NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Are the Eagles Still the Favorites in the NFC East?

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is back for another episode of NFL Daily, today he's joined by Bo Wulf to do a deep dive on the Philadelphia Eagles. But first we go over the biggest news headlines from around the league and what Gregg lost (2:45). Such, as Drake Maye's struggles in New England (5:51) , the collection of stories coming out of Miami (8:50) and much more. We then plunge into our Eagles deep dive (15:20). Later, Bo then ranks Philadelphia sports scenarios (35:50). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Welcome to NFL Daily, where we enjoyed Nadal Katras while it lasted. Nadalkaraz? I don't know. Beyond lucky today to be joined by Bo Wolfe of P-H-L-L-Y, a tennis player like myself. He embarrassed me. at the Super Bowl a couple of years ago. A lot coming up on today's show.

We got some news. We're going to do some Eagles talk, a little deep dive, and then we'll play a game, Bo, where I ask you how concerned you are about various factors of the NFC East. Welcome to NFL Daily for the first time. Thank you for having me. You did a good job with P.H.L.Y.

You've been working on that. I appreciate that. I like to say... I mean, come on. It couldn't have thought of a different name that you have to spell it out. It's very hard. It's hard, I think.

Yeah, I don't blame me. on it. You workshopped it. I would say once a teammate, always a teammate, but it's nice to feel like even more of a teammate of Jordan Rodriguez again. So I'm happy to be here. Oh, yeah. I love having Jordan on. I'm glad you mentioned her. She will be out at Rams Camp. We'll tape there on Thursday, but we're going to do news, you know, rest of the league stuff other than just RAM stuff, but she'll be there to help us out there. And yeah, I apologize. If I'm distracted today, I apologize to you, Bo, apologize to Randy, who's producing the show. listeners because my tortoise is missing right now.

Your tortoise is missing. Yeah. I let her out in the backyard. And as I do sometimes, usually pretty, you know, get her some exercise, have some, have some fun. Norie is her name, as Randy knows. And yeah, I couldn't find her. I couldn't find her. And it was time to do a show.

And, you know, that's how much I value NFL daily that we're here. We're taping. Who knows? Maybe my tortoise is out on the street. selling her body for money. Yeah, but I mean, it's got to be a slow getaway, right? You're going to have some time to catch up. There is no real escape, so that's why I feel pretty safe and I felt comfortable.

You know, she likes to, you know, maybe she dug a hole somewhere that I can't find. Usually I know where all of her hiding spots are. So I will be thinking about that. And yeah, if I seem a little distracted, she's, you know, she's one of the loves of my life, Norie. Well, I feel like I consume a lot of Greg Rosenthal content, and I didn't even know. that there was a tortoise here. So this is news to me. I hope I see her,

him or her, I guess, poking around in the background and I can let you know. Yeah, it would be funny if she opens the door to the garage and just climbs up on my shoulder. It would be better if she appeared on my end. An amazing trick.

Let's do some news. Let's get going. News. Yeah, if I keep this show shorter than usual, that's why. I got to get out there and save my girl. Not a ton of news today, but DJ Moore signed a four-year $110 million contract, 82.5 million guaranteed on that deal. He already had a couple years left on his old deal,

so they were getting work done early. The Bears just keep making smart moves. I don't kind of know how to deal with this world, Bow Wolf, where the Bears seem like they're a well-run organization suddenly. Yeah, it's interesting. And all the talk of like Caleb Williams entering the league with as good a situation as you could expect for a number one quarterback, I think is fair. It also makes sense from a like a planning standpoint. You've got a dunzee on the rookie contract. Keenan Allen's not going to be there forever. So you get DJ Moore locked up. I was also just thinking about DJ Moore and like the impressive run he's had 4,000 yard of seasons in six years with like the most mismash group of quarterbacks you could imagine. Like the six quarterbacks he's had,

six different guys. You've got end career Cam Newton, right, steep decline Cam Newton. Then it goes Kyle Allen, your boy, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Darnold, Baker, Mayfield, Justin Fields. To overcome that group of six quarterbacks and be as productive as he has been, like Caleb Williams is in a good situation. Now DJ Moore is in a good situation with a real quarterback. Right. And who knows, maybe the numbers won't even go up. He was 96 for 1,364 yards less than eight touchdown. He said he immediately was talking to the front office and people around the building to get Keenan Allen signed up too long term. I think they want to wait and see you with Keenan Allen. Not that they wouldn't trust it, but one year left.

You can only pay everyone so much. And it's one of those things where it's $27 million in new money average. But if you spread it out, it's quite a bargain. It's something like $20 million a year. I now value contracts of did they make more money than Isaiah Hartenstein in the NBA? Because people are always like, wow. like, this money's crazy and it's like, well, actually, it's less than Isaiah Hartenstein.

Like Jordan Love signed the same contract as OG and Anobi. So, you know, if you could play basketball, I would suggest to do that. Yeah, I think that's good. Yeah, DJ Moore Young, too, so it seems like a good investment. Yes, sneaky young, somehow only 27 years old for all the production that he's had. Let's go to New England where they signed Devon Gautja to a new contract, while Matthew Judon, who we've talked about a little bit on this show, is staying away from the Patriots.

