PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Is Kelee Ringo ready to give the Eagles the best young secondary in the NFL?

Episode Date: March 24, 2025

EJ Smith is in the studio, so you know he’s gonna bang the drum for Kelee Ringo, the Eagles’ young cornerback (younger than Quinyon Mitchell!) who seems primed to inherit the starting job opposite Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. We’re playing a game of blind rankings to cover a variety of Eagles topics, from Tanner McKee’s future and the likelihood the starting right guard isn’t on the roster to A.J. Brown, Jalen Carter and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello everybody and welcome to the P.H.I. Eagle's show on a Monday, Bo Wolf joined in studio by E.J. Smith. E.J., how you doing? I'm doing great. I'm excited for this. I'm just joking. That's my best second person. Let's have a great show. Yeah, let's have a great show. No, I'm excited to be here. This is my second time here. I'm always very impressed with how professional your operation is here. I'm going to be honest. So the last thing I wanted to say is I've been watching you come up with the name for this game we're going to be playing. And this is like you're watching a master at work type stuff. I mean, I'm impressed. About four minutes. I'm very excited to hear what you came up with.

Yeah. So we will get to that. We got a nice, yeah, we got a true welcome to the show for you to give you an inscrutable game that we've never played before. I think that's the way to do it. I can hear Dane is already like the game theory is terrible with E.J. He's going to mess this up. So listen, I'm new to the game.

This is one where I think you'll have an excuse to not have a great game theory. You did a good job of cover. How was your weekend? It was good. It was quiet. You know, I had my family over yesterday. We did some grilling. That was nice.

and just really just kind of laid around a little bit, you know? I feel like you need that in the offseason. It's a good time to do that. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. All right, let's get into it. How anxious do you feel like Zach is right now listening to the show wherever he is?

I hope he's not listening. I hope he's enjoying some time away. I mean, he's going to be listening. If he is listening, I hope that he's at least enjoying the show a little bit, not too anxious. Listen. I hope he's enjoying his family time. If you're watching this, I'm going to do fine. You don't have to worry about me.

I'll handle it for you. Yeah. All right. Here's the deal. We're going to play a game. and we've done the blind ranking thing, sort of as a joke, but we're going to use that as a framing device

to talk about a bunch of different Eagles topics. How this game is going to be played is I have a list of 10 things that are Eagles related, that are number related, and you are going to blind rank them one at a time and we'll discuss them as we go, and then at the end, I will tell you how I would have ranked them, and you are going to get the opportunity

to switch two items on your list. The more complicated the better. That is how we feel about this. And then, after that, you're going to give 10 to me. We're going to reverse the exercise. In the name of this game, E.J., are you ready? Oh, I'm so excited. Blind as a baddest.

That's pretty good. Yeah. Bannis is a bird. I didn't know what a baddest was a bird, but I didn't know it until three minutes ago. Love it. Yeah. Blind as a baddice. So, should we get into this?

Let's do it. Your first item, E.J. And you see him in... I don't want to show you... I got a guy in... You've got hovering eyes there. You've got wandering eyes trying to steal a look at what's to come.

You see him on the thumbnail there. Kili Ringo. You have sort of staked out a bit of a position on Kili Ringo Island, it feels like. Or at least you're pretending as if you own Keeley Ringo. And not everybody else who saw him of a pretty good training camp last year. Yeah.

Now, before we get to this item, how much of your gazing up of Keeley Ringo has to do with the fact that he is, despite being more tendered in the NFL, actually a full year younger than Quinnian Mitchell. That is a big part of it for sure. But honestly, this is my hot take. Listen, this is my hot take here. He has the same, he has a very similar upside to Quinnian Mitchell, in my opinion.

Similar upside? He has all the physical traits to be a lockdown cornerback in the NFL. Will he get there? I'm not sure. I mean, I think that it's going to take a lot for him to reach that potential. But the ceiling is apparent when you look at him. When you watch him play, he has all of the physical attributes. Like when, at least for me, when I look at cornerback prospects, I like to see, like, you know,

to steal the Jeff Staltonism, some unusual traits, you know? Like, I want the spider chart to be full when I look at cornerbacks, especially if you're going to draft them high up in the draft. With Keely Ringo, the spider chart is full when you watch his tape. It's a little bit, he doesn't have as much fluidity. He doesn't have the technique that you really want to see from a corner. but I think having the last couple of years to sort of develop behind the scenes

I feel like there's a chance that he has sort of access some of that potential that I think was really apparent when they drafted him. Yeah, I feel like when you watch Keely Ringo, he's a very linear athlete. Yeah. Right? Like he can run downfield with anybody.

He can run forward and break on a ball really nicely. It's the mirroring in those intermediate places where maybe there's something to be left wanting just a little bit. Sure. But, yeah, I mean, listen, if Keeler Ringo hits on, you know, his 80th percentile outcome, something like that, you've probably got the best young group of corners in the NFL. Yeah. Right?

Yeah. No, I think so. I think that's a good point, too. It's like the reading and the reacting part, but I feel like that is stuff you can teach. You know, maybe some of the hip mobility, stuff like that. I don't get as much into that. You know, I don't evaluate it as much as maybe somebody like Fran would. But I do feel like, again, that seems easier.

to me to teach than the height weight speed that he possesses. So again, I know it sounds crazy to say that like he could be as good as Queenie on Mitchell. I think that that's a big leap, but I do think the physical traits. I've always been a traits guy. I've always been like a, for every position or just for corner? Pretty much for every position. I mean, maybe like offensive line and defensive end. I feel like there's a little bit more of like how does it look when you watch those guys. Interesting. Defensive end to me is a tracy position. Yeah, but see like like I've, I'm not super well brushed up on prospects yet. That's what this week is for for me. But when I watch somebody like James Pierce Jr.

It's frustrating. I'm like, this guy doesn't have any pass-rush bag. He literally just runs around people. So for those positions, I do want it to look a certain way. But for a lot of positions,

yeah, I do think betting on physical traits, you know, more often will lead you lead you to the right types of players. I feel like a linebacker is the position that I care the least about traits.

I mean, I still think you want somebody rangy, you know? I mean, I would rather have someone to range you than someone who's not. Yeah, it raises the floor

and raises the ceiling too. Yeah, I don't know. I think I have staked out a lot of position on Kelea Ringo Island. I'm not really sure. It's a high variance position. It's a tough position

to really stick your flag on it. It could be ugly, but I do think that he has some real outside. Especially because it is a position where you can be singled out and targeted. And if you're playing with Quineya Mitchell and Cooper DeGine, there's a good chance they're going to be targeted.

I mean, he's going to see a lot of the ball if he's on the field. I mean, listen, is there a potential that, you know, Keely Ringo gives up a big touchdown and I got a bunch of people in my mentions on Blue Sky and Twitter is saying, oh, you know,

EJ, you said Keely Ringo was going to be as good as Quinnionion Mitchell, maybe, but listen, I'm not going to claim that. If he does well, that's when you come out. You ask Bo to pull the clip. You know, last time I was on your show, I actually have something to bring up here. Last time I was on your show, I think I said, I remember talking about Cooper de Gene. And I said, I think this guy would be a great fit for the Eagles.

I told Zach, I thought he would really like Cooper to Gene. Listen, you get some right every once in a while. Okay. All right. I have no memory of that. We're going to throw on the tape on that one. I believe you. We're going to have to run the tape on that one.

All right. So the item here for you to rank, one to 10, and one being the lowest, 10 being the highest, is 2025 starts by Keely Ringo, playoffs included. So I also had this one on mine. Oh, interesting. So I do think there's a little bit of a muddying of the picture that we have to talk about here. Okay. If the Eagles come out in base, I don't think Keely Ringo is a part of the base defense.

