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The DiCecco Daily: Post-Draft Needs Remaining For Eagles · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's going on? Everyone?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into another episode of De Checko Deli Andrew de
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: check O Eagles Beat reporter Friendsidethebirds dot Com. Let's get
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: to some housekeeping items before we focus on the main
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: topic of today's podcast, which centers around the remaining needs
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: on the Eagles roster after the draft. Okay, so we
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: do have some dates here as it pertains to the
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: Eagles and their offseason workouts. Rookie Miniicamp will be held
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: May first and May second, OTA offseason workouts May twenty
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: sixth and twenty seventh, May twenty ninth, June first and second,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: and June fourth. Mandatory mini camp June ninth and tenth.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: We also have some news as it pertains to one
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: of the eagles lone remaining unrestricted free agents, and he
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: became an unrestricted free agent once they did pick up
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: his restricted free agent tender, and that is fullback Ben
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: Van Sumarn. He signs a one year deal with the
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Buffalo Bills. And just a quick aside on Van Sumron.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: I really enjoyed my conversations with him over the past
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: few years. He's a true professional, battled through some gruesome
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: injuries to make his way out on the other side cleanly,
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: and now he gets another opportunity. There were plans to
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: utilize him last season as I sort of as I've outlined,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: and on the first play of the season after returning
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: from a knee injury that took him out of the
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: mix for playing in the Super Bowl and ended his
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty four season prematurely, he suffers a knee injury
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: a torn pateler tendant on the opening kickoff of the
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: twenty twenty five season, and worked his way back. Works
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: really diligent when it comes to works really diligently when
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: it comes to bouncing back from an injury.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: He attacks the process.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: He loves the game and really focuses on whatever he
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: needs to do to shorten the recovery timeline. High character
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: guy and one of the better athletes around the NFL
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: when you think about his ability as a wide receiver
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: in high school, he was a record setter there. Then
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: he goes to Michigan is a running back, goes to
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: Michigan State, plays linebacker and even garners some interest as
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: a baseball player there. Then he goes to the Eagles
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: as a linebacker, a role player, but immensely athletic becomes
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: a fullback, and I think one of the memories that
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I'll have is watching Ben van Sumerin at the end
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: of a practice. It was in twenty twenty four, i
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: want to say, and Nick Sirianni called to He was
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: going through five different battles, one on one battles, and
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: it was a defensive player pitted against an offensive player,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: or so it seemed at the time. Well, he called
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Ben van Sumerin up, that was at the time a linebacker,
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: and then he calls safety Andre Sam. Andre Sam gets
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: ready to cover Ben van Sumern and Van Sumern runs
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: a nasty crossing route or maybe it was a corner route,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: but he hits him with a really nifty headfake and
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: shakes Andre Sam and breaks towards the sideline. Kenny Pickets
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: the quarterback, and he's really good friends with Ben, he
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: was at the time, as I remember it, and he
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: sailed the pass. It went wide, and ironically that's the
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: way that that play ended. But Ben shook free, and
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that's maybe foreshadowed a little bit him playing fullback. But yeah,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I can't say enough about just bouncing back, the ability
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: to bounce back from injuries when maybe on the outside,
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: it looked like he may have been counted out. You
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: can't discount the work ethic, the drive, and what's inside
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: of a competitor, and he certainly has that. So he
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: goes to Buffalo and he'll be in contention for a
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: roster spot. I do believe they have a full back there,
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: so it could be a little roster competition, but special
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: teams could be the determining factor. And Ben is, when healthy,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: one of the better special teams performers in the league.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: And so that closes the book on that.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: The players on the Eagles roster that or I should
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: say the positions on the roster that could stand to
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: be bolstered after the draft, when you're able to zoom
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: out a little bit and.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Get a full picture view of the roster. We'll start with.
