him to goal line,
23:30
Speaker 1: he can do that. He's he's done it before because
23:32
Speaker 1: he's he's been a run game guy. Is this in
23:35
Speaker 1: your recollection for covering the team? Is this one of
23:37
Speaker 1: the deepest, if not the deepest edge group they've had.
23:41
Speaker 2: I would have to say yes. And actually, going through
23:43
Speaker 2: the offseason doing some of those podcasts, I was going
23:46
Speaker 2: over what I believe was the deepest position on the
23:49
Speaker 2: defensive side, and I made the argument for edge rusher
23:53
Speaker 2: and I said, if certain things go according to plan,
23:56
Speaker 2: that's not out of the realm of possibility. And right now, Adam,
23:59
Speaker 2: I think that that you can make an argument linebacker.
24:02
Speaker 2: You can make an argument defensive tackle, interior, defensive line.
24:06
Speaker 2: But I think right now you just outlined it all
24:08
Speaker 2: five edge rushers, and they've all offered except for Gernard clearly,
24:12
Speaker 2: but they've all offered glimpses of of promise there.
24:16
Speaker 1: All right, let's move to the secondary. So we know
24:19
Speaker 1: the starters are with Wolan, with Mitchell Willan's had a
24:24
Speaker 1: good camp. Jonathan Jones will be the three. MacWilliams is
24:30
Speaker 1: the guy you did the rookie diary with. He is healthy.
24:33
Speaker 1: I've seen him line up inside a little bit. I've
24:36
Speaker 1: seen him line up a little bit on the outside.
24:38
Speaker 1: I don't know what to make of him. With Jacquarian
24:40
Speaker 1: Bend also competing for the four. We talked about Ambry
24:43
Speaker 1: Thomas the last show. I just don't have a good
24:46
Speaker 1: feel for who's got the fourth job. And look, you
24:49
Speaker 1: understand something. If or Mitchell gets hurt, Jones starts and
24:54
Speaker 1: that's where you come. That's when the four becomes rolling pointies.
24:57
Speaker 1: The first guy off the bench show where are we
24:59
Speaker 1: at now with Mcwoayan Sims, Bennett, Ambry Thomas, Caster Fields,
25:03
Speaker 1: left Ringo, Sean Wade who's been a journeman? Where are
25:05
Speaker 1: you out with all these guys?
25:07
Speaker 2: So before we get into that, Adam, do you happen
25:09
Speaker 2: to know offhand what Jonathan Jones is guaranteed money is?
25:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's small. I will tell you about I'm going to.
25:15
Speaker 2: Be keeping an eye on him. I haven't noticed a ton,
25:18
Speaker 2: but he does offer so much versatility and a lot
25:20
Speaker 2: of experience. You mentioned some of these other guys. Mac McWilliams.
25:25
Speaker 2: I like his short area of quickness. I just have questions,
25:29
Speaker 2: do you need an extra nickelback on the roster when
25:33
Speaker 2: you have Michael Carter who can play it, Cooper dejen
25:36
Speaker 2: obviously can play it. You have Jonathan Jones, who, in
25:40
Speaker 2: this scenario can if he's on the roster, can play it.
25:43
Speaker 2: So he's more of a nickelback and he can play outside,
25:46
Speaker 2: but he also doesn't really play on special teams, at
25:49
Speaker 2: least he didn't last year, so it's hard for me
25:51
Speaker 2: to really find a spot for him right now. That
25:54
Speaker 2: could change in the preseason. There's still a lot of
25:56
Speaker 2: training camp left to go. Ambry Thomas I went into
25:59
Speaker 2: training camp a little bit intrigued with him because I
26:01
Speaker 2: like his size at six foot one hundred and ninety
26:04
Speaker 2: five pounds thereabouts, and he has the pedigree Michigan third
26:08
Speaker 2: round pick with the forty nine ers. I haven't seen
26:10
Speaker 2: a ton from him. Tari Castro Fields had a nice
26:14
Speaker 2: couple of plays there at the end of Wednesday's practice,
26:17
Speaker 2: had the interception off Cole Payton had a pass breakup
26:20
Speaker 2: on Eli Stowers to end the practice. The Eagles clearly
26:24
Speaker 2: like him, probably from a practice perspective, because he's now
26:27
Speaker 2: in his third training camp with Philadelphia, he has a
26:29
Speaker 2: little bit of an uphill battle as well, So I
26:32
Speaker 2: think Jacorey and Bennett right now for me, is the
26:34
Speaker 2: player that I have highlighted because he's done it before.
