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Football at Four: Which Roster Spots Are Up for Grabs in Preseason? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: Yes Football and for Power Up by the Inside the
0:02
Speaker 1: Birds podcasts inside the Birds dot Com. They are just
0:06
Speaker 1: two of the places you could find coverage from the
0:10
Speaker 1: one and only Andrew de Checko. He is all over
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Speaker 1: the Birds this time of year, and he joins us
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Speaker 1: on Thursdays. Is the Eagles are preparing for preseason game
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Speaker 1: number one, and Andrew is joining us here on the
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Speaker 1: Sports Bass Josh Eddie Philly for Mike gil on Nice
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Speaker 1: have a three ESPN.
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Speaker 2: Andrew, welcome back in How you doing today?
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Speaker 3: I'm doing well, Josh. It's an especially busy time of
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Speaker 3: the year for me, but this is also my favorite
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Speaker 3: time of the year. Training camp and football is in
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Speaker 3: full session.
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Speaker 1: Well, and I love the fact you're on because I
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Speaker 1: think these preseason games is also like prime real estate
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Speaker 1: for you because we're gonna see a lot of guys
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Speaker 1: this weekend and the next weekend who maybe people don't
0:56
Speaker 1: know as much about. And I wanted to start with
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Speaker 1: you know, what have you deserved from the team at
1:01
Speaker 1: training camp this week that you think is going to
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Speaker 1: factor into what we see on Saturday night.
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Speaker 3: Well, you're not going to see a ton in terms
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Speaker 3: of scheme or anything like that. It's going to be
1:14
Speaker 3: pretty vanilla, as is the case pretty much every preseason, Josh,
1:18
Speaker 3: but I think you're going to see a lot of
1:19
Speaker 3: young players who are vying for spots, whether it be
1:21
Speaker 3: on the Eagles or elsewhere, that are really looking to
1:24
Speaker 3: put their best foot forward. They've had some really quality,
1:28
Speaker 3: intense type of practices of late, and you get the
1:30
Speaker 3: sense that both the offense and the defensive players are
1:34
Speaker 3: sort of chomping at the bit to face a team
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Speaker 3: with a different jersey. And I'm very much looking forward
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Speaker 3: to seeing how that all unfolds on Saturday Night. And
1:42
Speaker 3: there's plenty of young players that I'm definitely keying in on,
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Speaker 3: and there's roster spots that are up for grabs at
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Speaker 3: the moment.
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Speaker 1: I think one of the positions people are going to
1:51
Speaker 1: be very curious about is going to be the offensive line, Andrew,
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Speaker 1: especially in light of Lane Johnson's announcement that's probably going
1:58
Speaker 1: to be his final year year, this is going to
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Speaker 1: be prime real estate starting this weekend, Andrew, to see
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Speaker 1: what do the young guys you might be in line
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Speaker 1: at tackle, What are they going to do?
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Speaker 2: How are they going to step up?
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Speaker 3: Well, I assume you're talking about Mark L Bell being
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Speaker 3: the young tackle, and he's had a nice training camp.
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Speaker 3: He's gotten reps with the first team when Lane Johnson
2:23
Speaker 3: was absent, and he's gotten quality work with the second
2:26
Speaker 3: team as well. And I think he's progressing a little
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Speaker 3: bit faster than maybe some anticipated. You can see that
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Speaker 3: he has the power and the size. We'll see where
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Speaker 3: the footwork and the coordinations starts to come in. That's
2:38
Speaker 3: all part of the development. But everything that I've seen
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Speaker 3: from him right now has been encouraging, and it's kind
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Speaker 3: of interesting when you think of what that could mean
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Speaker 3: between him and Fred Johnson. I still believe that Fred
2:50
Speaker 3: Johnson would be the first man up. He's an experienced
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Speaker 3: player who's allowed a ton of snaps for the Eagles
2:54
Speaker 3: in recent years. And it's good to have someone like
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Speaker 3: Markel Bell who's a developmental pro who seems to be
3:00
Speaker 3: a little bit ahead of schedule. And that's somebody that
3:03
Speaker 3: I'll be keeping an eye on. And then you also
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Speaker 3: have Drew Kendall, the Eagles second year offensive lineman. He's
3:08
Speaker 3: a center by trade. He's been cross training at guard.
