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Football at Four: Updating Several Eagles Positional Battles and Situations · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Football or four powered by the Inside of the Birds
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  podcast and brought to you, as always by the Fanatic
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  Sportsbook at Ocean Consina Resort in Atlantic City. For more,
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  visit oceanac dot com. Andrew de Chicko is in the
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  house today as we continue along on the offseason. The
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  offseason will take a quick look at the NFC North,
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  one of the most powerful divisions in football. But we'll
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  get a couple of quick takes from Andrew on the
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  final day of Eagles training camp today. And Andrew, I
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  know you're a big training camp guy. The final day
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  of training camp, but the final day of training camp
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  brought some bad news. Johnny Wilson lost for the season.
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  Kind of impact you think. I know it sounds minimal,
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  but I think people thought he might have a little
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  bit bigger role this year.
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  Speaker 2: Hey, Mike, Yeah, it is a little bit more substantial
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  than some may be led to believe. I mean, Johnny
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  Wilson was going to be the four or five on
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  this roster in terms of the wide receiver depth, and
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  he provided more than blocking at least what he's shown
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  this training camp. What I've seen from him is the
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  natural growth and progression in a second year wide receiver,
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  didn't get off to the best started training camp, wasn't
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  playing to his size, But what I noticed within the
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  second half, he was building confidence and really starting to
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  become more comfortable using his size high pointing the football
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  and coming up with contested catches and developing a rapport
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  with the different quarterbacks. So I was really looking forward
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  to seeing what he was able to do. And it's
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  really a shame that this happened. And I watched that
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  happen right in front of me the other day, and
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  it was evident that he was in a lot of pain.
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  So a really tough break for Johnny Wilson.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and obviously they made the trade for Metchi. I'd
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  like to get your thoughts on him, but also Darius Cooper,
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  a guy that you wrote about and everybody seems to
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  be talking about. Does this open the door for and
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  Cooper both did not only make the team but possibly
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  have little roles on the team.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting because Mechi certainly isn't a lock, but
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  they Eagles didn't trade for acquire somebody this late in
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  the game to really just let him practice for a week,
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  and you're not really able to get an assessment This
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  is an opportunity for Howie Roseman to add another asset,
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  and he will do that in any position of need
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  if he sees fit, if he's going to better the roster,
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  and John Metchi gives Eagles some depth there and obviously
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  that's now needed. But yeah, Darius Cooper's had a really
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  good summer. He shows up every day, makes a play
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  every day. They're not all splash plays and they don't
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  have to be, but that's what got him onto the
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  radar of Nick Sirianni and then from there it was
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  just being consistent every day. He's proven that he belongs.
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  And I've seen a lot of training camp wide receivers
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  have really impactful summers and they're making highlight reel catches
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  and all that, but they don't always manifest into regular
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  season success or able to parlay that into long term success.
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  But Darius Cooper's different. He can absolutely play and he's
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  done everything that he can to earn a spot on
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  the roster.
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  Speaker 1: All right, before we take a look at these NFC
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  North teams, because that's a really good division. Anything that
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  you will be zoned in on, I know the last
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  preseason game was painful for you. Anything you will be
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  zoned in on in this last preseason game.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean the Eagles have a lot of players
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  who have a ton of talent. They put in a
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  significant amount of work, just like everybody else in the camp,
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  and if they don't make it with the Eagles, they'll
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  make it somewhere else. So I'm keeping an eye on
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  running back Montreal Johnson Junior, and he's had a nice summer.
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  Patient runner, good contact balance. I liked them coming out
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  of Florida, physical runner. I would also say tight end
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  Aj Jenkins, He's had some nice moments in camp, big
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  bodied pass catcher, the eagles second best blocker at the
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  tight end position in my opinion. I would also say
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  keep an eye on those backup offensive linemen because they
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  didn't fare particularly well in the preseason in the second
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  game against the Browns. So that's across the board. That's
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  Kendall Lamb who was signed to be the swing tackle.
