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The DiCecco Daily: Outlook For A WR Group Led By DeVonta Smith · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: What's happened? Everyone? Welcome into another episode of the check
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Odaii Andrew de Checko Eagles beat reporter inside the Birds
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: dot Com. We're gonna continue on with the positional preview
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: series where I go through each player and each position
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: room and I outline their twenty twenty six overview and
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: kind of go from there. We've done quarterbacks and running
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: backs already today will be wide receiver, and we'll just
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: get this right out of the way. AJ Brown is
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: not expected to be a Photelphi Eagle at this time,
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and so therefore you operating under that assumption. We move
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: on with the rest of the room. But needless to say,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: if he were to be a Philadelphi Eagle, one of
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: the best Eagles wide receivers in team history. But the
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: player expected to inherit that top role in twenty twenty
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: six will be Devonte Smith and Davante, I believe in
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: this offense is primed to undergo the most productive season
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: of his career because he'll be moved around. I'm expecting
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: the route concepts to be a little bit more advanced
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: to help with spacing and take advantage of DeVante's ability
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to really separate at the top of his routes and
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: make up some of those yards after the catch. And
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: this is someone who is a really, really proficient route runner,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: knows how to gain leverage on corners, strong hands, and
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: has a lot of a lot of history and trust
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: and rapport with Jayalen Hurt So Davante Smith I believe
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: is poised and positioned for his best season. Then moving on,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: we'll look at Dantavian Wicks, who the Eagles acquired in
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: a trade with the Green Bay Packers before the draft.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Six foot one, two hundred and six pounds. Not a
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: he's more of an underneath receiver and he's got to
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: be more consistent catching the football, but a really good separator.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: You're noticing a common theme here, and I think Howie
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Roseman put this well when he spoke about him, that
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: it was evident that whether it was Jordan Love or
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Malik Willis, those Green Bay quarterbacks had a lot of
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: trust and confidence in getting the football to Wis and
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: critical moments. He gives the Eagles a little bit of
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: a bigger body there will attack the catch point. As
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: I mentioned, too many drops last year that he'll have
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: to clean that up. But I like him as an
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: ex receiver for this team and the Eagles trading for him,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Remember he was lost in the shuffle A little bit
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: in Green Bay suggests that Ryan Mahaffey, who was the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: Packers wide receivers coach last season, and Sean Mannion maybe
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: saw a little bit more in him than he was
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: really able to showcase in Green Bay. So that's down
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Tavian Wicks, and a breakout season isn't only nine receptions
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: for thirteen hundred yards or whatever. A breakout season for
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Don Tavian Wicks, if you look at his history, would
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: be forty catches, forty five grabs and whatever you want
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: to list a touchdown total at. But it's all relative
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: based off of your previous production, and I think that's
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: important to keep in mind. Then you have Makai Lemon,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: the Eagles first round pickut who they took twentieth overall.
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: I believe that when the dust settles, will be the
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: number two receiver. He offers inside outside versatility, smooth operator
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: as a route runner, really advanced in that area. I
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: talked about his ability to win on those inbreakers, maybe
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: some fade routes out of the slot, really good short
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: area of quickness, he's quicker than he is fast, but
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: he can really separate much like the other two players
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: that I mentioned, and thrive over the middle of the field.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: And he's also very effective after the catch. That's where
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: you really see his physic couse and determination takeover. Not
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the biggest guy in the world at five eleven one
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: ninety two, but a player that is essential to what
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: we're expecting a Shawn made an offense to look like,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: you have to have that prototypical slot receiver who could
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: move the chains, keep the offense on schedule, and be
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: a security blanket of sorts for Jalen Hurts. Now we
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: get into the two to one year deal free agent
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: wide receivers and a couple of veterans in Hollywood Brown
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: and Hollywood Brown. Actually, Hollywood Brown may have signed a
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: two year duo. I have to check on that. Everything
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: sort of runs together in the offseason. But Hollywood Brown
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: nevertheless is a player that regardless of whether he was
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: with the Ravens, the Chiefs, the Cardinals, he was a
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: productive player. Not necessarily used as the vertical threat that
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: we all expected when he was drafted. He offers blistering speed.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Not the biggest guy in the world sort of on
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: the diminutive side as far as wide receivers go. But
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: his skill set, which you want to say it would
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: lead you to believe that he can be a burner
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: down the field, but he hasn't really been utilized in
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: that fashion throughout his career. But Jalen Hurts is supreme
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: when it comes to throwing the deep ball. That's his
