PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Emergency pod: Josh Uche bolsters Philadelphia Eagles’ edge group with Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

With Josh Sweat gone and Brandon Graham's status lingering, the Eagles added former New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs edge rusher Josh Uche, who brings pass-rush upside and coverage versatility to Vic Fangio's defense. Join Fran Duffy, Zach Berman and Bo Wulf as they react to the news. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

and welcome to an emergency podcast as the Eagles have made another signing, Josh Uchette, the former second round pick, edge rusher with some versatility, formerly of the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs where he was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl. Boat Wolf joined by Fran Duffy and Zach Berman. Zach, give us the scoop on the Eagles thinking as they add Josh Uche. Yeah, a situational pass rusher who comes cheap, right? We haven't seen the numbers yet. That's a one-year deal. The Eagles obviously need edge-rushing depth. They lost Josh's wet this week.

We're expecting Brandon Graham, well, Brendan Graham could retire this off-season. So you look at the Eagles depth chart. They have obviously Nolan Smith. Okay. They have J-Lx Hunt. They have for now Bryce Huff. And they don't really have anyone there after who you're saying is definitely going to be on the team.

So this was a spot that they'll continue to, address Josh Uche and you guys kind of get into the profile, but he's, you know, he's someone who has been productive in the past, but obviously the Eagles are buying a prolonged dip here, two consecutive seasons without much production and really only one year of like notable production as a as a sacker in the NFL. Actually, before we get into Josh Uche, I want to follow up on something there because I thought it was the most interesting part of Adam Schupper's tweet about this was, without Josh Schwett and Brandon Graham, as if it was definitive,

is your expectation that that is a definitive thing from the Eagles perspective that Brandon Graham will retire? That's what I've been hearing is the expectation is that he will retire. It's ultimately Brandon Graham's decision. The season went longer this year. He's recovering from an injury now. I saw him at the facility two days ago, over three days ago. We caught up about some other stuff, not about that.

But he's recovering from an injury at this point. point. So he'll make the decision when he's right. But I don't anticipate at this point, Brandon Graham being on the roster this season. Now, in terms of the level of investment, typically when you don't see dollar amounts reported right away, it means it's going to be pretty low. And the story of Josh Uche's young career, he is still just 26 years old, will be 27 in September, is that he had that really peak year in 2022, his third year in the NFL, 11 and a half sacks for the Patriots. And then last year, three-s-s-sense years. And he's a player who we talked about as a potential Eagles free agency signing last year as a chance to buy the dip.

And the dip continued in 2024. Midway through the season, traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for just a 2006. Sixth round pick did not ingratiate himself there. He's just got five puddle sacks over the past two seasons. But in terms of the type of player, the Eagles are getting in the ideal version of Josh Uchay, he is someone who gives that flexibility on the outside, right, Fran? Yeah. This is an undersized edge rusher, six one and a quarter, 245 pounds when he was coming out of Michigan in the 2020 draft.

He was a one year starter when he was there. So it was very much a projection for him, became a second round pick by New England, like you mentioned, took a little bit of time. And then he had that huge spike year a couple of seasons ago. But he's got a very specific skill set where, you know, you kind of have to scheme around him, right? Just because of the type of rusher he is, it's a lot of pure speed rush. You want to move him around, keep him standing up. And so I'm fascinated to see how the Eagles view him, how Vic Fangio views him. Because honestly, it's a similar kind of background and build to Zach Bonn.

You know, look, I had, it's funny enough, both Ushay, Bryce Huff and Zach Bonn, all were in that same draft class. And, you know, similar kind of archetypes as those undersized rushers. You know, I think when you're looking at Ushay, he was much more of the projection, a position, player because he was sometimes he was off the ball as a stacks player sometimes he was down off the edge and so it was a lot of debate about what he would be in the NFL and I think that that ambiguity has followed him over the course of his career well I'm glad you mentioned that because I do think that that is worth considering here Zach you have told us heading to this free agency that you still think the Eagles wanted to fill the type of role that they thought

Zach Bond was going to be last off season that guy who could do a little bit of edge a little bit of inside work and not just become the best football linebacker in football. Do you think there's a chance to that that's how they view Josh Uche here? Well, it's not something that you would rule out just based on the frame and the athletic of, you know, like the movement skills. He's a little more established as an edge rusher than Zach Bond was a year ago. And then, but yeah, I mean, if we were talking about like Baron Browning, for instance, it is conceivable that that's something that they look at just because he can move.

