PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | How does the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles defense compare to the 2017 version?
Episode Date: May 24, 2024Happy Memorial Day weekend to the sickos out there, as we take a spin around the grid of discussion. As the Eagles wrap up their first week of OTAs, we reflect on defensive group that includes the eme...rging Jalen Carter, the hopes of an improving Jordan Davis, the introduction of Bryce Huff and a secondary with new blood like Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. How does that group compare to the Patrick Robinson-Jalen Mills-Chris Long-Nigel Bradham iteration from the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning team? Zach Berman provides the questions, Bo Wulf supplies the half-answers, you enjoy the ride. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
podcast on a Friday. Strapin in for the grid of discussion or tick Zach Bo as somebody said on Twitter.
On the grid we're thinking, Zach? On the grid for the weekend. But that wasn't a good one. Let's go.
That's okay. I'll defer the name choices to you. But excited for the show. I'm excited for the show as well.
Going to talk a little eagles, a little around the NFL, I believe, and a little miscellaneous.
Miscellaneous. Is there a Mr. Alanius? Not that I'm familiar with.
All right. Well, I'm excited to get to it, Zach.
Maybe at the end we can also relitigate positionless football and all that good stuff.
How are you do it?
There's one other thing we have to get into today.
A buddy of yours are Whole Foods, apparently.
Oh, yes.
We'll roll back.
We'll get into that.
How am I doing today?
I'm doing well.
It's been a fun week of shows.
Looking forward to the weekend with family.
And then back at it next week for more shows and football practice.
There we go.
Yeah.
No Monday show on Memorial Day.
So we will be back on Tuesday at noon.
But let's get into the good stuff.
We got a lot to get to.
Yes.
You gave me a couple things to prep for, some other surprises.
I'm ready to go.
Well, because the thing, too, just to give a peek behind the curtain is we have to give a tease on the YouTube page, right?
So we can't just say it's categories, right?
There needs to be something.
So we have to give a little something here.
So anyways, what the game is this, is that there's three categories, Eagles, NFL, miscellaneous.
And for each of those, there's would you rather?
There's convince me, and there's you predict.
So you can pick any of the categories and any of the questions, and there's a question for each of them.
Bo has not been prepped too much on this, so some of them will be impromptu.
Some of it, like I said, for the sake of teasing the show, he has an idea.
Okay.
How about, Zach, we start, I think we should start Eagles.
I know that's, you're the host today.
No, I'm not the host.
I'm just the, yeah.
You're the designer.
Yes, okay.
for today's episode.
And I know that you want to start with football.
So let's go Eagles.
Let's go.
Let's start with the Would You Rather?
Okay.
So the Would You Rather is what the headline of the show is.
I love that.
Woodpeckerty rather, obviously, as Shea says.
The 2024 Eagles defense, expected defense, right?
They could still add pieces.
But what we expect of it now and the expected scheme against the 2017 defense, what we knew
they had as the depth chart and what we knew their scheme to be.
Would you rather have this year's defense or would you rather have the 2017 defense?
And now, so we're framing this as how we felt about the defense heading into the 2017 season.
Yes, so I should say that.
That's not going in the training camp going into the season.
Do I think this defense will be better than what turned out to me, the 2017 defense?
Well said.
How do you feel going into the season?
And I frame it going into the season and not going in the training camp because the Eagles added to Ronald Darby during the 2017 summer.
So basically that was when you came back onto the beat.
Okay, you had been away.
He came on in 2017.
You saw that team during the summer.
They had a major cornerback problem.
They trade for Ronald Darby, move Patrick Robinson to the slot.
But even still, we can go through what the debt chart was for that team.
So basically comparing how you feel about this group and this scheme compared to that group and that scheme going into the season.
Okay.
I think this is the 2017 defense, and I don't think it's particularly close.
And I think it's a good way to frame this
because we can look at the depth chart
and there are some good players on the team right now
and there are reasons to be bullish.
But if you lay out the facts,
it is hard to come up with any other answer.
So let's go through some of those things
because this is the one that I did do some prep for.
2017, in 2016, the Eagles defense finished sixth
in defensive DVOA and top 10 against both the pass and the run.
The 2023 Eagles defense, you know,
finished 29th in defensive DVOA, 30 weighted defensive DVOA, 29th against the past.
So just where are they coming from the year before?
Huge, huge advantage for the 2017 defense.
You look at the scheme and the defensive coordinator.
We've talked about with Vic Fangio, you're maybe buying a floor, not necessarily a ceiling.
Let's look at the past five years for Vic Fangio versus Jim Schwartz in 2017.
And this is a nice little comparison because.
for both of them, those five seasons are two seasons as a coordinator,
three seasons as a head coach, as a defensive head coach.
For Jim Schwartz, the 16 Eagles defense, as we said, sixth,
the 2014 Buffalo defense, which he was the defensive coordinator for, fourth.
And then his three years in Detroit as the head coach, 15th, 23rd, and sixth.
So three of those five seasons, a top 10 defense, one, a bottom quartile defense.
For Fangio, last year with the Dolphins, 19th, the three years in Denver as head coach, 21st, 15th, and 11th.
And then in 2018, in Chicago, we had that great defense, which was the best defensive football first.
So one out of those five seasons, a top 10 and none in the bottom quartile.
But I think the evidence there is, you know, give me Schwartz for sure.
And then you just look at like the players.
Okay, so this is where I was going to have that conversation.
This is interesting.
And if I'm drafting the players from those rosters,
Fletcher Cox is the number one pick for sure.
You know, 2016, 2017, Fletcher Cox.
I think Malcolm Jenkins is probably the second pick.
So I think they've got the two best players.
And then it's a little bit more speculative.
I think you could probably go Jalen Carter if you wanted to.
If you really want to buy on that, you could maybe go for Darius Slay if you want.
You could maybe make a case for Bryce Huff, I guess.
But I think the middle portion of it is you can take.
You're taking Brandon Graham, maybe you're taking Jordan Hicks, maybe you're taking Ronald Darby, who didn't turn out to be quite as good as like the trade price was. But I think if you just go unit by unit, the Eagles, the 2017 defensive line, I'm taking for Fletcher Cox. The edge situations are pretty similar, right? It's like a good group of depth. I guess you could make a case that, you know, you'd rather have huff and sweat than Brandon Graham and Vinnie Curry. But I think it's similar, and I think Fletcher Cox puts it over the time.
top. The linebackers from that 2017
way better, you know, Hicks
and Bradham, and even Michael Kendrick says
the third guy, that's much better than they have
right now. And then the secondary,
it's just, it's more unproven now.
You could, you could tell me
and convince me that this secondary is going to
end up being better than that secondary,
but those safeties were way better.
And the corners are, you're just
buying on Quinion Mitchell and some
unproven stuff. So overall,
I don't even think it's close.
Interesting. Okay. I mean, obviously,
the 2017 team ended up winning the Super Bowl
so that helps. And they end up being third and deviate. Now, you
look at it too, though. They did not have prolific sack production going
into the year, and they did not have prolific sack production that season. I think
they had 38 sacks that year. They were abouts. They had no one on their roster who had
double-digit sacks. Brandon Graham finished that year with nine and a half, but
going into the year, Graham and Cox were not double-digit sack players. Vinnie
Curry was not a double-digit sack player. Chris Long,
I think one year.
I think had, but yes.
But this year...
Yeah, Brandon Graham at that point
had never had more than six and a half seasons.
And he was coming off a five and a half sack season.
Exactly.
