PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Less than a week from the opener, which Eagles are primed to EXPLODE in 2025?

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

If last year was Saquon Barkley’s year, who will be the Eagles’ main character in 2025? Jalen Hurts can silence those who doubt he’s an elite quarterback, A.J. Brown could put the stamp on being... the league’s best WR, Jalen Carter could compete for defensive player of the year, Zack Baun could take a step forward from his insane 2024, Willie Lampkin could be the league’s first All-Pro fullback/offensive lineman. EJ Smith and Bo Wulf put their predictions on the line about how this year will play out. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:14 From the Xfinity studio, it is the PHS Eagles podcast presented by Bet365 and True Mark Financial Credit Union. Bo Wolf E.J. Smith here on a beautiful Friday afternoon six days away from the season opener for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. Hey, Jay, how you doing? I am doing well. I don't share your sentiment. I am ready for today's show. I'm excited for it to be a great show. Okay? I'm not saying it's not going to be a good show.
Starting point is 00:00:38 There's no mailing it in. I'm new here. I can't just be showing up to work. If you watch or don't watch it, I don't care. Speak for yourself. We're going to do the show. That's all. You know, this is what,
Starting point is 00:00:49 they get some new energy in here. Maybe they're taking their, it's a long weekend. They got Labor Day coming up. They want to skip the Friday show. No, they're going to hang out. I think that makes you a jobbrony.
Starting point is 00:00:57 But it's, you can do it. I don't care. They're going to hang out with us. They're going to have a good time. They're going to get surprised because we have a little bit of Eagles news at the top of the show.
Starting point is 00:01:05 You can surprise me with us. I haven't seen it. Yeah. Make sure that if you, you know, if you're not the kind of loser who's just not going to watch this show and you're going to skip over it. You want to really support us.
Starting point is 00:01:15 Become a diehard. Now is a good time to do it. $36 for the whole year. Brand new merch has dropped that you can take a part of. All good stuff. Okay. You see that the chat thinks you were doing a mailbag and you've already scared people away. Oh, let's talk about this for a second.
Starting point is 00:01:30 Here's what we've decided. There are people from your previous podcast location who want you to do mailbags. They're used to hearing your very, very questionable takes on non-football things. Consistently. Consistently wrong. I mean, like, I would say you were right about 10 times, like 10% of the time. What I think we should do is every Friday you can answer one question. I like that.
Starting point is 00:02:01 I really like that. You just get one question. It has to be a really good one, though. It's got to be curated. Are they going to email me? these questions and I get to pick? I think I want to put more on Julia's plate. No, no.
Starting point is 00:02:15 But message, message Julia on the Discord. This is only for diehards. If you want to ask E.J. a question, you have to be a diehard. So you got to get on the Discord. You can email or you can message Julia and Julia will pick out the one question a week
Starting point is 00:02:32 that we will answer. Oh, Fran agrees. Consistently questionable off. off-field takes from that. And that is being generous. First off, I am not afraid to be, to stand out on my own on some of these things. I'm convicted in my stances.
Starting point is 00:02:48 And the other thing, everybody thinks it's so easy to come up with their opinion in the safety of their car. Listen to the podcast. Bullets are firing. I got to answer these questions without, you know, the other. We are normal people. Everyone, everyone, I'm the only one in the pod that didn't read the questions beforehand. It's a live reaction.
Starting point is 00:03:07 You got to keep that in mind. Okay. All right. Let's get to it. We do have some Eagles news. We're going to make this the big takeaway presented by Xfinity. We've got some Eagles news, the big takeaway, and the Eagles have named their captains for the 2025 season.
Starting point is 00:03:24 E.J., how many are there? There are. You know, I'm to bed with that. There are eight captains. Eight captains? Oh, that's going to be too many. So in 2023, Nick said they had too many captains. They paired it down to six last year, I think.
Starting point is 00:03:38 I believe it was six. Let's see if I can go eight for eight. The reason that my laptop is tilted, funny, for those listening, the eagle-eyed among you, I'm trying to hide this from Beau. Okay, I'm going to see if I can go eight for eight. They had seven last year. They had seven last year. So they've grown by one.
Starting point is 00:03:55 Jalen Hertz. Yes, that'd be surprised. A.J. Brown. Yep. Zach Bonn. Yes. First time captain. Yeah, so you got one of the new guy.
Starting point is 00:04:11 this is great podcast too are they gonna do both lane and Jordan Milata I'm gonna say Jordan Milata yes okay so four four you got Lane too then oh you're giving me lane yeah okay all right well I didn't know if they're gonna give two in the offensive line I didn't we're gonna strip to I just to take a step back okay no okay so how many that's five you've got five you've got three remaining two new guys say one Barkley yes um okay they need need somebody else on defense. Oh, interesting.
Starting point is 00:04:46 There's one that might surprise you. Is it an employee of PHLI? Just might be. Read Blankenship. Read Blankenship. Okay, good for read Blankenship. And then. And then Jake Elliott.
Starting point is 00:04:58 Yes. Oh. That was impressive. Good work by you. That would have been really bad podcasting if you were worse at that. But that's true. Yeah. And once again, Devante Smith shoved out the door.
Starting point is 00:05:10 Like, he gets stripped of his captaincy after 2023. Yeah. still can't make it. They add a couple more and he doesn't get to join again? I don't know. Shot across his bow. Big takeaway presented by Xfinity. The Eagles hate Devante Smith.
Starting point is 00:05:24 Reed Blankenship is an interesting inclusion though. You know, obviously he is a leader on that secondary at this point. It's a younger group that he is the, I mean, it feels weird to say he's the elder statesman, but he is. I think that one. And only two players on defense. Yeah, that's the one that really surprises. Five players on offense. Yeah, I mean, I guess it really is a reflection of how young they are on defense.
Starting point is 00:05:43 that like if they wanted a defensive captain outside of Zach Bonn, who even him, maybe he's only been here for a season. I think it makes sense he's a captain, but still like who else would really be a candidate? You're looking at a lot of second year guys. Yeah, I think if Niccovy Dean were healthy, that's a good one.
Starting point is 00:05:58 That would probably be one of them. But yeah, I mean, it's not, you know, you're not going to give it to a second year player. Nicoby Dean would be like. Jalen Carter in his third years, you know, probably not the guy. Yeah, I mean, you want your captains to be out there on the field like for most of the time.
Starting point is 00:06:11 And even when he's back from injury, there are questions about if he's going to be on the field. So, yeah, I think Reed makes a lot of sense. It's just when you see him up there with the rest of these guys, it is a little bit like, huh, I guess, I mean, he's been around a long enough time now that I think it does make sense. Man, I hope Devante's furious. Yeah, it is.
Starting point is 00:06:29 What the hell? It's really, he is the victim. And there's only so many to go around. Yeah, he is a victim of them being so stacked offensively with a bunch of leaders in that room too or in that group too because, yeah, I mean, everything about him would signify that he'd be a good captain, but you look at the guys they chose and who are you taking off over.
Starting point is 00:06:46 Well, this is, and this is a take that you have had that I agree with, which is that the way that people talk about AJ Brown and Devante Smith is completely flipped from the reality of, of their lives on the team. Like, Devante doesn't come to all the offseason stuff. Could you imagine? Devante, like, stretches on his own. Yeah, I always says the visual, like with the team. Like, he's not a captain.