Yeah, but they're not going to come out. I mean, they're going to put like seven base maps. See, that's like the formality. See, listen, I'm already up on this. That's a little bit of the formality. Okay. Well, you got to price that in. Because, yeah, I do think that Cooper to Gene makes sense

as your number two base outside cornerback. It's only when you are a nickel that he should be at nickel. So assuming that that might cost him a game or two, I feel like I put that number, maybe I shouldn't tell you what I put that number at because then it's going to mess me up when I go to my rankings, although you probably feel differently to me. I have that ranking around 15.

I feel like if he stays healthy, I think he will be the starter. Okay. We can talk about it. You have no idea what band my numbers are working in here. Is 15 going to be on the low end? Is 15 going to be on the high end? That's a good point. I feel like Kili Ringo will be the starter.

I think Adori Jackson, if you look at his like PFF numbers, they're eerily similar to Isaiah Rogers' PFF numbers. Adori Jackson? Yeah, they're very similar. And I feel like he's a good... I mean, I say interesting because I'm trying to make conversation, but I'm a little bit offended. You're bringing me PFF numbers on these guys.

I mean, just like the targets. I watched his targets, and honestly, like, my takeaway was like he's a very... I think he's a perfect like backup corner because he's not going to get beat deep. He's not going to like cost you a game. Okay. But he's not necessarily somebody that you want on the field down in and downout. So I feel like he's an ideal backup. I think they are setting this up to give Keleringo.

Right. It is the ideal low bar for Keely Ringo to clear. Yeah. So I'm going to say that his starts are somewhere in the 15 range. I know that that could be pretty pretty ugly take in a couple of months. But I'm going to go. I'm going to give him probably three just to give myself some space here. Three.

No, you know what? No, I change my mind. I'm going to go. I'm gonna go four. Four, okay. I'm a little worried about what else you have coming for me, but I'm gonna go forward. You have no idea what's coming.

Kili Ringo starts, okay. The second item, somewhat similar. 2005 starts combined by Sidney Brown and Tyler Steen. So I have something similar to this in mine too. Combined starts for those two. I'll be honest with you, I'm not buying the Sydney Brown as a starting safety. Okay.

It's a lot of S's that I got. I got out there. That's pretty good. Yeah, I'm not buying the Sydney Brown stock, but Tyler Steen, I do think, has a real runway to this position. One thing I do remember is you were big on Tyler Steen last time, last year at this time.

I thought he was solid even this year. I mean, he had some shaky moments, but I do feel like, I feel like their evaluation of Tyler Steen is different than mine. I agree with you. I honestly probably trust theirs more. You know,

they're the ones who get paid to actually know these things. It seems pretty clear that for whatever reason, They don't trust him and that's about. Jeff Stoughtland does not love Tyler Steen yet. So honestly, this might sound like outlandish to you because, again, this is where the game theory and just like the probabilities come into factor.

Sure, two is greater than one. Yeah, but I'm going to go with my gut here. I feel like there's a chance neither of those guys are starters. I think that the Eagles could draft an heir apparent to Lane Johnson who ends up starting at that right guard position. And I feel like Sidney Brown, I could see them drafting a safety on day two. That kind of fills that role as well.

So I'm probably going to put that like six. Well, you think, no, so hold on. Lower is better. Lower is a lower number. So you think there's going to be, you still think this is going to be a higher number than Keely, even though you think Keely's 15? No, no, no.

Sorry, I said Keely 4, right? Keely 4. So if I put them at 6, that means I think they're starting fewer games, right? No, no, no. You would have to be a lower number. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Oh, no. Now, this is the good, this is the good stuff.

We want it to be very, very indcipherable. This is very confusing. So if I think the key. If the numbers were zero and four and 11, you would want zero at the one spot. Oh, okay. The one spot is the low. So do you want to move Keely up? Yeah, I want Keely at six.

Okay, you want Keely at six or seven? You want to add that seven then? Yeah, seven, seven. The corresponding. Math was never much strong. Okay. Keely Ringo starts. And then let's put Steen and Sydney at, let's put him at four.

At four. I think I'm okay with that. Okay. We're on the same page about how the numbers work now. Yes, I'm going to have to change. mind a little bit, but yes. Okay. And on Sidney Brown, what do you think their internal evaluation of him is?

I think that they're still bullish on him. I think that he is, he's a hard player not to appreciate, you know, the way that he plays the game and the physical traits. You know, I just mentioned that with Keating Ringgo. I think they're apparent with him as well. I think my biggest question is we just never really seen him as opposed safety. So I think it's a real projection to, like, put him into a Vic Fangio system where the safeties are very important and they are to do a lot.

You know, I think that it's hard to really know what you're going to expect, what you can expect from him. Like, I actually thought that he was like, an interesting player is like, you know, that, that nickel corner on the early downs and the five down fronts. I know that that defense was a train wreck,

but I thought he actually was an interesting player there because he is kind of like a pseudo linebacker in that way. I think he could be a good sub-package player. But if you're telling me he's your like post-safety, every single down, that does give me some pause. I'm not sure that, you know, again, we just haven't seen it.

And would you then, like, now listen, there's some interchangeability. Would you, but would you want reed blanket chip to then be the post safety? I mean,

he doesn't strike you as like athletically, but... They're both post safeties to a certain degree. You know, they are interchangeable. So I just worry, like, that's... If you told me it was a different system, like if you told me it was like a Jim Schwartz system,

I probably would feel better about Cindy Brown as a starting safety, but in a Vic Fangio system, I just have a little bit of pause on like what it might look like. Again, they have more information on it than we do, so maybe they're confident in it. I feel like this is a position you draft.

I feel like this is a position you draft. I feel like this is a day two. Do you think this is like, okay, Vic, go pick the safety that you like in the draft. Yeah, I think that would make sense. I do think that there's also an interest. We don't have to have this conversation now, but I think there's an interesting conversation to have it. What else are you having? They have a fact, like, they have a $17 million a year linebacker now.

They have to figure out how to build a defense with an expensive linebacker at the center of things. Maybe that comes at the expense of the safety position. Maybe that's where it has to come from. I feel like it makes more sense to kind of, you know, lean on the fact that you've got the cornerbacks. on rookie deals, and maybe it's the edge-risher position that isn't as heavily invested in. That's interesting. Because again, like, we are used to seeing

the Eagles defense built a certain way, and it's with low-loss linebackers. I think that they are going to have to figure out how to build it with Zach Bond at the center and kind of leverage his ability to kind of make up for some of the deficiencies elsewhere. But it also doesn't have to be, I mean, it's a short-term problem.

Sure, right? Like, it's basically a two-year deal, right? And so eventually, when Bond comes off, then it's going to be, you're going to be paying those young defensive linemen and it'll be sort of back to what you might expect. But yeah, short term, that makes sense to me. Yeah.

All right, the third one item here. Week one starters who are not currently on the Eagles roster. Is it full starters or offensive starters? Either side of the ball. Okay. So there are 22 spots here. All right. So if it was offensive, I would have felt like that number

could be like super low. Like, I mean, obviously you've got right guard. Right guard. You've got tight end. Yeah. Like wider. I mean, you've got potential injury situations that could happen, but. But defensively, I mean.

You've got a second linebacker spot. You've got safety. You potentially corner. But we're Keely Ringo Island. Well, I understand that, but I'm just saying potentially. Um, in the interest of not just sitting here in silence, I'm probably going to assume that that's going to be. This is somewhere, but it's probably somewhere between one and six. Yeah, I was in that three to four range.

Okay. So I think I'm going to put that too. See, I've seen the listeners. I think that's a good spot. For the listeners here, I've watched enough of the TikToks where the people rank these things, right? To know that you never give away one early. Sure. You can always, you always kind of need those polls.