Tim Jernigan had not been like a full-time starter, right?
So they had talent.
I mean, certainly Fletcher Cox was an all-pro player.
But Josh Sweat and Bryce Huff have more production,
more sack production than what the Eagles had on the edges that year.
Certainly Fletcher Cox better than anybody else.
And you got a first-round pick coming in.
You had a first-round pick coming in.
Yeah.
So now, but then the Eagles have a first-round pick coming in a corner.
We'll get to that.
At linebacker, I agree that that 2017 team has the clear edge at linebacker.
Although from an accomplishment perspective, Devin White is more accomplished than any of those linebackers going into that year.
Now, Devin White's coming off a bad year, but Devin White has been, at one point, considered one of the better linebackers in the league.
Hicks and Bradham and Kendricks didn't quite have that reputation at the time.
When you look at the corners, corners were a major question mark going into that year.
Jalen Mills had not been a full-time starter before.
He was a seventh-round pick.
Ronald Darby, they acquired during camp.
And like I said, Darby came with promise, but even still, there were questions about Darby.
Certainly Slay far more accomplished than any of those corners.
Patrick Robinson, a solid veteran in the slot, but going into the year, you didn't know how he was going to be.
Quinyon Mitchell is the top cornerback in the draft this year.
That's probably it.
Now, Derek Barnett wasn't the top edge rusher in the draft, but you probably look at them from a comparable.
Yeah, he was an earlier pick.
And I also think a first round, like a rookie edge player as part of rotation, you have more reasonable expectations for than a first round corner who's going to have to be on the field every snap.
Fair point.
Where I look at it, the 2017 team had a clear advantage in the middle of the field.
The interior defensive line, the linebackers, the safeties.
That's well said.
I think this year's team has more talent on the edges and there's more talent at cornerback.
So it depends kind of what you're looking for there.
I would say the 2017 team, but going into the year, there were questions, there were a lot of questions about that defense.
and the big upgrades the Eagles made that offseason were really on the offensive side of the ball.
So, yeah, it's an interesting thought exercise.
I think what you said there about Schwartz and Fangio kind of tips.
I've been on record saying I'm a big fan of the Jim Schwartz defense.
I like that style of defense.
Aesthetically, I agree.
I like the attacking 4.3.
Also, the results, I mean, you know, for all of the league is chasing Vic Fangio,
So, like, Jim Schwartz is head-to-head a far better resume as a defensive coordinator than Vic Fangio.
And the thing about Schwartz's defense that I always loved is they stopped the run, too, right?
Like, they were always near the top of the league against the run.
Now, you would have like to see more sack production from that team.
They really didn't have great pass rushers.
They were very good situationally, or at least on third downs.
I think they finished the season if memory serves third in the league and third down defense.
They weren't as good in red zone defense.
They were 20th in red zone defense.
I think they were first and fourth down defense.
But going into the year, I don't know if we thought about them as like a Super Bowl caliber
defense.
And certainly the way they ended the year, they struggled against Tom Brady.
And a fair point, a super chat from real time with Prince Blue that Brandon Graham stopped Jim
Schwartz from being Gannon 1.0 in meaning that the defense did not show up.
But they made the one play.
And it's true.
They could not stop the Patriots offense in that game.
But over the course of the season, they were very good.
And I also, if we're trying to get back into the mindset of entering the season versus entering this season,
there's the little soft advantage of it was the second year in a scheme as opposed to everybody transitioning to a new defensive coordinator.
That's why I think it tilts pretty heavily towards 17.
So, and I understand, pro balls are not the barometer to be used, but this year's defense certainly has much.
more like accomplished players than that 2017 team, I would say.
Where?
Just.
On defense.
This team?
This team.
When you look at Slay at Devin White, I know there's questions there, at Josh Sweat, who's been a pro bowler, I guess just that.
Okay, so compare that to Fletcher Cox and Malcolm Jenkins and, you know, Jordan Hicks, I guess.
Yeah.
Or Chris Long.
Chris Long at that point of his career is like Darius Lay now.
Like a guy who has played at a high level but is not the same.
I think going into the year, Chris Long then is like Brandon Graham now.
I think he was a little bit more than Brandon Graham at that point.
Well, I think he proved to be that.
Yeah.
But I don't think going into the year.
Yeah.
I mean, even from...
But I'm just saying, like, to say that Darius Slay has all these accomplishments, that's true, but he's also at the end of his career.
Yeah.
He's above Chris Long.
And Slay is one of the highest paid players on the team, right?
I mean, Chris Long was a bargain signing for them at the time.
He turned in to be a much better player.
Sure.
Yeah.
That's fair.
Okay.
Would you, so you think, what would you go?
I would go with that 2017 team, but I have a hard time, of course, in that case,
like divorcing the results from the expectations.
I went back to try to read some of my stuff going into the year.
And training camp is always like spring training, right?
There's always exciting.
But the big question was, man, these corners are going to be a problem.
Right.
And I guess you would compare that to the linebackers now, maybe.
But they were really counting on, like, Barnett to be a major upgrade in the pass rush.
So Barwin left after the 2016 season.
Vinnie Curry, they had re-signed Vinny Curry going into 16.
He did not give them much pass-rush production.
And then he actually wasn't really used in that way.
And the Eagles didn't have much defensive tackle depth,
which was why they ultimately moved Brande Graham inside on third downs,
because their third detackle that year was Bo Allen, right?
So, yeah, I agree.
I like the coordinator better and I like the top two players better,
but I might like the overall talent on this year's team.
Although that is dependent on names like Devin White, C.J. Garner Johnson,
Darius Slay playing to the name as opposed to, you know,
some of the inconsistencies.
Yeah.
And I think it's a good, you know, just to look at it, a reminder of, like, yeah,
the defense on paper looks pretty good right now and they've got, they got a lot of depth,
but just remember how bad they were last year.
And yeah, like, I think a lot of it had to do with making that crazy switch to Matt
Patricia in the middle of the season.
But, like, you know, down the stretch they were like the worst defense in football.
And there's a lot of improvement that needs to happen for that, you know, for them to just be okay.
And I think that the way that the team is built would tell you that they're only asking for the defense to be okay.
Exactly.
Okay.
You know, like 12th would be, I think they would sign up for that right now.
I absolutely think they would sign up for that.
Right.
Okay.
All right.
Should we move on?
You're good on that one?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, we have nine of them.
So we, yeah, we should move on.
We'll go one more before.
That would be a longer.
Sure.
A longer discussion.
Okay.
How about, let's do, we did a, would you rather, a woodpecker, you rather.
How about you?
No, we did not do it.
Oh, yeah.
That was the woodpecker.
Yeah, correct.
How about we do around the NFL, you predict?
You predict.
Okay, this is a good one here.
Who's the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants in 2025?
And the question here at the Cowboys is, of course, Dak Prescott is entering the final
year of his deal.
It's a huge cat.
This is a major story out of Dallas.
Like, are they going to resign Dak Prescott?
Can they afford to?
What's that contract going to be?
The prices keep going up for four quarterbacks.
Is Prescott going to be a six?
$60 million year quarterback, and then we all know about the Giants situation.
So who's the quarterback for the Cowboys and the Giants in 2025?
I mean, I think it is Dak and Dallas.
I just, it's so hard.
I mean, they're screwing themselves from a financial standpoint.
But I don't really think that Dak necessarily wants to leave, and I think it's going to be
hard to actually replace him.
I mean, he's going to be the highest paid player in NFL history at some point.
but I just, I can't really get there that they're going to let him go.