Starting point is 00:07:13 Right. If that was AJ, it's all anybody would talk about. Yeah, the visual of the rest of like literally 89 of the 90 player. Well, you know, less than that, but all of the healthy players stretching their hamstrings and doing like whatever stretches they're doing. And Devante Smith off to the side jumping rope. Like, he has earned the benefit of the doubt with that. I'm not saying that he's undeserving of that benefit of the doubt. But you do think if AJ Brown or could you imagine if Deshaun Jackson did something like that?
Starting point is 00:07:37 Like everybody's eyebrows would be up. So again, I'm not saying. it's not an earned thing for Devante, but yeah, they definitely are viewed a lot differently from a public perspective, AJ and Devante. Yeah, that's funny. Okay. What do you think about those captains? I mean, I'm always, I always look at the first time guys, you know, Sequin, Zach Bonn,
Starting point is 00:07:58 and Reed Blankenship was, my lot of was a captain last year, wasn't it? I believe so, yeah. So those three guys stand out, but none of them are surprising. You know, it feels like if you could give somebody a mid-season captaincy, Seyquan would have been a candidate for that. And Zach Bonn, again, you look at a, young defense, Zach Bonn and Reed Blankenship
Starting point is 00:08:13 are kind of the leaders of that group. I mean, they're the only ones who've, I mean, Reed is the one who's been here the longest of any of the defense. Yeah, it's crazy to think about
Starting point is 00:08:22 because it feels like just yesterday. That I invented him, I agree. I'm not going to argue with you on that one. I mean, you and you and Jimmy were both on him pretty, pretty early.
Starting point is 00:08:31 No, no, no, no, Jimmy knew he existed as a prospect, not that he was a good player. Yeah, but he still got some,
Starting point is 00:08:37 bought some early stock. We're going to be buying some stock later in the show, and I'm excited for that. Okay. Look forward to it. We didn't get to talk to you about the Michael Parsons trade. Yeah. Did the emergency podcast with Fran yesterday.
Starting point is 00:08:49 Hope everybody watches that. How did you take in that news? What did you think from an Eagles perspective? Well, I was driving home, which is a commentary on the difference between my commute and your commute. But my big... I'm going to be walking home after the show today. How about that? Are you actually?
Starting point is 00:09:04 Yeah. Flex. No big deal. Beautiful outside. If I was walking home, it would take me like a day. Yeah. Yeah. I agree.
Starting point is 00:09:11 But my biggest takeaway... Would you walk on the highway? No, absolutely not. So how would you get there? I would have to take back roads. It would probably take me two days. It's like the most indirect route. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:22 Yeah. Shout out to Westchester, though. I like Westchester. I'm not complaining about the commute. Okay. But... Would you be willing to hitchhike? No, I would never hitchhike.
Starting point is 00:09:31 I don't even watch scary movies. I'm like... I'm like an anxious person. So, no, I wouldn't hitchhike. Okay. I mean, I guess it's... I'm trusting. In this world, you could have just ride share.
Starting point is 00:09:43 I'm inherently trusting, but no, I wouldn't hitchhike. I mean, yeah, the ride share, but no, I, maybe it'd be good for content for me to walk home. Could do that. We should find a, we should find a way for like some kind of bet, you know, the classic radio trope where the Eagles lose this game. I'll walk to Baltimore. I was thinking about something like that.
Starting point is 00:10:03 I'm not going to unveil it yet. I'm going to tease it. Maybe we'll talk about this later. It's not walking home, it's something else. I'll go on the record right now. If the Eagles go 0-N-17, I will walk to California. You heard of here first. Promise.
Starting point is 00:10:19 Oh, and 17, I'm walking to California to the Super Bowl. I'm disappointed you didn't take the dad joke opportunity here and just go like, if they go, 0-18 or something like that, like, yeah, something impossible. All right, do you want to hear my Michael Parsons take? Yeah, let's hear it. If you will allow me a European soccer analogy here. You've probably been dying to do this. Yes, I have.
Starting point is 00:10:39 I thought about the solo drive in. You'll hear soccer fans talk about the giants of European soccer going through what you call banter eras. I think the best translation in American football would be probably an unsurious era. Okay. The Cowboys are in an unserious era. They have been for a while now. It's been decades. And the Michael Parsons trade, the decision to trade him, the timing of the trade, what it does to the team in the return that they got, all of these factors really are the inflection point.
Starting point is 00:11:09 It's like the perfect illustration of this unsurious error that they are in. You look at the like again, the timing of it, but also just this is a league that is set up for teams to never lose players like Michael Parsons. Like there are so many avenues that they could have taken. There's so much leverage that they had over a player as good as him, one of the best players in the NFL. Again, the league is set up. There are, you know, institutions in place in the CBA that keep a team from ever having to let somebody like that. leave the building. They could have,
Starting point is 00:11:41 maybe he would have sat out the entire season. I doubt it. But even then, like, you have the franchise tag available to you for players exactly
Starting point is 00:11:50 like Michael Parsons. Honestly, players worse than Michael Parsons. The franchise tag is in place for those things. So the, again, the timing,
Starting point is 00:11:56 the return, ignoring all of the maneuvers that they could have done. We aren't, like, comparing them to the Eagles is like boring. It's like, like, obviously,
Starting point is 00:12:06 the Eagles would have gotten this extension done early. they would have tried to get, you know, ahead of the market instead of reacting to it. We would have never gotten here if it were the Eagles. But like, I think even if you zoom out further than that, any team with an asset is as valuable and irreplaceable as Michael Parsons would have been smarter about handling it, that handling this than the Cowboys.
Starting point is 00:12:26 I don't think you would go so far. You probably could go so far as saying that they are the worst run organization in American sports. I don't know if I would go that far. I don't, yeah, I'm not sure I would go. Relative to the scale of what they should. should be the brand, the, you know, the reach, the, the, the legacy of this franchise, I think you can make an argument relatively that they are the worst.
Starting point is 00:12:48 I'd have to think about it. But to me, the crazy, the indefensible thing about it is, is the order of operations. Yes. Like, you should not, you should never let Michael Parsons go. You should not. He's, he's unbelievable. He's in the prime of his career. He plays, you know, the second most important position in the same.
Starting point is 00:13:08 sport. That's like that seems obvious. But if you want to tell me, you, you think that it is in service of the team to get the most for him. You think, you think that he's a little bit overrated, you know, internally he's, you know, he's a bit of a quitter or whatever it is. Like, you know, he's a, he's a frontrunner. That's fine. I, you know, we would probably disagree about that, but I can get there. But if you're going to do that, you do it when you're going to get the most for him, which is before the draft when everybody can fit him in and, you know, can put their plans together instead of like only limiting your pool to however many teams they did now and, and believe Jerry or not, but like to limiting it to teams that had a defensive tackle they could get, give me a break.
Starting point is 00:13:53 Yeah. And they were trying to sign him two weeks ago. Right. Right. Right. So it's not like they exhausted all options and did what they wanted to keep him. Obviously, they have run this like a clown show. I am not so sure I'm willing to go to the worst run franchise in sports, but it's not far.
Starting point is 00:14:12 Yeah, I was going to say, again, relative to what this could be. That's the argument I used to make about the James Dolan Nix. Right, exactly. There are certain franchises that do carry a certain level of weight. And I'm not saying that that really does buy you that much leverage in free agency. Obviously, the draft is the draft. It's not like you're going to have that many more advantages. But at the same time, you look at what the cowboys are and what people expect them to be.
Starting point is 00:14:34 And this is the thing about the banter errors, right? It's like there are 20-year-olds who have known nothing but the Cowboys being a joke, or at least a laughing stock in the last five or ten years. Now, this one I'll give Jimmy the credit. This is Edia as the graphic of, you know, how recently every team in the NFC went to the NFC championship. Exactly. It's like that-da-da-da-da-ta-da-ta-da-ta-da. At some point, like the players in the NFL only know a playoff failure for this franchise.