He is that size. And that was the profile coming out of Michigan, like the versatility that he has. And the fact that he moves differently for that spot. So I, as I said, leading into free agency, I thought the Eagles would look for that type of role. I know they were excited about that with Bonn a year ago before they moved Bonn to the inside, to have someone who can help you in different packages. Unlike Baron Brown and who we spoke about, Josh Ujay has special teams experience, so he could help there.

So when Fran brought that up to me off camera, I said that's an interesting thought. It's not something I thought about, but that is an interesting thought. Yes. I think it's, you know, it remains a possibility. Now, first of all, thank you to the Super Chat for telling us, according to Mike, that it's Ushay, not Ushay, so that that. That's good to know, Josh Ushay. You just look at how often he has been in coverage.

That has been something that he has been asked to do a lot over the course of his time in New England. You do the, you know, I'm going to true media and I'm sorting all the edge rushers with at least 600 pass-fresh snaps over the past three years combined. And he's ranking towards the top of those guys, you know, towards the top end-ish of those guys in terms of quarterback hit rate. He's actually right around Montez Sweat. But he also is in coverage a good amount, 16. 17% of the time over the course of that time. That's in like the Matthew Judon, Uchena Nuwosu range. But it is important to keep in mind that even in the best case scenario of Josh Ushay,

even in that 11.5-Sack season, he was still a rotational, like he was still playing like 35, 40% of the snaps. He was just making the most of them. This is not a guy who even in the best version of himself is going to be more than, you know, edge three or four. No, you're right about that. And that's the role that you're signing them in for. And as, you know, as we didn't have a lot of time to prepare for this, but as we were preparing for this, I was going to make this joke about how, you know,

in NovaCare, they probably went on YouTube and watched last year's quackatology because A.J. Dillon and Josh Ushay were. We don't have the cash for this year's quacketology. Let's go back to last year. Yeah. But as I say that, there is some. something, there is probably something to that in the sense that you're getting probably players who you had decent evaluations on a year ago at lower prices this year.

AJ Dillon, Josh Ushay, I mean, I imagine these were guys who they looked at a year ago and like their pro scouting department's like, yeah, this is interesting, but, you know, we're either we're spending more on Bryce Huff and Sequin Barkley or we just don't have the value for them that right now, both of those guys are more depressed. breast assets one year later. And that's kind of the water that the eagles are swimming in. So I bring that up when you talk about the Josh Uche role. Yeah, this is this is not a guy who's pushing J.OX Hunt for playing time,

is pushing Nolan Smith for playing time. This is a guy who's your fourth edge rusher. And then as both Bo and Fran said, as someone who maybe they can cross train to play off ball a bit as well. And, I mean, to be realistic, you know, the chiefs traded for the guy after the Patriots gave up on him. They give up a pittance. They need edge rushing help, right?

And they're letting him go for free. He wasn't even active in the Super Bowl. So right now the Eagles, edge rushers, three and four are two guys who were healthy scratches in the Super Bowl with him in Price Huff. But you know what? If you're playing at the dollar store version of free agency in this year's offseason, it's a fine gamble to take, right, friend? Yeah, and that's the thing is, you know, look,

You're taking a stab at a player that could potentially make your roster as a fourth or fifth at Drusher, you know, a guy that you can use in specialty packages and move around. I am fascinated about what that long-term position is, but, you know, this is a, that's the role that you're envisioning is that he is able to help you from a pressure package standpoint. You mentioned the experience dropping in coverage. I don't think he offers a ton at the point of attack as a run defender, you know, based off what I've watched from in limited samples. but that's the value that you're hoping to get from Uche, at least, you know, especially on those money downs. There you go. You know, I feel like, you know, I don't want to go too crazy on Josh Ushed. It's fine.