You know, you need to have that available to you. So I'm going to keep one open, but I do think that that number could be reasonably low. I think it's interesting too because it's like we talk so much about these moves. they've made in the first couple weeks of free agency and there's a lot of like, you know, a lot of angst about like what it's going to look like. It's like they're going to return like 18 starters and 19 starters and they were one of the best teams in the league all of that season won the Super Bowl. Like there's still a lot to feel good about even if some of these like, you know, flyers on free agencies maybe are a little underwhelming at the start here. Okay.

I'm regretting a little bit not being a little bit more diabolical with the numbers about the numbers because it is a pretty narrow band. Which means that I'm doing well and you're throwing you so you're annoyed at how. No, no, no. No, it's good. But there's not going to be that big surprise to come, I don't think. Okay. We'll see. We'll see.

Never know. All right. Next one and the last one before the break. The final place in the Premier League table that Aston Villa finishes. Oh, I was hoping this would come up. All right. So. Let's give a little background.

Explain to the people why you love Aston Villa. So I went to a Premier League match three years ago, and it was West Ham versus Leeds. And I would say I was Premier League curious by that point. I hadn't picked a team yet. I was just sort of on the fringes and watching it more. I went to see that match, and I was, like, blown away at, like, the culture of, like, English soccer, right? So I made my express written purpose that whole summer to figure out which team I wanted to root for. Ashtonville came to the link.

Why not in the summer leagues? I heard that West Ham fans are kind of crazy. And West Ham had just won a trophy, so I felt like that was a little bit of bandwagon, bandwagon fandom. Leads, they just gotten relegated. And I just didn't really want to, I didn't want that for myself. I wanted to root for a Premier League team. Reasonable. So I watched Ascentville in the summer series and one of my only, there were a couple of things.

You know, you don't choose a team when you're an adult very often. So good ownership structure was important to me. And a manager that played a style that was fun to watch and an educational. Front footed. Yes, exactly. Positive. Yeah. You know, the British soccer fans would call it.

So I watched Asenville in person and was hooked. And honestly, at this point, I am embarrassed. about how much of an Ashtonville fan I've become. I watched the games with like my head and my hands. Like I took my heart rate one time after a match that was really close and it was in the triple digits. I was very embarrassed about that. So yeah, I've become a massive Aston Villa fan.

So you ask you about their table position. I'll be honest. I think they're going to finish mid table. They're ninth right now. I want them to push into the European places, which would be eighth, seventh. I actually don't want them to qualify for the Champions League again. It's a hot take. Really?

I want them to qualify for the Europa League because I think they could win it. But, and this is the real wrench in this, and I know I'm going longer than you probably have been anticipated already. I'm giving you runaway. I think they should prioritize their FA Cup run and I think they should prioritize the Champions League. They're in the,

Champions League's semifinalists. I thought it was quarter final. Quarter finalists. Think of how amazing that is. Right, and if they win, they get back in, right? Yeah, but I don't, the Champions League, well, you never know. Who and I am.

You never, you can never discount on an I amri team, okay? So I think the FA Cup is a realistic way for them to get back into Europe. Okay. They have pressed the North End in the semifinals of the FA Cup, or sorry, also the quarterfinals of the FA Cup. And then they can go to Wembley. You never know from there.

I think the FA Cup is their path back into Europe. I think they should prioritize it. So therefore, I'm not as concerned about their league position. I think they might finish eighth or seventh. I think they'll prioritize the cup competitions. Give me your, like, who are your three favorite players? Morgan Rogers. He's a revelation.

He has made me fall in love with soccer. Like, the way that this guy runs with the ball is unbelievable. Emmy Martinez, amazing. What more can you say? A little bit of a hot take, well, not a hot take, but just a little bit more of an underappreciated player.

Bubakar Kamara, a defensive midfielder who can just control a game. Again, I'm new to soccer. So when I watch these things, I'm trying to learn the game, this guy is unbelievable. The way that he can control possession,

control the deep, like, you know, just, I call him a midfieler sometimes. You can just take over a game. When do you call him that? To my wife. Yeah, just around the house, you're like, that's the midfield.

Hey, Julia, look, that's it. That's the midfield destroyer. Julia hears so much soccer talk during these games. So, yeah, those are my top three. There's a lot of honorable mentions, but those are my top. Okay, and who is the guy who you grown when he's on the pitch? Who do you dislike watching? I loved how he played last year, but it's Leon Bailey.

When Leon Bailey is out of form, he is one of the most frustrating players to watch in the world because he just doesn't do anything. He's very negative. But he's had some high moments that I don't want to be unfair to him. But, yeah, I appreciate you giving me the clear out to talk Aston Villa. It's very rare that I get to kind of just sit here, unless it's with my wife during the game, like I said. She must be, this is a gift to Julia to allow you to not be talking to her about it.

Yeah, just blow off some Massandvilla's team. Yeah. Okay. All right, so they're league position. Okay, so you have them, you have them around eighth. So I think I'm gonna put them like five. Five, okay. Right?

Yeah, that seems about right. Yeah. All right. Love it. Wow. What a start to blind as a bettus. has been much more to come on the other side and after this break.

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If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800 gambler. Now, you will notice that our friend Zach is not here today. And I'm sorry to report that he was kidnapped. I don't know much about the situation other than I got a very creepy voicemail and it went something like this I got your friend Zach it's me Shady Ray

I got him if you want them back you're going to have to give me a thousand dollars and that's not the Shady Ray that we're talking about we're talking about a different Shady Ray here and that is of course Shady Ray's our friends at Shady Ray are helping you get in the right frame of mind with their premium polarized shades that won't break the bank.

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so use code P-HL-Y today at Shadyrays.com. Don't worry about Zach, by the way. I settled that with Shady Ray. I gave him a free diehard subscription, and Zach was able to go back with his family. So we're in good shape. It's a good trade. My other thing on Ashton Villa,

I told you this before, I'm impressed, it's not just Aston Villa. You're paying attention to the whole league. Yeah. Like I only have the bandwidth. You know, I'm a Brighton follower. but I have no idea what's going on the rest of the league.

I'm just watching their games. Julia likes Brighton because of the Seagulls. It's a likable logo. Seagulls. I actually enjoy watching other teams probably more than I enjoy watching Aston Villa at this point because of how invested I've gotten. I don't know. I feel like soccer's great background noise.

It's just, it's fun to have a game on and kind of be able to be there for the key moments, follow it kind of in the background. Again, like I feel like, I feel like I just poured all of my fandom, All the phantom that I, you know, had kind of to give somewhere, I just gave it all to Aston Villa. So I've got like the shirts. I've got, I would like to get some scarves eventually.

There's a lot of... Might have an opportunity in the next couple weeks. Yeah, exactly. So there's a lot of rants, like I said, a lot of rants in the household over Aston Villa, up the villa for the record. All right, here we go. Next item. Round in which the Eagles use their first pick on an offensive player. Oh, see, this is wearing the number one.

spot's going to be valuable, I think. Most likely, but you never know. Hmm. All right, so what was my number two? Week one starter is not on the current roster. Oh, okay. I feel like this has to go number one. I mean, is there a world where it's the fifth or six round?

I imagine, but I do think that there's a real possibility that there's an offensive tackle. No, I mean, there's no way it could be lower than the fourth. Yeah, I mean, there's going to be an offensive lineman in there somewhere. I mean, a receiver is a possibility to, I mean, you can, a tight end is obviously a possibility. But I feel like the likelihood that I'm really leaning on to put this number one is that Lane Johnson's heir apparent is finally getting brought through the door. I thought it was interesting. We talked to Lane Johnson last week and he mentioned that he actually is kind of welcoming

that possibility. You know, he likes the idea of having, you know, some, I guess you would call it an understudy, the way that, you know, he was with Jason Peters and the way that Cam Jergens was Jason Kelsey. I thought it was interesting to hear that he's sort of like excited about that possibility. I think that that's important. And I think he mentioned somewhere else that, you know, the egos have done some of the stuff they did with Kelsey where like they ask him to take a look at some prospects and watch some guys. And so, yeah, I mean, we've seen some of the reported visits already.