Starting point is 00:14:59 So it just is. Yeah, there's like one player on the team who was alive when they last went to the Super Bowl. Right. So they're a joke. Yeah. And you know, the zooming, like, we're looking back more toward the Eagles. I do think, like, but this is the thing with the Cowboys, they don't have the direction. So it's like they traded Michael Parsons.
Starting point is 00:15:16 That makes me feel like this is now a rebuilding year for them. I've seen people talk about Arch Manning is going to have a star on the side of his helmet. That is the dumbest take. That is the most, like, delusional, insane take. If A, is he even coming out this year. B, like, this is the Manning family. What are you talking about? Do you think that they actually would let him go?
Starting point is 00:15:36 Of course not. Yeah, exactly. Like, they have, of all the families, which is such a silly thing, like, you know,
Starting point is 00:15:42 it's insane. It's, that is like, generation of quarterback prospects, the one we have evidence that the family would not let him go to a dysfunctional organization. Like, what are we doing here?
Starting point is 00:15:52 So, yeah, I think it's a two horse race in the division more than it was yesterday when you thought that they were going to make it to the NFC championship game. Maybe it'll surprise you. You just didn't even win eight games. That's all. You had them.
Starting point is 00:16:03 I think you had them. as a sneaky little playoff contender, make a run. You're buying all the DAC stock yesterday. I'm just, it's all about, it's all about crushing the commanders. That's what's, yeah. Well, I just, there is so much wrong with it. But again. So for the 2025 Eagles, do you think this was a good thing or a bad thing?
Starting point is 00:16:23 Because are you, do you think that? I like this take from Fran that maybe this is a bad thing. Because it's like, now the Packers are a true contender. And the Jerry Jones, like, is this the inflection point? where they go, okay. But there's something they can do about it. As long as he's alive, he's going to be in charge. Did you hear his press conference where he kept calling him, Michael?
Starting point is 00:16:42 No. How many times did he say glory hole? I wasn't counting glory hole references. I was shocked by how often he called him Michael. So just a rough, just a rough day for the Cowboys. I'm sure the Eagles fans enjoyed that. Yes, I do think it makes the Packers a legitimate Super Bowl container. I think they were already.
Starting point is 00:17:03 They got Dary and Kinnard. Of course they are. Yeah, exactly. They have the vibes now. They've got the doo-ju. I mean, like, the Eagles have done well relatively against Michael Parsons. They have found ways to keep him from wrecking games against them. So that's not necessarily the concern.
Starting point is 00:17:18 I think that the Packers, like, you know, we were talking earlier this week about who would be a real number one seed contender. I think this makes the Packers a lot more viable for stuff like that. And a timely super chat from Dinkleberg who says it's not a. coincidence that the Packers traded for Micah Parsons after trading for Darian Canard. Could Darian Canard be like a sneaky like GM? Could he be like get in the building and like a two first and Kenny Clark for Michael Parsons?
Starting point is 00:17:43 I think I could get that done. Oh, you think that was his suggestion. That's like part of his Super Bowl juju as he has ideas like that. Maybe he's been the one pulling the strings behind the scenes. He's the one who whispered to how he, because they signed him to a futures dealer. I could have told Howard to sign Seek-won. Yeah, maybe that. Maybe Zach Bond even.
Starting point is 00:17:59 Yeah, he's like, that's Zach Bond. offball linebacker. I like this theory. He'd be a difference maker there. Yeah. Yeah, no, Darian Kinnard, maybe secretly.
Starting point is 00:18:06 But then it happened you could let him leave the building if he had ideas like that, right? Maybe Hallie wants to get the credit now. Maybe it's like, okay, we've gotten what we need to this guy. Oh, I like that.
Starting point is 00:18:16 We let him linger too long. It gets out. Okay. I think we're on to something. Or Kinnard whispered to him, here's the deal you will not get better than me for a sixth. Maybe he's like very objective. like patched with the whole thing.
Starting point is 00:18:32 It's like, yeah. Your team building is the God's interest of your team building. Okay. We're going to take a break. And on the other side, we're going to tell you the players that we really want to pound the table for and believe in for this Eagle season as we are six days away from the opener.
Starting point is 00:18:56 New fresh! That's right. Listen, my life is about to get very busy. The football season starts to kill. are going back to school, Rachel's starting work. It's like, it's all getting thrown at us. And the only way to keep our head above water is to lean into some things
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Starting point is 00:21:19 Speaking of that towing capacity, it's best in class with a 14,000 pound limit depending on configuration. So, like, they got enough. They got enough payload for me, I think, you know, in the hitchhiker. These trucks also come with the pro power onboard so you can turn your truck. into a mobile generator, which is perfect for job sites or tailgates this football season. You know, I owned an old truck when I was in college, and that thing wrestled like crazy with these Pennsylvania winter roads, but that's why Ford have gone to a military-grade aluminum alloy body,
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Starting point is 00:22:15 For more information, visit your local Ford store. All right, Mr. Smith. Let's get started here. I kind of know who your number one is. You've talked about it a little bit. You've pounded to the table before. This is going to be the year of this person, but I'm going to let you lead us off. Okay.
Starting point is 00:22:32 I think this is going to be the year of AJ Brown. We've talked about it earlier this week. I am going to come with some new stats today. To really paint the picture because what I've been talking about a lot this week is... Rembrandt this bad boy up. Yeah, exactly. I don't know what Rembrandt means, but we're going to go with it.
Starting point is 00:22:49 You're not going to tell me? Rembrandt? No. That's what to say. It doesn't sound like a soccer player to me. All right, now that you've completely derailed me, I've spent a lot of time this week talking about the action to the reaction of the Eagles rushing production from last season.
Starting point is 00:23:05 I think the defenses are going to have to adjust. Is it going to be effective at all times? I don't think so. I think that the Eagles are still going to have a dominant run game. But the change up that they should see from defenses should open things up in the passing game. I think in general I'm buying stock in the Eagles passing game this season. I think AJ Brown is going to be the driving force. I think he's a good enough player to be the driving force.
Starting point is 00:23:27 And again, the stat would say he's a great enough player. Yeah, I think he is, he wants to put a stamp on it, being the best receiver in football. I think you can prove it this year. And I'm going to show you, I'm going to explain it with these two sets. So I was looking at his yards per route run against different coverages earlier today. Okay. So against cover one and cover three, aka single high defenses, when defenses put us extra safety in the box to try and stop the run,
Starting point is 00:23:49 AJ Brown ranks third in the league with 3.57 yards per out run. He has 48 catches for 768 yards and five touchdowns. Against two high zone coverages. Again, two safeties over the top, trying to stop the pass. You know, there was a clip of Devante Smith talking to Vic Fangio in the mic'd up segment the Eagles put out. And he goes to Vic and goes, enough of that cover two today. You know, I don't want to see those two high safeties.
Starting point is 00:24:11 Let me get some work in today. And then, you know, Mina has talked about the Eagles being this math problem. When there are two high safeties over the top, that is favorable for the run game. They are going to run all day against those teams. Against two high coverages, A.J. Brown's yard, yards per route run, go from 3.57 against single high to 2.63 yards per outrun against two high. I think that they're going to see more single high coverages. I think that AJ Brown is going to have the volume,
Starting point is 00:24:36 the opportunity to take advantage of those. It really fits who he is as a player, being able to win vertically, being able to win up the seam, you know, a slant route, finding space against those zone coverages. I think it's just a numbers game at the end of the day. Ah, it's a numbers game. And I think that AJ Brown is good enough to,
Starting point is 00:24:54 if he has the volume and the opportunity, to be the best receiver in football. Now that those numbers against zone, those are also elite numbers. Yes. Yeah, that's true. That's fair. And then over two is like elite of the elite. Yeah, I mean, he was the third.