If they don't make a run in the postseason,
do you think Jerry Jones would at some point be like, man, we hit our ceiling with DAC?
But then what's the alternative?
That's the other question.
And then the Giants, who are the top quarterbacks for next year's draft?
So it's not a great draft.
Like we said, Carson Beck is a name you'll hear from Georgia.
Shador Sanders from Colorado.
Well, we know the Giants aren't drafted him.
there are always quarterbacks who emerge throughout the course of the season.
But I think you'll see going into the year Carson Beck and Shador Sanders are the two names.
They'll probably come up the most.
All right.
And then so I don't think it's going to be one of those guys.
Is there like, is there anybody in free agency?
I'm looking at the free agents now.
I mean, I guess Tua is scheduled to be a free agent, but they're not going to let him go.
Russell Wilson, I could see that for the Giants as.
as their bruce guy.
He visited there this year.
They didn't pull the trigger.
Could it just be Drew Locke?
I mean, do they go after the quarterback who doesn't stay in Pittsburgh?
Like if Justin Fields doesn't stay, do they go after Fields?
But this is the thing.
All those guys were options this year as well.
The Giants are in a weird spot.
That's why I thought they'd be aggressive for a quarterback this offseason.
And you've got to think, too.
If they're drafting in the top five next year, it's probably not Brian Dable and maybe Joe Shane, like, making that pick, right?
Yeah.
I'm going to go
Sam Darnold
Back to New York
Okay interesting
I was between him and Mac Jones
I like Donald more than Jones
To be honest with you
I think neither is great
But yeah I think the Giants are screwed
In quarterback
Yeah
And I mean I guess Daniel Jones
Is probably the most likely answer
I think what this shows you
Is that
Depending on how Jaden Daniels is in Washington
It's a good time to be the Eagles
For like the next few years
Now a lot of things could change
It's not to be the Eagles for a long time.
Yeah, but there are a lot of the questions in this division right now.
No doubt about it.
Okay.
Do you have a prediction for the Giants quarterback?
Well, I don't think they're going to be good this year.
I'm going to go Carson Beck.
Oh.
But let me see here.
Let's go.
I'm doing very preliminary NFL draft quarterbacks 2025.
Actually, yeah, Quinn yours from Texas is someone who's, who's.
was going to get some attention.
I can see, like, if you want the prototypical Giants quarterback, Drew Hour from Penn State,
you know, like your 6-5 drop-back guy.
Yeah.
But it's Lily White.
It's not a great quarterback draft class next year.
And I think that was why there was a lot of speculation that, like, the Giants would try to move up this year.
They had a first and two seconds.
Well, and it's very silly, right?
The reporting that they would have gone for May, but they didn't want McCarthy.
Like, I don't know.
You're going to take a shot at a quarterback, take a shot of the quarterback.
Fair point.
Although you don't force it just because you've been needed the position.
Sure.
But if you're willing to trade up for a guy, then why not just sit and take a guy also?
Well, that's, and they could have sat and taken McCarthy.
They could have sat and taken.
They wouldn't have done that, but they could have done McCarthy.
They could have done that.
Yeah.
Someone said Archmanning.
Archmanning is not draft eligible next year.
So they can keep kicking the can down the road.
Yeah, there's what they'll do.
That does make more sense.
All right.
How about miscellaneous convince me?
Miscellaneous convinced me.
Okay, so this one was actually changed a few minutes before airtime.
And I'll give the quick story.
I asked Bo, are you a refresh me because this show has been going on in different versions for about eight years now.
I joined five years ago, and Bo and Schill used to have this conversation about like the beach or the lake.
Like you rather beach or the lake.
Bo didn't have a strong enough opinion.
So actually, this is a good place to turn here because a lot of.
of people. I lean lake, but I don't, it's more in theory. I haven't really spent a lot of time
on lakes. A lot of people don't travel for the holiday weekend. And a lot of people come to Philly,
like if you're coming to the lacrosse final four this weekend, this weekend, we can come to Philly.
I got a note yesterday, or maybe it was this morning, from a longtime sicko who is coming to, I will read
the note here visiting Philly in late June from NYC for a weekend trip with my girlfriend Flex.
And wanted to see if you had some recommendations.
No. Okay.
If you had some recommendations for your favorite Philly spots.
He said he knows I like food.
I love Tocanelli's for pizza.
Any other place I need to try out.
Could be fine dining, casual dinner, lunch spots, sandwiches, bakeries, desserts.
We love to eat.
So I'm going to frame this to you.
Convince me, convince the audience, if you're coming to Philly for a weekend, you need to eat here.
No kids, right?
No kids.
Just the two of them.
I think.
And for the purpose.
of this will not do kid stuff.
We'll do your coming with your friends or a significant other, that kind of thing.
I think you do.
And we're thinking like a 36-hour kind of deal?
Yeah.
Okay.
I think you do a nice afternoon lunch at park.
It's a little, you know, down the middle.
Okay.
Not off the beaten path, but you get your people watching in.
You get your written house in.
Get your bread in.
Get a good little meal.
Yeah.
And, you know, a couple nice cocktails.
Then I think you're doing a dinner at River twice on Pass Yonk.
You get a little walk along Pass Yunk.
That's a great dinner.
And especially last year, the summer menu was like the best meal I had in like years.
And then I'm thinking you probably do, I mean, you want to hit a cheese steak.
You're probably doing Angelus, but, you know, it could be a long line.
Although the summer the city clears out, you might have a good shot on the weekend.
I'm trying to think if there's another, you know, I would do like,
You can do South Philly Barbacoa.
Okay.
You want to hit that.
I think that's a pretty good, that's a pretty good lineup.
I like those for sure.
As a pizza guy, yeah, I love Tocanelli's.
You got to reserve your dough.
You're going to have to drive out to Tocanelli.
You're like coming into the city and you're thinking about it.
Like the great thing is being downtown, you can walk all over the place.
You can take an Uber, but yeah, or a lift.
But I hear you there.
My, if you want to take your significant other out for a nice place,
to eat. My favorite restaurant in Philly is Vernick.
Might be hard to get a reservation.
You can sit at the bar and get their beef tartar toast and their chicken.
It's awesome.
Everything in Vernick's great.
And then if you love or if you like me and you love seafood, you can go to Anastasias on 9th in Washington.
Really like that.
Cheesesteak Angelo's.
If you want to make a bit of a drive, you can check out.
the fine Johnstone Twins at the very nice Johnstone Twins at Food Chaser's Kitchen.
The foieing.
There's so many good cheese steak spots, though.
You know, Woodrow's.
I like Woodrow's on South Street.
Wow.
B-Dog just went down.
Oh, okay.
But there are so many good places to go in Philly.
If you want, look, bakeries, desserts.
I've said my favorite.
My favorite cookie in Philly is the Urban Outfitters cafeteria.
I don't think you can go there on the weekend.
But that's, that cookie is incredible.
Yeah, you're sending people far afield here.
Well, Philadelphia is pretty.
Yeah, but come to Philadelphia, walk around the city.
You can take the cell by the down.
And then to Urban Outfitters.
It's different parts of the city.
Yeah, someone says Weckerleys for ice cream.
I like Weckerleys for ice cream, for sure.
There's a lot of good places.
Maybe throughout the summer I'll keep mentioning good spots
in and around the city.
Okay.
But this is your exercise, so that was...
And you know what you could do while you're walking around the city, Zach,
and to chase your food?
I'm a little olipop.