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  That's Darren Kinnard who has had a nice summer, and
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  the Eagles really like Matt Pryor, who the Eagles are
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  going to be looking at is probably their sixth or
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  seventh at worst offensive lineman. So yeah, that's something that
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  I would look at and then of course the cornerback
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  battle that that's going to play out the rest of
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  that game, and the Eagles have a decision to make there,
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  and then safety. I would be surprised if Drew mccooba
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  and Sydney Brown played in this game. So you could
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  see a lot of Tristan McCollum and Andre Sam as
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  well as Max and Hook the undrafted rookie out of Toledo,
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  And really Tristan McCollum and Andre Sam could be battling
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  for the same position as that fourth safety and Corps
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  special teamer, So that's something to keep an eye on
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  as well.
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  Speaker 1: All right, of course, that game tomorrow right right here
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  on ninety seven to three ESPN's the final preseason game,
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  which means we're down to our two final divisions. This
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  one's the NFC North. This is a good one. This
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  is the Lions. Let's start with them real quick. There's
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  a Lions team, new coordinator on both sides of the ball,
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  new center. Does this change the outlook for you at
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  all of the line with all those changes.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's fair to say. You always have
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  to be mindful of that when you're looking at the
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  season and it's totality, they're probably going to get off
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  to a slower start. They have enough playmakers there to
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  put up a ton of points, but you have to
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  account for that acclamation process. The Eagles also had a
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  lot of weapons last season and a new offensive coordinator
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  in Kellen Moore, and that it's not as simple as
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  going out there and lining up and simply being better.
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  That you have to account for those initial growing pains.
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  So yeah, and the edge rushers for the Lions, I'm
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  not quite amount one hundred percent so on. There are
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  some deficiencies that they may have there on the defensive
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  side there. I don't expect them to be the dominant
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  force that they were last season.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you got Gibbs awesome. I know you like Gibbs
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  a lot coming out of the Giraffe last year. You
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  got Iman Ross, Saint Brown, Jamison Williams now for the
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  full season, Laporta at tight end. Still a very explosive
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  offense there. For the Lions, We'll just see how losing
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  their offensive coordinator factors in. And then they had so
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  many injuries on defense last year. Could they overcome those
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  defense Terry on Arnold was their first round pick a
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  year ago. We'll see how that secondary, because they had
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  big problems in the secondary last year. That was one
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  of their issues.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so they're gonna have to make sure that that's
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  short up. Obviously, Terry and Arnold's a player that I
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  also like coming out out of Alabama, not more than
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  Quinna Mitchell. Quinnyall was my top raded corner. But yeah,
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  I mean they have some issues desensively that I think
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  you're not quite able to mask it this year as
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  compared to last season.
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  Speaker 1: Green Bay we saw them in the playoffs. Obviously, it's
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  Love Jacobs who they signed last year. They drafted Matthew
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  Golden out of Texas. They got that wide receiving core
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  that everybody always talks about, like they don't have that
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  stud guy the last couple of years, but they just
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  had a bunch of guys. Is this Packers team finally
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  ready to take that next step?
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  Speaker 2: I think they can. That's the team I certainly wouldn't
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  sleep on. I'm you know, say what you will about
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  Jordan Love, but now he has He had a lot
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  of young wide receivers who I liked, including Jayden Reid
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  who was it's a top fifty pick and you know
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  Romeo Dobbs and all that. But now they've added Matthew Golden,
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  who I think is a player that can win over
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  the top and just threatened defense is a little bit
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  more uniquely than the players that they currently had. That
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  should help elevate Jordan Love's game, as should Josh Jacobs
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  as long as he can stay healthy. That's been the
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  big thing with him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, in their defense, obviously, we saw them twice last year.
