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The DiCecco Daily/Positional Preview: Can Zack Baun, Eagles LBs Repeat 2024's Success? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Hey, what's happened? Everybody?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Welcome into did Checko Daily. I am Andrew di Checko.
• 0:14
  Hope you're enjoying our position preview series on the Inside
• 0:18
  the Birds Platform. On Monday, we took a look at
• 0:22
  the defensive tackles. Yesterday Tuesday we took a look at
• 0:26
  the edge rusher group. Today we're gonna look at the
• 0:29
  linebacker situation, because this is a group that is drastically
• 0:34
  improved over compared to recent years. But will it be
• 0:39
  able to equal the production of last year? Well that
• 0:42
  remains to be determined. But let's start to break this
• 0:45
  all down, because I looked at someone like Zach Bond,
• 0:50
  who was in All Pro last season, a Pro bowler,
• 0:54
  just completely transformed that linebacker group, and I don't know
• 0:59
  that anyone could have seen it coming. If you think
• 1:01
  back to last spring when Vic Fangio was running through
• 1:05
  the names of his linebackers and he reached into his
• 1:08
  back pocket for the names and then he said Zach Bond. First, obviously,
• 1:13
  we raised some eyebrows, but then he goes onto the
• 1:16
  field and he proves it right. This is a player
• 1:19
  who was a situational edge rusher with the Saints and
• 1:23
  presumably that's probably what he.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Thought he was getting into.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: He was going to be an edge rusher and have
• 1:28
  that opportunity to carve out a role with the Eagles. Well,
• 1:31
  Vic Fangio saw in him the ability to be an
• 1:34
  off ball linebacker in his defense, and to be a
• 1:38
  player of that caliber, you have to be instinctual, you
• 1:42
  have to be smart, and you have to be physical
• 1:46
  and tough.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: Zach Bond embodies all of those qualities.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: And what we saw last season was a player who
• 1:53
  got continuously better as the season wore on. He's tapping
• 1:57
  into a lot of the skill set that he wasn't
• 2:00
  necessarily able to showcase in New Orleans because he didn't
• 2:03
  play much. He was more of a special teams demon.
• 2:07
  But then he gets to Philadelphia and you see those qualities,
• 2:10
  his ability to read and diagnose, make plays behind the
• 2:14
  line of scrimmage. He even got his hand on some footballs.
• 2:18
  I can't say enough good things about Zach Bond. The
• 2:20
  Eagles rewarded him handsomely for his production, giving him a
• 2:25
  three year, fifty one million dollar deal. This is a
• 2:28
  player who signed a one year prove it deal last
• 2:32
  spring in free agency, and he pretty much bet on
• 2:37
  himself and he maximized his opportunity. He's now one of
• 2:40
  the best off ball linebackers in the NFL and there's
• 2:44
  really no disputing that.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Now, can he replicate that production?
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: Sure, I don't know if he will be able to
• 2:50
  exceed it because he was pretty damn good last year,
• 2:53
  and there's questions beyond Zach Bond. Zach Bond has quickly
• 2:59
  become a centiece for this defense, but what about the
• 3:02
  players beyond Zach Bond. The Kobe Dean, the heartbeat of
• 3:09
  the Eagles defense last season. The mentality, the toughness, the
• 3:13
  tone setting mindset that he brought to the table should
• 3:16
  not be discounted. Unfortunately, for na Kobe Dean, he suffered
• 3:19
  a torn pateeller tendon against the Packers in the postseason,
• 3:23
  and that is a lengthy timeline. So it's uncertain to
• 3:27
  this point whether or not he's going to be available
• 3:30
  in the immediate future. We don't know, but Vic Vangio,
• 3:34
  when he spoke in the spring, said that he won't
• 3:36
  be back for a while. So if you're operating under
• 3:39
  the assumption that the Kobe may end up on the
• 3:44
  active pup list to start the season, that's a big
• 3:47
  loss for.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: The Eagles, and.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: I can't emphasize enough about what he means to the team.
• 3:55
  He will be invested, he'll be around, he'll be involved.
• 3:58
  But to get him on the field and the way
• 4:01
  that he's able to kind of he's a green dot
• 4:03
  wear and the way that he's able to kind of
• 4:05
  be that glue on defense is highly critical to their
• 4:11
  overall functionality. So we're gonna move the Kobe dien aside
• 4:16
  for now, and he's not going to necessarily be in
• 4:18
  the immediate equation.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: We'll have to wait and see when he is available.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: To return back to the Eagles and be on the
• 4:24
  field and getting those live reps. But that is a
• 4:28
  gruesome injury, and the timetable is often pretty lengthy. But
• 4:33
  let's look at jahat Campbell, the Eagles rookie linebacker from Alabama.
