PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - EAGLES MAILBAG: Does Howie Roseman Have Another BIG TRADE This Summer? | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: June 5, 2026

Could Howie Roseman trade for one more major addition (say, Grant Delpit, Budda Baker, or Brian Thomas Jr.) in a trade between now and training camp? Does Makai Lemon’s college production make him a cleaner fit to replace A.J. Brown than we originally anticipated? Fran Duffy and EJ Smith open up the mailbag to answer your questions, both Eagles related and otherwise! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome in everybody to the P. H.O.Y. Eagles podcast. We are here in the Xfinity Lounge, and we are presented by our good friends at Ashley. I am your host today, E.J. Smith, Bo's out of town or something. I don't know where Bo is, actually. It's probably like two minutes away. Oh, is he? I don't know. I don't know where he is. Like, you're speaking with authority. He just didn't feel like, he just didn't feel like coming in today. You know, he's just, some of us are about the work, even on a. Friday and you know this guy over there is two minutes away couldn't even come couldn't even come come come say hello anyway I'm your host DJ Smith I'm joined by the great Fran Duffy and I'm excited oh great is probably actually an understatement for it let's let's not get crazy I can't say I agree oh come on oh you know that's true I don't know if that's right thank you you know it makes me feel it just makes me nostalgic from early this week so since Beau is out

I figured this is as good an opportunity as any to get a mail-backed under our belt here. You know, we've got some questions from the, from the audience. You know, some of us, we like to interact in a two-way conversation with the sickos and with the audience, and, you know, we don't look down upon, you know, that type of conversation. So we have some questions to go through here. You can feel free to put your questions in the chat throughout the show. We'll try to get to as many as we can. But I want to start, Fran, with a question from our friend, Philly, Dan, and Media. And we're going to do this through the prism of the big takeaway. Okay.

presented by our friends at Xfinity, I believe. Yes, our friends of Xfinity, the big takeaway. Philly Dana Media asks a question that I was going to ask you anyway, Frank. Okay. Are there any trade targets for the Eagles that we should keep an eye on between now, and let's call it week one. I'm going to give you even training camp. Okay.

And I'm not looking for the Jacorian Bennett variety of players. Sounds fire. Yeah, I mean, listen. I've played to your audience here. I'm looking for more like splashy. I'm looking for players that, you know, the type of move that Halle Roseman is always looking to make, some players that would really move the needle for the Eagles

in week one going into the season. So really to me, there's only two positions you're really looking at, I think. That would fit this. You know, like I don't know that I obviously safety is number one. Yeah. All right. And so to me,

what I ended up doing was going through. I went over to Spot Track. Spotrack. Spotrack. Spot track, spot track, spot rack, whatever we want to call it on any given day. And I said, all right, let's go to 2027 free agents, sort by safety, and who are the top players that pop up that are on teams where I could see them trying to make a move. And there were two names that popped out right off the jump. One of them was a player that Beau bought up earlier this off season, and I really liked

the idea of it was Grant Delpit from Cleveland. He's going to be a 2027 free agent. He's an interchangeable safety. He's still relatively young. He's 27 years old this year. Former second round pick, so he's got some draft pedigree. And the interchangeable skill set, I think, would make him a good fit here in Philadelphia. So Grant Delpit was one.

The other one was Jesse Bates from Atlanta. And I think Atlanta is a team that could quietly be looking to play ahead for the 27 NFL draft. And if that's a team where maybe things start to go south for them or, you know, it looked like they're going south. They drafted some young D.Bs last year. So maybe, hey, you know what? We want to get Billy Bowman more snaps here.

Let's make that transition to safety. Let's move on from Jesse Bates. So those are the two first names that popped up. Another one at safety was Ashton Davis, former third round pick by the New York Jets and Joe Douglas, who was the GM at the time. And he's now in San Francisco. So San Francisco, they spent some picks on some young safeties

in Reese. Now, I would say Ashton Davis, is probably closer to the John Mechie and Jacorian Bennett level of player, right? Like, he's never really turned into this illustrious full-time, every down player in the NFL. But if they're looking for somebody to come in and compete for snaps, that was one player that came to mind. So at the safety spot, those are the three names I got. Okay, so let's focus on Delpit for a minute. Because I really do like that as a concept for the Eagles because, you know, obviously the Browns drafted Emmanuel McNeil Warren,

a player that we thought the Eagles might end up end up with in that second round there. So it at least feels like there is a realistic pathway for him out of Cleveland. Yes. And into Philadelphia now, you mentioned the versatility. Do you think that, because I know he's kind of built as more of like a physical box presence at times,

do you think that he has like the ideal fit for what Fangio is going to be looking for at that safety spot? Yeah, I think there's enough. I mean, I would say I would point to like read blanket chip and say like it's not like he's like the most peerless athlete in the world. You know, you went undrafted for a reason. I think that Delpit certainly checks the box there and does enough for you in space that he could be a good fit in the scheme. Okay. And what do you think it would cost? What do you think the Eagles would have to give up to

get Grant Delpit? I think you're probably talking like at most three. Okay. At most. Yeah. They just traded a three for Jonathan Gernard, a three change. So like, two threes. Yeah, two threes for Gernard. So like, I don't think that you're giving up more than the three for Delpit. It would be my guess. I'd have to look at like the history of safety trades. And find a similar profile, but my guess is that that's the ceiling for a deal like that. Okay. So I'm going to tell you, my brother-in-law is a Cleveland Browns fan. Okay.

And I mentioned we were on the, I was on the in-law vacation last week when I was taking shots at me for not being here, which is why I had to return fire. And I mentioned Grant Delpit. You know, I said, like, oh, you think that they would trade him. And he was like, no way they trade him. He's like one of our best players. You know, he's like emphatic about it. Now, listen, I know. the Brown still might trade him, but I do think it's always like encouraging to hear that from a fan.

Sure. Like that they don't want them to get traded. So I'm going to text him and ask if you take a third round pick for Grant Delbert. But my guess is he says no. Right. But I imagine the Brown's front office might be more willing to look toward the future than my brother. They might have a reason or two. So they want to look ahead and try and acquire further draft capital from what they've already gotten.

So yeah, at safety, those are the names I came up with. I've got three names at receiver. Okay. One is like a big swing. the other kind of like a medium swing and the other is like kind of bottom of the barrel here. Do you have my big swing guy? Brian Thomas Jr. Okay.

Yeah. I think he is the consensus swing. Yeah. At the end of the day, like this receiver market, the names that were going to get traded have gotten traded, the guy, you know what I mean? So it's for us to both land on BTJ is not all that surprising. I think the fact that Travis Hunter looks like is going to be primarily playing defense this year might soften this. and say like, all right, Jackson will may want to hold on to Brian Thomas Jr. longer than what people anticipated previously.