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: best throw. So a guy like Hollywood Brown could really
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: benefit from someone of that caliber who can get him
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: the football. I don't think he's going to be a
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: volume guy, but someone who offers a different dimension to
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: the offense, a good change of pace. Defenses have to hold,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: have to be accountable for where he is when he's
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: on the field, and I think will be a nice
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: little addition no pun intended to the Eagles wide receiving corps.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Elijah Moore was another player added in free agency. He
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: was a one year deal. He has a little bit
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: more of an uphill battle to make the team. He's
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: more of a short to intermediate type of wide receiver.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Slight build, He's bounced around a little bit. But I
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: liked him a lot coming out, and I thought when
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: he was with the Jets he was really going to
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: emerge as one of the that are inside receivers in
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: the league, but that never materialized, and he's in Philadelphia
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: with an opportunity. Although with as far back on the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: in the depth chart as he is, it's kind of
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: hard to envision him sort of snagging a roster spot
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: because he doesn't play special teams. And as I've mentioned
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: many times, if you are the fourth, fifth, sixth receiver,
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: you have to play special teams to warrant game day activation.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: Otherwise you will be not dressing because you're not going
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: to see any targets. You have to be able to
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: help in the third phase, and I'm not show so
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: sure that he can do the Hey, maybe he proves
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: that he can return some punts or something to that effect,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: but as of right now, I'm going off of his
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: history and he hasn't been a special teams performer. Brittain
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: Covey is a player who's bounced around a little bit.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: He's twenty nine years old already. He bounced to the
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: Rams after his two year stint with the Eagles. The
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Eagles bring him back on the practice squad, was there
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: for most of the season, elevated for or signed and
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: played in six games last year, caught up two catches
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: for twenty yards return to eleven punts. Look, he gives
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: you some kind of value in the sense that they
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: don't have another definitive option as a pump returner. But
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: he's already twenty nine. He doesn't necessarily, at least in theory,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: give you receiving upside. Could you perhaps get him onto
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: the practice squad and elevate him for a few weeks
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: while making a decision That would make some sense to me.
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: They waited last season to get him on the roster.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Remember they had Xavier Gibson who they involved early and
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: then before that Jehan Dotson. So they can possibly make
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: too but it's not necessarily something that you want to
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: toggle with too much because that can lead to disaster
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: in some circumstances. So Brittin Cubby's a player that he
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: does give you pump return value, but he's going to
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: have to beat out a number of different players in
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: order to call his way in a player like Darius Cooper.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: And Darius Cooper was a player last season that made
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: the team as an undrafted free agent, made a play
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: every single day. Approach training camp very business like it
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: wasn't overwhelmed by the opportunity, and I think that really
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: indicated a player who was deserving and ready for a
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: spot on the fifty three man roster for prime time.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: And it looked even later in the season that he
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: was taking more snaps than Johan Dotson. But Darius Cooper
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: is a tough kid, physical, gritty, willing to do the
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: dirty work. He can block a little bit. He was
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: in on the Eagles push play as one of the
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: blockers on the perimeter and just talking to him, and
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: you know, multiple times last season. He's a determined guy
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: who knows that you can't rest on your laurels. And
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: I believe that he's going to come back with even
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: more motivated building off of that rookie season. He's someone
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: who seemingly likes to strive for more and isn't content.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: And so I like Darius Cooper's chances very much of
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: sticking on the roster. He just has to continue to
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: build and keep that consistency moving forward and take those steps.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: But you can see that he has a role. Some
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: of these guys don't necessarily have a defined role. I
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: could see a world where Darius Cooper is a depth
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: receiver who can help you as a blocker, who can
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: help you on special teams. And they've worked with him
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: a year already. Aaron Morehead, the Eagles wide receivers coach,
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: has done a nice job with him after one season.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: And so that's Darius Cooper as he enters year two.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Johnny Wilson another receiver here, and Johnny Wilson is coming
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: off a knee ankle injury that sidelined him for the
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: entirety of the twenty twenty five season. It happened in
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: training camp, and he was a guy that came on
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: a little bit in training camp. I thought that he
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: really looked more natural as a receiver, more consistent, and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: he had a good connection with Jayalen Hurts. There were
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: times where it maybe didn't use his frame, to his