And there was a report from the athletic that they had offered him a new deal. And he immediately went on Twitter and said, they have not offered me a new deal. They're trying to make me look bad. And then another report came out from the same reporters, Diana Rusini, who said, well, they actually offered him something before camp and everything. So a lot of drama going on there in New England, it's different. But the drama I wanted to hear from you about is about the quarterbacks because apparently ever since I got excited about Drake May on the first couple days of non-padded practice, he has not played very well. Jacoby Brissette getting more and more of the first team reps and just the fact that Drake May has not played well, generally, is the notion.

Ben Volan, and I think he's trying to get some engagement here. I don't mind taking shots at reporters. He said Joe Milton's looked more consistent and better at camp. It's like Joe Milton's playing with the fourth stringers. come on. But all reports do indicate that that May has been quite erratic. And there might be a little bit of a gap here between Jacoby Brissette and Drake May. I was talking about this on our show with Zach Berman today about I think sometimes we lose context of the difficulty of the backup quarterback position in training camp. Because if you think about it, like most defenses play with

rotations, right? So the second team defensive line are guys who get on the field. The second team secondary are guys who get on the field. The second team offensive line is usually guys who are not that good. The second team wide receiver options are guys who are not that good. So the deck is usually stacked against the second team quarterback. I think it's a thing to keep in mind. But, I mean, if Drake May doesn't look good, he doesn't look good. I'm excited. The Eagles have a joint practice against them next week. So I'll get eyes on them for you. And it's early. Some really good young quarterbacks have struggled early in training camp and then had great rookie seasons. Obviously, there's a million that have struggled early in training camp, but had great

careers. But even sometimes you see him bounce back later in camp. But yeah, I listen to Tom Curran, who's great in Phil Perry. And they just said, just not consistently accurate, tough, you know, it's just taking a while for him to make his decisions. And yeah, we could be looking at Jacobi. I won't, I won't hate that. I like Jacoby. Well, plus you got Devon Godshaw locked up long term. So all things are, all things are looking up. I don't know how Devon Godcha has got so many contracts. And he was upset about his deal, wanted it closer. And then he kept practicing. And so I don't know if it's the reason how he decided to handle this or just his situation. Drew Rosenhouse showed up to practice. Drew Rosenhouse always gets deals done. He's more of a run stopper. Matthew Judon is

a little older and is probably trying to get money into the future, is my guess. And he's 32 years old and they don't want to deal with it. I like the idea that it's like a spite contract they're giving out? Like, well, let's send a message to Matthew Judon that if he practices, he's going to get a contract. So let's just give Devon Gautja a tiny little raise just as a shot across Judon's bow. Yeah, I should have mentioned, yeah, you have a daily Eagles podcast, which is a must listen for Eagles fans or for just fans of the league. The banter is so hardcore. You should feel guilty, Bo, for having the best straight man in the business. Like, you're a funny guy. And Zach is just like a perfect straight man because he either doesn't get the jokes or he's just.

I don't know. It's perfect. Nobody works harder than Zach. He's a wonderful partner. And we welcome you to the daily podcasting world. Yeah, it's a lot, a lot of planning. So a couple more stories. The dolphins I wanted to talk about just that there's been a collection of stories. And I heard from our friend Handsome Hank, Henry Hodgson, who was surprised the dolphins didn't get mentioned in our segment we did on teams we haven't talked about. I do want to get to the football of it all, because this is a very interesting team. But it's more of the off-field stuff that I want to mention in today's news. Just a collection of stories I've noticed.

And like one after another, I was like, okay, this is too much. Number one, there was that Jordan Poyer quote. He's a safety on the Dolphins now. And he was talking about when he was with the bills. And he was saying, you know, when we played against this team in the past few years, you get a sense that like, this team's going to fold if you get ahead of them. This was kind of a soft team. So I came here to change that.

It's like, okay, that's your safety. First of all, there's a lot of great back and forth dolphins built. game, including a playoff game where Skyler Thompson almost beat the Bills and a game in the snow where it was like a classic. So I pushed back on the accuracy of that, but it's funny that he's telling his teammates that they always would fold. Then at Tuesday's practice. And also, I'm the guy who's going to fix that for you. Like it's a very like like, like, and Bill's fans will tell you that Jordan Poyer is not coming off a great year. And I know he got top 100 ranking and a lot of people kind of raise their eyebrows at that, the top 100 players. The players are always a couple

years behind what's going on on the field. Then yesterday, Tyree Kill said that this fight that they had at practice, which was significant, said the fight was amazing, that we need that. Teams I've been on and that have won, they fought, that they haven't had enough fighting in Miami. And then Jalen Ramsey at the end of practice had this conversation talking to the whole team, again, kind of encouraging them saying it was good, saying they need to be the bullies. And all this talk about like, we need, something about that worries me. I have another one, but I want you to get in here. Like something about that if you're coming into camp and your main messages, the thing that's going to get us over the top is we got to talk about that we're tough guys now. I feel like