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  Philadelphia saw them twice in the playoff game. You know,
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  the game in Brazil a lot different than the playoff
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  game that opening season to where they ended up. But
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  you know, this is a team on defense that really
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  doesn't have that standout guy. But you wonder is the
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  defense what kind of holds them back?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I mean they have Xavier McKinney, Edrin Cooper, Devonte
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  Wyatt kwy Walker. They have some players there that that
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  can make an impact, but they have a sore spot
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  at corner at one of their corners. I really like
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  Keyshawn Nixon, one of the best kick returners in the NFL.
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  It's not the best kick returner in the NFL. Pretty
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  good ball skills too. He's somebody that started out as
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  a special teamer and has climbed. But yeah, I mean
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  that they have some some areas that are going to
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  be a little bit leaky, but so do most teams.
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  I think offensively is where they're really going to make
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  this leap in twenty twenty five.
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  Speaker 1: We'll see if the defense for the Packers can step
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  up this year for them, obviously they lost both games
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  to Philadelphia last year, and we'll see if they can
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  overtake the Lions. We'll see if Andrew likes them in
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  the NFC North. Good to Minnesota as a team last
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  year that surprised a lot of people because of Sam
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  Donald's play. But let's start with JJ McCarthy. How do
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  you think he will replace Donald in that offense? How
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  will they be different with McCarthy over Donald.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's it's really an unknown entity. I wasn't super
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  high on JJ McCarthy coming out, and that could ultimately
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  be what holds the Vikings back because you don't know
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  how fast of the start he's going to be able
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  to get out to and in that division, which is
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  figures to be pretty closely contented, I don't know if
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  they can afford to do that And I know that
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  there are some who are pretty bullish on McCarthy, but
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  until you see what he's able to do in the
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  regular season, when the bullets are live, so to speak,
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  it's hard to really forecast the direction that they're going
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  to be able to go. Obviously, justin Jefferson, Jalen Nowhere,
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  they drafted Ty Felton out of Maryland, who I was
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  at his pro day, I'm I'm a big fan of
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  and TJ. Hockkinson's there, Aaron Jones, So yeah, I mean
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  they have enough pieces there offensively, I just have questions
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  about the quarterback, which obviously makes everything go.
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  Speaker 1: I will say their offensive line is, you know, one
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  of the problems with the Vikings over the previous couple
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  of years. Their offensive line has been a disaster. Their
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  line is starting to get a little bit better and
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  that should help them out. But I'm with you. I'm
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  not a big JJ McCarthy guy. But defensively, our buddy
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  Isaiah Rodgers went over there, Andrew Van Ginkle made a
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  big appearance there last year. Byron Murphy juniors out there,
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  They've got some players just a pretty good defense.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like Jonathan Grenard who's over there too. They
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  have some dudes there that I think can really effect
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  a passer Isaiah Rodgers Byron Murphy on the back end.
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  This is going to be an interesting defense to watch.
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  I think that will be their calling card this season.
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  I do believe that they've done enough in the offseason
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  to really four to five that side of the ball.
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  But offensively, until you see what you get out of McCarthy,
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  I think that can ultimately be what gets them off
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  to a slow start that they may not be able
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  to overcome.
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  Speaker 1: Tell you what the Eagles might have been wishing they
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  kept Isaiah Rodgers at that second corner spot. Right now,
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  we'll get your thoughts on that second corner before we
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  get out of here. Let's go to the Bears. They
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  buzzed last year. They made a lot of moves, but
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  it was a disaster of a season for them. They
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  get the new coach, Ben Johnson's in there now, Caleb
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  Williams year two. They have a bunch of weapons they
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  added to the offensive line. Is this Bears offense going
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  to be a surprise this year?
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  Speaker 2: I think Caleb Williams is going to be able to
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  take a step forward in his progression. I think the
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  addition of Lovelin the tight end out of Michigan should
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  really help him out. He may be an early candidate
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  for having a I don't want being a candidate among
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  those for offensive Rookie of the Year, But yeah, wide
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  receiver Roma Dunza. They have alamodez a Kias. Former Eagles
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  wide receiver DJ Moore is there. Yeah, who should be
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  able to take a step forward. But I'm not quite
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  sure if they have enough there to really make some
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  noise when you look at the Lions and you look
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  at the Green Bay Packers. But on the offensive side, Oh,
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  I can't forget DeAndre Swift as well. He's a really
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  good of the backfield and has some juice.