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Speaker 3: Really smart player, and he added some weight to his size.
3:14
Speaker 3: He's about three zero five right now. He said that
3:17
Speaker 3: when when we were speaking to him last weekend, and
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Speaker 3: I think that his role you may not think of him.
3:24
Speaker 3: He's probably not front of mine right now, but it
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Speaker 3: is going to be hugely critical to the Philadelphia Eagles
3:29
Speaker 3: on game day because he will be the top tierier
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Speaker 3: backup the role that Brett tolfilled last year, where he
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Speaker 3: can play both guard spots and center. And he's had
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Speaker 3: a really nice training camp. He's taking a big step forward.
3:39
Speaker 3: Of course, there's Rolly Lampkin, who everyone is looking to
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Speaker 3: get some eyes on. He's had a nice training camp.
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Speaker 3: They've been cross training him at guard another center. By trade.
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Speaker 3: Five foot eleven, two hundred and ninety pounds might be
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Speaker 3: a little generous, but I think when you see the
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Speaker 3: way he moves and the power and his anchor ability
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Speaker 3: and just his overall place strength with just the powerful
4:02
Speaker 3: base that he has, I think Eagles fans are really
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Speaker 3: going to fall in love with him. And then there's
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Speaker 3: other players like my sleeper Johanna Jukuo, who I've been
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Speaker 3: on since the spring, having seen him cross train at
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Speaker 3: guard and play some tackle. He was repping at left
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Speaker 3: guard today. That was the first time this summer, I
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Speaker 3: saw him play any guard, and so to me, that
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Speaker 3: suggests that the Eagles might be trying to expand his
4:24
Speaker 3: talent a little bit and give him a realistic chance
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Speaker 3: of making the team. So he's somebody else that I
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Speaker 3: have highlighted if.
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Speaker 1: We get back up for a MEE, because I do
4:33
Speaker 1: want to get to in Joquo as well.
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Speaker 2: You know, you mentioned about Mark djoku k.
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Speaker 1: When you talk about Bell, talk to me for a
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Speaker 1: minute about what is realistic expectations for him, because Lane
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Speaker 1: Johnson spoke very highly about him on Saturday when he
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Speaker 1: met with the media. You know, So how do we
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Speaker 1: balance between what some of the hype is about Bell
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Speaker 1: and what are realistic expectations for the fans.
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Speaker 3: Well, I'm glad you mentioned that because it's important not
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Speaker 3: to get carried away. I understand that when you see
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Speaker 3: the glimpses and you read our notes and things like
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Speaker 3: that from training camp, it's going to conjure a lot
5:10
Speaker 3: of intrigue. But it's also important to keep everything in
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Speaker 3: a perspective. Here, he's never played an NFL snap, and
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Speaker 3: you have someone in front of him, in the case
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Speaker 3: of Fred Johnson, who has played a lot of football
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Speaker 3: but I think right now you have to be encouraged
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Speaker 3: with the fact that he's ahead of schedule and that's
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Speaker 3: evidenced by the reps that he's getting and how he's
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Speaker 3: performed in practice, and if all goes well, he's not
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Speaker 3: going to see the field at all this season because
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Speaker 3: that means that Jordan Malatta and Lane Johnson are healthy.
5:36
Speaker 1: Talk with Andrew de Checko Inside the Birds podcasts Inside
5:40
Speaker 1: the Birds dot Com for all.
5:42
Speaker 2: Of his Eagles coverage.
5:43
Speaker 1: Of course, you can also check out everything he does
5:47
Speaker 1: online at Andrew to Checko NFL on the X platform
5:51
Speaker 1: you mentioned about I want to ask you Janojoku because
5:55
Speaker 1: this is the guy you mentioned. You've been talking about
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Speaker 1: him for months now. He is a big athletic, but
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Speaker 1: he's also older for a guy at this point in
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Speaker 1: his career.