Yeah. I would be, I would be pretty floored if they don't draft the alignment in the first, really the first two rounds, but at least the first three rounds. But would you have said that last year? That's my only, that's my only like, that was one of me to give me pause. And I think they would have been surprised last year. True. Yeah, I think they would have been surprised. But I think they just thought that there was a big drop-off after those first two rounds.

So, yeah, I mean, it may not work out that way. Yeah. We'll see. Okay. Next up, this one's a little bit more complicated. Okay. Here we go. So we're talking about Jalen Hertz and Jalen Carter.

Okay. And we're talking about MVP and defensive player of the year. See where you're going with this. Combined ranking for Jalen Hertz and Jalen Carter. in the voting for MVP and defensive player of the year. Oh, just in the voting. And so if they don't get any votes, that's a zero. And so it could be two zeros.

This could be, you know, your one. Or if you think that they're both going to be in the conversation and get votes, then how high up, how, you know, how low is it going to go? So when you say how high up, does that factor into my number? Is it how many years they're in the voting? Just so like if Geeling Carter finishes seventh in defensive player of the year voting

and Jalen Hertz finishes fourth in the number. MVP voting. That's 11. Their number is 11. Yeah. Hmm. So it's almost like... It could be up to, you know, could be up to 20 or it's almost zero. Better if they're like fringe. Like... Then it would be higher, yes. Yeah. Yes. I'm going to put this at, is eight available for me? Eight, nine, and ten are all available for you. Oh, man. I could almost... Three, six, eight, nine, ten. I might put it nine. Sorry, I didn't

bring a not a notepad. That's bad work by me. That's okay. I got to be the scribe. I feel like I'm going to put this nine. Okay. I feel like Jalen Hertz will have a couple of years where he's, you know, I think he is like the perfect example. I don't know how many years he's going to be like top two or three in MVP voting, but I think he'll be in and around it, especially now he's got like the Super Bowl cred. And I feel like Jalen Carter's going to be around that for a really long time as well. Well, this is just for this year. Oh, just for this year.

Oh, man. Okay. Okay. I might ask you to move it up then. Just for this upcoming year. Yeah, put it. Put it, put it eight. Put it in one more spot.

Okay. Yeah, I feel like it could still be higher than Keely Ringo game started just by the nature of there's only 17 games for Keely Ringo to start. Yeah, maybe I'll regret that one. Playoffs included though. Just further, I just said playoffs included.

Maybe I'll regret that one a little bit, but I think eight's a safe spot for now. Do you believe, as we have sort of lightly discussed on the show, that after last season, the Eagles plan to be a little bit of, more pass-heavy this season and they maybe want to, you know, let Jalenharts play without the straight jacket for 2025. Yeah, straight jacket. I mean, I got nothing for you. No, no, no, no, I'm serious. Like, do you think, do I believe it? Do you think that they want the offense to be

more pass-heavy? I feel like some of the moves that they've made this off-season kind of, I, I think that at the very least, I think Nick Siriani has an appreciation for the, the run-first approach and like the physicality that they play with. I, I feel. I feel like you can let Jalen Hertz play without the straight jacket and also keep this very run-heavy approach around Seyquan Barkley. So I'll be honestly, I don't really buy that this is going to be a pass-heavy offense in 2025 and 2026. I feel like it's probably going to look pretty similar to what it's always, what it's looked like last year. And I think it makes sense. Like, honestly, I feel like, and this, I think people think that this is like a slight on Jalen Hertz when you talk about it like this.

But I feel like this is an offense that is built around Sequin Barclay and A.J. Brown. and Jalen Hertz is just a very good quarterback for that offense. I don't think he's a system quarterback because of that. Like, you know, I remember a few years ago we talked about the Eagles having like a college offense. And that, again, was like, oh, well, what does that say about Jalen Hertz? And it says that he runs this offense very well. It's not like, you know, it doesn't have to be like an insult to say something like that. So now I think that this, I think it's probably still a pretty run-first approach if I had to guess.

Okay. You're not buying it? It's not that I'm not buying it. And I also think it may go back that way. But I do think that they want this to be a bit more of an open passing game. Yeah, I think, you know, Jayles... Maybe that just means, you know, two extra deep shots a game. Because they were not throwing...

There was an entire half of the season when they weren't throwing the ball down field. Yeah, no, I think that that's fair. And I think that it's also, you know, Jalen told us it looks how he wants it to look. Right. So I think that is probably leaning more into what he wants the offense to look like. Okay. All right. Next up.

Combined sacks for the following three players. Jordan Davis Okay Bryce Huff and Josh Ushay And let me clarify This is Eagles only So if Bryce Huff is traded

Isacks don't count Jordan Davis Bryce Huff Josh Ushay Okay What do I have at 5 right now Aston Villa finish Okay so that's about like eight or nine You have three six nine and ten open

Yeah this is tough I feel like I feel like I want to put it I don't know I'm not going to say anything yet. Let me talk through this one a little bit. Jordan Davis, how many sacks did he have last year? Did he have like more than one or two in the regular, oh, it's regular season and playoffs, right? Sure.

He had one. I didn't clarify that, but it should be. You're right. He had one in the regular season and two in the playoffs last year. I have no idea what to expect with Josh O'Shea. I mean, you could tell me he's on the 53-man roster. It wouldn't surprise me. Yeah. So then I'm really looking at, so who was the third one? Bryce Huff. Bryce Huff. I am going to put this one three. Okay.

I'm not feeling confident about any of those guys having real sack production. How do you feel about Jordan Davis big picture? I feel like he is... It's interesting because I feel like he is about what I thought

the floor was for him and that sounds bad but I thought that he had a high floor. Like I wasn't actually when they drafted him I was not among the people who thought like well he has to affect the quarterback to be a valuable pick. I thought if you can build a defense

around a gap stealing nose tackle, that's a decent floor for a first-round pick. Now, listen, I understand the draft value's not quite there, and I was proven wrong by the fact that Hallie Roseman came right out and said, if this guy doesn't affect the quarterback, then it probably wasn't worth it. I know that's paraphrasing, but he basically said that.

The value of the pick will be dictated whether or not he can affect the quarterback. He isn't really shown that, obviously. But I do think that he has value to the Eagles defensively because of what he can do in a Vic Fangio system where they are going to play out of light boxes and they need defensive linemen who could steal back gaps.

Could you find that in the later rounds of the draft? Can you find that in free agency? Possibly. But I do think having somebody like that on a rookie contract is somewhat valuable. Do I think that they should pick up a fifth year option for that? Absolutely not. I don't think that he deserved. I don't think that his play is, you know,

I don't think it aligns with like being one of the top on the market, defensive tackles at this point. But I don't know, I'm still intrigued by him to a certain degree. I just, it's getting to the point where it's like we just haven't seen it. You know, it's like it's hard to project it. It's been three years. defensive tackles notoriously take a while. I feel like it's hard to

continue reiterating this lesson, but part of the story of last year was like, as Vic Fangio said, like don't put a ceiling on a guy. It's possible. It's possible he turns into an awesome, every down defensive tackle. Yeah, I mean, we've all seen the reps...

I think it's unlikely. We've all seen the reps in training camp where like he just blows a guy up and it's a little bit like, all right, we've seen you do this before. Like, let's see it. Or even in the preseason sometimes, you'll see him do something.

It's like, oh my God, this guy, He really does have that upside. He's 25. Yeah. It's possible. Yeah. Defensive tackles take longer, like you said. But it's not something I'd bank on.

And I don't think they can. I think they let him play out the season and then figure out what his value is after that. Sure. Or extend him to a lower cost deal because he does. I think he does have some value. It's just, it's not necessarily the value you'd want from a first round defensive tackle. All right. Next up.