Because olipop is the world's first functional soda with a classic soda taste
and the benefits of plant-based fiber, prebiotics,
and other botanical ingredients to support gut health.
Ollipop is a new kind of soda with only two to five grams of sugar
and nine grams of fiber per can to help you,
with that gut health because two out of three Americans say they suffer from digestive issues
and 95% of Americans don't get the daily recommended amount of fiber.
Olipop is tackling both of these issues with a drink that tastes just like soda.
So good and so many flavors to choose from.
You've got your vintage cola, your classic root beer, your orange squeeze, your classic
grape, your strawberry vanilla, one of the most populars, cream soda, cherry cola,
Dr. Goodwin and a lemon lime flavor.
It's all available for you if you use the code P-H-L-Y-20 for 20% off your next
Oli-Pop order.
The discount only applies to one-time orders, not to subscription orders.
Allipop is sold online at drink-O-L-Lypop.com.
That's D-R-I-N-K-O-L-I-P-O-P-com or on Amazon, and it's available in almost 30,000
retailers nationwide, including
Wawa, Target, Sprouts,
Wegmans, ShopRite, and Go Puff.
Phillies are in Corse Field this weekend.
If you want to bet the over for the Phillies,
make sure you go on your Bet Park Sportsbook app.
Get in the zone with the Bet Park Sportsbook app.
Money is in the moments.
I said Phillies Rockies this weekend.
There's also NBA playoffs are on each night.
If you think the T-Wolves are going to come back
against the Mavs, make sure you win big
with all-day action.
Win your first $10 bet, Nour.
$125 in sports bonus bets.
You play for fun.
You love the win.
You bet.
Download the app and play along with us.
Must be 21 or older.
Please gamble responsibly.
If you were someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800 gambler.
All right.
Let's do miscellaneous, would you rather?
Miscellaneous, would you rather?
Okay.
Would you rather?
So I have said on the show and in our past show, I grew up playing team sports.
I didn't grow up playing individual sports, right?
But I'm kind of getting to that age now where most of my contemporaries are playing more individual sports than team sports.
So I don't know how to play golf.
I don't really know how to play tennis.
If I had to learn one of these sports that I can play for the next, you know, I see people in their 50s and 60s and 70s playing golf and tennis and pickleball, whatever it may be, should I learn golf or should I learn tennis?
You've, you've, you're noted, you have a tennis league here that has provided content for the show.
I've played a while, but I got to get back into it.
Yeah, you enjoy a day on the course from time to time.
Which one should I learn, golf or tennis?
Would you rather golf or tennis?
The question is, are you really trying to do something that you're going to do until your 60s,
or are you looking for something that you're going to enjoy now?
Well, I'm 38, so 20 years is a long time frame.
Let's think about a 10-year time horizon.
something that I can play in my 40s.
What should I do in my 40s?
Knowing you as well as I do, tennis for sure.
Interesting, okay.
Because you are not going to enjoy being on the golf course
for as long as it takes to be on the golf course.
That's the biggest detriment in my opinion.
Yes.
Now, you know, if the goal is, it depends on what your goal is.
For you, if the goal is like, oh, I want to be able to do this thing with some of my friends
or my brothers who enjoy this thing and I can hang with them,
then golf probably makes more sense.
You probably know more people who want to play golf
than no more people who want to play tennis.
But if you want to have a little bit of a competitive itch,
get a good workout, and be home within two hours
as opposed to being gone for five hours,
you play a little tennis.
I also think the barrier to competency
is much lower in tennis than it is in golf.
And then if I can extend this question,
and there's a big pickleball craze going on.
Is this something you can learn?
I've not yet played pickleball.
Okay.
But I guess I'm pickleball curious, but I would rather just play tennis.
Okay.
All right, good to know.
So tennis will be the way to go.
I think you should do tennis.
I'll have to figure out how to learn how to play.
But yeah, my wife plays tennis, so I'll learn from her.
It'll be something we can do together.
There you go.
We'll mix doubles.
Mix doubles.
Okay.
Okay.
All right.
Give me, I'm going to snake it back around.
So let's go around the NFL.
What do I have left?
Convince me.
Around the NFL convinced me.
Okay.
If you saw the news this week, you saw that the NFL, they had their spring meetings,
they're discussing going to an 18-game season.
That's in the conversation.
Convinced me whether the NFL should or should not move to an 18-game season.
They should move to an 18-game season.
They should have, everybody should have two buys.
They should have two pre-season games.
It's very easy, and then you can go Labor Day to President's Day.
That's my idea.
Are you in favor of that?
I am in favor of 18 games.
Because it gets the second buy, you know, the big thing to me is like is the player health aspect of it.
But if you are, if you're giving the extra buy in exchange for the extra game, also just like aesthetically, we've got even numbers again.
Sure.
Like the schedule making is easier.
I think it's a no-brainer.
Roger Goodell said that consumers want more football and they want fewer preseason games.
Are you in agreement with that?
Yeah, of course.
Okay.
Yeah.
So would you be okay with getting rid of the preseason altogether and just having training camp joint practices?
Would I be okay with it?
Yes.
Okay.
I think teams would like that because, well, I think I think, I think, I think,
front offices would like that,
coaches would hate it. Sure. Right? Because front
offices, you could hide the guys who you're excited
about. And I feel like
the guys winning roster
spots in preseason games
happens less than
we might think. It's really more about
the training camp, right?
And then once you get them on tape, you're
exposing them to other teams. The coaches
though, they're going to hate that.
They don't want to be going into week one without having
like had a chance to put
their schemes together and stuff.
Although I think back that 2020
Also just like the mechanics
The mechanics of like if it's a new coaching staff
And how things work on game day
I think you need at least one preseason game
I didn't think the quality of play in 2020
suffered from the lack of preseason
Yeah
And I don't think college football suffers
From the lack of preseason
My
My only
Like reservation with going to 18 games
Is so if
is if you have the same inventory of preseason games
and all of a sudden season ticket holders
are on the hook for more games
because so it should be
if you add regular season games
reduce the preseason.
I don't want ticket holders
have to have to have to pay for more games when
Well, yeah, in theory it's the same, right?
Well, that's what I'm saying.
Trading a preseason for a...
Yeah, so I'd be in favor of that.
If you said keep the...
Because they already charged full price
for preseason games now.
Exactly. That's my point.
So if you say, all right,
we're going to add one additional game
onto the schedule.
Yeah, but of course they will.
Yeah, that's why I'm saying.
Preseason should be part of...
Yeah, it's nice of Roger to pretend
as if he wants to do this for the consumer's sake
when in reality it's an opportunity
to just make a little bit more money.
But the double buy week,
they should institute that now,
even if you have 17 games.
Basically, NFL's become a TV sport.
It's more TV than Spectator, right?
So if you have one more weekend of football inventory,
but your teams playing one fewer weekend,
I don't think fans are going to mind.
Of course not.
Of course not.
I would enjoy watching another weekend of NFL games.
So I would put the double buy in right now.
It's like the easiest thing to sell.
Yeah.
Now let me ask you this.
If they go to 18 games,
are you still going to be peddling like single season records?
That's a great question.
I mean, almost by definition you have to,
but there is a major asterisk.
Although the single season records apply for 16 when there were 14 game seasons.
You just kind of, there becomes enough of a sample size that you start to view it over that.
But the first few years of our show, when you and I are doing this show 15 years or now, it's kind of like, okay, there's a 13 years.
Let's just, I know people don't like math, but let's just make everything a per game.
Okay?
Let's just agree to use the denominators.
Sure.