But this is a young player. Year one was, he was outstanding as a rookie, new, new offensive scheme this past year. Kind of got called out a little bit for like alligator arming over the middle and not necessarily always wanted to work through traffic. But this is a big vertical weapon, outstanding speed, made some outstanding explosive plays as a rookie. And then came on as the year went on last year. And I thought improved in that new scheme under Liam Cohen. So, yeah, we'll see if they,

up wanting to try and make that move, but this is a team that has pretty lofty aspiration. So my guess is that they would want to keep him in-house, but it can't hurt. Yeah. Now, I think we should take a step back discussing like a wide receiver trade, especially a big swing. Like I spent most of this offseason feeling like the Don Tavian Wicks trade and drafting McCoy Lemon, like those two things were enough to address the wide receiver room where you wouldn't be spending premium, you know, assets, whether it's a second-round pick or a third-round pick to add to that room further, the closer we get to training camp, the more I think about it

from like a Howie Roseman, not a Howie Rosen perspective, but someone who has covered Howie, as long as I have, like it does kind of feel like he would make a move for a splashy receiving edition. You know, because if you look at Dontavian Wicks and Mackay Lemon, what, like, confidence rating would you give on those, either of those guys becoming like a competent above league average second wide receiver? You know, this year? Yeah, if you had the probability from both of them. Yeah.

You know, because that's really where the Eagles are at right now. It's hoping that one of those two guys is stepping into that number two spot behind Devante Smith. I know Dallas Goddard will have a lot of targets, but still that second receiver spot, like, I don't know, like what percentage are you putting on feeling good about that, you know, let's say by the, let's say two thirds through the season. Yeah, I mean, they paid Wix pretty substantial money, not like huge, huge money. Yeah.

But they paid him well enough where it's like, okay, he should be like a number two or if not like a great number three. Like that's kind of where he's bucketed right now when you look at his contemporaries around the NFL from an APY standpoint with his contract. And now I know it's only a one year contract, but that's the value they're placing on that player. So I hope they're they hope that's what they're getting out of him. And then you're hoping McCoy Lemon turns into that. Now we talked about like the volatility of rookie receivers and what to expect from them in year one. And there have been some that have hit and have, you know, been high level producers. as rookies right out of the box and others

were it might take a year or two to ultimately get there. I think the hope would be that McCoy Lemon is in that discussion. So you're putting it at like 60, 70% that one of those two? Turns into an above average league number two. Yeah.

In, in 2026, I'd probably be closer to 60 than 70. Yeah. Feels about right. Yeah, I mean, to me, like I don't know, 70 feels strong. But above 50-50, feels right. Like 55, 60%. Yeah, like something like that. Yeah, 5560. You feel great about those guys

if they were your third receiver, though. You feel amazing about that. And I remember when we, you know, when I was driving in this afternoon, I remember I took it, I was thinking back to the conversation we had right when the Eagles traded for Dantamian Wicks. And you mentioned that you actually liked the fit with him and Devante Smith and A.J. Brown. As a third, as a third receiver behind him. I know McCoy Lemon, you know, like adding McKay Lemon complicates that a little bit, but I do sort of think that there's room for a proven second option behind Devante Smith. I think Brian Thomas Jr. represents that. The name I wanted to throw out was Jerry Judy. Okay. You know, the Browns obviously, they drafted two receivers in the top 50,

the next to top 60. Yeah. I think Boston is probably in top 50. Yeah, Boston was in top 50. So they added two receivers in the draft. And, you know, Jerry Judy, I remember you mentioned, like he kind of has some Wix, like DNA, like not super comprehensive. but at least like the route artist type thing sure yeah um so i wonder if he would be an ideal fit for what they're looking for um and he he's another one that would be like just a solid number two you know if you if your receiver room was devonte smith jerry judy dantavian wicks and mckeye lemon you feel good about having three guys that you feel really good about at all times so i don't know what it would cost to get him he's under contract through 2027 um it's not a you know it's not a

ridiculous contract to take on. So yeah, he'd be another one that I'd add to like, not quite as big a swing as Brian Thomas Jr. Maybe, but in that neighborhood, I would say. I think so. I think there's more of a runway with Jerry Judy, where we kind of know what he is at this point in his career with BTJ. He's coming off a little bit of a down year from a perception standpoint. So, you know, maybe you're, if you had tried to make that same trade a year ago,

you're giving up multiple picks. I think that with BTJ now, it's probably less than that if Jacksonville is willing to move on. I do think with Judy, I mean, look, if DJ Moore went for a second, right? Yeah. I think that you're probably in that same ballpark-ish, probably not quite a two, but like, you know, a three-plus would be my guess for Judy.

That's probably more than I'd want to spend. Yeah. Especially right, with Brian Thomas Jr., you have like some theoretical upside. Yes. Like you're buying the dip there. So probably hesitant on that one. I just very quickly, since we're talking about receiving receiver trade targets here, Yeah.

Is Brandon Ayuk on your list? No, I don't think that would be one that I'd be... I don't think so either. There's just like the little hint of like, the Eagles have done this before where it's like a player that's gone through a lot of injuries, like, you know, kind of, I mean, he hasn't bounced around the league, but it kind of feels like he's about to bounce around the league. Like draft pedigree, they like the 49ers, you know,

they like, you know, rating the 49ers waistbins here. I didn't want to pound the table for it. I just wanted to see what you thought about that one. Yeah, I did it to me. arrested this week? He did, yes. It was yesterday for, it was a traffic violation or speeding, something like that. Oh, okay. Yeah.

But I think when you're looking at IUC, I mean, this is a guy that hasn't played, obviously, he's coming off the injury. Then there's also like, I mean, John Lynch, watching the press conferences after the draft, he was like basically like, yeah, teams, if you want, if you want Brandiou, like, if you can get a hold of them, let us know, like that kind of thing.

It's like, yeah, you don't really love to hear that. So, you know, I'm probably cooler on that. Just wanted to throw it out. I promise. I was. I wasn't advocating for a Brandon Iuke deal here. Kishan Booty? I like that. Yeah, I mean, he'd be one where it sounds like he's, I believe he was not at voluntary camp for New England.

Was he not about the AJ Brown? I think anticipating that there might be a new receiver showing up there. You know, kind of turned him off a little bit. He, there would be some volatility there. I don't know that he would be one that I'd want to like trade and immediately extend. Yeah. But, I mean, he's 25 years old. Showed the ability to be like a downfield, big body threat for them last year.

So that would be one certainly to keep an eye on. And then another guy that I've always liked this player. I think he'd be a good schematic fit. I think he's probably too interwoven to like the culture down in Houston where they would not want to get rid of him all that. And honestly, I'm trying to think of a path where they would even want to get rid of him before because we're saying this as like a before week one. Yeah, like is this a trade deadline piece maybe?

Yeah, Xavier Hutchinson, the receiver from Houston, who has been a good role player for them for the last few years, kind of like a dirty work type of player. Yeah, I really like the player And he's been like a solid starter for them But they did draft two receivers in the second and third round last year And so it's a do we want to carve out of space for them to be able to take on more targets? Is it safe to say that Houston has a type at receiver? I think they have a type period.