Starting point is 00:25:06 He was ranked third in yards per route run in general. But the number does drop against cover two and cover four. And sometimes it has felt like it's as easy as man coverage throw to AJ's own coverage throw to Devante. Like that's their two superpowers. But listen, I think AJ's maybe right that he's the best receiver in the NFL. We've talked about it a while that, you know, the moment from the moment from the press conference this this summer of I want to put a stamp on that but also I want to do what's
Starting point is 00:25:32 best for the team like that's a it's a very difficult thing for him yeah I imagine I think he is the best player on the team I don't I don't I would not be surprised at all if this is the year of a j. Brown yeah I mean we saw what this Eagles offense can look like when it is purely star driven around Sequin Barclay I do wonder what it would look like if it was purely star driven around AJ Brown think he's that that caliber player like I said you know it's funny like the best receiver in the league, I think that that is usually, it's tough to crown one player that, because I think sometimes you get these possession receivers,
Starting point is 00:26:07 like the Justin Jefferson's of the world, who will always have, like, the production. What? You're throwing, you're Justin Jefferson's nothing but a possession receiver. But you know what I mean? I love that. Great take. There are guys.
Starting point is 00:26:19 Justin Jefferson's basically Jason Avant. And this is why I said that you had the Cowboys in the NFC Championship game. I'm going to start running with some of these two. I got to give it back. No offense to Jason. No, no, nothing against Justin Jefferson. They're evolving. When's the last time Justin Jefferson made a big play?
Starting point is 00:26:34 Give me a break. It's probably pretty recently. There are volume receivers that can have the numbers that kind of, you know, illustrate how they can impact the game. But if you look at AJ Brown, like really what it is, it's kind of like it's not too dissimilar from the Jalen Carter effect. Like his numbers may not be unbelievable. But when you watch and play, how dominant he can be in a game really jumps out to you.
Starting point is 00:26:55 And I think that AJ Brown is that type of player. So maybe he won't. lead the league in receiving. Maybe he won't have the most catches of any receiver in football. But could he be the most dominant receiver in football this season? Could he be the star of a star driven offense in the way that Seekwon Barclay was in a wide receiver version? I do. I think he could do it. I think so too. I think it's a good one. I mean, you know, I'm going out on a limb and saying the best player on the team is going to have a good season. But, you know, I don't think most people would agree that he's the best player on the team right now. I do. If we took a poll, I think most people would still say Seekwan. Depends who you're pulling. If we're pulling the sickos.
Starting point is 00:27:30 Are you pulling the average? Are you pulling the average? The sickos, you probably say like Lane Johnson. Lane Johnson. Sickos might say Darius Cooper. Yeah, that's the real sickos would say, Harris Cooper. Francis, is that you would think.
Starting point is 00:27:44 I'm not the one throwing Justin Jefferson on the bus. I think Justin Jefferson is one of the two best receivers of the world. But you know you would take Justin, you would take Darius Cooper over Justin Jefferson. You have to be committed to the bit. Who's block for who's blocking, maybe. If you're the one who. called him, you know, Johnny Possession.
Starting point is 00:28:00 He's basically Johnny Wilson, as far as you're concerned. Johnny Possession. Who's a good, who's a good person for like just just possession receiver? Like, um, like, in a bad way? Let us know in the chat. Who is who, when you think possession receiver? Like in a bad way. Like, not in a bad way, but in a limited way.
Starting point is 00:28:21 Who comes to? I was going to say like, Nico Collins is like what you want in a possession receiver. That's not a bad way. You're like, I love it. No, I think. he's great. I think if when you when you think of possession receiver as a pejorative who comes to mind.
Starting point is 00:28:35 Like Todd Pinkston no but he's running he's running fly routes that's all he's doing you got to remember that like the the the lens in which I watched Todd Pinkston was as a child so to me he was a possession receiver I'm thinking you're thinking like a big
Starting point is 00:28:50 bodied guy you're thinking like yeah if it's not a like washed Alshon Jeffrey like like in a good way Kishon Johnson Okay. Maybe that's unfair to Kishon. Maybe like end of career Al-Shan Jeffrey. Wayne Krabet, that's a good one.
Starting point is 00:29:05 Joe Juravicious, that's a good one. That is a possession receiver. Do you think Amanrauss-St. Brown is like a possession receiver? He's not a big body, but he kind of is like... He's a volume hound. Yeah, he is kind of like a volume merchant, though. You know?
Starting point is 00:29:18 Trash. Thrash is more of a possession receiver. I agree with that. I was like eight when I was watching these teams. Oh, Fran comes in with Alan Lazard. That's a very good one. That's a very good one. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:28 Michael Pittman Jr. Just not very good. This is going to devolve into the like, just like saying random football players with your friends at the bar. That's what Fridays did before. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:44 All right. It's time for you to pound the table. Time for me to pound the table. I have made the case that I think because of the way the summer has played out because he was absent for most of camp, I think everybody has already forgotten and because of the excitement around Jahad Campbell,
Starting point is 00:30:05 just how awesome Zach Bonn is. There's been so much focus on Quinyan's going to turn into an all-pro. And Cooper DeGine's going to become an all-pro. And maybe this is Jalen Carter's year to be defensive player of the year. And we're worried about cornerback two and we're worried about the edge depth. Nobody's remembering that like the best player in the defense last year might have been Zach Bond, probably was Zach Bond. And he could be even better this year.
Starting point is 00:30:28 Now, I don't know if he's going to like fully fill the staff sheet like he did last year because that was so rare, including the playoffs, players since 2000, EJ, who have had at least three sacks, 150 tackles, two fumble recoveries, three force fumbles, two interceptions. He cleared some of those bars by several. It's him. Ray Lewis in 2010, Keith Bullock in 2003, Navarro Bowman in 2013, and actually Shaq, Lennard in 2013, and actually Shaq Leonard in 2000. 2018 future Eagle great. None of those guys ever did it again. It's not a repeatable thing. But I think given that Jehad Campbell's going to probably take some things off of his plate,
Starting point is 00:31:10 so maybe he's going to not have as many sacks this year. He won't rush to pass it quite as much. And by the way, if you haven't checked it out, there's a great video we have on PHLY with a mysterious person who I can't tell you anything about, breaking down how Jahad Campbell might be used in Vic Fangio's defense. Please enjoy that. But I think like it's going to take two series on Thursday night for everybody to be like, oh man, I totally forgot about just how good Zach Bonn is in the middle of the field.
Starting point is 00:31:42 And we saw it at practice like he practiced like two days. And the day he came back and the first time he was fully there in team. He was everywhere. He's running down the field of the guys. He's diving with deflected passes. And I remember talking to him about this on locker room cleanout day where he's glowing. Like what a year he had.
Starting point is 00:32:04 They just won the Super Bowl. And of course he knows he's about to get paid a bunch of money. And it was, you could read that he wanted to come back and that the Eagles wanted him back. And he's thinking like, man, how much better can I get? Because this was just my first year. This was everybody's first year in the defense. We're all going to know more about what's going on.
Starting point is 00:32:24 I'm going to get more reps. I think there's a chance that Zach Bond goes from like, man, what a story that was. We got to lock that guy up to the best linebacker in football. Well, first and foremost, you said I picked the best player on the team and then you picked arguably the best player on the defense. Just keeping you honest here. Yeah. But I do agree with you. When he came back from the back contusion in training camp, he was all over the field.