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  Speaker 1: Well, could the difference maker for them be their defense?
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  And Andrew They've got a pretty good defense last year,
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  our buddy T. J. Edwards is over there. They've got
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  good pass Russ, got a good secondary. Kevin Bayern former
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  Eagles safety, he moved over there, had a pretty good year.
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  Jalen Johnson's pretty strong. I mean, could this defense be
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  the difference for them?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Montes Sweat. I think Jalen Johnson you can make
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  an argument for being the top cornerback in the NFL,
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  the TJ. Edwards to Tremaine Edmonds. They have a fortified
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  second level of that defense. That's really what they're going
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  to have to hang their hat on, because offensively, I
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  sort of see them as middling. Now, do I believe
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  that Caleb Williams is going to to to progress here
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  and really start to refine some areas of his game.
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  I do. I think there's enough pieces there for him
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  to do so. But I don't know if they're going
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  to be consistent enough week to week with that formula
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  that they run there in Chicago to move that forward
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  defensively where they're gonna have to make their mark.
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  Speaker 1: All right. The NFC North maybe one of the more
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  competitive divisions in football. The Lions, Packers, Bears, and Vikings.
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  How's it going to finish up?
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  Speaker 2: I'll do Packers, Lions, Vikings, Bears.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Vikings and third Bears at the bottom. That one's
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  gonna be a lot of fun. We'll see if the
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  Lions take a step back. A lot of people think
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  they might take that step back this year. Let's quickly
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  take a step back before we get out of here.
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  We mentioned Isaiah Rodgers. That second quarterback spot kind of
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  give us your breakdown of that, because that's probably the
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  most unknown of all the battles right now at Eagles camp.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, two months ago, before training camp even happened, I
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  posed a question of my buddy, which Eagles offseason loss
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  will they be mostly impacted by? And I said, and
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  he said whoever? And I said, Isaiah Rodgers is my
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  pick because he's a plug and play guy. You know,
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  he fits in the system. You now how he fits
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  in the locker room and the culture in Philadelphia, and
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  he has some good ball skills. If you sign him,
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  you don't have to deal with this musical chairs that's
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  taking place this summer. So you have Keeley Ringo, you
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  have Jacoryan Bennett, you have a Dori Jackson, and Mac McWilliams,
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  the rookie fifth round pick out at UCF. He's been
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  cross training, he spent most of camp at Nickel, he's
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  been working outside the last week or so. The Eagles
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  roy like him. I'm not quite sure he's ready for
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  an expanded role, but at Dory Jackson and if Egals
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  had to play a game today, would be their starting cornerback.
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  I don't know how long that would last, but there's
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  something to be said, for a veteran who is steady,
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  if hunts spectacular, probably going to give up some stuff underneath,
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  but you know what he's going to give you. He's
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  not going to be as high variance as some of
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  the other players that are the options. Ultimately, I think
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  Jakorean Bennett is the best of the bunch, and I
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  think it's only a matter of time before he leaps
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  Adori Jackson and fully masters the defense and can go
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  out there, and the Eagles will feel comfortable putting him
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  out there on a full time basis.
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  Speaker 1: I like it Bennett. The trade there for Bennett that
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  happened right before I left. And of course they get
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  Jacoreyan Bennett for Thomas Booker, and Booker looks like he's
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  going to start out there for the Raiders. The Eagles
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  get Bennett. Fair trade for everyone. We'll see if Howie
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  Roseman has another deal up his sleeve. He is Andrew
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  to Checko. This is football at four. You heard it
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  right here on the Sports Bats Live on ninety seven
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  to three ESPN Our Division previews. They end next week
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  with the NFC East. You know what that means. Season's
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  about to start, Andrew, season is about to start and
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  we always appreciate your time.
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  Speaker 2: Pal. Thank you,