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Speaker 2: I believe he's what twenty seven years old, So you know.
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Speaker 3: Twenty seven years old. You do DFA at Boise State
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Speaker 3: in twenty twenty three.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, So talk about what you've seen from him, and
6:15
Speaker 1: because you mentioned they're putting him out left guard, he's
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Speaker 1: basically almost up and down the entire line at this point.
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Speaker 3: This offseason, well, he's mostly been a tackle in training camp,
6:25
Speaker 3: specifically a right tackle, but that's what he was with
6:28
Speaker 3: the Tennessee Titans, by the way. But what I've seen
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Speaker 3: from him is someone who has some polish to his game.
6:33
Speaker 3: He seems to be a little bit technically refined. And
6:36
Speaker 3: I think when you look at the Eagles' depth right
6:38
Speaker 3: now along the offensive line, there's a lot of youth
6:40
Speaker 3: there right aside from Fred Johnson, a lot of inexperienced.
6:43
Speaker 3: John Ajuco has played in sixteen games, he started nine,
6:48
Speaker 3: and I think that maybe that experience might intrigue the
6:52
Speaker 3: Eagles a little bit. And I think he sort of
6:54
Speaker 3: made the most of his opportunities largely, and he's caught
6:57
Speaker 3: my eye a little bit in one on ones again,
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Speaker 3: this sort of a sleeper and under the radar type
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Speaker 3: of player. I'm not saying he's a slam dunk to
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Speaker 3: make the roster by any stretch, but I think what
7:06
Speaker 3: their actions are telling you is that they want to
7:08
Speaker 3: get a longer look at this guy. And I've been
7:11
Speaker 3: intrigued with what I've seen thus far.
7:14
Speaker 1: Staying on the offensive side the ball, another guy that's
7:17
Speaker 1: guy in people's attention, Andrew and want to get your
7:19
Speaker 1: perspective on is Darius Cooper talk about what he has
7:24
Speaker 1: looked like to you at training camp and what his
7:28
Speaker 1: role might be in getting time and action not just
7:31
Speaker 1: in the preseason, but potentially in the regular season.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, Darius Cooper has been one of the training camp
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Speaker 3: standouts for the second year running, and he is absolutely legitimate.
7:42
Speaker 3: For anyone out there wondering if that was just a
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Speaker 3: blip on the radar last summer, No, Darius Cooper is
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Speaker 3: absolutely an NFL player and what you are hearing and
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Speaker 3: reading totally legitimate. He just shows up every day and
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Speaker 3: makes a play, strong hands, really he attacks the football.
7:59
Speaker 3: He makes a play every day. And I think his
8:02
Speaker 3: willingness to do whatever the Eagles ask of him, and
8:04
Speaker 3: his ability to do whatever the Eagles ask of him,
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Speaker 3: whether that's standing back there and returning a kick, winding
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Speaker 3: up at gunner, running down the field on kickoff, blocking
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Speaker 3: on the perimeter, and doing the grimy work, He's willing
8:15
Speaker 3: to do it. And when you talk about to Harrius Cooper,
8:17
Speaker 3: you have to talk about someone who is remarkably mature
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Speaker 3: for being a second year player. And I think his mindset,
8:25
Speaker 3: the consistency and the professionalism that he conducts himself with
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Speaker 3: is something that to me suggests that he is going
8:31
Speaker 3: to have a long career. Now, it's also important to
8:35
Speaker 3: we talk about Mark Abell keep things into perspective here
8:37
Speaker 3: because John Dotson, for example, was the third receiver last year,
8:41
Speaker 3: didn't factor all that much into the offensive mix. And
8:45
Speaker 3: with this offense, which is largely going to be predicated
8:48
Speaker 3: on spreading the football round and you already know that
8:50
Speaker 3: it goes through Devonte Smith, Dallas Goddard, Sae Kwon Barkley,
8:54
Speaker 3: Dontavian Wicks, There's a lot of other players in the
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Speaker 3: line there ahead of them that are going to probably
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Speaker 3: see more targets.