that's a bad sign. Well, I also have to say without getting too into it, that the idea of Tyreek Hill of all people saying that like relationships depend on fighting is a little bit awkward to hear. That is fair. Mike McDaniel also mentioned coming into training camp that the focus for him and didn't want to forget the big picture is that this organization has not won a playoff game in 24 years, which is wild. That's, that's insane. And, you know, they've only made it twice with McDaniel. And the first year was a great season by them to even make the playoffs. So I do not give them any penalty for losing that game. Last year, they lost to the Chiefs. And But he changed the clock, or not the clocks, but he changed the meeting times throughout the offseason to be at 7.24 a.m. or 3.24 a.m. or 5.24 p.m. or whatever it's going to be to remind him how it's been 24 years.

And somehow when I add up all these stories, I feel like this is a team that's in their own head a little bit. I don't like it. Yeah. I think Mike McDaniel is a smart guy. I'm sure he knows and has thought a lot more about this. this messaging than I have, but yeah, like the leaning into, oh, man, we have really sucked for a long time is always a bit of a red flag for me. So I, you know, I hope it works out for them. It certainly seems like this is a team with a lot of pressure on them to get over that hump, right? This, this, yeah, like this group, this core, like their best players are not going to last forever, right? And how many chances are they going to have? It's, it is, it does seem like a team that is very much, like, in its own way a little bit. Right, in its own head. I have a theory.

It applies to the 49ers. It would have applied to the Celtics if they had lost the NBA finals again. I thought that was why I was so important. They got this one was, I think the worst thing you can be in sports is the team that has all the bad things that come along with winning a championship, like that you had a championship or else, or it doesn't feel good, all this pressure, the disease of more, everyone wanting more money, all of the. this stuff happening, but you didn't actually win anything. Like, at least you need to have won it to have to go through that. And so if you keep getting close and close, and the dolphins are like the worst version of that, which is they haven't even won a playoff game, but I still feel like

they're in their own head and they're having some of the issues that people that, the teams that come up just short have. And yet, you know, they're kind of like a borderline playoff team. Well, it's also funny because the Jordan Poyer of it all, like, it seems like very similar to what they were dealing with with the bills, right? Like the dolphins were, we're looking in division and like, oh, we need a little bit of that all-or-nothing anxiety. And Jordan Poir has brought it. Okay, some quick injury news just before we take a break and then talk some Eagles. Nick Bolton and Cadarius, Tony, got injured at Chief's practice on Wednesday. The Bolton was an elbow injury. Tony was an ankle injury. I don't know if Carderius Tony makes this team. I know he had that

moment against your Eagles where he broke my heart. I don't know if he broke your heart. Do you have to pretend like you don't care if the Eagles win the Super Bowl or not? There's no pretending. at all. I'm objective as it gets, although I will say that year we would have at least had a, like the athletic was going to put out a like a commemorative issue of our article. So that was the one thing. And also, Zach, I think maybe had a book deal in place. So that was, he might have been rooting harder than I was. That's amazing. Well, I have, I don't try to pretend either. I was rooting hard for that Eagles team. I really enjoyed them. But I don't know if Tony makes a team. It didn't sound great with Bolton, but with all these injuries, we, we have to wait and

find out. But he's obviously very important for them. We were at charges practice. earlier this week. Junior Colson, who they think might start as a rookie at middle linebacker off the NFI list. I mentioned Roman Wilson, the receiver for the Steelers, still has had an ankle injury. It's week to week, so maybe not quite as bad as they feared, but also not great. And then, yeah, a reserve tackle of the Broncos Quinn Bailey fractured his ankles and had to be taken to the hospital city, which is a tough scene. So hopefully he gets better. But we're going to take a quick break while I actually leave you and through the magic of podcasting. I'm going to find that that damn tortoise.

Oh no. How did how did Randy make a graphic already? That's next level. That is actually Norrie. I recognize her. We'll be back after this. Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to

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Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level,

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Randy gets producer of the day award for finding a picture of Norrie. Apparently, on my other podcast, J-R-V-P, Reddit board. I miss you, girl. Oh, I'll find it. I want to talk about the Eagles.

We want a deep dive. We're making a big board bow of all the teams we're going to deep dive throughout the preseason and into the season. Eagles, one of the first teams I wanted to hit. no better person to talk to you than you, including Zach Berman, who you host the show,

I made a choice. I think you're a better choice. And let's start with Jalen Hertz. Let's be obvious. You like on your show to talk about like the third string pass rushers or whatever. This is mass audience. Yeah, this is right. Okay. And yeah, Zach likes to talk about the big names. And I'm a basic and you're right. This is for the national audience. I think Jalen Hertz is one of the most fascinating players in the league this year because he went from one of the best Super Bowl performances of all time in my mind. Yeah. And getting MVP votes to this offseason being about QB 13 or 14 in most people's minds. Like that ESPN thing where they talked to the executives, QB 13. What went to Stephen Ruiz on ESPN, QB 13. And it's like everyone thought Jalen Hertz's one season was this

fairy tale, but that their evaluations of him coming into the draft were kind of bogus and now they've proven him right. That annoys me, but it's a new, it's a new offense. I've heard that he's looking pretty good at training camp. Give me, give me the state of Jalen Hertz right now. Well, the other thing you forgot is the, the big long offseason conversation of the relationship with Nick Siriani and the like passive aggressive talking past each other that happened in a couple of their press conferences. It seems like a real thing. I don't think it was a media creation. No. And There are, you know, like, every now and then, there will be a little correction sent to the reporters because Jalen Hertz, for instance, is talking about the players that he threw within the offseason and forgot one guy. He doesn't want to leave anybody out.