Combined sacks for Aziz O'Jolari and Jalix Hunt. Hmm. I like a Jailix Hunt. And I actually, I think if Azizos are always on the field, he's going to have sack production. So I feel like I'm going to be quick with this one. I feel like I'm putting that one. You have six, nine, and ten open. I think I'm going to six.

Okay. You know, I don't think it's necessarily like, you know, Kili Ringo. I'm thinking of him like a 15 to 16 guy. So I feel like if they're in that, you know, 10 to 12 range, I feel pretty good about that. Okay. Two left. Jahan Dotson 50-yard games. All right, I need to do some research to see how many did...

I believe he had one. I would say he couldn't have had more than one or two. I know that he only had one game including the playoffs in which he had two catches that went for a first down and that was the Super Bowl. I wish I had some of those lower numbers left. What's my lowest number? Nine.

You have nine and ten, that's all that's left. Oh, no. All right. I'm going nine. John Dodson season. He had one 50-yard game last year and it was the week 18 game with January McKee. And you know who that was against?

Even in the Super Bowl, he only had 42 yards. That was against the Dory Jackson. That's right. I don't feel great about Jahan Dotson at number nine. Well, listen, one of the, the thing that really separates blind as a baddest from all the other pretender games is that you will have the opportunity to swap at the end. So maybe you'll... I mean, you know, an injury at wide receiver, all of a sudden he becomes more valuable.

You know, I think maybe the Jalen hurts, you know, he spent enough time where he's going to go, Oh, you, John. knows he's on the team. Exactly. Yeah. It's like that guy exists. So maybe not the most outlandish thing on there, but definitely not where I would have put him originally.

Okay. Now this is where it's going to be. Your final one. Powerless. And I'm putting you on the spot here. Okay. On Friday, you and I participated in a nice event over at Temple. Yeah.

Talking to the young sports journalism minds. And in that roundtable session, you dropped two. separate Zach Berman quotes just off the dome. And so the item here is Zach Berman's sayings that you can recite right now off the top of your head. Oh, that's, that's a perfect 10. That's actually perfect. But then you've got to do them. I'm going to do them right now. I, should I say this on the podcast? I guess I have to now. No, but you can't, you can't look at that. Oh, no, come on. That's not fair. It has to be off the dome. For the listeners, I actually have a a note of, I call it

Xaxioms. And it's literally just Zach Berman's saying, because listen, they're good. And I also figured like, I mean, I want to save these. These are, you know, valuable wisdom. Listen, I take Zach's advice very seriously. So I'm not allowed to look at this.

You can take one look. Okay. But you cannot just read from it. Okay. All right. So I have to get like 20. There's no way. However high you want to get. There's no way I'm going to get 20.

so I'm going right now let's go it's better to have written than to write no place I'd rather be okay too that one counts yeah

it could be worse we could be doing work for a living okay three I'm not gonna do this one because there's some profanity so I'll I'll edit it it's like it's another

it could be worse my brothers uh yes you know what I'm talking about just give it to me I don't want to recite it to yeah okay um

Oh, man, I'm already Petering out. I have like 15 in the note. I will tell you this. You are allowed to consult the chat. Ooh, I love this. Comparison is a thief of joy. That's a good one. That's why Baskin Robbins has 36.

Six. It's a great one. We'll do better tomorrow. Let's make this the best year yet. Okay, seven. That one's just off the dome too. That one's really good. Well, what about the ones you said on Friday?

Do you remember which ones you said? Oh, man, I can't even remember. Okay. That shows you how deeply ingrained they are too. I don't even like, I don't even have them memorize. It just came to mind. I'm going to go with eight. I let the reader, or let the, let the viewers down.

I feel like I let, I feel like a Zach down a little bit. I got to study my note more. All right, you got eight. Oh, hold on. Can I share some of my favorite ones while we're, while we're here? Sure. I grew up with five siblings. We had people, not dogs.

To have a good conversation, you have to be interesting and interested. Yes. Ask not, ask not for a lighter burden. ask for broader shoulders. Beautiful. Well said to that. Be the thermostat, not the thermometer. Oh, that's bad that I missed that one.

All right. Now, here is your order. As I read this, think about the swap you want to make. Okay. Number one, round in which the Eagles draft their first offensive player. Number two, week one starters, not on the current roster. Number three, combined sacks for Jordan Davis,

Bryce Huff, and Josh Ushay. Number four, combined starts for Tyler Steen and Sidney Brown. good start. I feel like you're in good shape here. Yeah, but Jahan Dotson's got a game. Number five, Aston Villa finish. Number six, a combined sacks for Aziz O'Jolari and Jalix Hunt. Number seven, Keeley Ringo starts. Number eight,

combined ranking in the MVP and defensive player of the year voting for Jalen Hertz and Jalen Carter in 2025. Number nine, Jahan Dotson 50-yard games, and number 10, Zach Berman Sangs off the dome, you got eight. So that one's an L. the Zach Berman's saying is I'm not going to move that one. I'm going to move Jahan Dotson. I'm going to swap. I'm just going to go with the Azizos-Jalari Jalix Hunt Hive.

I'm going to swap those two. Okay, so they're going to nine. Yeah, just bank on those two guys just going absolutely insane. Okay. Yeah. Nicely done. I actually am pretty happy with that. Yeah, I think you did great.

Thank you. Well, find out how I do. On the other side, we'll see how diabolical E.J. can be right after this. Time to talk about game time. Hey, listen, Sixers. Stinko de Mayo, but really good opportunity to get into the building for cheap. Bring the family, you know what I mean? Best place to do it.

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Golden Nugget Jewelers is where Philly gets engaged. Visit golden nuggetjewelry.com today to learn more. All right, E.J., I'm ready. All right. So we're going to kick it off. Strapping in. We're going to kick it off with Nolan Smith Sachs in 2025. Ooh, Nolan Smith Sachs.

So I think we're going to do regular season and playoffs for all of these as well. I think it's only fair. I'm thinking safely this is in the eight range. Okay. How high, how low. How wide is your birth going to be here? I'm going to put this at... It's a weird question.

Yeah. I'm going to put this at four. Okay. I think that's a good start, right? How do you feel about Nolan Smith? You know, I did my research on this when I was making my own rankings. And like, it's funny how fast it can change, right?

Because, like, if you had asked this, like, around like week 10 or week 11. We were like they could not count on this guy to be a starter next year. And now we are all kind of penciling him in as a starter. As a 1A on the outside. Yeah, I think the team is too. So, and I think it's warranted.

Like, you know, his best moments came in the highest stakes in the highest stakes. I think that that really does count for something. It ate sacks in his last 11 games last year. So I feel like while there might be a drop-off from that, like, you know, I don't think you can necessarily expect him to be a complete game record like he was at points during the postseason.

I do think like, I don't know what's funny. like I think he's going to be a plus pass rusher and I think his effort on run down and you know against the run. His violence. Yeah. Like he is actually a very solid enough. You know what?

Shout out to Ben Solac because I remember he said that about Nolan Smith when he got drafted. It's like he's undersized but he's going to think the way the way Ben says it to stick his face in a fan. I think you know. And the way he takes on those pullers. It's like trying to end guys. Yeah.

So I honestly think he is a pretty reliable. I think he should be a pretty reliable starter for that defense. The only the main caution is just injuries because the way he plays and his frame those two things combined could invite injury. Yeah, I think his rookie season is informed a little bit by the fact

that he suffered that injury in the preseason it seemed to bother him the rest of the year at least from an outside perspective but it seemed that way. So yeah, I think you're pretty bang on with that though, Nolan Smith. So the next one I have is Sequin Barkley, 100-yard games.

So I can tell you he had 11 last year 11 This is one This one feels Very close to Nolan Smith I'm gonna go I'm actually gonna go I don't know

I don't know How high Your numbers are gonna go Can't reveal my secret But I'm actually I mean This is a player You could take a bet on him

You know you can't Think He's gonna have The same type of season As he did last year How could he That was the best running back season Ever

I tend to agree with you I'm gonna go three I'm gonna go one One shy of the Nolan Smith's Okay All right. Next one. Now this is just rushing, right?