Yeah. Which I always appreciate. Yeah. Because I, you know, it makes it easier to project. It may be easier to project. But then also like I kind of like the idea of like, you know, we've talked so much about like identity. We talk about that with like schematics and coaching schemes and things like that.

but I like that from a player personnel standpoint too like the you know howie roseman they've got they've got a type they've got an identity of a type of player you can kind of say like you watch a guy and you're like all right this guy feels like an eagle there are definitely players where i'm watching i'm like yeah this guy feels like a player that the Texans would want and uh so yeah i do think that they have a type i like an xavier hutchinson yeah um all right that's going to close the book on the big takeaway presented by exfinity um fran i went through very quickly

the interior offensive line uh candidates for this like i wanted to see if i could find there really isn't anyone. And that's always what's so tricky when you're looking at offensive line trades for the Eagles. I think they'd feel great if they could add one interior offensive lineman that if you told them

he had to start 12 games because of injury, you'd feel good about it. But it's so hard to find that player on another team because of the fact that the Eagles already are in such a good position with their offensive line relative to the rest of the league.

Yeah. And honestly, you want to kind of wait it out like what does this offensive line look like throughout the course of the summer? What is Land of? look like durability-wise? What does Cam Jurgens look like health-wise? That's why I ended up not even going down that path of looking through. Now, I did look up offensive linemen for another spot, but that's for a question down the line later on the show.

Okay. A little tease. Yeah. I like that. So call it the biz. Just to close the loop here, my brother-in-law says no to a third for Grant Delpit. I feel like that's the fan talking. That's a fan and him talking about. By definition, it is the fan talking. Yeah, but like, it's like the irrational fan. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

That you don't call them fanatics for nothing. Right. Yeah. All right. We're going to take our first break on the other side. We're going to tell you about a player the Eagles just signed that maybe has a chance to compete for a roster spot. You got to stay tuned on the other side of this break.

I find out. Five years ago today, transactions, the Eagles, signed the following draft picks. Devante Smith, Milton Williams, Zach McPherson, and Kenneth Gainwell. Devante went from being the number one to then playing four years with AJ Brown, who wasn't even on the team then. Now he's going to be the number one again.

Milton Williams played his entire rookie contract, then got paid. Zach McPherson, got injured. Kenneth Gainwell, good Eagles career, became the Steelers player of the year, and now he's somewhere else. So much can change in five years. including the price of your internet, unless you lock in the Xfinity five-year price guarantee

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and track analytics all in one place. So it's time to turn those what ifs into real dollars with Shopify today. You can sign up for a $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash all city. Again, that's Shopify.com slash all city to turn those what ifs into real dollars in your pocket. All right, we are back on the P.HO.A. Eagle Show. And by the way, I just noticed somebody, disliked the video. And I was like, why dislike the video

in the middle of an ad read, you know? And then I noticed the dislike went away, turned into a thumbs up. So whoever just did that, I see you, and I appreciate you. Anyway, Zion Wilson. Zion Wilson. Zion Wilson.

Who? Who's that? So the Eagles made a signing last night. This is according to NBC Sports Ryan Fowler, a defensive tackle that, Fran, you're going to tell us most about his player profile here. My understanding is what? He was a six-year senior that lost eligibility in college. A fifth-year senior trying to go back for the sixth year.

Sorry, I apologize. Tried to come back. Yes. Was denied and is now an NFL free agent. I don't know what leg he had to stand on to be able to go back for the sixth year. It is weird that they even tried it. But guys, you know, I get it, I guess. So my guess is...

I mean, who doesn't want to stay in college? forever, I guess. My guess is he probably had some kind of extenuating circumstance that resulted in him having to red shirt, because that's kind of what Trinidad Chambliss did, was like, all right, well, one of those years, there was like a medical thing. Okay. So even though Ferris State never registered it as a redshirt year, like they could have and they should have, and then since they didn't, yeah, whole big thing.

But Zion Wilson. So Zion Wilson goes to ECU, and he is an offensive line. And Red Shirts his first year doesn't play. he plays three snaps on offense in 2020 or he doesn't play at all in 2022 then he plays three snaps in 2023 so not cutting it as an offensive lineman 24 so he's a red shirt junior he plays eight more snaps on offense and then they decide halfway through the season you know what let's move you over to defense big fella let's move you over there let's see how this goes so he actually played 13 snaps in one game on defense in 2020

now he's a defensive tackle through and through. Last year, red shirt senior year, it's his first year playing defense full time. He leads the American Athletic Conference in Sacks. So he comes through and he has a, he has 42 tackles, 10 TFL, 7 sacks last year, the leading SAC artist in that conference. Now, you know, a small runway.

He tries to go back to school. He transfers to Virginia. So the plan was that he's going to transfer up and play for UVA this year. but that transfer or that that extra year got denied so then he ended up obviously entering the NFL and here we are signing with the Eagles now the Eagles gave him a pretty large guarantee so I have to have some level of confidence in his skill set I will say like there are some moments on tape where I'm like okay I got I kind of see something here I'll go through some of my notes

watching him this morning I ended up watching all of his pressures a bunch of run stops then I went through one full game just trying to get the full. So, you know, a little, a good, decent idea of the skill set here with this player. In terms of size, 6-3-3-15, my guess is that he is like closer to 6-2, maybe 6-1 and change than 6-3. We're going to say, because he's got a little bit of a squatty build, really thick quads, really thick bubble. So this is your type of guy?

I don't want to go. Let's not go crazy. Okay. Yeah. He looks like, yeah, he looks like, yeah, he looks like, he's, he looks like, he's, he's, looks like he's got shorter arms. I don't have official measurements. I haven't seen anything there.

So like, yeah. So quick twitch, though. A lot of like initial movement. The initial quickness is pretty good. He can get off the ball. They lined him up off and inside over the center. So he's not like by alignment. He was a nose tackle.

He's not a traditional nose tackle. This would be like your maybe like a four three like shade like where he would play. It was like his one technique. But you want him up the field. You want him kind of, you know, kind of winning off the ball. He'll be for this. Fangio scheme. He'll play like more Ojimo, Milton Williams. Yeah. So he's going to, he'll kick outside in this defensive scheme. But he's got a good initial movement. The quickness is there.

The go-to move was a quick arm over move. He's got a nice little swim move that got better as the season went on. You can see like he's starting to get more comfortable with how to rush the passer and how to beat offensive lineman one-on-one. So again, keeping in mind that this guy has not played much on defense at all, was able to produce. He's got some initial quick. We don't have a testing profile, but was able to produce and some of the athleticism I thought showed up on film. In the run game,

you know, one of the things I loved about Milton, one of the things I loved about Morrow was that these guys like holding up the point of a day. Yes, we love the production, the past game,

like you love the athleticism, the upside. They're on the field because you trust them against the run. Oh, man, like they hold up really well against the run. They're really violent. And this kid,

not as much. Oh, man. He can get pushed off the ball a little bit. You built it up. I was excited. Well, like there's a reason why, like,

really excited by those guys. With this guy, when you watch, his best plays against the run are him, like, penetrating. It's a lot of, like, I'm going to disrupt, I want to get into the back field, I'm going to beat this guy

and just kind of create havoc, which that's a useful skill set. In this defense, it's a little, that's a little bit harder for him to get down. Practice squad candidate, for sure.