Starting point is 00:32:48 And it was just such a reminder, like as exciting as Jihad Campbell was all summer, like this is what one of the best linebackers in the NFL looks like. I'm very excited to see the pairing of them. I think that Jihad Campbell, like we talked about with want to BGM, like Jihad Campbell can unlock Zach Bonn even more. He can give Zach Bonn more freedom to do different things and not always have to fulfill the same few roles that can be mirrored in that way. So I'm bullish on him as well. I think that he is going to be, I think when you look at the edge group, you look at maybe some of the questions you have, well, not maybe the questions you have an outside corner. This team is just built in a different way than we are used to seeing Eagles defense is built.
Starting point is 00:33:24 I think that that lineback and core can cover up for a lot of things. Okay. Brandon Stokely, I see mentioned in the chat. That's a good one. All right. You ready for another one? You want to do...
Starting point is 00:33:36 For you, if you're ready for another one. Yeah, I... This is relitigating something that we've discussed on the show. Oh, here we go. Thompson, Robinson again. Let's hear it. You know, I've been getting a lot of flack
Starting point is 00:33:49 for my belief in more Ojo-Mo. And again, I've been reading your stuff I watched him all training camp. The guy looks incredible. Looks fantastic. So I said... You're saying the floor is Aaron Donald. I actually kind of did get into the Aaron Donald territory with Jalen Carter, but not for
Starting point is 00:34:09 Morrow Ojoomo. Okay. So I said that he was as good as Milton Williams in the playoffs. Obviously Milton Williams had an incredible Super Bowl. But if you were looking at the full postseason, I'm coming with numbers today. Okay. I am here to defend my take. If you were looking at pressure rate,
Starting point is 00:34:27 Milton Williams, 12.7% pressure rate. Got to the quarterback. Don't you dare. Pressured the quarterback, you dare. 12.7% of the time. Bring the pressure rate to this show. Listen, I'm already here. No.
Starting point is 00:34:39 I already did it. Okay, well, according to my numbers on pressure rate, he wasn't. Because it's a made up stat. No, come on. Morrow. Pressures are subjective. They are subjective. They are not real.
Starting point is 00:34:50 But for the sake of this, exercise. So 12.7% for Milton Williams, 12.5% for Morrow Ojoomo. I rest my case. Well, that's interesting. Actually, I have it here. According to my numbers, the pressure rate for Milton Williams was 75%, and the pressure rate for Morrow Ojimo was negative 30%.
Starting point is 00:35:13 There are varying degrees of subjective stats. I agree the pressure rate is not always the best way to evaluate this, but I think it is important in this exercise because I am trying to extrapolate Morrow Jomo's postseason performance the way he looked in the second half of last season with a higher sample size with more opportunity. I think he can be as good as Milton Williams was last season. Obviously Milton Williams. You are changing your picture, your tune a little bit. Now you're saying he can be as good as Milton Holmes was. I will say this. I will pound the table. His floor is being better than Milton Williams. I think he will be. I think he is overqualified for that role.
Starting point is 00:35:52 Okay. I'm pounding the table for Milton Williams. I think he's, sorry, Morrow Jomo. See, they're so interchangeable in my mind. I think Morojimo is very,
Starting point is 00:36:00 very good. Yeah. He has had an awesome summer. You can read the piece on all P.HLY.com if you are diehard. Survey the Eagles locker room. He got the lion's share of the votes. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:36:11 People across the team are very impressed with him. I think there's every reason to expect he's going to have a big season. I'm not so sure. He's going to have like eight sacks like you think he's going to have, but. So eight sacks throughout postseason plus regular season.
Starting point is 00:36:26 Milton Williams, I think, when I think, I guess this is the difference. Will they end the season with more sacks or owes in his name? More sacks. I mean, he's got, what, five? Yeah. Well, yeah, that's Milton Williams' regular season tally. When you think of, I think, deservingly so, Milton Williams, we view him by his last game. And he made himself a lot of money with that game.
Starting point is 00:36:49 And again, deservedly so. But if you look at the full sample size of what Milton Williams offered the Eagles last season, I think that Moro Jomo can do that. I think he will do that. I think he will be a one-on-one destroying interior defensive lineman that keeps the interior offensive line honest with a player like Jalen Carter on the other side of him. We need to have at some point on Thursday night, Morrow Ojamo lined up next to Ogbo Okoronkwo. That's a lot of O's.
Starting point is 00:37:16 You got 11 O's coming at you? How can you do that so fast? I mean, I know that. I know that Ogbo has overtaken more. He's going six to five. This is nothing but open. This is like your corner. I apologize. I should have known that you would, of all people, you would know this.
Starting point is 00:37:29 Looking forward to that. All right, let's take a quick break. We'll come back and count Valval some more. The GameTime app gives you the advantage. The fans. That's where the advantage belongs. Because game time is the hack for unlocking amazing tickets and experience in just a few taps. It is incredibly easy to use.
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Starting point is 00:40:52 All right, back on the PHA Yagles podcast. My turn to tell you who's going to be one of the main characters of this season. And I'm going to take one of your boys here, I feel like, okay? Here's how this plays out. Eagles have two problem spots in the secondary. Who's going to be the other? My guy, aren't you? Who's the other safety?
Starting point is 00:41:14 Who's going to be the corner? How are they going to make this work with the Dori Jackson and Mack McGuilliam? Don't look at my paper. and Keeley Ringo and Jacorian Bennett. And what's going to happen is they are going to find a way to make it work. The defense is going to be very good. And you know who's going to get the deserved shine for turning the secondary into being really good again?
Starting point is 00:41:38 As Quinyan Mitchell ascends to all pro status, it's going to be the year of Christian Parker. Oh, okay. That's not who I thought you were going to say. Christian Parker is going to become the it guy. Okay. in NFL circles for the way that the secondary turns over from last year and remains elite. I like this.
Starting point is 00:41:58 I really like this. I can see, because I did a story on Christian Parker last year, and I talked to Quinion Mitchell about how Quinnion wanted to get to the graduate level of a Fangio secondary last year. He wanted the freedom to do more than just what the call would warrant him to do. He wanted to, you know, you think about Cooper to Jeans pick six in the Super Bowl. That's finding extra work. you know, you've got your flat responsibility and you start to look for the crosser
Starting point is 00:42:22 because there's nobody in the flat. Queenie on Mitchell wants that freedom. I think it's harder to earn it an outside corner in a Fangio system. And I think that Queenielle Mitchell has earned some of that freedom this summer. I think the way that he's looked in training camp, he has earned the benefit of the doubt
Starting point is 00:42:37 to take more risks and to take more chances and you could just see like the, again, I use another soccer analogy here, like the tacticos, like the film boys, like, you know, Sean Syed, going to be on and obviously fran fran they're going to be on twitter they're going to be like oh man
Starting point is 00:42:53 or social media they're going on social media going on oh man quinion mitchell he was in quarters coverage here but he saw he saw this and he reacted and he made a big play and this only happens because the coaches like vick fan gio and christian parker so i think you're right i think he could become sort of the uh the film boy gaze if you will by the end of the season i like that not to be confused with gabe hall gave hall very different All right, so there you go. I've got Christian Parker. I like that.
Starting point is 00:43:21 Putting my stamp on CP. I have two left. Okay. One of which I'm going to get ridiculed for. But you can't close your laptop after just spending the last three minutes trying to keep over at my paper. I was worried that you were going to go with my sleeper, sleeper choice. And I think that Christian Parker is a good, it dovetails nicely into Mac McWilliams. Oh, okay.