But when he says the 95% of the offense is new and, you know, doesn't necessarily take up any of the sort of softball question opportunities to defend Nick Siriani, there are no such corrections made. I think those things are notable. But listen, like the quarterback and the head coach don't have to be best friends for them to be successful. You know, look at New England, right? I think the Jalen Hertz, what is so difficult when you are evaluating him is disentangling all the variables, right? Like he had that unbelievable season in 2022. That Super Bowl, he was amazing. But he also had maybe the best weapons in the league and the best offensive line in the league.

and it was the first time in the past like eight years of his career when he had the same play caller for the second season in a row all of those things coalesced and he looked awesome. Last year new play caller and the offense gave him no answers, right? And it's very

clear in what the Eagles did this offseason and sort of taking the offensive play calling and structure away from Nick Siriani that they viewed that as probably the main problem. You know, they did not provide him a ton of answers against the Blitz.

You know, there was no, they were the 32nd in the league in motion. They were dead last in a lot of these sort of structural categories. But there are also things that Jalen Hertz himself needs to do better. And I think it's going to be interesting to see in the Kellynmore offense. He has looked good the first week of, of camp, which comes after he didn't look so great in the spring. The ball was not coming out super on time. It looked like there were a lot of moving parts in terms of him learning the offense.

This is a problem with a daily podcast, though. you guys, I'm not blaming you, but it's tough to, it's tough to take too much away from OTAs and minicamps. I fall into that trap too, but saying of anyone was good or bad in OTA's mini camps is, is tricky. No, but it's contextual in that when he came back for like the first week of camp, things did look different. The ball was coming out on time. He looked better. He has looked very good. The other thing from last year that we haven't, we haven't talked about yet is, you know, his running superpower was not as much of a part of the offense. You know, there's the tush push, yeah, but he was not as dynamic in the open field.

There were a lot of times when he would just sort of scramble around and then just throw the ball away, which he did not do in 2022. He has looked spryer this year. The Eagles are also seemed to be incorporating like day one stuff, quarterback run as part of the offense. So it seems like that's going to be in the offense. And I think it has to be. Like, that's what makes Jalen Hertz as good as he was in 2022, that it changes the math on offense.

It changes everything that they have around him. So there's no doubt that like Jalen Hertz is the most important person in the organization as to their success this year. So far, so good. But we will see how it goes. That is big news if they follow through with that in terms of his running. And yeah, he wasn't healthy 100% last year. And I've seen how high he's getting taken in fantasy leagues.

They're not worried about the Jalen Hurd type. Like, he's still going third, third, fourth round, like as a third quarterback. And he needs to run to make that worth it. But he's still got maybe the best collection of skill players. The offensive line has taken a couple hits, but you would still assume that it's an asset versus, you know, average, or anywhere below that. I would assume that. And if you've got AJ, I mean, if you got A.J. Brown, Goddard, Devontas Smith, and Sequin

Barkley on the same team that almost there isn't a team out there i don't think that can quite match that or it's going to be close and it makes me happy because i do not want the carson wents thing to happen because because it is kind of crazy how they they really are reliving i mean with slight variations the whole you know tracking of what happened after they won their first super bowl the next year is similar isishish i mean they actually looked pretty good in the playoffs that year and could have gone further the year they were defending the title. But they give once the big contract and it's just like this slow little decline and they never quite respond. I don't know. I hope that's. I mean,

you would have to think if it goes that way, which, you know, it probably won't. But then all of a sudden, like, what is it about the organizational structure that allows that to happen? If it happens twice, you know, it's maybe it's not on him. It's on us. Well, I want to get to that. Maybe it's on the fans. I blame the Philly fans for a lot. The front office dynamic is weird. Howie Roseman has obviously done a really good job on balance and the talent's obvious. But when they're out publicly saying, more or less, that he chose the coaches, that's weird. That's a little weird. Yeah. To me. And I noticed he was saying how they're hoping to play young players this year more often, which are, you know, Howie's players.

And so that's a, it's a weird, and Vic Fangio is the coach, who's not a guy who necessarily plays young players. So that dynamic to me is strange that Nick Siriani is there, but the front office is really running the show in a way more obviously than most places. Yeah, I'm of two minds here. On the one hand, I don't think it's that big of a deal that like Howie Roseman would be the one making the connections for bringing in Vic Fangio and Kellan Moore. If you just think about it, he has been around the league

longer. He has more connections. Nick Siriani sort of exhausted his connections. His top guys both left and Shane Stuyken and Jonathan Gannon. We have seen this over the years. It's very difficult to replenish your coaching pipeline. But there's also no doubt...