I think that's a guy that you could definitely see, like, hey, let's get him in the building. Let's see if we can, if he can give us a little bit of juice in the preseason. Maybe he tries to make the team, but if not a developmental,

kind of interior penetrator type. So you're putting him on the back burner for a year, and then Jim Schwartz comes in next year, maybe two years from now, if Vic Fangio's got two years left, and then he's a perfect fit. It sounds like, to me, like, that's the defense that he fits a little bit more for,

but look, there's, there is a, any team could use a player like this, but he's a developmental player. The guy's played very little on defense. If he had, he mentioned he's explosive. Yeah. If he had a good pre-draft process,

not like blows the doors off or anything like that, but let's say he had a good pre-draft process. Stand by. Do you think he would have been drafted and where do you think he would have been drafted? He would be a day three. He's a day three. He's a day three physical talent. Let me just really quick.

I can go through all the defensive tackles that were drafted. Probably like in this range would be where I play some. All right. Stand by. I've got that list here. If you haven't hit the subscribe button, hit the subscribe button, hit the like button for us. You know, this has been, where else are you going to get this analysis on an undraft? I guess the undrafted late eligibility college prospect that the Eagles just signed.

All right. going to get this. So you watch, you watch Zane Durant this spring. I like Zandir. I like Zane Durant more. Okay. Then when I watched with this kid, I'm looking at Jackie Marshall from Baylor. He was the 16th defensive tackle off the board. Skyler Gil Howard was the 18th defensive tackle off the board. I'm probably taking him above these guys. Or I'm taking these guys above him. You know, the Bears took Jordan Vandenberg out of Georgia Tech. He was a 60th year senior, highly athletic, but only one year of production. I think that's kind of the realm that we're talking. So like late day three. Okay.

my guess at like his draft ceiling. Had he gone through the process and had a really good, had a really good showing. But he's the classic, like I could see them talking about him in the building and saying like, all right,

this guy's available. If he had gone back for another year and produced a UVA, like he could have been a late day two guys. Yes, he could have snuck into the third round. Like that, it's that type of profile.

I mean, if you're an Eagles fan, I think the bottom line is they just added a day three draft prospect that fell into their lap. I know they had to pay up for it, but still, I think it's a good process. They gave him,

similar guarantees to gush from a contract standpoint so there's some love there that's a great segue because gohy gushy hate that I hate that we had to do this today even without bow in the studio you're welcome well

oh man you know add this to the list of things we have to rehash and we've got a lot of beefs that we'll get to later in the show yeah all right so another mailbag question this one from old fool on social media he says outside of the long snapper what undrafted free agent

has the best chance to make the 53 manner roster. Are you putting Zion Wilson in there? Oh, we both know. The gush is probably, probably the answer. I had one other person. Is not my answer? Is it, is your answer, Darwish? He is. Aiquan Wright. So if you're a diehard, you would have gotten this literally the week after the draft after all the UDFAs had signed. Yeah, but that was before. Sorry, sorry. Well, I mean, look, I'm not going off of what I've seen from shorts and a t-shirt. I'm going to know, no, it's not that at all. Now, listen, again, as the man here who puts the significance on not what we're seeing on the field.

Right. What you're hearing from the people. And projit, I'm projecting looking at numbers. He's got a nickname already. From Bo. No, no, no, no, no. Vic, the origin of Bush is that Vic gave this guy a nickname.

He didn't call him gushy, gushy, yeah. He did not call him gushy, gushy, yeah. He's practically on the team already, Fran. No, let's not get crazy. Now, I would go with Dek-Wenwright. I think just from a numbers standpoint. Okay. If I'm looking forward, I'm like, all right, like, can I chart a path for

Dayquan Wright, like making some noise in camp and like, you know, vying for the fourth spot and he beats out Grant Calcutera for a spot? Yeah, that's not crazy. I think it's easier for him for that to happen than for Gush. Like, who does Gush have to beat out? He's got to beat out Michael Carter. He's got to beat out Mac Mac Williams. He's got to beat out my guys with more pedigree and more like guarantees. It's probably actually like that they carry an extra safety because they don't feel good about the position. Yeah. And or maybe, you know, J.T. Gray. Like, he's fighting for that, for that special teams, A, job. I think there's pathways for both guys.

I feel better at the tight end path than the DB path. I'm going to go with Gush because I'm going to no-sell Darwish here. Darwish, if you don't know the Darwish inside joke, it was day three of the draft, like six hours into the stream. Yeah. We're talking about like undrafted rookies or seven-drafts. Yeah, late seventh rounders that we thought the eagle should take. And Bo had written like some of it.

Chicken scratch down. Yeah. Unbelievably. Yeah. He called Dayquan right Darwish. He was like, Darwish? We're like, who are you talking about? So now he will forever be Darwish.

Yeah. Shout out to Darwish. If the Eagles are going to keep an extra tight end, it's going to be Kam Latu. It's not going to be Darwish. Anyway, I get the last word on that since I'm the host. From Philly Dan in Media. Shout out to Philly Dan. He sent me a lot of good questions.

What projected position battle has the best chance for the backup to win it? I think this one's pretty easy. It's safety. Safety. If you're going in thinking that it's Macuba and Marcus Epps is the start. starters, which I feel like that's the front running combo right now, to think that Michael Carter or one of these other guys might steal that job from EPS. I think that's probably the most likely. Yeah, there was a point in the off season where like the, I would say they, there were people in the

building projecting confidence about Michael Carter. Right. Really excelling in this transition to safety. I think you would like to see McCuba have a great summer. Yep. And for Michael Carter to be a backup that they have a lot of confidence in, but yeah, there is a world where it's like, McCube is working with the twos in the second week of camp. Not saying I think it's likely, but yeah, I think that that one is to be determined. Yeah. I got a good question from Kevin Frome here. From Kevin Frome. Kevin Frome. He got me about this. Oh, this was a good one. Yeah. We'll do this one, and then we'll go to break. So he says, I am thinking about how the Eagles are seemingly a step behind where they would usually be, usually want to be in having a Lane Johnson

replacement. So I keep thinking of options. I keep hearing how great the 2027 draft is, but early indications, there are early indications that this will be a good tackle draft. If not, do you think the Eagles may use a combination of picks, including the first they got from AJ, to make a big splash for a currently roster tackle similar to when they traded for Jason Peters? If so, any options come to mind after the season. All right. So I had them taking a tackle in my two early mock draft. I've done, I haven't done a ton on the tackle class like at large. But I've done write-ups on some players that I thought had a chance to go into this past

draft. And one of them was Nikki Prongos from Stanford, who only played one year at Stanford. He was previously at UCLA, didn't play any high school football, highly athletic, freaky physical specimen, similar-ish type of profile to Maxi Honichore from last year. It's like, oh, man, like, this is a guy that with his traits, he's going to go back end of round one all day. And that's kind of how I feel about Nikki Prongos. I think it's important. Like, yes, I agree that this draft, this 2027 draft is shaping up to be very, very strong across the board. But if you're the Eagles, you're not probably in a position where you're

taking like the guy, like Jordan Seton is the guy. A lot of people are excited about the left tackle from LSU previously at Colorado. There's the kid down to Texas, Trevor Guzby that a lot of people are really excited about as a potential top 10 pick. The Eagles are probably not going to be in position to draft either of those two players. So you're talking like next tier and maybe the the tier below that for this team. And so, yeah, I haven't done all the work on all, like, the mid-round-one tackles yet, but Prongos was a guy that definitely stood out. Yeah, it's tricky to, like, thread the needle, right?