Starting point is 00:43:45 I feel like, again, this cornerback to be a swing and a miss. Oh, for sure, but this is like one of those if I pound the table for Mac Mac Williams and it doesn't work out, Julia buries the footage. Nobody knows. Everything's fine. This definitely won't be another DTR scenario for me.
Starting point is 00:44:03 This won't be another. By the way, I also heard the same thing that everybody did in the chat of you saying Sean Syed as a tactical before Fran as an absolute shot across his cap. Fran is like a true football guy through and through. He is a draft guy. He is like the thing.
Starting point is 00:44:18 that stand like being working with friend the last few weeks like that guy you hear like how he say this and i hate that i'm going to parrot it but it's true got tools in his body no that guy is all ball all the time like i don't know he's got thighs too yeah he does he's got some nice calves me and him i need to have a calf off though i need to we need to see but anyway like fran to me i wouldn't call fran like a tactico he's not like on social media like let me explain to you this cover four look. So Sean is that guy to me. And like,
Starting point is 00:44:51 just throwing him under the bus. I hate it. No, nobody's getting thrown under the bus. Sean, I think they're good too. They're both good. They are just different. They're different to me.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Sean hates the draft, by the way. Like, it surprises it. Yeah, I'm aware. Yeah, I'm just saying. Like, Fran loves the draft. He also invented Maccuba.
Starting point is 00:45:07 Sean did. So, yeah, he's on the hook for Maccuba. He is. So that's his MacMac Williams. Yeah. So, again, maybe this will be a swing and a miss, but I came with it.
Starting point is 00:45:17 Do you think that this comes in the form of Mac, Mac Williams, winning the outside job or taking over in the slot and Cooper DeGine going to the outside? To be determined. I think that he has a role in the secondary. He could be the salve mid-season if they are struggling at that spot. I thought he showed just enough in training camp to suggest that he could earn that job, but just kind of inconsistent. Obviously, he had the injury that kind of set him back.
Starting point is 00:45:40 I don't want to use the Cooper to Gene example as like a mid-season addition to a defense that unlocked something. because Cooper de Gene is like the extreme of what you would expect in that scenario. But could he be a week nine, you know, Adori Jackson didn't work out, Jacorian Bennett's been shaky, could he play and give them solid quality play at either outside or nickel to facilitate that secondary being stronger? Cooper de Gene, maybe you being more versatile in that secondary. I could see it.
Starting point is 00:46:09 And honestly, I think that it's an important thing for the Eagles to find players like Mac McWilliams. We were talking about Reed Blankenship at the beginning of the show. Like they need to find those like starter level players, day three picks, undraft or undrafted players. Like they need some of those guys to fill out some of those spots. It's the nature of being such a top heavy roster. I think MacMick Williams has a chance to be that guy for them.
Starting point is 00:46:30 Okay. I like that. I'm not so sure. I agree. It's a good, it's a good little lane for you to carve me. Yeah, it was a swing. It was a big swing because I have, I've got one more. It's Jalen Hertz.
Starting point is 00:46:42 It is literally Jailen. Yeah, I think that's fine. I'm on the fence here between two guys. One where I think I would get more credit for it, but one where I'd believe in it and more. Just do both. Who do you want to pound the table for?
Starting point is 00:47:02 I want to pound the table for Cam Drogens. Yeah, I like it. Cam Drogans was really good last year in a very difficult situation taking over for Jason Kelsey and all of the attention paid on what that was going to be like and all the pressure that came with that. And he played very well.
Starting point is 00:47:19 I think he's going to be significantly better this year. And there's not really like a ton of things that he needs to clean up. I just think he's going to like, he's going to be nails. And it's the added reps in the bank of his mind
Starting point is 00:47:35 in terms of pre-snap stuff, even though Jalen is taking the majority of that. It is the fact that he's playing next to a hobbled Lyndon Dickerson. And, you know, I thought about going Tyler Steen, here because I think Tyler soon is going to have a good year. But he's he's not playing next to Dickerson at 100% and the mammoth, Mackay Beckton.
Starting point is 00:47:55 There's a little bit more on his plate. I think that I think that Cam Jergens will leave this season as the best center in football. I like it. I really like it. Because where would you put him right now? Top five. Right. I mean, he's the second highest paid center in football.
Starting point is 00:48:10 So if you gave, who are you giving the crown to Creed Humphrey? I guess Creed Humphrey, right? Yeah. I could see what were you over-takes it. I guess the consensus would have been ragged now before he retired. Right, exactly. So, and it does seem like center is a position. I mean,
Starting point is 00:48:22 I guess these two guys being like the top two at this point does speak to like there's sort of a new generation. So there maybe that crown is up for grabs. But usually you kind of have like one of the older guys, like one of the wily veterans. Yeah. That kind of earns that mantle. So maybe Cam Juergens steps into that. People are going to talk about this like the spur.
Starting point is 00:48:37 How do the spurs go from David Robinson to Tim Duncan to, you know, the number one pick after girl? How do the Eagles go from the best center in football to the best center? in football. Like they are, did you not go Packers because of... I guess I could have gone Packers, yeah. Okay,
Starting point is 00:48:50 I didn't know if it was like an Aaron Rogers thing. Yeah, but like the Eagles are kind of like the Packers when it comes to like they're the center equivalent of the Packers where it's like they just go from elite player to elite player. Yeah, why not? Yeah, I like this because to me like Cam
Starting point is 00:49:03 Juergens, the fact that the level didn't drop at all, I feel like we almost didn't really appreciate it at the end of the season. In the middle of it happening. Right. Yeah, it's like you sort of just assume it's going to happen and then it doesn't. And yeah, maybe it takes an extra year
Starting point is 00:49:16 for everybody to appreciate it. Okay. Jalen hurts. I am buying slack in the Eagles passing game. Okay. I know that it is like, but listen, I mean,
Starting point is 00:49:27 he did have, by his own standards, like it wasn't a bad season, but the numbers weren't there because the opportunity wasn't there. I think the opportunity will be there. But even the efficiency was not as good last year. Yeah, but I think it was probably...
Starting point is 00:49:40 His yards per temperate. I mean, it was his worst season of the last three seasons. Oh, I think the year before was worse. Okay. Because to me, this is- I'm just saying in the regular season. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:50 And it's also the way that he was treated. Yeah, I mean, I just, I think we are, I think it's important not to overstate. Like, in 2023, like, he was, I mean, at, like, he cost them games with turnovers. Yeah. He didn't do that last season. And I think the, the argument for Jalen Hertz,
Starting point is 00:50:06 like the pound the table for Jalen Hertz is that, like, the 22 version of him is probably the most ideal version of him as a quarterback. I don't know if you're going to get that season. every single year, but I do think that over the next four or five years, he might have one or two years like that. You know, I think that there is an argument to be made that if you have the right system in place for him that he could ascend to that fringe MVP conversation type player again. Is it this year? I'm not sure I want to pound the table for that, but I think that with more volume, I think he will feel more like the driving force of this team more often than he did last
Starting point is 00:50:42 year. I think the deck is stacked for him to be in the MVP conversation. Yeah. I think the fact that he is coming off a Super Bowl MVP and yet so much of the summer discourse was about disrespecting. Yes, and like he's not really an elite guy. If they do turn the knob up in the passing game and his volume increases and AJ's having the season that you expect him to have, I absolutely believe that he will be like a top three MVP candidate. Yeah. And some of this is just going to be framing. You know, I think that there is a world where like they people just start to appreciate what he does in the run game more because I do think that that sometimes does not get talked about as much like it's oh well yes say Juan Barclay. It's well say Juan Barclay also has Jalen Hertz. You know, Seekoine Barclay also
Starting point is 00:51:25 does not have to worry about the backside edge sometimes because that guy has to be honest about Jalen Hertz. So I think that some of it will just be framing. I think the fact that the conversation has been around him so much this offseason. It's not going to take that much of a jump in production. he might need to have a signature game or two you know like that Bill's game from a few years ago was kind of a moment where it's like okay this guy can win you a go win you a football game if he does that a few times this season
Starting point is 00:51:50 I don't think again I don't think it's gonna take that much for people to start to say we need to reevaluate the way that we talk about this guy okay that's fine it's a good one no it's a good I just went back to William so I'm kind of yeah you're right you're right yeah hit the like button all that good stuff subscribe to the channel we're gonna get we're closing in on 50,000 We want to get to 50,000.