9:01
Speaker 1: Now.
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Speaker 3: Do I think Darius Cooper could step in there and
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Speaker 3: be an effective number three for the Eagles. I do,
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Speaker 3: because I absolutely believe in the player in his skill set.
9:09
Speaker 3: But in terms of numbers or targets or all that,
9:13
Speaker 3: I think we kind of just have to let things
9:14
Speaker 3: play out a little bit and let things run its course.
9:18
Speaker 1: Nick Sierry Eye, when he spoke to the media earlier today,
9:20
Speaker 1: would not give away who the official starting quarterback would
9:24
Speaker 1: be for Saturday. Who does Andrew de check Go think
9:28
Speaker 1: is going to get the majority of the reps on Saturday, the.
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Speaker 3: Majority of the reps, I would say probably Tanner McKee.
9:36
Speaker 3: I would imagine that Andy Dalton would start the game.
9:38
Speaker 3: That's just my gut feeling. They've alternated the quarterbacks all summer,
9:42
Speaker 3: but I think in this situation, and again this is
9:45
Speaker 3: just me guessing, maybe that they would sort of give
9:50
Speaker 3: the veteran the nod there to start the game. But
9:53
Speaker 3: I expect both players to see a ton of work,
9:55
Speaker 3: and also rookie Cole Payton, who's likely going to see
9:57
Speaker 3: a lot of time in the second half. And I
9:59
Speaker 3: got to tell you, Josh and the listeners to make
10:03
Speaker 3: sure that you tune in for the third and fourth
10:05
Speaker 3: quarter because he has a live arm. He's fearless with
10:08
Speaker 3: the football and he will push it down the field. Now,
10:11
Speaker 3: sometimes that may end up in the arms of another team,
10:14
Speaker 3: but I think that the fact that you see a
10:16
Speaker 3: willingness and a fearlessness from a quarterback, a young quarterback,
10:20
Speaker 3: you don't often see that. You see a lot a
10:22
Speaker 3: lot more of a reserved nature from that position. But
10:26
Speaker 3: he's not like that, and so I think he's going
10:28
Speaker 3: to be firing away on Saturday.
10:30
Speaker 1: I was gonna say, is he a little bit fearless
10:31
Speaker 1: with his body too. From what I saw in North
10:33
Speaker 1: Dakota State, he was he was not afraid to take.
10:35
Speaker 3: Contact absolutely, and I think you're going to see him
10:40
Speaker 3: run the football a little bit, maybe maybe have a
10:43
Speaker 3: highlight reel type of play where he lowers his shoulder.
10:45
Speaker 3: He's just a really tough player. I like his tape
10:48
Speaker 3: of North Dakota State. Understand that he's a work in progress,
10:52
Speaker 3: especially in terms of mechanics, but you can see that
10:55
Speaker 3: the Eagles clearly have something to work with, and I
10:58
Speaker 3: am curious now to see what he does again against
11:00
Speaker 3: another team where you're actually, you know, you actually have
11:04
Speaker 3: to put a little bit of there's a little bit
11:06
Speaker 3: there's not scheme put into it, but there's a little
11:09
Speaker 3: bit more thought put into the game plan a couple.
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Speaker 1: More frame before we let him go flip over to
11:13
Speaker 1: the defense. Who is somebody on defense that you are
11:17
Speaker 1: keeping a close eye on that maybe the fans out
11:20
Speaker 1: there might not know about, but they need to know
11:23
Speaker 1: about Andrew.
11:26
Speaker 3: Well, I love this question. Why don't we do it
11:28
Speaker 3: one on all three levels? Okay, so the first level,
11:31
Speaker 3: the first level, I'm going to say Byron Young and
11:34
Speaker 3: Byron Young is to me one of the more underrated Eagles.
11:37
Speaker 3: I think that a case can be made that he
11:39
Speaker 3: is one of the most important depth pieces on the roster.