• 4:37
  They took him in the first round and he, according
• 4:41
  to Vicvangel, will be on the practice field sometime in August. Remember,
• 4:44
  he had shoulder surgery and they're certainly not going to
• 4:47
  rush him back now. He was on the field going
• 4:51
  through some linebacker drills when we last saw the Eagles
• 4:54
  during mandatory mini camp. Before that, during one of the
• 4:57
  media tended Ota sessions, I spotted him.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: We all spotted him on the.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Field working with Fick Fangio getting those mental reps and VIC.
• 5:04
  To his credit, he's doing everything that he can to
• 5:07
  ensure that when Johan Campbell is ready to go, there's
• 5:12
  not that there's growing pains or the acclamation period.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: Now he's able to hit the ground running.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: As I like to say, he has all the qualities
• 5:20
  that you look for at that position. I view him
• 5:22
  as the modern day NFL linebacker. He has sideline to
• 5:26
  sideline range, he processes things pretty quickly, and he has
• 5:30
  the ability to cover running backs out of the backfield
• 5:33
  and tight ends. So this is going to be a
• 5:36
  pick that I think is going to make an impact early.
• 5:39
  The question now becomes whether or not he's going to
• 5:42
  be a factor in a measurable way. And what I
• 5:46
  mean by that is how many snaps are realistic? If
• 5:51
  he's quote unquote available sometime in August, what can you
• 5:54
  expect Thursday night, Week one?
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: Is he going to be a starter that's going.
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: To assume the snapshare or are the Eagles going to
• 6:03
  have to turn to another player? But I think Jahi
• 6:06
  Campbell has a extremely bright future pairing that kind of
• 6:10
  athleticism next to Zach Bond for the foreseeable future. That
• 6:15
  is an a playmaking, instinctual athletics second level of the
• 6:20
  Eagles defense. And the player who may have something to
• 6:25
  say about that beyond that who may have to step
• 6:28
  in would be Jeremiah Trotter, Junior, the Eagles second year linebacker,
• 6:33
  and he played one hundred and four snaps last season,
• 6:35
  was mostly relegated to special teams, but the Eagles are
• 6:39
  pleased with his progress. Vic Fangio offered him a ringing
• 6:42
  endorsement leading into the postseason when, or I should say
• 6:47
  after the first postseason game, when it was either going
• 6:50
  to be Trotter or Oran Berks or a combination of
• 6:52
  the two. The veteran orin Berks left no reason for
• 6:56
  the Eagles to kind of supplement or platoon the two players,
• 7:00
  but vic Fango would have felt comfortable if they had
• 7:03
  to turn to Trotter if for some reason, Burke's wasn't
• 7:05
  up for the challenge. So that speaks volumes as to
• 7:08
  where he's at in terms of his development. He doesn't
• 7:11
  have the size that you look for at that position,
• 7:13
  but you need to talk about football intellect, you talk
• 7:16
  about instincts and the ability to run to the ball,
• 7:22
  flow to the football. He plays with really good fundamentals.
• 7:26
  I often talked to him last season and he mentioned
• 7:28
  how Bobby King, the Eagles linebacker coach, preached block destruction
• 7:33
  and playing with violence and all of those qualities. And
• 7:36
  that's something that Trotter Junior, for being a smaller player,
• 7:39
  really prioritized mastering block destruction. So I'm curious to see
• 7:45
  how Trotter Junior handles his expanded workload this summer.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: That's going to be critical for his development.
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: And like I said, the Eagles are pleased with his progress,
• 7:56
  so that should give you comfort or you should be
• 7:59
  able to take solace in the fact that he could
• 8:00
  step in. And when you play alongside someone like Zach Bond,
• 8:05
  I mean, I think you're you're able to kind of
• 8:08
  get by with Trotter Junior until maybe a Campbell's ready
• 8:12
  to take on the full snap share. Maybe Nikobe Dean
• 8:15
  factors into the equation. So I'm expecting good things from
• 8:19
  Trotter Junior in year two, but they are you know,
• 8:24
  if you're at presently taking Campbell and Dean out of
• 8:28
  the equation for the in the immediate future. The Eagles
• 8:32
  are really light there in terms of linebacker depth. Now,
• 8:35
  I don't want to forget Smile Monden Junior, the Eagles
• 8:37
  rookie linebacker from Georgia who they drafted in the fifth round.
• 8:41
  Six twenty four pounds, athletic, played a lot of football.
• 8:45
  He's a three year starter for the Bulldogs, even play
• 8:48
  some special teams. Now. I view Mondan as one of
• 8:52
  the key special teams contributors for the Eagles this season,
• 8:56
  though he may have to contribute situationally early on at
• 9:00
  linebacker just to handle some reps. He's going to get
• 9:02
  a lot of work in training camp, and I think
• 9:04
  you like the collegiate experience at such a high level
• 9:06
  at a prestigious program. He's with a lot of his
• 9:09
  former teammates that I think are going to bring him along.
• 9:11
  I think the Kobe Dean is going to be instrumental
• 9:15
  in Mandan's development. So that's a player to keep an
• 9:19
  eye on. And I think the Eagles are going to
• 9:21
  be really They're going to get early returns, whether it
• 9:24
  be on special teams or being able to contribute situationally
• 9:28
  from Mandan. But I like that he's a polished player.