Starting point is 00:52:11 Okay, so help us out. And when we do 50,000, we'll go no buttons, anywhere. Speak for yourself. We'll have a big party. We'll figure out what our big party is going to be when we get to 50,000. All right, I got one more for you.
Starting point is 00:52:27 Okay. I have an honorable mention. I wonder if you're going to take them. Who's your honorable mention? You go, and I'll tell you. Okay. This is someone who I don't expect to play a lot. That's not my honor mentioned.
Starting point is 00:52:38 but when he plays this is no surprise to people you better not say Darius Cooper it's not Darius Cooper Darius Cooper is going to play a lot and he's going to make the Pro Bowl the conversation has already started to change this summer
Starting point is 00:52:58 about where this person would rank if he were a starter if he plays three games this year when Jailen Hertz goes down Tanner McKee is going to light the world on fire. The offense is going to look different. You're going to see the same thing you saw at the end of the last season. We're like, oh, this is the actual offense that they want to run.
Starting point is 00:53:20 You'll see the owner's center play action, stuff like that. And Tanner McKee will be universally accepted, not just from Eagles fans as a top 20 quarterback in the NFL. You've been like stewing in this ever since you asked me about Tanner McKee and she was not like, okay, this guy's the top top 25 quarterback in the NFL. People think this is, this is Eagles fans in Midnight Green Colored Glasses. Everybody loves their backup quarterback. that's not what this is. I agree. The guy is a stud,
Starting point is 00:53:47 and he is a starting caliber quarterback, and next year, I think the Eagles, there's going to be a, if there is a cameo this season from Tanner McKee, the Eagles, as much as they value the backup quarterback,
Starting point is 00:54:00 they would be silly not to cash in because they're going to be offered a boatload of picks. I mean, this isn't surprising coming from you. Yeah, of course. I do think the Tanner McKee experience might lend itself to what I was just talking about with Jalen Hertz
Starting point is 00:54:15 where all of a sudden the run game doesn't look the same and everybody goes, oh my God, I didn't realize, you know, we forget how important Jalen Hertz is to the Eagles running. Okay. But listen, I'm pro Tanner McKee. I think you're right. Like, I think that people view the Tanner McKee discourse in this city as like cult hero status because, I mean, it's kind of deserved.
Starting point is 00:54:34 We, like, I feel like Eagles fans have, um, have had moments where they've, you know, made made made made made more out of the backup quarterback than maybe is of course but there are also examples and reasons for that time it's different this time it I mean it was different when Nick Falls too and it was different with Darius Cooper it's always been different with Darius Cooper it's that's just all right who's your honorable mention um I had Cooper to Jean as an honorable mention okay but I feel like the reason the reason I don't you can see this though if he's playing three different
Starting point is 00:55:06 positions and he's excelling at all of them it's like this is the guy on defense. Yeah, I just feel like he's gotten so much recognition this offseason that it feels like he probably doesn't have that extra level to get to. Now, like the Kyle Hamilton deal yesterday, could that start to be the conversation around Cooper to Gene by the end of the year, though? Because obviously different positions, but both like are versatile secondary players that might warrant more than what you would conventionally pay a nickel corner or a safety. And that Cooper to Gene contract, I'm already like, I just will, I guess I should say I already cannot figure out where he should land on the scale of outside corners, nickel corner, safeties.
Starting point is 00:55:49 But I thought the Kyle Hamilton deal was good news for him. Yeah, I think he, the Eagles will pay him a lot of money. Yeah. It'll probably come in just under Kyle Hamilton. That's, that would be my guess. Yeah. And it's also not going to come. It's not going to happen for a while.
Starting point is 00:56:02 So maybe it ends up going over that. But yeah, but who would. Well, the cap explodes and. Yeah, I'm just saying who is who would, who would, who would. Who else would reset that market, like a chess piece defensive back? I don't know. I think Kyle Hamilton's the one. Bram branch?
Starting point is 00:56:15 Yeah. You think he'd get more than Hamilton? I don't know. Usually the next guy gets the most. Yeah, but Hamilton's such a unique player. Yeah. But so is the gene. There you go.
Starting point is 00:56:26 Julia, who's yours? Will Shipley. Who is? Yeah, Will Shipley's not a bad one. Yeah? I think Will Shipley's got some, like, quiet fantasy value. Oh. Yeah. I mean, if you're a Sequin owner, you've got to have Will Shipley.
Starting point is 00:56:42 Yeah. Might have taken him as an insurance policy. Okay. Yeah. More like a trade bait. I took four quarterbacks in my fantasy draft. Is it a two quarterback league? No.
Starting point is 00:56:53 So why'd you take four? To keep other people from getting quarterback so that I can then trade for them. Ten team league or twelve team league? It's a ten team league. Auction draft, though. Ten team league, E.J. What? Grow up.
Starting point is 00:57:05 It's like all my friends from high school. Get two more friends. That's fair We have a good tight-knit group It's a good group How many starting spots You think I know that on the top of my head It's just it's a super flex
Starting point is 00:57:20 Child's play It's a super flex So you can start a quarterback You can flex a quarterback No you cannot flex a quarterback Is that what super flex means I think that's what a super flexes No defense no kicker
Starting point is 00:57:31 Come on get out of here with that Well I agree with you no kicker No defense I could go either way on defense My wife's fantasy league is defense I can't say my Julia you can say my Julia yeah that's even weirder so yeah she always wants my advice and I'm like I
Starting point is 00:57:48 we old little bone churn that's what my buddy calls his wife the old oh I don't like that that's a red flag no no it's like joking it's a ingest I hope he doesn't ingest her that was a dad joke the 18 the 0 and 18 thing earlier was your chance but you made up for it
Starting point is 00:58:07 and there may or may not be any more where that came from in oh god bunder time I don't think you earned the bunder time thing no I didn't yeah you were kind of more optimistic I was more of a hater than I thought I was gonna be
Starting point is 00:58:29 I know I disagree how are you feeling about myself you putting your stamp of approval on the cowboys I mean you said that with your full chest no I did not yes you were emphatic I took them too early but I still think they could win eight games I'd never seen you more convicted than anything in your life
Starting point is 00:58:46 DTR DTR somebody in the Discord said they're going to get me a DTR jersey I think that would be great Yeah what else you want to talk about I don't know What are you going to do with your last weekend of freedom Oh well the Eagles will have availability on Sunday I think
Starting point is 00:59:06 So I won't have much But we got a birthday part party for um i always miss my friend's daughter's birthday party because it's always this time of the year and there's always availability so i got that and then yeah just you know i got to i'm to try and publish a story and then i'm going to do as little as possible in the rest of that time and i got to cut the grass yeah we've been talking about it we didn't want to tell you but you've been you saw the grass we've just yeah julia and i and everybody in the office has been sort of whispering about it about guys got to cut his grass letting let in letting the lawn go well it's just
Starting point is 00:59:41 It's been very dry. So my grass is actually struggling. Julian, what are you laughing at? Okay. But like, I don't want to, this is a safe space now. I don't want to be the guy who waters my lawn because it feels like wasteful, you know? Oh.
