Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / The DiCecco Daily: Explaining Addition of Veteran DB

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The DiCecco Daily: Explaining Addition of Veteran DB · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: What's going on, everybody? Welcome into another episode of DiCecco Daily.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: It's Andrew DiCecco, Eagles beat reporter for InsideTheBirds.com. The Eagles
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: make the signing of Zach Ertz official on Tuesday afternoon,
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and he gets.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: His number 86 back, as one would expect.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: That number, for those wondering, was previously held by practice
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: squad wide receiver Xavier Gibson, who now wears number 47.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Zach Ertz joins this Eagles roster, and I think that
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: there's a strong chance that you see him Monday night
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: against the Bears.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: This is a veteran player. I imagine that he's.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Really going to be immersing himself in Sean Mannion's playbook.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: He's going to get a lot of time on task
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: this week, and the Eagles really need him. He's going
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: to give them a pass-catching option. There's some familiarity there
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: with Ertz and Zach Ertz. Remember, Jalen was there in 2020.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: worked together a little bit in 2021. Zach Ertz, I believe,
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: lasted six games that year and then was traded as
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard took over that top tight end spot. But
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I think another underrated facet of adding someone like Zach Ertz,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: and I didn't touch on this in yesterday's podcast, is
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: the mentorship that he can provide for someone like Eli Stowers.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Zach Ertz has been sort of the epitome of what
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: you want and what you hope to get in a veteran.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: He is someone who does everything the right way. By
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: all accounts, he's been just the consummate professional and a
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: great teammate during his time in the league. And when
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you talk about the route running prowess, he also is
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: not known as a blocker. I do believe that he
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: can influence, have a positive influence on the Eli Stowers
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: behind the scenes and anytime you can bring a player
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: like that in that's an added bonus and on top
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: of what he can give you on the field so
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: we'll obviously learn more about Zach Ertz and his involvement
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: and how things are progressing in terms of his understanding
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: and grasping of the offense when we get to talk
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: to him this week I would imagine it would be
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Thursday so.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: There you have it. Zach Ertz officially back with.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: The Eagles and donning the number 86 as expected. Reportedly,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the Eagles also make an addition to the practice squad,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: and this is per NFL Network.
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: Actually, it was– I.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Want to give this person credit because I believe it
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: was Tyler Brook who first reported the signing of Kenny
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Moore– So, Kenny Moore is a veteran defensive back who
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: played nine seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, was a Pro
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Bowler in 2021, and played in 132 games, 111 starts
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: for them, was a big-time player, 21 career interceptions. Actually,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: he was a 2017– undrafted free agent signing of the Patriots.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: He did not make their team out of that rookie
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: camp was claimed off waivers by the.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: Colts and was viewed widely as one of the top
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: nickelbacks in the NFL. And it's expected.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: This is also per this one is per NFL network
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: that the Eagles will use him at nickelback and safety
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: and Not really a surprise there because the Eagles are
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: really light in terms of their depth at safety. And
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: they haven't had the most success.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So, I mean, I know Marcus Epps is a veteran.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: He's been around.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I thought he had a tough go of it against
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: Looked a little flat-footed at times. Was a little vulnerable
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: in coverage sometimes.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Makuba is a second-year player who I feel pretty strongly
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: about in terms of.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Him being able to emerge in year two.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: But it's been sort of an underwhelming start to this
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: safety group. And I will admittedly say that I went
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: into this season not having necessarily the same amount of
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: concern about with this safety group, because you have Cooper
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: to Jean, um, bullish on Macuba, Michael Carter had a
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: good training camp and he's a very versatile veteran.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: And yeah, I mean, I, I just.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Thought that they, they had, you know, enough there and
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Marcus Epps having played as, as much as he has
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: in the league. I just felt pretty comfortable with that group,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: but needless to say, they just haven't performed, uh, particularly
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: well through two games.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: It's still early. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time, but,
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: I think this move here is to give the Eagles.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: More optionality, more depth, allow Vic Fangio to do some
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: different things. I mean, Kenny Moore is a player who's
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: been around for a while. He overlapped with Nick Sirianni
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: with the Colts. He's a scrappy player, not the biggest
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: guy in the world at 5'9, 190 pounds or so,
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: but he does give you a.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: A veteran who's been in the league for a while. He's,
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: he's seen a lot. He can take the football away.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: Players like that tend to learn things a little, a
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: little faster than younger players.
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: Because of just their overall exposure to the league.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: And I imagine that he will be someone that even
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: though he's on the practice squad to start reportedly, he'll
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: get to really study and get up to speed. And
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: eventually I imagine he's going to be on the 53 and,
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: certainly helping the Eagles and providing some depth.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: We'll have to see if he has much left, but.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: I think at this point in the season, you're not
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: going to find a better option if you're trying to
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: bolster that particular position or positions than Kenny Moore. So
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: my initial read is that they're probably going to give
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: him some looks there at safety to provide some depth.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: The Eagles are pretty lean there.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: We'll see what it, what it all means for Cooper
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: to Jean and maybe he undertakes a larger role at safety,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: but it tells you that the Eagles wanted to supplement
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: that group with another, another piece that can give you
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: some different, some different looks and create some optionality. But yeah,
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, I do want to make sure that I
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: credit Tyler Brooke from the best available podcast for, for,
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: first reporting this news of Kenny Moore.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: It's an interesting one.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: And he does have a connection there with, he was
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: at Devante Smith softball game.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: He's friends with Isaiah Rogers.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: So in those types of events, I'm sure there's some
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: recruiting going on, I would imagine. And I think it's
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: a really interesting move and leave it to Howie Roseman
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: who never stays motionless. He's always, he's always working to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: try to better the Eagles and give them some, potential
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: upgrades there.