Where it's like, is there, like, a guy who maybe hasn't started a lot of games, but is like a Bruce Feldman's freaks list candidate? Yeah. Like, yeah, that's going to be an interesting thing to watch because you're right. Like, you don't want, like, the surefire guys. You almost want them to have a bad year if you're hoping that they end up with the Eagles. And, you know, that presents its own questions. So the second part of the question in terms of, like, the pro market,

I have one for you, but go ahead. Okay, well, there wasn't like a Jason Peters for me. Right, yeah. Like that, that was a tough needle to thread. A few names. There was Austin Jackson down in Miami. First round pedigree. He's gotten better year over year, but certainly not to like Jason Peters level.

You know, kind of serviceable play, more guard than tackle, but has played some tackle. Ike Occhioquano, former top 10 pick. Ooh, I like that one. Coming off a big injury, torn Patelor tended in last year, late in the year last year. this is going to be kind of a red shirt year for him going into a contract year. So tough timing on his part. So very similar to Nikobe Dean. How much are you going to see from McQuanoo?

How much of the athleticism falls off? But again, nowhere near JP level. Did he have injury stuff coming out too? No, it wasn't huge? Yeah, it wasn't a big deal? Was it physicality that he was? No, the physicality was big time with him. I remember.

The size was just okay. The past protection technique was really rough with him. Walker Little, who Jacksonville and Doug Peterson, they gave him a big contract. they drafted him the second round, then they gave him a bunch of money to be a starter, and then the new staff came in, and he promptly became the swing tackle, and got unseated there as the starter.

So, you know, maybe you take a swing with him and say, hey, there's something to work with there. Obviously, none of these guys are like, well, man, the high-end swing. Two names that are like, all right, these guys are starting tackles. Yeah. Let's say things go south in Cincinnati.

Okay, yeah. Things go south in Cincinnati. There's turnover on the coaching staff, and they want to trade a player. Amarius Mims. Oh, I loved him coming out. I know it. I know that.

He's right up, right up rally. Amarius Mims would be a guy like, okay, like that kind of fits. But why would Cincinnati trade him? You know, but that's like, all right. Like maybe if he has a little bit of an up and down year, then he doesn't do well. You have a new regime. They move on.

He was such a fun prospect for me. Oh, man. He was a top 10 prospect for me that year. The other one would be, similarly, things go south in Minnesota this year. This is the one I had. Brian O'Neill. Yeah. Yeah.

So Brian O'Neill, who. has been the right tackle for the Minnesota Vikings. Obviously, the connection with Chris Cooper. So I think when you look at that one, that was one where he's an upcoming free agent after the season. So do you try and make a move there? He's actually a player that I thought, like, had a similar Lane Johnson-ish profile, but obviously he's a little bit older.

And again, good player, not JP all-pro level player. Yeah, I would say it'll be 31 next season. But I really just was immediately thinking, like, is there a Chris Cooper? connection to a player where if the Vikings are selling next summer, could the Eagles add him. So I thought Brian O'Neill made sense.

I thought about Christian Darisol, but he's getting paid so much money. And it's hard to envision, even if the Vikings were rebuilding. He's not so, like Christian Darisol be 27. Next season, it's not like they're going to be desperate to sell them or trade him, even if they have a bad year. So I like those things.

Appreciate you doing the work on that one for him. All right. We're going to take our next break. On the other side, we're going to talk about edge rusher playtime distribution. And maybe we'll start to mix in some nonsense. I've got some lawn stuff that I want to get to. Okay. A couple things.

So stay tuned. We'll get to all that on the other side of this break. Introducing your newest eagle, Elijah Mitchell. And also, Wawa now has tacos. Your new craving, baby. Wawa is expanding its freshly prepared food lineup with new seasoned beef tacos. available for just a limited time and they're built to deliver bold craveable flavor in every single bite. We are talking warm. So flower tortillas with Wawa's savory

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The lineup is only here for a limited time. So next time you're at Wawa, grab a taco. Next, I want to thank all of you for being a part of the PHO-Y community. I remember it's almost coming up on a year anniversary of last year's Ospreys when I joined the team and I was blown away by the community that PHOI had already built. and now it's really been special for me to be a part of it, and I hope it's a special for you guys as well. And I want to tell you that we're always looking to improve our shows and better understand how you listen and which you value most. And that's why we've launched a new

quick survey. It's feedback that helps us shape the content that you love and make it even better, and you guys can really take agency over this and let us know the areas that you want us to improve. It only takes a few minutes, but it can make a big impact. So take a moment and head to all p hly.com slash poll and let your voice be heard again that's all p hoy dot com slash poll respondents have a chance to win a one hundred dollar amazon gift card just in time for the summer and again guys i just want to say we appreciate you all right we are back on the p h o y eagles podcast i'm going to mix a couple of nonsense in with the actual eagles talk that's fair if you wanted some nonsense this is time okay so we're going to start with one that kind of straddles both areas here from Tired Penguin.

Who is Mackay Lemon's Premier League comparison? Now you mentioned before the show that you played soccer, but you don't watch soccer. No. So why you don't have any interest in watching it? I've only got so much bandwidth. That's fair. I can turn, I will say, like,

we were recently on a trip. We went down to Turks and Caicos a week ago. And one of the nights, after we got back, we got back to the room. I was getting Francis to go to sleep, and we put on a soccer game. Nice way to fall asleep. Yeah, it is.

I always say there's nothing more calming than watching a team you don't care about. Right. Oh, absolutely. The team you care about is agony. I enjoy the sport. Yeah. I played it all growing up,

you know, through college played it. But not a... Not my thing. I haven't found a team to get invested in or anything like that. Well, you can join the Ashton Villa bad wagon. We can talk about it on the show. I know you're not going to.

McCai Lemons' Premier League comp. Listen, I watched the Premier League through the prism of Ashton Villa. And I actually think, like, a best case comp for Mackay Lemon is Emiliano Buendia. Like a small player that's really, really tough and works really hard that you wouldn't necessarily expect to be as physical as they are. But a player that has, like, really, like, high-level talent. You might not see it every single game, but, like, they are capable of doing something that nobody else in the field is capable of.

doing sometimes. So that's going to be my comp. I tried to think of like a low level comp, like, you know, a worst case scenario. There are like a lot of players that are small and like struggle with the physicality of the Premier League.

I mean like Florian Words is probably an example. But yeah, you know, that's actually a good like worst case scenario. Like highly billed player that was like physical, was physically impressive in a lower league or a smaller league in the Bundesliga,

came to the Premier League and really struggled with the physicality in his first season. See, I don't think my concerns with Mackay Lemon are not necessarily like the issues with physicality. I like his physicality. Yeah. I just worry like, are the traits good enough to get him to where he will be like a standout performer at that position?