No, it's like it's the same thing. We are honest about this. You know, they signed Rashad Penny at one point. He wasn't a contributor. I mean, last year, Matt Hennessy signed. He didn't make the team. like what how and i think howie would be honest about this if you spoke to him that you you take a certain amount of lottery tickets right and if if this bets hits or that bet hits it's good but

i don't think in the building they're they're kind of putting well it's all digital now but in the older in not the old days but a few years ago they would put the the the card up or you know whatever you'll call it the the uh placard up um with his name on it i don't think they're they're doing that and saying like, all right, we're set here. It's done. Like this edge rushing search, in particular edge rushing, that continues. And honestly, the goal with this stuff, which we talk about, is to draft proof. And you're not going to not draft an edge guy because you have Josh Uche,

but it's so that let's say you're in round three and you're looking at your depth chart and you're like, oh, man, we really could use an edge rusher. But this guy is like a whole tier below this, you know, defensive tackle that we could take. you don't want to force that pick. Something like this allows you to just stay a little bit patient and let the draft come to you to some standpoint. Super chat from Dave who says, what, if anything, does this mean for the chances that the Eagles will sign Aziz Ojolari, Zach? Ojolari is like the last, like top 50 free agents still unsigned. Yeah, outside of like your quarterback's.

You're like, you know, like your Von Miller, you know, like your older guys, right? But yeah, of the like 24, 25 year old age profile, absolutely. This is nothing to do. Like if they were interested in Aziz Ojilari yesterday, they'll be interested in Aziz Ojelari tomorrow. This would have nothing to do with it. Josh Ujjay has no guarantee to make the roster, I imagine. I imagine the Ojolari thing is just a matter of price, right?

Is that what does he want? What are teams willing to pay for him? But yeah, I don't think one would have anything to do with the other. And by the way, thank you to TrueMark Financial for sponsoring this emergency episode. Visit trumark.com for rates and to learn more TrueMark Financial, federally insured by the NCUA Equal Opportunity Lender. Rates are subject to change. Fran, since we have you here, and you're not going to be on the show today, tell the people what they can find on all p.hly.com today if they are a diehard, it's a big day. Yeah, the first version of my big board is out. So the top 100 plus prospects, you know, that I've got on my board, you know, at this.

point in the calendar are all available. And there's, we talked about it on the, on the draft show here earlier in the week. But I think when you're looking at my board is going to be a little bit different. It's based solely off my evaluations, my projections, you know, as we've been talking about all of these free agents and players that have changed teams, you know, there are guys that I'm higher on than what the consensus is, guys that I'm lower on than consensus. And it's based solely off of how I project that moving forward. It's not predictive in terms of, you know, who's going to be the top 100 guys off the board. That is not how I put that together. That's what the mock draft is for. For me, this is an exercise in terms of how I project these guys making the transition to

the NFL. And so, you know, when I'm reading my notes on Josh Uche, it's the same thing. You know, I predict he was my 21st ranked edge coming out in 2020, a guy that I thought would be kind of a back end roster type. And, you know, that's, you know, that went up against, he went in the second round to the New England Patriots, right? So that's going up against how the projection was from a draft slot, but that's just what the role was for me in my mind with Josh Uchwe. and so I think when you're looking at that, just keep that in mind. Nailed it.

ZB, we have a super chat from Vince who says he wants to know if there are any new updates on Mackay Beckton. Vince, he's very interested in this. He has a steak dinner on the line. Well, Vince, thank you very much for your contributions to PHLY. Any new updates on Mikey Beckton? No. And this is probably similar to the Ojo-Lari situation where you're kind of it's up in the prime player who sees the position who sees the prices for players at that position. I imagine his representations probably trying to push more closer to like an Aaron Banks type deal, right?