We're not going to... Yeah. Okay. Yep. A.J. Dillon carries divided by 10. I have a couple of these to kind of... Oh, interesting. Just kind of, you know, maybe kind of make it a little bit tighter in there.

So you're going to take AJ Dillon's carries and divided by 10. I can tell you, I'm going to give you some context for some of these. Kenny Gainwell had 75 carries last year and Will Shibley had 30. So that's all I'm going to tell you. I'm not going to give any one. This is my floor. So you feel like the A.J. Dillon experience is going to be similar to the Rashad Penny experience.

He's not guaranteed of making the team. Yeah. So I got to put it. And even if he does make the team, you're giving away one pretty fast. I know, but there's got to be a distance between that and Sequin. I got to leave a little bit of room. Okay.

I respect it. I respect it. The next one is total minutes of the next Philly special three-man pod divided by 10. Now, you know, we can get a little, we can get a little long on that show, especially when it's all three of us, me, Sean and Sheal.

Oh, you Sean and Shee. Yeah, so we've only done... Those are few and far between. We've only done one before, but I think we'll have some more coming up. Hopefully, I mean, listen, it's She'll show. He tells me what we do, but, you know, Sean and I, we advocate.

You know, we're like cousins that like to, like to, we like to converse. So the next time we do a pod, our last one went about two hours in change, and we were disappointed that she'll cut us off. Well, and then he split it into two? Yeah, so the part one and part two combined. Combined count.

It is what the thing on our recording says. Oh. Not what it says on wherever you get your podcast. Okay. If it's a two-partner, the full minute total of those two parts combined. Divided by 10. Divided by 10. But minute, two hours is only 120.

But I think that's the floor. I'm going to go. Do I need extra room there? I'm going to go six. Okay. Shout out to Shield, by the way. And shout out Siza. Next one.

Jalen Hertz. I like that. I like that poll. Listen, she's sang the national anthem in an Eagles game. Yeah. Ciz's never done that.

I mean, not yet. You never know. Jalen Hertz, total championship tally by the end of his career. Oh, wow. Multiplied by 10.

Multipled by 10. Yeah. Okay. So basically, right now it's at 10. Basically the question is, do you think, Jalen Hertz?

I like the math. I like that you've added. math, that's fun. Okay, so even if he gets to two, that's 20. Now, he doesn't have to be the starter, right? So if 10 years down the line, he's just on a roster? He doesn't have to be the start, but he has to win it, to be clear. What do you mean?

He has to be the victor. He can't just make it to the Super Bowl. No, yeah, but he doesn't have to play in the game. He does not have to play in the game. Right, okay. I did not really consider that, but it is part of the calculus. Um, ooh, this is a good one. I'm gonna go nine.

Okay. Okay. I told you I also had the Sydney Brown one. I do have some backups if you wanted me to, uh... It's up to you. I'm happy to hear a backup. Okay. I'm gonna sub out the Sydney Brown one since we already had the conversation.

James Winston, total interceptions next season. Ooh, interesting. Now is you going to start? Here's the question. Well, I mean, listen. They signed him, but it should be said they have never entered the season

with an African American starting quarterback they're the last club in the NFL to integrate that is very anti-classy too it's kind of insane you're telling me some people think that's classy

I don't I mean the guy they fired Ben McAdoo because he dared start Gino Smith for a game Tyrod Taylor started for them didn't he no? Yeah that was after Gino was first I believe

okay I mean, listen, that guy can, he can throw picks and bunches. But I don't, I don't really think that they're going to, like, let him be the quarterback all year long. But you can get a couple in before. Yeah, I mean, listen, five games, he could get your 25 picks. I'm going to go, I'm going to go seven. Okay. That's a big number for him.

So you're, like, thinking double digits for sure. Yes. Okay. I respect it. Yes. All right. So. We're not getting away from Keely Ringo, though.

Okay. You know, I had to have Keely Ringo on. I have two, five, eight, and ten open. Yes. I have that. I also have that in my, my digital notes here. Okay. Keeley Ringo, game started.

We've already had the discussion. Yeah. You can just throw away. Where do I come down in it? Okay. Well, I got to go, I got to go eight here. Because I agree with you. I think he is likely to be the starter.

Mm-hmm. And the choices, do I go between, Nolan Smith sacks and Philly Special Pott? Oh, actually, maybe that's the place to do it. Or is it between Jamis Interceptions and Jalen Hurts titles? Now, Jailen Hurts's titles, I'm sort of pricing in a 20. Yeah, so it's somewhere between... Ringo has got...

He can't go over that. It's going to be 5 or 8. Is it more likely to go above James or above the Philly Special Potom? That is like kind of an awkward number. Like, you know, how many sacks do you think Nolan Smith's going to have? I'm going to put them at 5. I'm going to put them between Nolan Smith's Sacks and 15.

Philly Special Pod divided by 10. So that's probably like you're thinking like 13 games. Right. Maybe the base thing will help you out then, you know, keep them off the field for a couple of starts. Potentially. Never know. A couple injuries.

All right. All right. 2.8.10. Eagles wins in 2025. Ooh. I mean, I have no choice but to put this at 8. Yeah. I mean, that's a good year.

I mean, I guess it depends on how many picks you think, James is going to throw. This includes playoffs too, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's hard to follow up a Super Bowl. Yeah, I think they should still win double-digit games. Yeah, I mean, I was looking at it, and it's, they won 14 games in two of the last three seasons. So, you know, it seems like they are, it's, it's hard to imagine them doing quite that well again next season, just because of, I did feel like some things broke their way.

And the schedule is going to be tougher. Sure. But yeah, and I think you're in the right ballpark with that. I may have to pull a little switcheroo at some point here, but yeah. I think you're going to have to be bold with this one. Uh-oh, two and ten, so it's got easy. Okay. Football manager trophies combined between the two of us this off season.

So a little backstory for the listeners. Bo and I have talked, we talked during training camp of that. We both wanted to start playing football manager, but we knew we didn't have the time. If you're not familiar with what the game is, it is like, it is like the nerdiest, most esoteric soccer simulator you could possibly. imagine, like, you are doing, like, the most, like, you know, ridiculous, like, negotiating contracts for, like, a physio for your team or, like, you know, like, you know, I need a sports scientist. I need a recruitment analyst. Like, it is very much in the weeds. It'll take you, like,

days to get through, like, a month of a season if you do it the right way. So I'm, I, when I was ranking these, I know, I made a note that I don't trust you to actually play the game. I don't trust myself to play the game. And I honestly respect it. And I, and I honestly respect it. because I started it and it is a little bit of like yeah how daunting it's daunting because it is so deep curious and I if I had like a month to just live by my like if Zach had a month to live by himself he would just want to go right somewhere and you'd be winning I would love to just sit and play football manager and Brazilian Siri Siri one or whatever that kind of time it is it's it's it's that's what I find

frustrating right now is I don't have enough time to really make progress well there's a I mean this is a thing that I would like to do I would also like to read more fiction and watch more movies So, like, is this the thing that I'm putting it at two? Just like, hold on, but even if I did do it, we're not going to win that. Even if you don't trust yourself, can you trust me? Yeah, but how many titles are? It's hard to win a title.

Well, I'm currently managing Aston Villa. So we can get a couple of trebles in there. You never know. Oh, so this is not just, uh, not just domestic cups. No, yeah, this is any title. Trophies. Any trophy. All right.

That's interesting. I still have to put it at two. Uh, all right. Um, And I've actually feel pretty good about that. I feel like you're underestimating my ability for TDM. What are you playing on easy mode? Oh, no, definitely not.