They're bringing some fresh minds like Matt Patricia into the organization. Yeah, exactly. solve everything. Give me a break. But there's no doubt that Howie Roseman is the most like most powerful person in the organization and much more so than Nick Siriani. There was the you know there's the big report from Seth Wickersham and ESPN about their flirtation with with Bill Belichick, which I think was was very real. And there's the characterization that that I do think is fair that you know, Howie Roseman and Jeffrey Lurie are to some degree

sort of like art collectors of the NFL, like they like bringing in these people who have been in the zeitgeist. And so like the Vic Fangio defense, they have Jonathan Gannon who seems like he's trying to run the same thing. Last year, they bring in Sean Desai, who worked under Vic Fangio. This year they actually get the guy, Vic Fangio, like they got the original Rembrandt that they were looking for. But there is a bit of attention between Fangio and Howie in terms of their like philosophies because the like the Howie Roseman defensive foundational philosophy for so long has been as many pass rushers as possible. We want to rotate these guys, keep them fresh so that they're fresh at the end of the season. It goes back to the Andy Reed fastballs that

Eagles fans are familiar with. But Vic Fangio is is not of that ilk. Like he wants to to play his guys at a high percentage. Christian Wilkins last year played more snaps than any defensive tackle in football. I asked Howie about this at the first press conference of training camp, and he said, yeah, like, we are going to have to be a little bit different. Like, in the past, we would have guys play like 55% of the snaps, and it might need to be more like 6570. And so, you know, Jalen Carter, who could be awesome, but he's going to have to play a lot more snaps. Jordan Davis is going to have to play a lot more snaps, those guys. It's going to be interesting, especially because last year, I think that was a big factor in why their defense

was so bad at the end of last year. The guys were exhausted. So there's been a lot of talk of extra conditioning this season feels a little bit overcorrecting to me. But the howie of it all, like if this season goes wrong, Nick Siriani is going to be the one who answers for it. You know, Jeffrey Lurie is not going to look at this roster and think, well, the roster wasn't good enough. It's going to fall on Nick. Right. And you mentioned Davis and Jalen Carter. To me, if I had to pick one thing on the defense, I guess, but one thing on this.

team that's like, are they going to be better than people think or worse than people think? It might just be those two taking a step up each. Like, not that Jordan Davis needs to be an all-pro, but Jordan Davis needs to be more consistent and a plus starter that can handle a big workload and make it through the season. And Jalen Carter goes from a really good player to like an all-pro player. Because if that happens, everything else I feel like on the defense will fall enough into place. But there are a lot of questions to me on this defense. And you mentioned how they didn't have answers for Hertz.

And, you know, it did get ugly at the end. And the playoff game was flat out embarrassing. Really, the last month was insanely embarrassing for them. But the offense was good the whole year before that. Like, the offense was legitimately good. It just wasn't great. First three quarters of the season. Okay, well, that's three quarters of the season.

They would have, you know, loaded up on wins. But even when they were struggling, it was like, okay, they fell back down to average below when the defense stunk the whole time is is my point is it felt to me like it was more about the defense and now a little worried that fangio coming off a down year and maybe the league is caught up a little bit to what he does what have you seen so far at training camp that that's caught your eye for the defense and just just how do you think this this defense goes yeah i mean it's interesting because uh the other thing that is a little bit different about it from a howie roseman an archetype standpoint is there's so much more deep in the secondary, and they have always

been built front to back, and it seems like the way that they went about building it this off season is a little bit more back to front. Quinion Mitchell, the first round pick. Cooper DeGine, the second round pick, DeGine's been out, has not practiced yet, is sort of week to week. But Keely Ringo, who was a fourth round pick last year, is competing to start opposite Dariusleigh. Isaiah Rogers, the guy who was suspended for a season, has actually looked really good, and it's also competing. They brought back CJ Gardner Johnson at safety. So they're They seem much more deep in the secondary than they have ever been. But you're right that it does really come down to either Jalen Carter or Jordan Davis has to take some kind of leap, I think.

And I think it's more likely to be Jalen Carter. I think there's a chance that he could be one of the best defensive tackles in football as early as this season. They're trying to figure out what they're going to do at linebacker, which is the case every summer with the Eagles. It's Devin White and Nicobi Dean. Yeah, I've got a bone to pick with you actually for your Eagles linebacker. coverage, which is always like you talk about lineback and you're like, well, they got Devin White locked in. We know where we're going to get out of him. Oh, I don't say we know what we're going to get out of it. Whether it's Zach Bonn or

Nacobi Dean next to him. And I'm thinking like, Devin White is the last guy in the NFL almost. You know what you're going to get out of. He drove his coaches crazy and those are good defensive coaches. He basically, I think Todd Bowles like lost years off his life for coaching Devin White, not just last year, really the last couple of years. ever since they won the Super Bowl. And so he got that contract. And I thought, well, that's an interesting fit there with Fangio. And I don't know.