But then what if somebody is injured that year, plays two games, rushes for 300 yards?
No, no, not per but per season games.
Okay, gotcha.
Over 18-game pace or like what your per game pace is.
Okay.
I'm fine with that.
Yeah.
Okay.
All right, let's do Eagles.
You predict.
This is actually one.
I'm not going to name the person who asked me this, but this one was a question posed to me
from somebody else in the Eagles media.
And I was initially dismissive of the question,
and then I thought about it, and I said,
this would make for good show fodder.
So here's a scenario for you.
The Eagles have the NFL's best offense.
Kellyn Moore turns Jaylen Hertz into an MVP candidate,
I shouldn't say turns him into.
Jaylen Hertz is an MVP candidate with Kellyn Moore.
They have this great partnership in this offense together.
The Eagles lose in the playoffs before the Super Bowl.
Kellyn Moore is getting tons of interview
or he's the hot coaching candidate.
Teams are calling him in.
Teams are on the verge of hiring him.
What happens?
Do the Eagles let Kellan Moore go and start over
with a new offense knowing that
when the offensive coordinator left before,
this was kind of a problem thing.
Or do they say,
Kellan, we liked you in 2020.
We saw what you did with Jaylen Hertz here.
We're all about offense here.
We're all about the talent.
The coaches, I don't want to say fungible, but is less important than the quarterback and the roster?
Is this one of those situations where when the Cowboys didn't want Jason Garrett to leave?
And so they made sure Jason Garrett became the coach.
Can I ask some questions about the other things all play out?
Okay, so when do they lose?
Let's say divisional round, not conference championship, divisional round.
Okay.
How does the defense do?
Number 12, like you said.
Okay.
How has Nick Siriani's sideline comportment been?
Siriani's been good.
You have no issues with Siriani.
The question is, do you want to, like,
Siriani is strong coach, has done everything you've wanted to do.
Players like him, players are responding to him,
but he's got to start over at quarterback.
He's got to start over at O.C.
I don't think that they would pull the switcheroo.
Okay.
I think they would like that.
him go. Do you think they would think they would think about it?
They might think about it. I think what they would do is they would offer, you know,
double his salary or something like that, pay him like a head coach level salary to keep him.
But I don't think that they would pull that switcheruny.
Okay. Now here's one other part of this scenario. All right.
The Cowboys struggle this year. Mike McCarthy's fired.
They want to bring back Kellyn Moore.
All right? So now this guy, this OC, you're so impressed with the building, would now go to your division rival.
Does that factor into it?
He has that second interview with the Cowboys scheduled.
They let him leave, but Dom takes him to the airport and puts him on a plane to Abu Dhabi instead.
Yeah, they find some way to, you know, Jeff Galilee him or something like that.
Yeah.
So in all seriousness here, I've been on record saying, I think.
Nick Siriani is a good coach, and I think he's going to remain the Eagles coach.
I think they're going to be good this year, and Syriani stays the coach.
But this is something that I imagine the Eagles think about is if you lose Kellynne Moore,
like their reason, their rationale kind of behind the scenes for leaning toward offensive
coaches is that if you lose your defensive coordinator, you can replace them.
If you lose your offensive coordinator, it's much harder to replace.
So that's why the offensive-minded coaches have stuck to the offenses, you know,
that he's they've been the offensive, they've had their offensive systems.
Siriani, this isn't, if, if Kelmore's running his system and you lose the system,
then all of a sudden you're starting over again on offense a bit,
unless you just empower Siriani even more and you say, you're back, baby.
Do you think is, is Nick willing to just become wide receivers coach?
I mean, no, I don't.
I don't think so, yeah.
Okay.
I don't know.
All right.
We're through two rounds.
of Tick-Zack Bo.
And before we get going, if everybody wants to play along,
it's a holiday weekend, it's afternoon,
you can suck them back if you want to,
because Miller Light is offering
that same great taste that you've known all along.
A lot has changed over the years,
but one thing that hasn't is the great taste of Miller Light,
which sparked this debate.
Great taste, less filling, which is more important.
Why? Porcanolos dose with Miller Lite.
Since 1975, they have been offering you the same refreshing taste and the lack of filling.
96 calories per can in Miller Lite.
You cannot do better than that.
Miller Light keeps it simple.
Undeatable quality, great taste.
Only 96 calories.
It's the beer that strips away everything you don't need and holds on to what matters most.
A light beer that tastes like beer.
the original light beer since
1975, and if you're going down to the shore this weekend,
bring yourself a case of Miller Light,
and there's nothing better.
Spend your day. What else you got going on?
You don't have to choose what's best.
Miller Light has great taste and is less filling.
Tastes like Miller Time to get Miller Lite delivered right to your door.
Visit millerlight.com slash P.H.L-Y. Birds,
or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer,
celebrate responsibly.
Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories.
per 12 ounces, fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer.
I'm always partial to Philadelphia companies.
I'm always partial to places that are from here, cater to the people here, and that's
True Mark Financial Credit Union.
When you join a credit union like True Mark Financial, you become a part owner, which
means profits come back to you instead of going to shareholders.
There are better rates, lower fees, and a better return on savings, and more flexible
options with all the same digital tools and tech to make.
our lives easier. If we had the TrueMark reps on this show and we said, what's your favorite
place to eat in Philly, they wouldn't have to go on to Yelp. They would know what it is because
TrueMark has local roots. It's headquartered in Fort Washington where Julia went to high school,
and there's 24 branches in the Philly area. They serve our community and people right here at home,
becoming a member of a credit union, has so many benefits over being a customer in a bank. It's a total
no-brainer. Head over thetrumark.com slash p.ll why to learn more and to find a branch near you.
that's trumark.com slash p hl y and it's federally insured by the nc ua let's do uh what do i have left
and around the nfl around the nfl you have uh would you rather is the only one okay let's hear
okay would you rather bryce young with the kansas city chiefs so andy reed in their entire
roster or patrick mahomes with the carolina panthers so dave canales in their roster and i guess
this this goes to show if it's all about the quarterback or if it's the environment that's in place
Patrick Mahomes.
Okay.
No one's about it.
Now, you really liked Bryce Young coming out of Alabama.
I remember doing a show with you and show.
Yeah.
Andy Reid's had success with every quarterback he's ever coached outside of Mike McGrath.
Yeah, I mean, I would take the Andy Reed, Bryce Young Chiefs over most teams, but not over Patrick Mahomes.
You got Travis Kelsey and Xavier Worthy.
You have a defense that is...
Patrick Mahomes is so good he would get Dave Canales to keep it in his pants.
You know, a defense that's loaded with talent.
Okay.
The Carolina Panthers are third.
32nd, you know, our lowest in the league and Super Bowl odds. They traded their best pass
rusher this offseason. They loaded up on offensive guards. Are you so? They have the best,
they would have the best player at the most important position. Okay. The best player who's ever
lived at the most important position in sports. Yeah. Okay. So it is, it is that simple.
So what is, what's their ceiling? Are they playing in the NFC championship game? I think the, I think, yeah,
I think the question is, would you rather have the Patrick Mahomes-led Parenthood
Panthers or the Eagles.
Interesting.
I mean, I love Mahomes.
So, but, yeah, I would probably rather have the Eagles.
I don't know.
Okay.
I mean, I probably would, but I don't know.
Now, let me ask you this.
Is it all Mahomes or is it Mahomes and Andy, too?
Well, of course.
It's both.
But that's, so we talk about the coach quarterback combination.
Like, Mahomes is incredible.