11:42
Speaker 3: He's quietly had a good summer. He's slimmed down a
11:44
Speaker 3: little bit, He's refined his pass rush and you could
11:47
Speaker 3: see the juice that he's bringing makes the most of
11:50
Speaker 3: his opportunities. And I think that as a player who's
11:53
Speaker 3: entering the final year of his rookie deal, you're going
11:55
Speaker 3: to see a motivated player. Certainly when you see two
11:59
Speaker 3: players in your room get well compensated and Moro Jomo
12:02
Speaker 3: is next in line, I think Byron Young is a
12:04
Speaker 3: player to keep an eye on. When you get to
12:07
Speaker 3: We'll say I'll do edge rusher and then I'll do
12:10
Speaker 3: linebacker in the secondary. But edge rusher, I'm going to
12:13
Speaker 3: tell you. Ajpanessa is a player that has caught my
12:16
Speaker 3: eye quite a bit in training camp. He's a veteran,
12:18
Speaker 3: he's played a number of games, and I think he's
12:21
Speaker 3: sort of taken quietly. He's taken well to this defense.
12:24
Speaker 3: He's being asked to do some different things that he
12:26
Speaker 3: hasn't had to do in his career, dropping into coverage
12:28
Speaker 3: and he plays with an edge. I like Ajpanessa linebacker
12:32
Speaker 3: is going to be Chance Campbell. I've been talking about
12:34
Speaker 3: him since really last season, and this is a player
12:38
Speaker 3: that teammates have spoken highly about. He was an effective
12:42
Speaker 3: player on the scout team. I highlighted him in the spring.
12:45
Speaker 3: He's an instinctive player. He has a relationship with linebacker's coach,
12:49
Speaker 3: Bobby King that predates their time in Philadelphia, going back
12:53
Speaker 3: to their time with the Tennessee Titans. And I think
12:55
Speaker 3: he's going to be one of those guys that really
12:56
Speaker 3: shines on special teams. And for a player like that,
13:00
Speaker 3: you have to be able to latch on somewhere, and
13:03
Speaker 3: that would be special teams and I think that that's
13:05
Speaker 3: really going to be in his wheelhouse. And then in
13:07
Speaker 3: the secondary, there's a couple of players. I'll say Mac McWilliams,
13:12
Speaker 3: the Eagles second year cornerback. While he played in five
13:14
Speaker 3: games last year, he offers inside outside versatility, smart player,
13:18
Speaker 3: He's playing with more confidence this year. He added some
13:21
Speaker 3: more muscle to his frame, and I think he's someone
13:25
Speaker 3: who has maximized the opportunities. He stepped in for Quinnon
13:28
Speaker 3: Mitchell today at outside corner, and that's a player that
13:31
Speaker 3: I think is an arrow up player going into year two.
13:34
Speaker 3: And then with the safety position, I would say Kapina Gushikin.
13:38
Speaker 3: He's an undrafted free agent, had an old miss. He's
13:40
Speaker 3: been working in with the second team a little bit.
13:42
Speaker 3: And the other safety would be Andre sam who's entering
13:45
Speaker 3: his third year with the Eagles. He clearly has a
13:50
Speaker 3: firm grasp on his assignments. He always seems to be
13:53
Speaker 3: in the right place at the right time, and there
13:56
Speaker 3: seems to be some trust there with him, and that's
13:59
Speaker 3: someone who is very consistent. He's been exclusively operating with
14:03
Speaker 3: the second team.
14:05
Speaker 2: Great stuff here from Andrew to Checko.
14:06
Speaker 1: Of course, check out all of his work at insidethe
14:10
Speaker 1: birds dot com. He joins us every Thursday here on
14:14
Speaker 1: the sports Bash and follow him on the X platform
14:17
Speaker 1: at Andrew the Checko for all of your Eagles in
14:21
Speaker 1: NFL coverage of course again Eagles Ravens. This Saturday, you
14:26
Speaker 1: hear the game, Merril Racil, Mike Quick calling, all the
14:28
Speaker 1: action right here all ninety seven to three.
14:31
Speaker 2: Andrew, great stuff. Enjoy the game this weekend.
14:35
Speaker 3: You got it, Josh, you too,