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: We'll start with guard, because yes, they drafted Michael Morris
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: in the sixth round out of Georgia, and I do
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: believe that of the Day three selections, he stands to
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: benefit the most and have the clearest path to a
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: roster spot at this time. But when you look at
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: at the reserve guards, it's Micah Morris. You have players
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: who could probably do it if they were asked to
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: do it, or a cross train, and that's Drew Kendall,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: who's a center by trade, could give you some guard versatility.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Jake Majors, center by trade, could probably kick over to
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: guard if needed. Willie Lampkin, who spent the season on
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: injured reserve, he's a center by trade. He might be
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: able to give you some guard play. Maybe Fred Johnson,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: who has played guard earlier in his career, could do it.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: Or maybe one of Cam Williams and Miles Hinton, both
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: the second year offensive tackles, could do it. But you
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: see where I'm going with this, And that's why I
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: keep going back to losing Brett tothan free agency and
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: why I thought that that was a more notable transaction
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: than maybe it was given credit for. And so right
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: now you have Michael Morris, who's the loan reserve pure
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: guard well given the injury histories to landon Dickerson. And
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: depending on how you feel about Tyler Steen, I happen
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: to think that he was serviceable, if not a little
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: better than that. I think he gets a little bit
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: of a bad rap, and I think Mackay Beckton gets
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: a little bit overpraised based off of the success of
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: the season and everything like that. But I think knowing
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Landon Dickerson in particular his injury history, you could.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: Stand the benefit from adding a veteran guard. I would
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: imagine there's.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: Time to do that, but a little bit more along
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: the lines of an upgrade over the tier of like
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: a Nick Gates, let's say, a competent veteran who could
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: step in if needed, unless they are confident in Micah
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: Morris's ability to pick things up quickly and acclimate to
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the NFL level and rapid time, or maybe they like
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: the prospects of Fred Johnson being able to give you
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: that guard versatility having done that in the past. But
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: knowing the Eagles, they'd like to have their bases covered,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: so it wouldn't surprise me at all if they're at
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: some point before now between now in training camp there's
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: a veteran guard added. Then let's look to the defensive backfield,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: and I'm looking at safety in particular, because you have
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: Drew mccuba, who the team is very bullish on. He's
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: entering his second season, there's a lot of question marks.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: You have Marcus EPs who's a solid, if unspectacular player.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: Who you might feel good with if you had to.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: Play four or five games, but ideally you wouldn't want
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: him starting the full complement of games. That's where some
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: of those warts will show. He's also a little older,
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: he's thirty years old. I think that they could get
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: by certainly with Macuba and Apps, because Epps is a instinctual,
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: fundamentally sound player who makes up for that lack of
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: range with those instincts and football IQ.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: But you might like to see.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Them add a little bit there, I would imagine, And
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: so know how in what form could that come in. Well,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: maybe there's a post June one player who's released, Maybe
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: there's a trade that could be had to really alter
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: the room a little bit. But I have to imagine
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: that the Eagles aren't done at this position. They have,
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: as I mentioned, Drew mccooba and Marcus EPs, but also
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Michael Carter, the second who they acquired at the trade deadline.
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: He's a nickelback, but he could give you that safety versatility.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: He played over sixty snaps in the season finale in
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: place of Brandon Johnson. I thought he held his own
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: playing that position, and he hadn't done that all that often.
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: It's been a while since he was asked to do that,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: but he.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Held up well.
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: And then you look at Brandon Johnson, who is a
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: who's also a nickel corner by trade, but could.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Play some safety.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Needless to say, he did that towards the end of
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: last season when he was elevated from the practice squad.
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: And JT.
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: Gray, as I mentioned, is pretty much a special team
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: only player. That's where he's made his mark in the NFL.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: Always played one hundred and fifty defensive snaps since being
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: in the league, and that dates back to twenty eighteen.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: So I think he's more of a safety by definition
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: and by the way he'll be grouped, but I don't
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: necessarily view him as someone who's going to factor into
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: the defensive mix here. So the really lean Andre Sam's
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: still there. Andre Sam's a player that the Eagles like.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: He's now back for his third training camp, developed really
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: nicely on the practice squad.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: Certainly Joe Casper knows him well.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: He's worked alongside him for two seasons, so he knows
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: his strengths, he knows where his areas of opportunities are.