• 7:32
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  Speaker 1: And yeah, It's a smart play to get ahead of
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  Speaker 1: these things earlier in the season rather than wait for
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: things to potentially fester. Now it's going to be about,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: in the case of Kenny Moore and really Zach Hertz
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: as well, getting up to speed as much as possible
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: and doing everything that they can to be able to
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: help the Eagles as quickly as possible. Dallas Goddard to
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: miss a few weeks. Eli Stowers on IR. Grant Calcaterra
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: on IR with a back injury. So the Eagles are
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: really light in numbers at tight end. So, again, I
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: imagine Zach Hurts is going to play on Monday night.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: We'll see how many snaps. We'll see how involved he
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: ultimately is. But for a veteran player, they tend to
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: ramp up a little faster. And you can use countless
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: examples around the league. Not a lot of players, not
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: every player needs that quote-unquote ramp-up period.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: And I guess with Zach Hurts, the big question is going.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: To be how healthy is he and I mean, I
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: don't question what kind of shape he's in. He keeps
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: himself in good shape, but it's about how much can
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: you lean on him at this stage. He's nine months
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: removed from the torn ACL or the knee injury, whatever
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: the case was. And that's where that's going to be
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: especially critical to see where he is and how much
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: volume he can handle.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: And look, they need him, and.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: There's a built-in role for him right off the bat.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: They have Johnny Munt, they have EJ Jenkins, and now
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: they have Zach Ertz, and that's the group that they're
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: going to roll forward with. Let's not forget that Eli
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Stowers is out to at least.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: The fourth game of the season as he's on injury reserve.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: But we don't know the extent of the injury. We
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: know the injury that he has, but we don't know
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: where he is in the stages of the recovery aspect.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: So the Eagles are really lean there. But when this
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: group is healthy, they have quite a few options now.
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: You have Dallas Goddard. You have Zach Ertz, Johnny Munt,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: EJ Jenkins, Eli Stowers, Grant Calcaterra, Josiah DeGuarra is on
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: the practice squad. and by the way, and this was, uh,
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: I believe my, my guy, Tim McManus was the first
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: one that I saw put this out there, but there,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the spot on the practice squad is, is, is open
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: because there's a team looking to, uh, that that's going
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: to sign away. Robert Longerbeam, the cornerback from Rutgers who
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: the Eagles, uh, signed to the practice squad to start
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the season, uh, He was a draft pick of the
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens and had a good preseason, missed his rookie
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: year with an injury, and I believe I saw Mike
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Garofalo of NFL Network report that it was the Atlanta Falcons,
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: which makes sense that they lost A.J. Terrell to injured reserve.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: So Robert Longerbeam moves on. At least that's what's being reported,
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: and we'll see– you'll see Kenny Moore fill that spot
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: on the practice squad.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: So it's a swap out there.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: The Eagles have a lot of talented players on their
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: practice squad. I believe some that if you look at
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: some of the other rosters around the NFL, I believe
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: some of those guys can help. So it's not abnormal
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: to have a player signed off the practice squad. If
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: there's a team out there that, that liked them in
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the pre-draft process or that thinks that they can be, uh,
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: a short-term solution or even a long-term solution. Um, I
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: look at, uh, Karan, uh, I'm a Daje, the offensive
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: lineman who's young and has developmental qualities.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: I can think of someone.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Like Damian Pierce, who is a veteran who's played in
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: this league. If you're a team that's short on running backs,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: Damian Pierce, I would imagine, would be an enticing option.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Jake Majors, who can give you center guard versatility, young player, cerebral.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: And there's just a few that come to mind.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Jaden Blue, the running back who... just.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: A couple years removed from being a really enticing draft
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: prospect who might be able to help the team as
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: a kick returner perhaps. So I think the Eagles do
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: a really good job of filling out their practice squad
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: with upside players, some that they view as maybe being
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: potential options who can help them down the line, push
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: for a roster spot in training camp and so forth.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: But that's the nature of the NFL and the NFL
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: practice squads. When you have young players who have ability,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: And you're a team like the Eagles who wins, you're
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: naturally going to scan their practice squad and see what
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: they have. And that seems to be the case here
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: with Robert Longerbeam, who was just here for a couple
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: of weeks. But good news for him is that he
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: will be on an active roster and be able to
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: contribute for the first time in his young career. That's
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: going to do it for this episode of the Checo Daily.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: I'm Andrew DiCecco. Catch you all on the next one.