It's the one thing that the analytical precepts we talked about three or four years ago of not paying off-ball linebackers has not come out well in the wash. Right now it feels like every good defense has great off-ball linebackers and teams like the Eagles or the Cowboys that don't get absolutely destroyed because of them in the playoffs. I will not sit idly by and let you paint me as the Devin White defender. Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And to the art collector thread, they went out, like the additions this off season, the Eagles added five different first round picks.

Devin White, Mackay Beckton, Kenny Pickett, like, I mean, you go John Ross. Oh, yeah, give me your picket quarterback battle analysis. But all of these guys, like, you think about these guys, they're gone, their first-round picks with the same regimes. Like, those guys are gone for a reason. Like, Mackay-Becton, in theory, is a good answer at right guard. But, you know, don't the Jets need offensive linemen? Couldn't the Bucks need Devin White?

But, yeah, my picket thought, and that's why I brought up the thing at the top about how difficult it is for this number two quarterback. But I have not been impressed with Kenny Pickett so far. And I actually really do like Tanner McKee, who is the number three quarterback, who was their sixth round pick last year. He's getting the ball out much quicker, much more on time, much more accurate. I have been underwhelmed with picket so far. I love it.

And sorry for cutting you off in the middle of trying to defend Devin White. Yeah, just a lot of questions. And they bring in Bryce Huff. I know you've kind of had your eye caught by Jalick's hunt. Yeah, a little flash. They're a little thinner there in terms of pastors. They kind of need, I would say they basically need Bryce Huff to work. Not be a star.

He doesn't need to be as good as Hassan Reddick, but he needs to at least be what he was. for the Jets or a little better. Yeah, I mean, he was very efficient last year. And so if he's even a little bit less efficient than that, but with more volume, that would be a good sign. Vic Fangio didn't necessarily gas him up a ton in his first press conference. He said he hasn't yet proven that he can be a three-down player.

But I think that's just kind of a nice, you know, crusty old defensive coordinator answer. The other guy involved there is Nolan Smith, their second first round pick from last year, who had a very underwhelming rookie season. if it's not Bryce Huff taking a leap or Josh Sweat looking like he did the first half of last season it needs to be Nolan Smith being playable

because last year he wasn't and to be fair that's sort of like the Howie Roseman thing about play these young guys like if Nolan Smith and Keely Ringo had gotten on the field a little bit more last year maybe they would be in better position this year I mean they got a lot of guys they got a lot of names I think if you if you pulled just average NFL fans and you named all the players on the teams

like the Eagles would be among, if not the league leader and just names that you recognize. Even guys like Keely Ringo, who were famous in college. And we didn't mention Jason Kelsey's gone. Of course, that's important. But they have a guy that's been there a couple years that's ready to go and take the spot in Cam Juergens. Overall, to me, they have more talent than the rest of the division. And I think the expectations actually should be pretty high for this Eagles team. It's weirdly not because last year ended at least not.

nationally because last year ended so ugly, but the roster is as good or better to me as it's been the last two years. And they're the ones that blew it last year. To me, the expectations should be like Super Bowl contender. I don't see why not in the NFC. Like they're one of the top two or three contenders, but I don't get to feel that people see them that way. I think that's right when you look at the roster and you look at the division, which I know we will get to. It's underwhelming. The only thing that, that, you know, is the contrarian in me that is a little bit wary is two new coordinators is often more difficult than it looks on paper. That takes some time. And then on offense, like, they need to be awesome. They need to be a top five offense.

And I think I think Jalen Hertz is ready for that. But if the offensive line goes from one of the three best in the league to like the eighth or ninth best in the league, that makes a big difference. And they're very top heavy. You know, they're a little bit more deep on defense on On offense, it's kind of like stars and scrubs. Like, their number three receiver right now is maybe Paris Campbell, maybe John Ross, maybe a sixth round pick, Johnny Wilson. And I know that... John Ross!

No. And I know that if you... John Ross is not making that team. Don't invest too much. That's what I'm... I think that's most likely, right. But I, like, I know that if you looked at every roster in the league and you were like, well, who's their number three receiver, that it would be, nobody's going to blow you

away. But they have been very lucky with health. for A.J. Brown and Devante Smith over the past two years, I don't think that they are well suited to replace those guys. I think internally they would say, if something happens early, maybe they can make a trade. You know, they've got extra pick investment from this year. I would be surprised if they, you know,

enter the second half of the season with this exact wide receiver core. But they didn't necessarily, it was the one thing of the offseason that surprised me, that they did not address sort of the fourth option in the passing game a little bit more. Now maybe you want to, you want to. a buy that's Sequin, well, yeah, but that's another one where having been through this a lot over the past decade, like, oh, this is the, this is the year we're going to throw to the running

back. It doesn't usually pan out that way. That said, Jalen Hertz has looked more comfortable throwing to the running backs this summer than he has in years past. The Eagles have thrown to running backs less often than like any team in the league over the past couple years. It seems like that's probably more of a Jalen Hertz thing than an offense thing. But maybe it's as simple as, well, Jillen Hurts didn't want to throw the ball to Kenny Gainwell, but it's Sequin Barclay, so he'll throw him the ball. Yeah, I'm excited. I think Sequin played much better a year ago than the numbers would indicate. And behind this offensive line, I just think it's going to be very different, even if it is the eighth or ninth best offensive line, that's way better