26:39
Speaker 2: He was highly touted coming out of Maryland, and he
26:42
Speaker 2: does have good size, so I'll be keeping an eye
26:44
Speaker 2: on that for sure.
26:46
Speaker 1: On your question about John Jones. They guaranteed all the cash,
26:48
Speaker 1: but it's only two million one year, two million full
26:50
Speaker 1: of guaranteed. That's all the money. It's not a lot
26:53
Speaker 1: of money, but he is the de facto number three
26:56
Speaker 1: and Bennett, and Bennett, by the way, is on the Finally,
27:00
Speaker 1: his rookie deal, no guaranteed money. He would be subject
27:04
Speaker 1: to waivers if they cut him. There's talent there. This
27:07
Speaker 1: guy was drafted by the Raiders in the fourth round
27:11
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty three. He's got really good speed. A
27:14
Speaker 1: lot of shoulder problems injury surgeries that's concerning. Didn't understand
27:19
Speaker 1: the scheme. He looks better, I've heard he's performed better
27:22
Speaker 1: in practice. But there's gonna be some competition. As we've
27:25
Speaker 1: been telling folks for weeks now. Spots forty five to
27:28
Speaker 1: fifty three they're almost certainly open. There's a lot of
27:31
Speaker 1: rooms here for guys to put it together the rest
27:34
Speaker 1: of the camp and also in the preseason. So that's the
27:38
Speaker 1: cornerback position. And then finally it is.
27:40
Speaker 2: Really he should also add a kiey Ringo who he
27:43
Speaker 2: didn't mention. Yeah, yeah, it has has a good shot
27:46
Speaker 2: at sticking as a cornerback by trade, but he's really
27:49
Speaker 2: a specialist and one of the best runners in the NFL.
27:53
Speaker 1: He's got incredible straight line speed, good tackler. Uh, he
27:59
Speaker 1: just doesn't factor in. But you know, it's interesting if
28:03
Speaker 1: if something happens with one of them, then they're gonna
28:05
Speaker 1: you gotta have kind of like you gotta have five
28:07
Speaker 1: guys already. You dress at least four if everybody's healthy.
28:11
Speaker 1: If it's a team that's going to play a lot
28:13
Speaker 1: of eleven personnel and some ten, which is four receivers,
28:15
Speaker 1: you might you might have five in the rotation. He's
28:18
Speaker 1: on the outside looking at but he has got great
28:20
Speaker 1: straight line speed. Let's get over to safety Andrew. We
28:24
Speaker 1: kind of know what it looks like with Epps ahead
28:28
Speaker 1: of Carter, but we'll get into Carter in a minute. Makooba,
28:30
Speaker 1: of course, your guy Andre Sam was Nesky. You were
28:35
Speaker 1: right on the pronunciation. I got the pronunciation, guy. I
28:37
Speaker 1: want to look at a lot of their names. It
28:39
Speaker 1: is was Nesky, not was Nwski. The first time I've
28:42
Speaker 1: seen what the spell was Newski, but it's pronounced was Nesky.
28:47
Speaker 1: And our guy Maximus Pulley it to me this is
28:50
Speaker 1: another one where Andre Sam. You've covered him since twenty
28:54
Speaker 1: four Someone's got to be the fourth safety. Well, again,
28:58
Speaker 1: technically it's it's Epps, Macouba Dejen Carter's the four, but
29:04
Speaker 1: Cooper will not be a full time safety. There's an
29:06
Speaker 1: opportunity for them to keep one more guy. What are
29:08
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this group overall right now?
29:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do have questions. No one's really emerged at
29:14
Speaker 2: this time. I mean, cole Znsky's missing really valuable time
29:19
Speaker 2: right now. He missed time in the spring with an
29:22
Speaker 2: undisclosed injury. Now he's missing time with the hamstring. The
29:25
Speaker 2: Eagles certainly aren't going to rush him back when you're
29:27
Speaker 2: dealing with the soft tissue. The last thing you want
29:29
Speaker 2: to do is bring someone back prematurely. But make no
29:32
Speaker 2: mistake about it. At him as a rookie, seventh round pick.
29:35
Speaker 2: You're missing valuable practice reps and opportunities out there. I
29:38
Speaker 2: went into training camp sort of penciling him in as
29:41
Speaker 2: the fourth safety. I have a lot of questions, and
29:43
Speaker 2: I think that could be determined in the preseason. Andre
29:47
Speaker 2: Sam's a consistent player. He knows what he's doing out there.
29:51
Speaker 2: He knows the defense pretty well. He's had some good
29:54
Speaker 2: coverage reps. He had a really nice one on down
29:56
Speaker 2: Tavian Wicks on Wednesday, Jay when hurts, his throat was
29:59
Speaker 2: better and he threaded the needle there on a crossing route.
30:02
Speaker 2: Andre Sam was a hair away from getting the pass
30:04
Speaker 2: break up. But apart from that, Maximus Powie is a
30:07
Speaker 2: player that we've talked about a decent amount this offseason
30:10
Speaker 2: and really through camp in the preseason. He could be
30:13
Speaker 2: someone who who starts to make some plays. So it's
30:17
Speaker 2: it's yet to be resolved.
30:20
Speaker 1: All right. So later today they've got the practice, Saturday practice,
30:24
Speaker 1: Sunday day off, and Andrew, could you do these reports?
30:31
Speaker 1: Do they you do your deli to checko Now in
30:33
Speaker 1: terms of talking to the players, do they still give
30:36
Speaker 1: you decent access in trying to camp? What's that like?
30:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, So after practice, like before practice, we'll get a
30:41
Speaker 2: list of who's going to be available that day and
30:44
Speaker 2: we'll get a chance to talk to them and they
30:45
Speaker 2: work through a rotation, so to kind of put things
30:49
Speaker 2: into perspective here, the other day we got Darius Cooper,
30:53
Speaker 2: Eli Stowers and some of those other players. Early in camp,
30:57
Speaker 2: you're getting the lane Johnson's Jalen Hurts and those Saint
31:01
Speaker 2: Juon Barkleys, So you know, you kind of work through
31:04
Speaker 2: the rotation. We just had Tanner McKee, we had Andy Dalton,
31:07
Speaker 2: so we're working through pretty much the whole roster here,
31:10
Speaker 2: and yeah, we're gonna learn a lot more because then
31:13
Speaker 2: after the preseason games or when like I could talk
31:15
Speaker 2: to you know, some of the other players who are
31:18
Speaker 2: maybe on the roster fringe and get a chance to
31:20
Speaker 2: share their story a little bit.
31:22
Speaker 1: By the way, Andrews reports, if you're a Patreon Level
31:25
Speaker 1: two or level three member, you get you get it
31:28
Speaker 1: first before the public does, and you also get them
31:30
Speaker 1: commercial free Patreon dot com slash inside the Burtons so
31:33
Speaker 1: much more or Andrew, a great job. You and I
31:36
Speaker 1: will be back together probably Sunday. Well we'll see what
31:40
Speaker 1: mister Mosh will be back, so we'll figure that out.
31:43
Speaker 1: But great job out of you. That's Andrew Ducheco. I'm
31:46
Speaker 1: out of Kaplan. We'll see you next time.