• 9:33
  He is a little bit undersized, but really that is
• 9:36
  the landscape of the position. You look for athletic players
• 9:40
  who can move and do a lot of different things
• 9:42
  to give you optionality, and again.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: A smart player.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: So we talk about all of these qualities and you're
• 9:48
  starting to notice a common theme here.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Instincts, football intelligence.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Those are attributes that Vick Fangio typically looks for at
• 9:59
  his linebackers. If you look across the different teams that
• 10:02
  he's overseen, Navarro Bowman, Patrick Willis, you look at the
• 10:07
  Ravens linebacker group, the Bears, so they all embody those
• 10:12
  same characteristics. So I think that all the Eagles linebackers
• 10:16
  that I just mentioned that really tracks and so I
• 10:20
  think Mondon Jr.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Has a really bright future.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: I don't know if they're going to expedite that process
• 10:25
  where he's going to be a defensive factor early or not.
• 10:28
  We're gonna have to wait and see how that goes.
• 10:30
  But that's a player that I loved when the Eagles
• 10:32
  drafted him. I like the fit, I like this scheme
• 10:35
  that he's now finding himself in, and Bobby King has
• 10:39
  done a tremendous job in developing linebackers.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: You look at what he's done for Zach Bonn.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Nikobe Dean took a huge step forward trotter junior all
• 10:48
  season long, grasped the system, he became more proficient in
• 10:52
  block destruction, So you look at that. Orrin Burke stepping
• 10:55
  in last season is another example of Bobby King and
• 10:58
  what he's able to do in refining skill sets and
• 11:02
  harping on certain qualities that he's looking for and putting
• 11:06
  players in position to be successful. There's also Dallas Gant
• 11:11
  who was on the Eagles practice squad last year for
• 11:13
  most of the season.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: He went to Toledo.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: He was an undrafted free agent signing at the Vikings
• 11:18
  last year, and that's a player who played in a game,
• 11:22
  it was elevated for a game, and has a little
• 11:25
  bit of experience. Obviously, having that familiarity with this coaching
• 11:28
  staff with Vic Fangio and linebackers coach Bobby King should
• 11:32
  serve him well. But he's going to have to battle
• 11:35
  to make the team because I don't know how heavy
• 11:38
  the Eagles are going to go there even in light
• 11:40
  of those injuries. But Dallas Gant is a player to
• 11:42
  keep an eye on this summer, he's going to get
• 11:44
  an expanded look because of the lack of numbers at
• 11:48
  that position. There's also Lance Dixon, who was a rookie
• 11:53
  free agent signing of it went to Toledo. So you're
• 11:57
  noticing a common theme here with Quinnyama of course as well.
• 12:01
  But Lance Dixon is sixty two to two hundred and
• 12:06
  thirty three pounds.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: I like his athletic profile.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: He was a productive player at Toledo and a rookie
• 12:15
  for agent signing that had he not joined the Eagles,
• 12:17
  who have a crowded house there at that position and
• 12:21
  players that are already sort of entrenched in certain roles.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: You he might have had a better opportunity.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: But opportunities as they are are going to be very
• 12:29
  limited for Lance Dixon in training camp, and he's going
• 12:32
  to have to fully maximize it. I think he's likely
• 12:35
  vying for a spot on the practice squad, but he's
• 12:38
  somebody that when you look at the athleticism and things
• 12:42
  like that, I can't wait to see what he's able
• 12:44
  to do.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Especially in the preseason.
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: Practice reps are going to be at a premium as
• 12:49
  they are for a lot of players in his position
• 12:51
  wherever they stand in the pecking order, but I think
• 12:54
  that Lance Dixon is somebody that will probably flash a
• 12:57
  little bit in the preseason and state his case to
• 13:00
  on the Eagles, probably in the practice in a practice
• 13:02
  squad capacity.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: But there you have it.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: That is the Eagles linebacking situation right now. There's a
• 13:07
  lot of reason for optimism, and you don't want to
• 13:10
  necessarily look too too deep into those injuries because as
• 13:15
  we mentioned, Campbell should be on the practice fields sometime
• 13:18
  in August.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Dean, We're gonna have to wait and see.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: I don't want to put a timetable or anything like that,
• 13:22
  that wouldn't be right. But when they're all healthy, that's
• 13:26
  a pretty good group. You factor in Trotter Junior and
• 13:29
  Mondon junior and you have something there that the Eagles
• 13:32
  can look to build moving forward. That's gonna do it
• 13:35
  for this edition of the Czech Odaily. That is the
• 13:38
  linebacker group. Tomorrow, we're gonna take a look at the
• 13:41
  safety situation and there's some names there that I find
• 13:45
  to be pretty intriguing.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: But that's gonna do it for this edition.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: I will talk to everybody tomorrow, have a great, pleasant
• 13:50
  evening and