than he's ever played behind with the Giants. So I think they've got everything they need, but you're right, the coordinators are high ceiling and maybe a low floor for both of them. Like Kellynne Moore could be great. Vic Fangio could be great. It could be the Vic that we've, we've had in our minds the last few years. The one they had in their minds when they brought them in before the Super Bowl, and then they had the worst defensive performance they had all year, and they blew their chance to win a championship. Let's do a segment here. Let's play a little game before we go and go a little more big picture in terms of the NFC East. I want you to rate one to 100 on a level of like Philly angst. I'm going to give you different aspects.

of the division one being we're climbing grease poles it's the day after the super bowl and you're calling into the you know p h oi you know everyone's happy and then a hundred being basically any other day in philly sports history yeah so all right let's start with um joe shane and his front office moves and yeah the front office of the giants i i do have to say that this hard knocks I think it's the best content the NFL has ever produced, aside from this podcast. Wow. It is so good. And it's so good at, like, laying bare how silly the, like, gatekeeping of all information is when everything they're showing is so mundane.

And it's like, Brian Davel's talking about he's going to hire this defensive coordinator. Well, look, it was like eighth in rushing yards allowed last year. Like, that's as deep as it's going. but the Shane stuff to think of it through the prism of everything they're showing has been approved by the Giants and they are just letting him out to dry

making him look like such a boob like the the Sequin of it all it really does feel like if Sequin has a huge year with the Eagles and the Giants are bad that's going to be the thing that hangs him like he's going to be let go

but my other takeaway here is you and I were texting about the performance of Joe Shane's son, you know, telling him, be aggressive. Go, go get the quarterback. That's your assistant. That's your GM right there. If Shane's not pulling it this year, bring the sun in. But the sun needs to be put to work in another way, because it really has gotten to me the big player acquisition messaging that Joe Shane has. Strength, toughness, determination. Yeah. A 14-year-old has got to tell you, dad, that's S-Dashire. That's a Like our whole thing is STD. We got to watch out for this. Just flip it around. It could be

TDs. It's like touchdowns. What are we doing? I don't want to be too hard on Shane. Like he seems like a very good guy. He seems like a very nice guy. But I have talked to a few people and the conversation is kind of like, is there more going on there? Right. Are there deeper conversations that we aren't seen. And that's what I'm asking. And the responses that I've gotten is like, no, that's it. That is. It's crazy to me, how surface level all the conversations are. And I have thought about this. We were joking about this on our show about the idea of Howie Roseman watching this to me is so fascinating because I know that it's a little bit played up, but like the surprise of Joe Shane, the first like five minutes of free agency when all these prices are different. Like,

The information game in the NFL between the GMs and the agents and the insiders, like, Howie Roseman's been playing this game for so long. I think he would tell you that, like, he takes pride in being as in this as anybody. Like he says, the thing that keeps him up at night is the idea that somebody might be available and he doesn't know about it. The idea that the first 10 minutes of free agency would go by and the cost of the players he wants would shock him is insane to me. And it, like, it really does seem like Joe Shane is.

not altogether, like, knowing what is going on at all these different levels. I hope NFL Films is not listening because I agree. It's been some of the best content. And not just because we're having a little fun with it here. You are seeing some moments and interactions and how things work. We just haven't before because we haven't seen this type of hard knocks before. And I don't think it's bad for the Giants. But I guess if you listen to this segment, they probably wouldn't be a big fan.

I love the mundanity, though, of, like, the, how the trades, like, you know, it's just, oh, well, he's, he's friends with Dan Morgan, like, hey, what do you think about, what do you think about this? Like, it's crazy. Let's stick with the Giants, actually. Let's go through the rest of these fast, but I want to give something positive about the giant. How about the level of concern 1 to 100, the Giants defensive line going up against this Eagles group now? A little bit more of a fair fight. It's a good question. I didn't give you the number the last one. I would have said, like, 98 or something like that. I think for this one, I think the Eagles' offensive line in particular is maybe a little bit less worried, but that defensive line looks awesome. So I think Eagles fans would tell you this is like a 25, but I think most opposing teams would give it like a 90. I mean, Dexter Lawrence is as good as it gets at defensive tackle now that Aaron Donald's gone for a nose tackle to be as productive as he is against rushing the passer. Brian Burns on the outside is awesome.

as much as we sort of poke fun at Joe Shane, it does feel like he accidentally backed into a lot of the right decisions. I think the burns trade is good value. Well, right, they didn't show much about the burns trade, and ultimately that was the biggest move they made. I mean, they did talk about how the trade came about, but they clearly prioritized that. And I think overall that was considering their options was the right move.