Yeah, I think that Blandia is a good comp for that. I wanted to ask you, we could do this quick if you want. Yeah. There's been some buzz about Mackay Lemon's like contested catch rate in college, right? Yep. And how that makes him an ideal fit to replace AJ Brown because of the, the fact that AJ Brown offered a lot of that to the Eagles offense in terms of like, not just like contested catches in terms of like going up and getting the ball,

but like the late hands on a deep route or something like that, just being able to catch everything. Are you buying that? Like as a, I guess as like a college, like you can look at the college contested catch rate, does that even often translate to the NFL? Yes and no. As with most stats, I would look at it as like more of a descriptor than a predictor. Like, it's not like, oh, all the guys that are really good at contested catches are, you know, that they're going to be great at that in the NFL. Because I knew this could potentially come up.

I asked Lindsay to whip up a couple graphics. Oh, did you? So, Lindsay, let's go. We have wide receiver buckets. I've got five buckets here. Oh, wide receiver buckets. Yeah, so now, look. This is a lot of bow service today.

Well, you know, look, I'm following the master when it comes to the wide receiver buckets. This is the sample that we're dealing with here, okay, is first round receivers since, 2018, because that's when the contested catch numbers have been available at college for the players' final season. So it's 41 players, all looking at their final years. First bucket, not often contested, but successful when he was. To me, this is the bucket that's like that you most want to be it. Yeah, these are the guys, right?

It's like, all right, you're open a lot, but when you have to make a tough catch, you have to make a, now, here's what I would say about contested stuff. It is a, you're taking a small sample and you are narrowing down that sample. Because like we're seeing with some of these guys, Garrett Wilson was contested on 13.1% of his targets in his final season of Ohio State. So that is a small number. Like I forget exactly how that's probably,

you were talking probably like 18 targets. So he was successful on 57 of them. So what was he like 10 of 18? Like I'm guessing on those numbers, but just kind of projecting forward on what I remember those numbers to look like. So we're not talking a huge, huge sample here. But I would say like if you're going into this and saying, all right, of the four potential buckets,

this is the one you would probably want to be. and you see there's some good names there. That is the one that McKay Lemon is in, where he was not often contested. They did a good job scheming him open. There was a lot of screens, things like that. That does not take that into account here with this one. So it's like they were able to scheme him open,

but the times when he did have to go up and make that contested catch, he did so at a pretty high rate. I mean, 61.1% is a really good success rate in contested situations. Now, there are other buckets that are at S-kind. Let's go to the next one here, Lindsay. this is the not often contested and then struggled when he was. I would say this is the bucket you probably least want to be in.

So it's like, now, there are still some hits in there. Jameson Williams, really good player. Brandon Ayuk, when everything's right is a good player. But you can see that there are also some misses in this one as well. Marquise Brown is in there. Jahan Dotson is in there. So there are some guys in here that obviously have not all worked out. Then there was the next one that was kind of like middle of the pack

where it was not necessarily, like strong one way or the other like you know some contested sometimes they and middling results um there's some good hits in there by your boy omar cooper junior's in there um jordan tyson is in there jalen rager is in there which had me thinking about when i compared uh cooper and uh and rager that that showed up a little bit devante smith is also in this one so um you know again like predictor of success no but interesting to just kind of look at uh real quickly we'll just go through the last two buckets often contested and successful when he was i think this is a pretty fair favorable bucket as well.

Sorry, I saw Bateman at the top and I got nervous. Yeah, so basically the way that these are all sorted by the, so the guys with the lower percentage of contested targets are at the top. Okay. So if you were, so the guys at the bottom, Nikol Harry saw the highest rate of contested targets in this bucket and he's down to the bottom of the list. So, but you can see like, all right, Egbuka's in there, good start to hit for him. You know, Drake London's in there.

Tetero McMillan's in there. Jamar Chase is in there. But again, like, this is a descriptor. And it allows you kind of see like, all right, like, what kind of player? These are guys that don't separate, but have that ability to win above the rim. One of the most troubling ones, I would say, is this next one. It's the last one. Only four names in this list.

Often in contested situations and struggle to win when he was in that. So you live this way and you struggle to make plays regardless. One for four on this one right now. I mean, we'll see what happens with Marvin Harrison Jr. in year three. New one in the new offense. But Traylin Berks and Quentin Johnson have not been outstanding so far up to this point. Quinn and Johnson is starting to come around, but not great. First off, great job by both of you guys.

I would have thought that McKay Lemon would have been closer to the last bucket, just based off of what I saw from him in terms of not necessarily being able to separate against press ban consistently, and having this reputation as like strong hands can catch everything. Right. So, okay. But that's the thing is that that's the point we've had about like, in today's world, he doesn't need to beat press man all the time. Like you could do things to get him on the move.

and keep him protected where he's not isolated as much, and you are able to protect him a little bit, where that's not as much of an issue as often. Absolutely. A couple of quick fire ones here from Eric D. Who wins the running back three job if you had to guess today between Shipley, Mitchell, and the field? Topical.

The All-Nefl draft newsletter went out this morning, and it's all focused on running backs. The All-Nefel draft podcast went out yesterday, also all about running backs. Talk about archetypes with Matt Waldman. who does a great job in the fantasy space. You both do a great job. Thank you.

I think that it's Shippley. I agree. I think the coaching staff is more bullish on Shepley than the fan basis. So I'm going to go Shepley. But the field's interesting. You know, could something change between now and training camp. I think when you look at the role of the RB3 and the Eagles offense, obviously you have Sequan Barkley is going to get the lion's share of reps.

Tank Biggsby is. you know can be a change of pace to Sequin but then also can be not a one for one replacement but like all right he's the guy that can step in if there's an injury and then shippley can kind of like fill in some specialty roles here and there because he can do some things on special teams uh you can catch the passes out of a backfield he's got that's why like i wasn't as high on him as a like a fourth round pick because it's like that that's a skill set you can get later in the draft right makes sense um this is one that i'm going to spin forward we're not going to set the numbers today but i like the idea uh this is from matt hottenstein who says

five public pushup bet between you and Fran on Eli Stower season stats. I'm thinking like 22 catches 190 yards and two touchdowns. I'm not agreeing to that stat line. I'm going to go do some research. I'm going to decide what I'm comfortable with. And then I would love that bet. I think that sounds fun. Here's the thing though.

Aren't you and I like kind of in the same questionable about what the production lines can look like? We are. I think so that's like where I guess my argument has been. Yeah, well, that's I guess. Yeah, that's the thing is that you feel... I think he should be on the field less later. Yeah.

This is one of the first beeps, I think, from the last few weeks. Yeah, I don't think that he... I don't think that him not being on the field necessarily spells whether or not he's going to be a good player or not moving forward. I don't know that he's going to be on the field a lot this year, but...

I tend to agree that there's a chance he doesn't play much. Yeah. I do think, like, if they can't get him on the field, the field even as a rookie it would make me a little bit more worried about the pick 22 catches 190 yards two touchdowns I think that's fair that's a fair guesstimate let me see if we can pull up I might take the I might take the under I think I lean under I'm trying to find the the realistic expectations that we did right you know what five push-ups isn't that big of a deal all right let's do it let's take that one

Thank you, Matt Houghtenstein, for this entry. If he doesn't get that, then I will do five public pushups. It is 248 on June 5th. You have my word. If Eli Stowers doesn't have those numbers, I will do five pushups. And if he does, you got to do five pushups. Okay. Can you do five?