Mahomes did not have a great team at Texas Tech.
he's not one of these guys who's won everywhere he's
But we have seen Andy Reid in the NFL without Patrick Mahomes
We have not seen Patrick Mahomes in the NFL without Andy Reid
And we know that Andy Reid
Without Patrick Mahomes is never won a Super Bowl
No but he's been to
He's been very good games when okay yeah fair enough
I'm more willing to believe
I mean I this
I mean we just had this play out with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick
Right the answer
We were given the answer
That's a good now
Fair
Fair
the Patriots replaced,
they didn't really have a quarterback
replacing Tom Brady.
I mean, they had Cam Newton on his last legs.
But yeah, that's a fair point.
We had the answer there.
Okay.
Yeah, I mean, that Panthers roster is pretty bad.
Yes.
But I would still, I'd still give me the guy who's the best.
Are you selling Bryce Young?
You're buying Bryce Young.
If I had to put, if Bryce Young's stock was NVDIIA right now,
what would you buy?
What is that?
it's the hottest stock in the market right now
I don't know
you gotta get into AI man
ridiculous
their stocks worth more than the Germans
than all the
the entire German stock exchange
Navidia
yeah
okay
I'm just
okay
I'm thinking
I think I think I know
for first of all Julia is on the edge of
years crying. But Julia, are you also thinking back to our dinner at the Super Bowl when Zach
was trying to convince us that within weeks, the entire country was going to be just a swarm.
You would not be able to walk the streets without every single person wearing an Applevision
Pro as they walk around. Bo, you're entitled to your opinions. You're not entitled to your facts.
That did not occur. I did not say within, first off, I don't even own. I, I, I, I, I, I,
I don't own an Apple Vision Pro.
I said there was a time when iPhones were not within the price range of consumers,
but as they became more affordable and they became more accessible,
there was a period of time in our lives where the idea of an iPhone
was not something that was relatively ubiquitous, right?
So I was simply saying things changed.
I saw a stat before I came on here.
74% of American households have Amazon Prime.
Okay, think about that.
Like, 74% of American households pay for the right for two-day delivery.
Like, not the right, pay for two-day delivery.
So it's easy to mock things now, but things become relatively ubiquitous when it reaches kind of a critical mass, if you will.
AI sucks.
What's that?
AI sucks.
I don't use it in my life, but you would be.
I think it's going to become ubiquitous in our children's lives.
Yeah, that's unfortunately true.
That's why, I mean, not to get into, I had this conversation.
I mean, we are in like, you know, we haven't even gotten through the first year of this company.
And PH-L-O-Y, the larger All-City Network is still in its infancy.
We're growing.
And you were saying, I'll tell you what, the first thing I would ask our CEO, the very first thing I would ask him is, what's our plan for Applevision Pro?
Like, I think we got other things that we got to figure out first.
So let's get back to this.
Would you go after Bryce Young or not?
Like, are you interested in, like, are you buying Bryce Youngstock or not?
I mean, I think he'll be better than he was last year.
I don't know that, like, you know, Dave Canales is the guy to bring him around.
But I think they probably did the right thing trying to build an offensive line to protect him
as opposed to building stuff out elsewhere.
But I'm buying, but not like I don't think he's going to be a top five quarterback.
How about you?
Yeah.
I like Bryce Young. I'm buying not as top as a top five quarterback.
You're very skilled at creating narratives because I'm reading the chat and you create this
narrative that I'm like thinking about the customers when I'm sorry, the companies.
I'm thinking about the consumers. Like I'm thinking about what is going to be part of consumer
habits over the, it has nothing to do with the company making it. It has to do with where,
how can the lives of consumers become easier?
The lives of consumers have become easier with iPhones.
Like that's the...
This is the inverse of what your argument with streaming.
I'm not going on that rabbit hole.
Although someone who was very close to us,
he came up to me and he was like, you were right.
Bo was just bullying you.
But it was...
I found out I did work.
work on that show because I felt
really bad about the way I
presented myself. I was really disappointed myself
and I found out what threw me off.
It's a Friday show, we might as well.
It was the way, you're very
skilled at this. It was the way
you packaged it. So if you
go back and you watch the show,
you did not say, you did not say
Zach, what are your thoughts
on streaming? That's not
what you said. You said, Zach, why don't you
defend the corporate greed of
Well, yeah, but I didn't say,
but to be fair, before the show started,
you said, you know what,
on the show, I want to make the case for,
like, you came in,
you made it known that that was your side of the position.
No, I wasn't.
Once again,
what I was simply saying
is that streaming is the way of life
for consumers more so than over the air,
than over the air,
a consumption of programming.
That there are more consumers,
now who get their content via streaming, then via over-the-air stations.
I wasn't arguing for the volume of streaming networks.
What I was arguing for was...
Streaming existing?
Yeah, nobody is arguing the other side of that.
If you go into the comments, literally, that's what people were arguing.
People were saying that it should be...
It's always been over-the-air.
It should be over-the-air.
It should be available via, you know, cable.
or how and I was simply saying that there are more consumers now and this is what the NFL's argument is.
And the other part to that is what the NFL is doing.
If they did not have this, there will be fewer games for consumers to watch as well.
It would just be like what they're selling is they're selling inventory to different time slots to different places.
But you do understand that it makes it, it is not making things easier for consumers.
Do I understand that?
To have it on so many different platforms.
And what I am saying is that if you, there's more games.
And it also costs more.
It costs a lot of money.
Correct.
But I'm saying there's more games.
So if they,
and some of those things are not like,
the alternative is not these games aren't played nationally.
We're talking about like Thursday night games.
Those games are played nationally before they were on Amazon Prime.
They were on NFL network.
Yeah.
Yeah.
NFL, so there was, so what they've, so, once again, we don't, we don't need to go down
this, this rabbit hole.
Okay.
Again, my, my, my, my point is there are fewer, there's, there's more consumers watching
via streaming now than they are watching over the air.
But when it's framed, Zach, go defend corporate greed, then all of a sudden I am put in
a defensive position.
It's a great strategy by you.
I'm not a strategy.
It's just how I know you think.
And fortunately, there were a few people who sent me DMs who actually noticed this.
But anyways, that's neither here nor there.
Okay.
What's our last miscellaneous question?
Okay.
And then we have an Eagles one.
I want to end on the Eagles one.
Yeah, okay.
The last miscellaneous question, you predict.
Do the Phillies set a franchise record and how far do they advance?
The Phillies are on pace for 116 victories this year.
The franchise record is 102 victories.
Do they set a franchise record, and how far do they advance?
Yes, they set a franchise record, and they lose in the NLCS.
Okay.
I told this story last night.
I was on radio, and I said, you know, when I moved back to Philadelphia, it was in 2011.
And one of the things that the Daily News was pitching me at the time,
I came back to write these long-form magazine articles,
and they're like the Phillies are the best team in baseball.
This is going to be like this is the decade of the Phillies.
You're going to be writing about the World Series.
That was the year that they won 102 games, franchise record 2011.
Now they lost in the playoffs.
I brought this up as a way of saying like playoff variance in baseball is so high
that you can win 116 games and be out in the first round
just because you face a hot pitcher.
So I agree.
The playoffs are a totally different story.
But I also, I don't like this narrative that's out there.
They're only beating bad teams.
You beat the teams that are on your schedule.
And as Jeff Passon says, they're emasculating them right now.
And there's the whole, like if these teams hadn't played the Phillies, they would be over 500 thing, right?
Oh, I didn't see that.
Okay.