And clearly if a team valued him at that, there would be such a signing. I still don't anticipate him coming back to the Eagles. I still anticipate Kenyon Green and Tyler Steen and Trevor Keegan for that matter, compete in and maybe the Eagles draft a tackle guard, swing guy. who's in the mix as well. But that is my guess. I don't think it's going to be Bechton, but there is no update as far as where Bechton will land.

And as I say that, Beckton signs like five minutes after we leave the show. But he is, you know, we always talk about this every year, that early in free, like the first two, three days in free agency, okay, it is like it's the seller's market, right? So it's the player. Once you get past that time, if favorites the team.

So the longer you linger, the worse it is for McConnor. Yeah, it's surprising that he's. Now, Kevin Jenkins is out there as well. So you wonder if there's some, so like who will go first? And then there's a cascading effect there between those two guys. But it is, it's a little bit bizarre. I actually think the longer he's out there, the more likely it is that he comes back. But I do still think that that is less likely than more likely.

Yeah. All right. One quick thing before our show at 2 o'clock is the Eagles are making over video conference, thankfully video conference, so I can be on it. But we will be speaking to Kenyon Green. We will be speaking to Dorian Thompson, Robinson. So just a little, we'll have any pertinent updates on the show at 2 o'clock. Someone tells me that Tevin Jenkins has signed with the Bengals, but it looks like that is not a done deal yet. Gotcha.

There's interest from the Bengals. Can I before, Zach, I know you've got to go. Can I ask you guys a parenting question while I have you both here? Sure. Yes. Okay, so here's the situation. You know, Casey's very into Pokemon, right? He's got his binder of Pokemon cards.

You know, he knows them all at the top of his head. He's got all his cards. And every day aftercare, they're like, you know, looking at cards with other kids. And there was something that happened a couple weeks ago where he came home and said that, like, a kid had made a trade with him. and then like the week later asked for the card back but didn't give the first one back. And he was not complaining about it. He was just explaining how his day meant.

He was like, oh, like he really needed it back and it was no big deal. So this kid was on my radar. And then yesterday, two days ago, I got to pick him up. And Casey's packing up and, you know, the other kid's looking at his cards. And I see the kid take one of Casey's cards out of his binder and put it into his. Like I see the thing happening.

Casey was not watching. He was getting his backpack. And so I, I, I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but I just said, like, oh, like, is that, is that yours or his? And the kid was like, oh, oh, it's his. I'm sorry. I didn't want to, like, shame the kid. But then I, on the way home, I told Casey, I was like, hey, just so you know, like, no big deal. But I did, I did see him take that card.

And, you know, Casey was very much, like, he's like, I'm shocked. And very much, like, he must have thought it was his. like, you know, he must have just made an honest mistake, really like making apologies for the kid. So I don't want to push it too hard, but I also want him to be aware that like, I don't know, like, be aware of this kid, but he's, this is his friend. So I don't want to, I don't want to make him not be friends with this kid. But I also wanted to be on this, on his radar that this kid's like, he's trying to steal.

I think you did the right thing. I would have done the same. I borderline almost like that might be a parent-to-parent conversation too. Yeah, because I mean, honestly, my one real parenting philosophy is don't parent someone else's kid. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so like, I'm just dealing with Casey. Yeah.

I don't want to have a conversation with the other kid, but I was like, I don't want to push it too hard. Yeah. But I don't want him to get steamrolled. Yeah, I think you're in the right. with how you acted yesterday, I would have done the same thing. I would keep an eye on that one. To me, the kids on my radar. Comments in the chat, I think, are spot on.

I agree with them. I mean, I just saw him do it red-handed. I'm like, what are we doing, dude? That's a quack of all the X. That's all I got. All right, Josh Eush, signs with the Eagles, add some depth to the address group. We will be live at 2 o'clock to further unpack this

and the Pokemon situation. for Zach, Fran, and Julia. We thank you for watching and listening. Thanks to TrueMark Financial. Once again, check out the big board on all p.hly.com. Great time to become a diehard, $36 for the entire year. Jump in now while you still can. For all of us here, we thank you for watching.

We'll talk to you later. And as always, we love you.