You can do five pushups. Yeah. I feel like how insulted Fran is. I might freaking walk off the set right now. Are you kidding me? I mean, you know, I don't know if you have an injury. You're obviously a fit guy, but you know, you can't just assume. You got to give people space.

Do you think I can do five push-ups? Yes, I do. See, he's got more confidence than me than you. What the hell? I just learned. All right, we're going to go to break. I think that, to me, is worthy of more beef, more like animosity than anything I've said in the last month. Elbow brace.

I could never wear an elbow brace. Yeah, because you couldn't be doing those push-ups all the time. You actually asked me that question? I stopped. I stopped myself. No, you did. I said, I don't think you could do five push-ups. We're going to go to break.

I'm going to try to convince Fran to stay for the rest of the show. Stay tuned. Birds are headed to Nashville. Music City. And you want to be there to watch it all happen and have a good time with Birds fans down on Broadway, get a little honky-tonk and watch a fun football game. Do it all.

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There's no back and forth. No games. Just real brothers making real deals every single day. Elkin Chevrolet, real brothers, real deals, and a whole lot of honking good service. Route 73 South in Marlton. All right, we are back on the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast. Let's get through a couple nonsense ones,

and then we'll rehash the beef. All right. So from Nick on Instagram, shout out to Nick. What type of weed treatment do you use on your lawn? This was a question to me. I posted a picture of my grass. The lawn stripes are looking pretty good, if I do say so myself.

And I'm going to be honest with everybody. and I don't know who needs to hear this. I am, I'd like to think a pretty analog guy. I like to do a lot of things myself. With lawn treatment, find a good local mom and pop shop. Don't go to like a big branch store unless, you know, they want to advertise with us, but don't, don't like just sign up for one of the big ones. Find a place that does it in your area that uses organic products and let them take care of it.

And the nice thing is you really only need to let them take care of it for. for like a year. Right. Because once you have really healthy. Or once every few years. Yeah. Yeah. Once you have really healthy grass, like yeah, maybe you can have them out for fertilizer.

Right. Once you have really healthy grass, the turf will like choke out a lot of the weeds. So my grass, like, you know, we had a local place. They come out like twice a year now. You know, for one year they really did like put down treatment. But my grass is like, knock on wood. It's on autopilot right now. Like it just, I cut it.

The thing that people don't realize about cutting grass. is you're cutting it too low. I don't know who needs to hear this. You are cutting your grass too low. Like cut your grass down to like four inches. Like if you have like a little mower, put it as high as it goes. And if you cut your grass,

only take off like a third every time is what they say. Your grass will be healthier. A little mower. What a flex for the riding mower back. Well, I mean, honestly, I want to have a small mower for a part of my yard. If you have like a small mower that doesn't go up past like three inches,

just put it up as high as it goes. I don't even bother with grass health because of the dog. Like, there's the dog going back there and just going to the back. You know, the same thing at the old house. You should see in my backyard. Well, yeah.

Where I struggle with the weeds is like, in our house we have a lot of garden beds. It was just like a constant battle. And I don't, because I grow stuff in those garden beds, I'm very judicious about what I put to treat. Like I don't want to put chemicals in there because it's like, we have raspberry bushes and strawberries and like all that.

So I meant I didn't mention that when I was talking about. talking about the garden with the other day. But it's like, yeah, I don't want to put that stuff in the ground because I'm eating stuff out of the ground. So I've come, the last couple years I've tried like cardboard underneath the mulch. That was pretty useful in a couple spots. But yeah, it's a never-ending struggle. We've done cardboard. We've tried weed fabric.

It's a never-ending journey. But yeah. Do you like the fabric? I do like the fabric, except we just dug everything out of our garden. And it was a pain to deal with that. Like, now I've just got fabric, like, hanging everywhere. Yeah. garden's getting a makeover.

Thanks for the question, Nick. I appreciate all of you who complimented my lawn. It really feeds my ego, which I need. From J-Kime on the Discord, a sicko. Shout out to J-Kime. I think that's how you pronounce it. He asks me about baby name talk.

So when we figure out our names, we had a list and a big factor was the names being eliminated by one of us having a bit of prejudice against a name due to knowing of someone with that name. Has working in a job, closely covering athletes and coaches, eliminated some names from the pot of names,

not just because Player X was a jerk so that the name is out. But if you really like the name Jalen, it might be weird going back post-baby and telling people you named the baby Jalen when it's such a prominent name in that locker room. It's a great question. Yes. I don't think we have much crossover on the boy name list with Eagles players, but I will say,

I really like the name Jackson, and Jackson Smith and Jigba just wiped that out. Really? I mean, Jackson Smith is already out there. So, right? I did like the name Jackson, though. I don't know if I would have spelled it like Jackson does. Right, JXO.N.

I'm not saying I wouldn't for the record. Right. But it would have been like, that would have been bold for us. We're pretty safe with the baby names. So, yeah, Jackson, Smith, and Jigba took that name from me. Yeah. Yeah, we didn't have to put too much faith or too much time into boy names for us. So it was more just like the girl name aspect of it.

There was an app at the time where it was like we basically would get linked. up on the app and it would just cycle through names. You could like, oh, you could like scroll right, scroll left or, you know, whatever. I swipe left, that's right. Swipe left, swipe right. And then at the end of the day, it would come back and say, here are the ones you guys both swiped right on. I like that.

It was cool. I might have to try that. Although, honestly, I think introducing more names right now might be, might be valid. You could have done Francis either way. I can make a girl's name. It's true. Yeah. I, um, because, uh, he, that's a, that's a family name.

Uh, we probably. wouldn't have gone that route, but who knows? Or something like Francesca. Close. True. Francesca. I like Francesca. People thought.

It cuts a little too deep because like, you know, kids in the playground when I was like little little, like, you know, it's like, oh, like, you know, I would get called stuff like that. Yeah, yeah. So it's like. People thought we were going to name my daughter Erica because my husband's Eric. I was like, it's like a little too. Cutsie. We like our son Julian. Right.

It's be funny. All right. We have like four minutes to hash this beef out. My thing with you, Fran. is multiple times in the last couple weeks. It feels like you're trying to represent what I say, but you're making it like so hyperbolic. You're like, I mean, I've said that it was important

they started well, but then EJ said they have to be top five and EPA per drive. I never said that. I never said that. I think you're strong manning my arguments. You're pushing them to an extreme so that you can tear them down. No, you took them and you went too far.

No, I didn't. I didn't say they need to be top five in EPA per drive or anything. You basically came up just short of saying, They don't have a top 10 offense. Nick Sergon is getting fired in week six. That's not right. He won't make it to Halloween. I think what you're doing is you're buying into Bose like gaslighting where he's like,

he like repositions the argument 15 times. And I'm just over here saying like, I think that they have to look competent on offense. I said competent. I didn't say dominant. I didn't say top 10. I, you might have been, you might have gotten a nicer version of me for this discussion if you hadn't questioned my ability to do five pushups 10 minutes ago.