But I mean, once June hits, you know, I got some time to rack up some silverware. Okay. All right, last one. All right, I better hope this is a high one. Ten is all I got left. I think you'll feel okay about it. Jalen Carter, Sacks. Now, listen, he had four and a half sacks last season.

But if you watched him play, you know his impact on games. So I think the question is, have to ask yourself is, is what we saw from him last season an indicator that he is about to become that next elite production level interior rusher? Like, is he going to join the ranks of somebody like Aaron Donald, Dexter Lawrence, Chris Jones, or is his game less about sacks and more about just destruction and chaos? And does Milton Williams departure mean that he's going to get even more double teams, which he already saw, you know,

one of the highest rates in the league in last year. Yeah, I mean, if I was, I wouldn't put this at 10 if I had the choice. I have no choice, but I do, I mean, I would not be surprised if he has 12 sacks next season. Aaron Donald had more sack production early in his career.

I was looking at it earlier. So he had nine sacks as a rookie, 11 sacks in 2015, for a second year. He had eight sacks, 11 sacks, and then he had a 20-sac season, 20.5 sacks in 2018. So, like, I do think, like, that's kind of... I think Jalen Carter will settle into being a double-digit-sac guy at some point.

Is it next year? I'm not sure. Or maybe, again, I think that there is an interesting argument to make that maybe he isn't a sacks guy. He is just a chaos guy. Like, you know, he is a game wrecker, but maybe not on the stat sheet. Just when you watch him play,

you can see him do ridiculous things against interior offensive linemen, and it's obvious that other teams have to start with him for the game plans. I think those sacks will come, at least, maybe not on an every year double-digit level, but I think he will get there. Yeah. He's too good, not too.

His sack production did surprise me when I went back and looked at it. I thought he had more, just watching him every week. You feel his impact more, so. All right, so here's my order. And then I'll get to my swap. A.J. Dillon Carey is divided by 10. Feel good about that.

Football manager titles won by E.J. and me combined, mostly E.J. Feel good about that. Sequan 100-yard rushes, or games with 100-yard rushing, okay? Number four, Nolan Smith sacks. Number five, Keeley-Ringo starts. Number six, minutes of the next

three-man-filly special divided by 10. Number seven, James Interceptions. Number eight, Eagles wins. Number nine, Jalen Hertz, titles times 10, and number 10, Jalen Carter, Sacks. I think I have to swap out Carter

and I think what I do is I swap it with James interceptions and hope that James gets that job or plays the lion's share of those games and he is the one who has real 20 plus upside. Let James cook. So I'm gonna get, I'm gonna go Jalen Carter to seven in between Philly Special and Eagles wins

and James up to 10. I like it. All right, do you want me to show you, do you want me to reveal my rankings? What a fantastic game this was. This was good. This is all you, by the way. The name, the construction of the game.

It's funny, I was reading the description of the game to my wife, and she was really confused, and she's a lot smarter than me. And I was like, oh, I don't, let me read it you again. I don't think it's that confusing. And then I had it wrong. So that shows you that this was. That is a knock at me. It means I didn't explain it well.

No, no. Well, no. You know those blind rank things? If you want to find out how E.J. and I ranked our own propositions, we're going to do it on overtime in just a second. Yeah, I don't think it was I don't think it was Overtime

I could have done a better job explaining it I mean a brand new game In the middle of March What more could you ask for? Blind as a baddest Okay Give me your ranking See how they compare it to mine

All right so So I had AJ Dylan Carey is divided by 10 Where did you have that? I had that two Okay Football Manager titles Where did you have that? I had a three

And it's because I don't trust you Okay I trust myself to win a couple of those trophies. But you, I don't know. Sequin, 100-yard Russian games. I had that five. Okay. Same ballpark.

Nolan Smith's Sacks. I had that four. Okay. Keeley Ringo starts. What do you have that? Nine? Where do I have Kili Ringo? I had him seven.

I had 13 but volatile. I was curious what you had at number one. Philly Special Pod divided by 10. I had that nine. I think that thing's going to go long. Well, you are, I mean, you do have some control. control yeah. Jalen Carter Sacks.

I had that six. Okay. And the range, I think you'll get a kick out of this, the range for Jalen Carter Sacks for next season, I have seven to infinity. That's good. That's actually also the range for James interceptions,

but I'm guessing that that's your one. I didn't have James interceptions because it was an extra. Oh, that's right. You had Sidney, what did you have, Sidney Brown? I had him as a Lois. So I probably...

Oh, so when you had two, that could have been your one. That would have been your one in this one. So AJ Dillon would have been more for me. Oh, okay. So we had that right. Yeah. And then Eagles wins. Where did you have that?

I had that eight. Okay, that's exactly where I had it. And then Jalen Hurts titles times 10? Yeah, I had that 10. So you think he's got another one? It's hard to bet it. It sounds weird to say it's hard to bet. He's so young.

He's still got a lot of time to do it. So, yeah. And then mine for you, you had number one offensive round in which the Eagles use their first pick on an offensive player at number one. I also had that at number one. Okay. You had week one starters,

not on the current roster. I also had that at number two. Combined sacks for Jordan Davis, Bryce Huff, and Josh Ushay was your number three. That was my number five. Tyler Steen and Sidney Brown starts was your number four. Let me ask you something before we get too far. Who among that trio did you feel good enough about to put them five?

Or did you not? It's just... I think it was more about the other ones around it. Fair. Because you got a little bit waylaid by the Jahan Dotson one, which I had at three. Okay, yeah, all right. So then next was Tyler Steen and Sidney Brown combined starts.

I had that at seven. That was your four. Your five was Aston Villa finish. I also had that, I had that at nine. So you thought that they're going to, you think they're just going to. I think I just think the other numbers are lower. Okay, yeah. I think I priced them into between eight and 11 or whatever.

Yeah. Don't feel strong enough about it. Yeah. You had, so then you had Jehan Dotson at six, 50-yard games. I had that at three. Keeley-Ringo starts, you had at seven. I had at eight. Combined ranking in the MVP

and defensive player of the year ranking for Jalen and Jalen. I had that at six. You had it at eight. Okay. And then nine, you had your swap for the Aziz O'Jolari and Jailix Hunt Sacks. I had that at 10. And then Zach Berman-Sings, you had at 10.

I had that at four. You had a more realistic view of my ability to quote Zach Berman. It's more about just off the dome is hard. But I got the list. Okay. It was fun. Yeah, no, this was great. Give it up, give it up in the chat for E.J. Smith.

If you got, listen, you know, I don't like a mailbag, but if you have questions that this is your one chance to ask E.J. Fire him off now. Speak now or forever. Hold your P. I'm an open book. Is that a axiom right there? No. No.

He very much is not. But he might say. He's an open book. No, he would not say that. He doesn't want to be an open book. He is, though, whether he wants to or not. Well, he's a book that we are trying to pry open a little bit more every single day.

What else you got going on the rest of vacation or the rest of off-season? Well, I am going on vacation. You know, we alluded to it earlier. I'm actually going to see Astonville in the Champions League. Pelle Cambell! I know almost no French,

so that will be interesting. I mean, I've actually heard that the French I heard that in Paris they can be a little bit like, what's the word I'm looking for? Like, they don't want to speak English. Like, they don't want you to do that. We don't do that here. Wow.

I don't know what you're, yeah, yeah. So I might need to do some research before we go, but it should be fun. I have been doing that around the house, yeah. Yeah, they're not going to want to talk English to you. Yeah, well, we'll make it work. We'll figure it out. Google Translate. Got me through Brazil. We'll get me through this. Okay. All right. Anything else do you want to get up for chest? Hmm. No, I think anything I'd say, I'd be a little bit worried about bringing it up on the pod. Okay. E.J., Polar Jam wants to know. Can you talk about your spring lawn care routine?