That's good, too.
So, yeah.
I mean, they're a very good team right now, but baseball is a very long season.
Then they won't be this good the entire season.
And then we'll see what happens in October.
Well said.
Okay.
All right.
Let's get this Eagles one.
The Eagles one here.
Convinced me, Dallas Goddard is a top five tight end, yes or no?
No.
And why? Convinced me on it?
Who are the five you take over?
Dallas Goddardt, Zach, has been in the league six seasons.
How many times do you think that he is finished in the top five
in receiving yards among tight ends?
Three.
Once.
Once.
Okay.
And that was fifth in 2021.
Okay.
I think Dallas Goddard has been an awesome player.
I think a side of the time.
from like Darius sleigh and players of that age, he faces the biggest possibility of a like
of a significant drop-off.
Yes.
We like to say the best ability is availability, right?
Dallas Goddard has had real trouble staying healthy.
He's missed 15 games over the last four seasons.
He's 29 now.
He plays a physical brand of football.
You know, his yak went way down last year.
Now, it's hard to disentangle just the offense was so bad last year.
He's not the one responsible for that.
But it went from 6.9 yards after catch per reception in 2021, which was fifth among tight ends,
to 7.6 in 2022, which was third, all the way down to 5.4 last year, which was 13th.
Now, he's had some other seasons that were low, like 2020.
That was a bad offense.
But I worry that we have already seen the best of Dallas Garton,
and I think it's probable that we have already seen the best of Dallas Gartart.
On the flip side, Dallas Gartres value is beyond just being a receiver.
He's, you know, along with George Kittle, probably the best, you know, dual threat tight end
because of what he brings to the table in the blocking game.
He allows them to play an 11 personnel and spread things.
out because of what he brings to the table that way.
And, you know, I think back to that 2022 season, which was so perfectly designed where they were
the best running team in 11 and the best passing team in 12, right?
He allowed them to do that.
He was the key to that.
But, you know, you look at the landscape of the guys who are older and like his generation,
you would still rather have Kelsey and Kittle and Mark Andrews, right?
Then you've got the younger guys like LaPorta, Trey McBride.
you would probably have those guys.
And then there's the, you know, David and Joku, Evan Engram contemporaries,
more young guys like Cole Komet, your boy, Kyle Pitts, Dalton Kincaid.
I think the likelihood of Dallas Goddard being a, like, a special player relative to the rest of the league at that position,
I think those days are probably gone.
That said, like, he is, he could have a, he could, you know, he is still in the prime of his career.
He could have a great season.
if he stays healthy for 17 games, I would expect his numbers to be big.
But from a, like, how could this offense underperform without being beset by, like, real injuries?
I think Dallas got it not being what the Eagles are hoping that he is is a possibility there.
It's a fair point.
And the genesis of this question was I was looking at fantasy football rankings.
And we kind of speaking in Philadelphia, Dallas got it, one of the best tight ends in the league.
And so when I saw this, what jumped out to me, this is ESPN's aggregate ratings.
I understand fantasy football is not indicative of an overall tight end.
You mentioned how skilled he is as a blocker.
But it does give you a sense of the top producers in the league.
And Goddard was 11 in aggregate rankings.
And the players above him were Sam Laporta, Travis Kelsey, Mark Andrews, Trey McBride, Evan Ingraham, George Kittle, David & Jokoeu,
I'm sorry, Dalton Kincaid, Kyle Pitts, and Jake Ferguson.
And it's crazy to me because I tend to think of Dallas Goddard more, like,
closer to Travis Kelsey than Jake Ferguson.
But clearly, I'm probably looking at it through Eagles-colored lens.
It's like I see Dallas Goddard every week.
But each year, it seems to be, well, if he stays healthy,
and this is the year he's going to break out.
And maybe you say what he is is a 50-catch, 800-yard tight end, right?
Yeah, and I think it's, you know, if you're starting a team,
he's not going to be at the top of your list because he's towards the second half of his
career and if you're going for just this season he would be higher but he's got to stay healthy
i think he i think he has the upside of being a top three tight end in the league this year um it's
just we got to see it he has not yet really put it all together yeah fair enough okay but he's he's 29
if he hasn't put it together yeah that's a thing um and that's a real like he's been awesome
when healthy he hasn't been able to stay healthy and i don't know yeah i was always told when
someone shows you who they are, believe them, right?
And so, like, at some point, you have to stop saying this is who he's going to become.
And it's like, this is, this is who you are, which is good.
But I think this is, I think you're right.
This is the last year we'll see if he's not one of those top five tight ends this year, it's not going to happen.
Do you think that they should have done more to backfill him?
I think they should start thinking about long term.
Now, the thing is you can add someone next year who's your starting tight end.
So you don't necessarily need this succession plan.
Like they had when they went from Eertz, when they went from Seleck to Eertz, and then Ertz to Goddard, right?
They had succession plans in house.
But I'm not convinced Dallas Goddard's on the roster beyond this season.
I mean, they owe a lot of money beyond the season, but there's not a lot of guaranteed.
They have a big cap hit, I should say, but not the guaranteed money.
So there is an out in the contract in terms of cash as opposed to the cap.
I think Dallas Goddard is a really good player.
I've said that, but there always seems to be something.
And again, like when you're eight years in, it's hard to say, all right, this is the year you're going to become that.
Fair enough.
The Whole Foods interaction that you used earlier ran into a sicko Tim yesterday.
And he said, oh, my God, this is surreal.
Guess what I was just doing?
I said, I don't know.
We were in the parking lot at Whole Foods.
He said, I just changed in my car.
Really?
Yeah.
Pull to Zach.
That's a very, I think a lot of people do that.
You were so, there's things on the show you're so surprised about that I think are.
I change in my car on occasion.
It was not, if I remember correctly.
Not, it wasn't that you changed in the car.
It was that you had pulled into the Wawa and like went to the very corner of the parking lot to do so.
When you could have, when you could have come to the office.
Well, so this was also in like our first month here.
I don't know if I'm at, I don't know if I'm at, I don't know if I'm at changing at the office level here.
But I wasn't ready to do like the Clark Kent thing where I'm still meeting while my coworkers.
I show up in one thing and then I come out of the bathroom and another.
But the nice thing about this setup here, though, Zach, is you can come in and slip right to the bathroom without anybody really even seeing you.
True, but I like to come say hello.
Yeah.
You could do that fully dressed.
Fair.
Okay.
I honestly, I'll go back to this.
I didn't put much thought into this.
I was leaving the airport on the way home from the, on the way to work from the airport.
I pass a Wawa.
It's a Wawa.
I frequent.
I know the parking.
They know your order?
Well, I order on the app if I go there.
So I'll pull out.
Okay.
It was just a passing comment.
Yeah.
I know that parking lot well.
There's a lot of spots to change.
Like, it's a big parking lot.
So I didn't.
You would case the joint on where to change.
think much of it and then I didn't realize it was going to become a topic for the next six months
or eight months of the show nine months of the show similarly yeah I
one thing I'm working on with the show is that I do I was on Fox last night I'm driving home
and I'm like you know what that that went well I did well I leave I leave the show every single week
and I feel like like I need to stop beating yourself up I need to see a therapist or something
when the show is over put it put it to the side lock it away very very
We have five shows a week.
Everything's ephemeral here.
Maybe so.
Anyways.
You want to talk positionless?
Did you give this some more thought?
I gave it thought.
I don't want to be rude to you.
I read the comments as well.
People are arguing both sides here.