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: size to his advantage, I should say, And I think
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: the most notable example was when mac McWilliams was able
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: to rise up in the red zone and bat a
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: pass away, where Johnny should probably come down with that
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: every time given his six foot six plus frame. But
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: he does offer a lot of value as a blocker,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: someone who will free up teammates on offense. I believe
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: that his skill set was really really missing from that
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Eagles offense. It was something that doesn't really reflect on
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: the box score. But a player like that provides a
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: lot of value that goes beyond that, and he does
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: give you a unique frame for the position. If he
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: continues to prove that he's more refined now as a
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: pass catcher and more natural to him. I like his
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: chances of sticking on the fifty three as well. Oh
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: and by the way he helped on special teams. It
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: all comes back to that when you're sort of vying
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: for one of those final spots. Then you go a
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: little bit further down the roster and you have Danny Gray,
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: who was a third round pick of the forty nine
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: ers in twenty twenty two. Four to three three Speed
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: played in thirteen games in twenty twenty two, but battled injuries.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: He was on the Eagles practice squad in twenty twenty four,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: and then last year, after he recovered from the finger
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: injury that he suffered an Eagles training camp, he signed
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: to the practice squad and then signed a reserve futures deal.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: But I like Danny twenty seven years old, not much
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: tread on the tires at all. Just unfortunately for him,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of names and a lot of numbers
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: above him that being able to take on, you know,
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: a significant amount of reps in training camp is not
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: going to be very likely. They expect, they're expecting to
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: be few and far between. But last summer I was
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: especially bullish on him before he suffered the injury. And
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: this year you have to be realistic. There's really not
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity on the surface anyway for him
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: to really make a dent into this rotation and elbowho's
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: way in a roster consideration. But he's more for those wondering,
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: he's more of a slighter build, speed guy who really thrived.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: I wrote a story about him on Inside the Birds
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: dot com in twenty twenty four about his impact behind
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: the scenes on the practice field where he was a
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: menace just getting behind the Eagles starters and really creating
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: some tough practices for them, winning with his speed and
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: on those corner routes and posts and things like that.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: And then you have Ques Watkins and Quez Watkins. You know,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: he hasn't played a snap, a regular season snap since
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Then that was when he was with
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the Eagles. Played in forty nine career games, start at
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: twelve games for the Eagles in twenty twenty one. He's
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: known as a as a speed guy. His hands haven't
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: always been the most reliable, But there's something about Quees
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Watkins that the Eagles like. There's a reason why they
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: kept him around last year on the practice squad. They
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: signed him to a future's deal, and they want to
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: get another look at him in training camp. Now. Is
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: he a long shot? Absolutely, It's almost virtually impossible right
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: now for me to see a path for a Quest
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: to make the roster. But he does give you speed.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: He is someone that Nick Sirianni seems to like quite
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: a bit, and we'll see what he's able to do.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: All right, everybody, Just a quick break to remind you
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: if you haven't noticed, sun's coming out, it's getting warmer,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: especially where we are in the Northeast. That reminds you
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: that summer's right around the corner. And with late spring
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: and summer come a ton of activities. I know, for
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: me and I'm sure just like everybody else you know,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: my kids play softball. I'm at tournaments every weekend, and
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: then there's gonna be barbecues. And I actually turn fifty
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: the Big five OZO this year, along with many of
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: my friends. So I know there's gonna be a lot
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: of fiftieth birthday parties. And look, I know that at
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: these parties, I'm gonna have a few drinks. I'm gonna
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: want to have fun with my friends. And now that
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I'm fifty or going to be fifty, I know that
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  Speaker 1: This feels like, I hate to say that, for a
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: guy who's twenty eight years old, maybe twenty nine. For them,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: this to be their last opportunity, but he's bounced around
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: a little bit since the Eagles. He went to the
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Steelers and didn't play for them, and this will be
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: a big offseason for him again. Much like Danny Gray,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: there's not going to be a lot of opportunity for reps,
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: so it's hard to really envision either player factoring into
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: the roster equation at this time. Things can change. That's
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: what OTA's mandatory mini camp and training camp is. Forward's
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the whole evaluation process, which makes it my favorite event
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: on the NFL calendar. That's going to do it for
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: this episode of The Checho Daily, Andrew Decheco, We'll catch
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: you all on the next one.