Ooh, I would love that more than anything. So I've been checking the soil temperature pretty religious. Usually when it's around 45 degrees is when I start thinking about laying down fertilizer and starting to mow my grass. Now this time of the year, it can sometimes be, you get like those like fall spring, so it gets cold, and that's really bad for the grass if you're cutting it already. So I really like to wait for it to green up. And then when I mow, I just really prioritize not doing the same pattern two times in a row. You don't want compaction in the lawn this early in the season. I don't do pre-emergent, which is like a weed prevention, because you, you don't want compaction. You want the grass seed to grow.

You don't want to prevent that. So those are the big tenants of my spring lawn care. I try to mow, honestly, like every three or four days once I get going. Are you growing stuff too? No, that's truly his department. She does the garden. I just do the grass. It's a lot easier that way.

You know, I know that this might sound ridiculous to some people, but I find lawn mowing very meditative. It's very just. I can see that. Yeah, it's super relaxing. And it's, I don't know. I've really taken to it. Are you, like, listening to something while you're mowing?

or you're going pure raw dog. It's true. I don't know. I don't know. I don't raw dog the lawn door. I usually listen to draft podcasts until May. Okay. And then I will sometimes do. The H.O.I.

Drafts show with Fran Duffy, speaking of which, live again tomorrow, at noon. We'll be talking about the outliers like we did last week, except this week on the defensive side of the ball. That'll give me something on my first mo. So yeah, that's pretty much the routine. And then in the summer, it kind of, I pair it down a little bit. I do once a week once it gets too hot. I'm not a guy who waters his lawn. I just feel like that's a bridge too far for the lawn love.

It's like I don't be the guy out there water in my lawn. So yeah, that's pretty much, those are the broad strokes, I would say. Okay. Rob wants to know what's your favorite memory from the Super Bowl. They actually asked us this on the panel. My favorite memory is actually after the game once we had gotten back to the hotel. I was sitting with my colleagues, Jeff Nyberg and Olivia Reiner, so shout out to them. And we were literally, it's like 3 a.m.

We're exhausted and we're running on fumes. We're kind of like running off of each other's energy. And yeah, I really enjoyed that. It's just like kind of like the quiet moment after all the chaos. And yeah, no, that's definitely one that'll stick with me forever. Seeing Kendrick Lamar Live was pretty cool too. I got to be honest. All right.

We have a super chat from Chase Daniel Plainview who says, In honor of the Atlantic piece about the DoD group chat snafu, who is the most unfortunate person you included in a group chat? Hmm. It's a good question. Yeah, that is a good question. I feel like I have one too. Honestly, just all my friends in my current group chat,

it's kind of unfortunate that we are bound together for life like that. Do you have any toxic group chats like that? I think there is, I think there was some story of we had a group chat, and there was one wrong number included, but it was just a random one that wasn't that funny. I have a good one. So it's not my, me including somebody, unfortunately. I was unfortunately included in a group chat once.

And it was the morning of the Super Bowl. If my dad is still listening to the shout out to my dad, because it was my dad's friends. Okay. They thought, you know, me and my dad have the same name. Sure. So I'm actually the third. My grandfather is the first Ernest.

So. Yeah, shout out to all those, all the Ernest out there. So my dad's friends included me on a group chat, literally like an hour before kickoff of the Super Bowl. I won't exactly get into what they were talking about. They were talking about boycotting something. And they were like talking about like certain crazy people.

And like my phone is like blowing up. And it's an hour before the Super Bowl. I'm like, you know, preoccupied. And like finally, at first because they're all numbers I didn't recognize. I'm like, who are these people? And what are they boycotting this? What are they talking about? And then I realized it's my dad's friends.

And they included the wrong E.J. Well, speaking of your dad, we have someone in the chat who says, Small World, EJ's dad was a football coach at my high school. Nars town high school. That is correct. Yeah. That's where I get my love from football. one year I gave my dad plays for Christmas

Nice They were probably not very good plays I hope he tried to run one And probably not honestly He probably tell you that he did Yeah no but he yeah my dad was Narshtown high school football coach for a long time He's like the mayor in Narstown

Everybody knows him I love that Yeah vice principal too Uh cousin Gray says Every three days That's why my grass allergies are so bad Well I apologize I also have grass allergies

I power through you know You just got to take a shower right when you're done. Make sure the clothes go straight in the washing machine. You power through it. Every three days, I'm telling you, I think that is the biggest thing in lawn care that people don't realize you should be mowing your grass more often. You don't want to be taking off half of the grass every time you cut.

Why? It's bad for the grass. Yeah. Yeah. It's called the one-third theory, one-third rule. You want to take off a third of the blade every single time. So here's my last question. Lawn care

Espresso making Mm Aston Villa Okay Yeah guitars Rank your like Uffess

nerdiness obsession with those four things I would say Asson Villa one for now Really? Yeah Top Yeah

Okay Um Number two Right now it's probably Lawn care Okay Well it's this time of year Yeah

Honestly, though, I miss it when it's cold outside. I actually love shoveling, too. I don't know, something about the completionist, like, nature of shoveling. I really enjoy. Also meditative. I would say, I have to put guitar three because I've been doing it since I was like 11. Again, my dad, I broke my ankle playing football, and that's the origin of my guitar playing. My dad gave me a guitar.

He's like, you've got to do something. It's like the origin of Isaac Sayamalo's ping pong career. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, guitar three and then espresso making four. I love espresso making and making latte art. A little bit of a stressful hobby at times. More stressful than you might imagine. Because you're not happy with your own performance? Yeah, and it's like if you make a bad latte, you're either going to start over or you're going to just drink it and you're just going to be sad the whole time. But when you make really good latte art, so satisfying. Now, what about the guitar? Like, how often are you playing?

I used to play every day for a long time. I'm probably more like every couple days. You know, I used to think like my wife would be like annoyed when I played. You know, it's like a loud hobby. But she actually like likes it when I play, which is, you know, it's nice. Yeah. Nice. And I don't play like offensive music or anything like that.

It's very peaceful, calm. It's not like, you know, anything crazy. How many guitars do you have? Right now I've got like, I technically would have three. I've had a lot before. I've always been more of a quality over quantity guy, which might sound weird because I just said I have three guitars. But like some guys will have like 15, 20, 25.

I have, yeah, I've got a Stratocaster, a Les Paul, and then I have an acoustic guitar. I think that's the perfect trio you could ever imagine. How do you feel about the fact that Les Paul, Lesbo and Paul Damoich? I'd never considered this before. Yeah, maybe there's some poetry there. Those two guys were humongously helpful for me in my area. early career covering the Eagles. I mean, they're pretty much the reason that I cover the Eagles,

in my opinion. So, shout out to them. Have you ever been in a band? Yeah, back in high school. You'll love this. You know what my band name was? Ernest goes to music. No, conflict of interest. That's pretty good. Yeah. Little journalism nerd. Yeah. Yeah, we did like Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Hendricks covers. Okay. Some bad singing by me. Okay. Yeah, but not recently. I haven't been in a band. Will Julia sing while you play? No, definitely not. Okay, we need to find you a singer. There's a little duo to go on.

Yeah, because I can't sing. I realized that when I was about 19 years old. I was like, I think I need to hang up the microphone for good. Well, one day. E.J., thank you so much. Thanks for having me. What a pleasure. That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.L.Y. Eagles podcast.

Back tomorrow. Two shows. We got the P.H.L.Y. Eagles show, regular show at 2 o'clock. Before that, we've got the PHO-Y draft show with Fran Duffy at noon. Fran Duffy, not to confuse you, will also be on the PHLY Eagle Show at 2 o'clock. So you get lots of Fran tomorrow talking draft, whatever else we think about, whatever you want to hear about. Maybe we'll see Shady Ray. Who's to say?

For all of us here at PHOI, for Julia, most of all, thank you to E.J. Thank you to you guys for watching and listening. We will talk to you tomorrow. And as always, we love you.