Starting point is 01:00:04 Like, it's just grass. But it's like more than that to me. Okay. Do you, when you guys see like a lawn sprinkler, are you like, come on, man, seriously? No. Frankly, I don't give it a second thought. Okay. Yeah, so maybe this is main character syndrome on my part. Yeah, I would say so. I just like, it feels wasteful, especially you had to run that thing for a long time.
Starting point is 01:00:23 Okay. But at the same time, like... And when's the last... You're doing the math of when's the last time it rained? Yeah, well, yeah, because it's... We are really into it now. It's erration and overseeding. Okay. But you want to do that when it's raining. You don't want... You don't want it to be super dry because, like, you're planting grass seed. It needs to grow. grow, it needs some water to grow. And if I do it when it's dry, I'm using the sprinkler for like a week. And that's just... Oh, you're going to do it every day? Yeah, that's wasteful. Like I'm saying,
Starting point is 01:00:53 it's just water. So you're like checking out the 14-day forecast to see when you can start doing it? Yep, might have to do the rain dance because there's only a short window that you can get this in. You wait too long, it gets too cold overnight. It doesn't work. So, I mean, then you have no choice. I mean, some years I skip it. Last year I skipped it. But because I skipped it. But because I I skipped it last year. Can't skip it this year. So you got to do it. Yeah. I'm not going to sprinkle, though.
Starting point is 01:01:19 I'm going to wait until the rain. Oh, but then you might miss it. The real risk is that, like, the season's going to pick up, and I'm not going to get to it. Yeah. And then it's just going to be a full year of the lawn suffering. And for the record, on this podcast, you and Fran accurately called me out for only being a cosmetic yard guy. Like only cutting the grass. I remember doing that.
Starting point is 01:01:47 I do. I think Fran was more, like, obviously I internalized this, bought a raised garden bed. Yeah, I don't have any lawn opinions. You guys are like, he's all, he's only out there for the cosmetics for the looks.
Starting point is 01:01:58 He's not out there planting, you know, and feeding. You're not giving back to the land. You're just here to look pretty. Yeah, but I, I took the criticism.
Starting point is 01:02:08 I internalize it clearly, and now we have a raised garden bed, and now I'm like up to my elbows and tomatoes. Hmm. Yeah, but it's like how many tomatoes is too many tomatoes, you know? Are they good? I've been too nervous to eat them.
Starting point is 01:02:24 So what are you doing with them? Julia eats them. My Julia eats them. What are you giving her poisoned tomatoes? No, no, no, but listen, this is our project. Does she like the tomatoes? She seems to like them, but I am, there's just something about... Cherry tomatoes or big whole tomatoes, okay.
Starting point is 01:02:38 I just like, I don't know. Airlooms, Jenny heirlooms? Isn't there something that's a little bit scary about, like, eating something that you grew yourself. Isn't it the whole point of growing something? Yes, but you're going to do sell up to restaurants? This has been more
Starting point is 01:02:52 this has been more of like a mental block than I thought it was going to be. It's like this grew out of my like soil. Like what if I messed up? That should be, it should be more even more proud. Because it is like we bought like organic soil like you know I've been watching it grow this whole time.
Starting point is 01:03:10 But no, I'm just being honest. This has been a mental block for me. So you know what? tonight. I think you got, I mean, you got to do it. Tonight, it's going to taste even better because this came from your own loins. I'm glad we talked about this. Tonight I'm going to make like some brusetta toast or something. Just chop up some tomato, put it on a piece. Julia's always making sourdough. So yeah, we'll do that. And then, you know, ingest that bad boy.
Starting point is 01:03:31 If I show up to work on Tuesday and I'm in good shape, that that means that I didn't die. I survived. I mean, if you show up to work in bad shape, it also means you didn't die. well unless maybe I won't show up yeah maybe it'll be like man you would that be a tough way for us to find out somebody wheels in your coffin he ate the tomato but then you pop up you do the
Starting point is 01:03:57 like the the meme of the guy on the on the highway I'm trying to see if the chat is like don't eat the tomato EJ whatever you do yeah I feel like I feel like this is the most that Fran has ever judged you. Oh, yeah, because he's a big garden guy.
Starting point is 01:04:15 But listen, I am trying. I'm making the effort. Now we've got, and we have a pollinator garden now, too. So we are giving back to the land. We're giving back to the community. What is a pollinator garden? It is a garden with a bunch of flowers that bees and hummingbirds and all of the pollinators like to go and pollinate.
Starting point is 01:04:32 And I have only found like one or two bees. I did find a bee on the deck last night and he was like just not doing well. So Julia, like, She scooped them up. She scooped them up and, like, put him on the, on a flower. And I was like, it's going to, like, heal him. Like, he'll pollinate and it'll feel better. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:50 I don't think so. I think it was over for a little guy. You got to get a, you got to find one of those tiny little bee caskets. Yeah. Well, I can't find him now. Honestly, probably one of my dogs ate him if I had to guess. The last thing I'll say, finding a hummingbird in your pollinator garden, oh, nothing like it.
Starting point is 01:05:06 Yeah. That is such a good feeling. How many, how many, how many, how many, how many, how many, birds have you seen? Wait, why is it H birds? I don't know. I was insane. Did I curse or something?
Starting point is 01:05:17 I don't know. You see it every couple days. Feels very special. That's pretty cool. Feels like you captured a moment in like nature. Are you like a photography guy? Well, you try to snap a pick of that? No, I used to be.
Starting point is 01:05:28 I'm more of like a binoculars guy. And for the record, the inverse of like that beautiful moment in nature is when the deer hop my fence and eat the pears out of my backyard. Pairs. Pairs. You guys got pears too. Pear tree. Bartridge?
Starting point is 01:05:41 No, no, barchage. But yeah, the deer, they hop that fence. And then I try to get the dogs to chase them out of the yard. And the dogs are like wildlife. Such, you've got. It's fun. Honestly, we have fun.
Starting point is 01:05:53 But my dogs are like such like princes that they won't even chase a deer anymore. You got to try to like, you're going to do like a devil went down to Georgia. You got to play the, play the guitar. You're going to play a meeting guitar riff. It's going to get the deer out. They like have no respect for any of us now that the dogs don't chase them. just look at us like, what are you going to do about it? So, okay.
Starting point is 01:06:14 Well, I think that's the best conversation we've had all week. Yard talk. Yeah. Fantastic. What a week it's been. Julia, have a good weekend. We'll see everybody on Tuesday. Now, on Monday, we have a nice, long conversation with CUS as your sort of formal
Starting point is 01:06:37 Eagle season preview going position by position about how we think about this roster. going through the schedule, the rest of the conference. That will be in your feeds on Monday. On Tuesday, we return live 2 o'clock. Wednesday, 2 o'clock as well. And then, of course, the big shebang, the season opener. Thursday night. Lots to be excited about.
Starting point is 01:07:01 Enjoy our weekend, everybody. Like the video, subscribe. Help get us to 50,000 so we can all take our buttons off. And we'll talk to you on Tuesday. For E.J. and Julia, I'm Bo. We'll see you later. And as always, we love you.

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