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: But he also was elevated for three games last season,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: played well on special teams and his limited opportunities, and
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: I do get the sense that he's a player that
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: the Eagles like. How he fits into the roster and
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: how that puzzle piece fits into the fifty three man roster.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: We have no idea how that's going to shake out.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: We'll have to wait and see how the safety battle
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: plays out in training camp. There's still a lot of
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: time between now and then. But based off of my
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: synopsis of the safety position, I think it's safe to
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: say that the Eagles probably aren't done there at that
• 10:18
  Speaker 2: at that position.
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: They didn't force it. They they in the draft.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: They drafted Cole was Newski, and I don't want to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: exclude him here. I wrote a story about him on
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: Inside the Birds dot com. So you have a group
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: of players, but as Adam Kaplan or I will say, often,
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: depth is not about the amount of players at one position.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: It's about the quality of those players, and the quality
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: has yet to be determined. That's what training camp's for, and.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: We'll see what the Eagles do with that position.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: We'll see it's it's fascinating when you look at it
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: right now. They didn't force the pick in the draft,
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: which you have to give them props for but we'll
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: see how the position develops in time. But that's another position,
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: I would say. And then finally, defensive tackle. It's not
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: a knee a pressing need in the immediate future, but
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: when you look at it down the line, and I've
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: touched on this in various podcasts leading up to the draft,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: when looking at defensive tackle and talking about it, it's
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: not a need for now, but it's very You don't
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: have to squint to see it becoming a need as
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: early as next season, where Moro Jomo is playing on
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: the final year of his rookie deal, so is Byron Young.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: And then you have Ty Robinson, who the Eagles drafted
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: in the fourth round. Even this year, I would say
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: that you could stand to add a little competition there
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: because he's sort of an unknown entity. He played just
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: one hundred and eleven defensive snaps I believe, played in
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: eleven games, but wasn't really much of a factor, didn't
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: have the strongest of training camps, and Byron Young played
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: over him last season. This is a big offseason for
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: Ty Robinson. We'll see how he returns having a year
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: in that building working with Clint hurt, and sometimes that's
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: all it takes to kickstart someone's career. He's not necessarily
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: what I would consider a young prospect.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: I think he's twenty four or twenty five.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: He entered the league a little bit on the older side,
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: having played quite a bit of college football at Nebraska,
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: and so the expectation, I guess, the presumption would be
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: that he was going to pick things up quickly in
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: factor into the defensive tackle rotation. That didn't happen. But
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: you have Jayalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Moro Jomo. Those are
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: players that you can really feel exceptionally well about going
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: into the twenty twenty six season.
• 12:39
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• 12:44
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• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Byron Young proved to be a solid rotational piece. He
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: was asked to take on a bit more of an
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: expanded role when Jayal when Carter was dealing with his
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: shoulders injuries, and so.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: From the top forty, that's a solid group.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: But then you have Gabe Hall and ty Robinson and
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: the big question there is ty Robinson. But I say
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: that it's a need and if you notice, I didn't
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: lead with that because it's not it shouldn't be among
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: guard or safety, but it's a need because you would
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: like to maybe see them add some more competition to
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: push ty Robinson. Maybe the Eagles feel really good about
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: the The trajectory for ty Robinson based off of how
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: last season ended, which suggests that he can he can
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: be fine as a fifth defensive tackle for you this season,
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: but I think it's still.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: A little light there.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: We'll see what the undrafted free agent list looks like.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: I don't really like to to delve too deep into
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: that personally until the team announces it, until everything is finalized,
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: because as you know, things tend to change or can
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: change and have changed in the past when it comes
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: to some of the names that you hear, and we'll
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: see where things go. I'm really looking forward to rookie
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: mini camp on I think it'll be, well, we'll see,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: it'll be this weekend and there's that's where you get
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: to see the rookies out there on the field for
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: the first time. We'll get to see a little bit
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: of practice, kind of like a regular season practice, but
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: you get to see what numbers they're wearing.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: And for someone like you.
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: Ar Bernard, you'll get to see them in football, you know,
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: in a football jersey for the first time.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: That's kind of cool.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: So we'll have all that for you on Inside the
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: Birds dot Com, right here, on the Checko Daily and
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: on my ex account at andrew to Checko. But for
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: now that's gonna do it. For this episode of the Checkodaii,
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew to checko. We'll catch you all on the
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: next one.