You were very, like, strong against, like, you would not consider the fact.
Right, because just because some people think and are telling you that two plus two equals seven doesn't mean that you.
You need to give their argument credence.
When I think of positionless, I think that the player cannot be confined to, to, the con, cannot be confined to a traditional position, okay, that he can play.
So multi, I hear what you're saying about multi-positional, but I, I think those two things, whether by the, by definition or not, are have been used interchangeably.
Like I said, because it's a basketball term, meaning this guy can guard one through five.
or this guy can take the ball up and then he can play in the post.
Like positionless means that it's not your traditional guard,
you're not your traditional center, not your traditional forward,
but he can play around the court.
So when that term has been translated to football,
it's been used a player who can play multiple positions.
So I see where you're coming from,
but I think the way the term is used is the way I use it
has become a fairly common use of the term.
I don't agree.
Okay.
that that is the way that it is used.
When you use your heat example, the idea of the positionless heat is not that LeBron James can play one through five.
It's that all five players on the court can be used interchangeably and can play any position on the court.
It is the collective that is positionless.
Would you say that Joe McEwing was a positionless baseball player?
No.
He was able to play multiple positions.
Yes.
So the idea that spawned this argument was Cooper DeGine in the base defense is on the outside, playing outside corner, and in nickel is playing nickel corner.
That means that he can play multiple positions that are very much defined positions on the football field.
I think that position less implies that your role transcends the typical parameters of the position, right?
So in football, like, if you want to convince, like maybe Tyran Matthew was the idea of positionless, right?
Because he was doing things that were above and beyond and a little bit more freelance than what is typically projected for that role.
For the Eagles team, if you want it, like the generous positionless idea would be if you have C.J. Garner Johnson and Cooper DeGine and Yvonne.
Montematics on the field at the same time, nobody knows what their responsibilities are going to be at the same time.
But what we were talking about yesterday was Cooper de Gene just playing outside corner and playing nickel.
That is not positionless.
That is just versatile.
So I'm going to count.
I hear what you're saying.
I don't think when Daniel Jeremiah uses positionless, he's saying that the 11 players on defense don't have positions and they're all just interchangeable.
You're not going to put Cooper de Gene as your edge rusher, right?
but what it means is that when you have this player on the field and you're the quarterback,
you don't know where he's going to line up on a given play.
That he can be on the field for three downs and he can line up at three different spots every down.
So multi-position, yes, but it's almost, it's positionless in that you don't know if that guy's going to be a cornerback on that play
or if he's going to be a safety on that play, if he's going to be the slot, if he's going to be a dime linebacker,
he can play all around the formation.
So that is what is used with Cooper DeGine as positionless.
That on this down, so he's on the field all three downs, but he's not the same position each down.
I think where we have talked about this before is like the Isaiah Simmons example, right?
And the idea, oh, this guy is just a football.
He was literally positioned less.
Like he didn't have a position.
Exactly.
And it's like, oh, this guy's a football player.
It doesn't matter where you put him.
He'll figure it out.
Sure.
And that is not in practice how coaches work.
You got it. Every week they're putting the game plan together.
Every part of the defense has to be predictable.
Like for what they're, for everybody else on the field, they have to know what everybody else is doing.
And if he can't, you know, he can maybe do a couple things, but he's a linebacker, like this week.
That's the position that he's playing.
He is going to be confined to that.
Just because Cooper DeGine can, in theory, do some different things, doesn't mean that when he's on the field and lined up as a nickel,
that's his position.
I don't know.
I think.
Oh, but when you look at players like Kyle Hamilton or Derwin James,
they're safeties who can do many different things.
But on a given play, and I think you did a good job bringing up Tyron Matthew,
is that on a given play, the quarterback would not know where this guy is lining up.
Typically, you're preparing for a game.
You're a quarterback, you're preparing for a game.
You know where each guy is going to be playing on the field, okay?
and you know when this guy's in the game, he's the cornerback, and he's the deep safety,
and you have 11 positions, and everyone fits within the confines of those positions.
But then when you have a player like Cooper DeGine, who can play multiple positions,
he's positionless in the sense that the offense doesn't know on a given play where he's going to line up.
So perhaps, so I saw a good comment that said, because I read all the comments, all the comments, okay?
Not good for your mental health.
And I, you're actually, I'm learning, it's probably right.
But nonetheless, I think that's how you learn.
Unless you're going to do it anyway.
Yeah.
I mean, I believe in finding ways to get better.
And if you're not, I don't you think that.
I take the negative comments even more to heart because it's like, all right, I need to learn from that.
But don't you think that the best way for you to get better would be to just have better mental health?
I don't think that.
No.
No, I honestly don't think that.
Really?
Yeah.
because I think that I've always, I mean, if we want to discuss this, I'll discuss this.
I think that, like you can, first of all, I don't think I've bad mental health, but I think that, that you don't think, you don't think, you don't believe in mental health.
No, I believe that's just the woke media.
I believe that, that, like, if you're at my edge, I can't speak for everyone, my edge is like trying to figure out how I can be better.
what more I can do.
And there's people around me who say, like, don't you just want to like take a deep breath sometimes?
And I hear that, but that's, I'm not wired that way.
And I, like, I'm not, you know.
You don't think that's what makes you good at what you do.
Yeah, I think what my edge is, is that I'm.
Indefatigable.
I'm pushing, no, I'm pushing to try to get better.
That if I'm not a better, if I'm not better on this show now than I was on September 12th, then shame on me.
Right.
So, and if I'm not trying to get better on the show now, then on September 12th, then shame on me.
So, yeah, I.
Now, what about the specific difficulty of your, you're waiting in these comments and there are people disagreeing about the show giving different pieces of advice?
Well, yeah.
How can you balance the, you can't please everybody.
I have a poem on my desk, you know, by Rudyard Kivling, and it says,
if all men count with you, but none too much, right?
You take everyone in the heart, but you don't enlarge one person's opinion.
But yeah, overall, there's an aggregate.
I'm trying to learn.
I'm trying, I don't dismiss anyone's opinion either, right?
But anyways, what the comment said was that Bow's argument was correct based on definition.
my argument was correct based on usage.
Like the way the term is used.
Yeah, I think they're also wrong.
Okay.
You see, now there's also something.
I think that what bothered me so much yesterday
was the specific thing we were talking about
was he's in this role in one package
and in this role in another is not the positionless usage.
The positionless usage that has become the thing
is the idea of him and C.J. Garner Johnson
and being able to be pre-snap disguise
and you don't know where they're going to go.
The specific thing we were talking about yesterday
was not under that umbrella.
OK.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
OK.
But yeah, to the, I certainly don't want to conflate.
Like, we had branding Brooks on two weeks ago.
Like being down on yourself about a show
does not necessarily equate to like being unable
to do the show the next day or something like that.
But I definitely.
think that, yeah, even if it might be bad for the mental health, I think it's good for my overall
quality of work if I'm listening to the consumers.
Fair enough.
All right.
That was good.
Yeah.
That was a nice restrained discussion this time.
Fair enough.
Fair enough.
Okay.
That'll do it for this episode of the Ph.O.Y.
Eagles podcast. Good initial
edition of Tick-Zack Bow.
Yep.
We'll be back on Tuesday
at noon. Have a great Memorial Day.
Got another week of OTAs next week.
So we'll talk about that. Lots of stuff
to get into, as always.
And we hope that everybody out there enjoys their Memorial
Day weekend. Thanks for listening. Thanks for watching.
We will talk to you on Tuesday.
And as always, we love you.