And when they first brought it up, they talked about, it would cost a first, right? So they got it for a much better price. Like the Sequin thing, I actually think they probably did the right thing in letting him go. I think Malik Neighbors is awesome. So they sort of backed into a lot of what looked like the right decisions to me. But yeah, that defensive line, it's obviously what that entire defense is going to be built upon. It's the only unit on that team, I think, that you would look at and say it's definitely above average league wide.

All right. One to 100. Jaden Daniels pulling like an RG3 rookie year performance against the Eagles where I believe he had one in completion and four touchdowns. ran all over him concerned. I think that's like an 85 for the Eagles because you also have to keep in mind that Sam Howell diced up the Eagles. So they have not had a lot of luck against those rookie Washington

quarterbacks, but you know, the Devin White of it all that we're talking about, like the middle of the field for the Eagles, the linebackers are not going to be great. And so if Jane Daniels is as explosive as a runner as he was in college, then yeah, that's definitely something that will

concern them. Justice, for Eric B. Enemy, by the way. Like, Sam Howe's gone to Seahawks camp and, like, supposedly just is absolutely brutal. And, you know, they made them look pretty good. I thought both Scott Turner and Eric Bienemy were kind of underrated with what they did in Washington. Speaking of which, yeah, how about one to one to one hundred? Yeah, one to one hundred Dan Quinn and Cliff Kingsbury as a competition.

That's a one. I mean, oh, wow. That's rude. I mean. One to 100 that Vic has lost. this fastball. Totally, Vic Fangio. This is really still in the team. Yeah, I think that's a reasonable

80, 85. I mean, especially those first years, if you look over, you know, Fanjo's recent history, the first years have not been great in Denver, even in Chicago, and last year in Miami. My case on Fangio has been that

he was brought in to provide a higher floor, like just a level of competence that they did not have last year with Sean Desai and Matt Patricia. They only need them to be a top 20 defense and they need the offense to be top five. But I think there's, I can't imagine their defense is going to be worse than it was last year. But it could certainly be below average. It could be not good.

You mentioned being top heavy. There are numbers to back you up there. They actually are second in the league I saw this year of if you take the top five players on the team, average salary, they're over 150 million. and that's number two in the entire NFL. Miami actually was one. Just on offense or on the whole roster? No, overall. And most of that is on offense.

Again, I'd push back, but you're right. Most of the money is into the offense and it is better talent. I think that's an above average talent to defense. I think that's like a top, that should be a top 12 to 13 defense, something like that, with a good coordinator. Wrap up with the 2024 Dallas Cowboys, just stay totally vague. with them. You can take away.

From an Eagles perspective? Yes, one to 100. Yeah. Concern. I mean, I think Eagles fans are enjoying the drama of it all and how cheap the Cowboys have been, not paying their players. But, I mean, I think they're still the best competition in the division.

I think there is the contrarian in me that wants to say that the Cowboys could even be the favorite because they have the carryover and some of the best players in the division. Like there's a little bit more variance with the Eagles, I think. I think the Cowboys will be good. But certainly it's very funny to watch as all the quarterbacks and the receivers get paid. And, you know, DAC is being talking about, well, it might be nice to be somewhere else. And they're not paying anybody else.

And Sam Williams goes down. And so all of a sudden, what looked like their best unit on defense is a little bit depleted and they're going to have to lean more into Mike on the outside. But for Eagles fans, I would say they're enjoying this nadir of Cowboys fan. them. Yeah, the Eagles are barely favored to win the division relatively. They're like minus 125. The commanders, I mean, the Cowboys are like plus 165. So it's not a huge gap between the two. The Cowboys, to me, seem like the boom or bust team in the NFL. Dak is good enough. And in Parsons and their best players are good enough. And we've seen them be good enough under McCarthy.

That 13 wins with the out of division schedule isn't bad here because you guys get to play the NFC South. I think the Eagles play three NFC South teams before. September's over, which is a nice way to start the season after that Brazil game. So you could tell me they could win 13 games. I don't think that's that crazy for the Cowboys. But you could tell me they won five, and I don't think that's that crazy. I think they're pretty high on the list of teams that are favored to make the playoffs that could absolutely implode in many ways. And it's because they're a little top-heavy. It's because of the dynamics with the coach and just everything going on. I could see that going horribly wrong, at least in

some timelines. There's also the concern from Eagles fans that Kellynne Moore is a sleeper agent for the Cowboys, kind of like Orlando Scandrick was a few years ago. And maybe we'll just rip off his shirt. Moore would make more sense because he was there for a decade. He seemed like he was Jerry's guy. Yeah, he was.

He wasn't until he wasn't. Yeah, there you go. You're my guy, Bo Wolf. Does a great job. Like I said, P-H-L-Y podcast, Eagles podcast. It's daily. They're getting after it. training camp reports, I find it

it's the best way to follow a team and obviously if you're an Eagles fan, you should check it out, but anyone would enjoy the banter. And yeah, Bo, thank you very much. Go get that tortoise. I know. Norie, I'm coming to save you. We'll be back to wrap up the week on Friday.

We'll be at Rams Camp, but we'll talk about all the stuff going around the league and get some interviews there. I'm looking forward to that. Until then, for Bo Wolf, See you next time. Slow and steady.