That said, no, I feel, I feel pretty fine about how the, how I read. I'm going to have to go back and find the tape. I never said. I never, you said, you said top five. I think I was, it was pretty clear that I was exaggerating about top five on EPA per play. I'm not saying you said exactly that. You did it again with something and I can't even remember what it was. I thought you were supposed to write down all your beefs. Oh no, I wasn't going to write down on my beef. I thought you had them all right. I like you, Fran. I'm not actually trying to come in here like fight with you about this. It was, um, was it Stowers? It was the Stowers. There was the one that was the Stowers playtime thing where it was like,

oh, well, if he doesn't play all that much this year, then that means it was a bad pick. I don't think that's the get, my concern, I remember when you texted me when you guys were in show when you guys first had the discussion, you said like,

hey, like, do you think this percentage of snaps for Stowers as a rookies? And I was like, yeah, my concern is that he never surpassed that period. Yeah, which honestly, he's going to get past that as a rookie. That validated my argument that day.

Because Bo was basically saying it doesn't matter if he doesn't play Euro one. I think that's, I think I'm closer to that. I don't think it matters if he doesn't play this. Oh, so you don't think it matters. think if he if he's not playing it does validate like your concerns about can this guy get on

the field yeah but but i think but your i think the way you looked at it though was that if he doesn't play as a rookie that means oh the bad pick like i i'm leaving i'm leaving this is what we're talking about i'm leaving the door open i'm leaving the door open where like he doesn't play that that much it develops behind the scenes and then in year two he's you know he's ready to go i am not saying i'm not saying that we're writing the pick off if he, it doesn't play his rookie season. Okay. I am saying that it validates the concerns you had when he was coming out.

I think you were stronger on your vindications on that, than you've had that conversation. Because I remember listening to you like up too far, bridge too far. Yeah, I don't, A, I don't think so. And B, like, sometimes in the heat of the argument, you are like strengthening your position, but I can tell you for certain. Like, I don't think he's a, like,

I don't think it's all. It's a wasted pick and he's not playing as a rookie. But I think it validates the concerns that you have. There was a good, conversation recently on the athletic football show. It actually was the episode that dropped on Friday. You know what, Fran? Should we tell them about that in tight end time?

It's like a C-minus for the guest host, I think. It would have been an F for Bell. C-M-A-I-I was going to say. Not sure that I agree. It would have been an F for Bell. Can't say I agree with that. Listen, I'm not used to being in this chair, all right? So go on.

We're talking to, yeah. Blame the chair. Yeah, a good episode of the athletic football show, Robert Mays and Derek Klasson talked about like the, you know, the trend that we saw with the tight end position, this offseason with guys getting paid, the usage last year with the uptick in multiple tight-ed sets, obviously what happened in the draft

with all those guys going on day two. And then they talked with your boy, Charlie Kolar, from the Chargers at the end of the show. So it was a really interesting discussion. And honestly, I thought that they covered a lot of things that was what gave me pause about Stowers and that type of skill set, not specifically Stowers,

but that skill set of player and just saying like, oh yeah, like this is the tight end, like the teams are playing with more tight ends, put this guy out there. I think there are certain thresholds that need to be met from a blocking standpoint that I just don't know if he will ever get there.

And that's the question. If he gets there, then I think then you're cooking, but does feel like the modern tight end might not be a reflection of Eli Stowers. Current skill set might have to develop. I'm going to have to listen to that when I'm out in the garden this week. Just throwing my back out. It's going to be terrible this weekend.

Yeah. I mean, gardening's fun when you have like a 15 minute. Like, I'm just going to plug away it for a little bit. But when you have a job, you have to finish, it's not fun. Not a fun job. All right. Let's get through some super chats and then we'll get you out here, Fran. Okay.

Before we get to the super chats, you see Reed's reviews, 615 in the chat. Nice. Says hello. Shout out Reed. Shout out Reed. Read, your dad. is awesome. Role model of mine, really, really special guy, you know, just the best. Read, read, read, read, read, read. Give it up in the chat. Yeah, everybody shout out read.

All right, let's get through the super chats. All right. Why thigh shy from Frank Barber 70950. Let's just say, you know, we're feeling like we should probably wear pants in the studio. We thought we would spare you. Yeah, you know, if you really feel strongly about it, Get in the comments. Become a diehard to go to the Discord. Exactly, yeah. If you want to advocate for more pie on this show, you can get in the discord about that. From Corey Sito, boy, John McGinn-Smith, girl, Morgan Rogers Smith.

I appreciate that. You know, I might have pounded the table for some Asson Villa related names. There might be one that's on the baby name list. It's not a player, though. It's a manager. And Corey will know what that means. From our friend, CDP, Fran, what are five things you admire about EJ? Do you want to save this for next week, maybe?

Let's see. Just overall, just a really nice, wholesome. Are you going to be serious about this? I'll get you here. Yeah, please. Just a really wholesome friend. Just a really nice guy, number one. Number two, really hard worker.

Number three, loving husband, great family man. Really takes, you know, is really, really important with all. everything that has to do with the home life. Number four. Uh-oh. What? I'm worried now. I think it's got to get negative at some point.

No, well, yeah, with the next question. Number four, let's go with, I mean, the guy takes some great meat picks. Shout out Ed. So let's go with meat picks number five. And we'll say that, we'll say ball noer. When you come to. I appreciate that. Football, football and football.

Football, yes, World Cup come out. All things considered. All right. And then from Frank Barber, and I appreciate you balance. Thank you, first and foremost. But I was worried about what was coming. And now I am worried because Frank Barber wants to know what are five things you hate about E.J. I mean, his guesstimates on how many push-ups I can do have to be number one. Number two, I would say the need to upscale his arguments and go too far. I think that's pretty clearly number two. number three that's true number three I struggle here

I think I've run out player player evaluations yeah okay let's go with that the inconsistencies with saying like oh this is my guy is like oh yeah like I really love Amarius Mims but then I also really love

you know Blake Miller like it's like you know you gotta find a lane somewhere you can't love Tyree Jackson and Cam Latu it makes no sense I don't love Tyree Jackson I know but I'm just you that's number three

All right. You don't have two more. No, I don't think so. Okay. I appreciate you. You didn't make that personal. I know you probably had something in the holster, but I appreciate that. No, I don't think so. No, and I said it to you privately. I should have put it in there in my number five. You're going to be a great dad. Stop.

Gotcha. You said that during an ad break before it was public knowledge to the sickos, and I swear to God, I was crying when we came back from the ad break. So I appreciate you saying that because you are an exceptional dad, and you said a great example. Oh, stop. And on that note, we're going to get out of here. It's gotten too sappy.

It's gotten too, as my dad would say, it's too mushy. So, yeah, he's a big, like, if you're being, like, emotional. Yeah, don't be mushy about that. So anyway, all right, this has been a fun show. Yeah. Appreciate you, Fran. Appreciate you, Lindsay, the graphics, as always. Excellent.

Lindsay's been on a heater on the thumbnails this week, guys. So let's all just congratulate Lindsay on just an unbelievable week of thumbnails. Thank you. So I hope you guys all enjoy your weekend. We're going to get out of here. And as always, we love. you. Like the mayor.