PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | How important is C.J. Gardner-Johnson to revitalizing the Philadelphia Eagles defense?

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

The first practice of training camp is two days away, so we’re closing out our position previews with safety and tight end. C.J. Gardner-Johnson is back in the fold to provide his playmaking and feistiness alongside Reed Blankenship and a coming-back-from-injury Sydney Brown. At tight end, do the Eagles have enough reinforcements behind Dallas Goedert?Plus, what must life be like for the Sirianni family as the news cycle continues to hone in on his perilous job security? Join Zach Berman and Bo Wulf for a lively discussion. 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.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the PHAY Eagles podcast on a Monday high to Bo Wolf. Zach Berman Camp Week is here. Zach, I know you're counting down the hours. How was your weekend? And was your family telling you to just calm down because you were bouncing off the walls with excitement over camp beginning on Wednesday? So I'm doing well. I'm thrilled to be here. It feels like December 30th right now.

Okay, two days before the new year, because really the year starts, it's not week one. It's training camp. Okay. And what would represent the holiday season that just passed in this metaphor? What would represent like, so what's Christmas here? Christmas would be your return to the show. Oh, okay? Oh, wow.

So. It's called me old Chris Kringle. I got to say, as far as my family noticing excitement, I have to. I think right now it's more like the pregame, I don't want to say jitters, but the, you know, how like you're anxious before a big game, that kind of thing. You want to, you got a lot of ideas. You're running out of time. There's a few things that I want to get up on the site, all p.gly.com before camp begins.

You have a story up there today. Yeah, the final part of, it's dragged on a little longer. It was 30 thoughts. And it was supposed to be wrapped up. a little sooner, but wrapped up here. I had to get it done before camp, and I'll have my pre-camp 53 up there at some point. I'm going to have some other kind of things I'm looking forward to at camp.

So, and then once camp begins, we're in full camp mode. So excited for it. The first practice is 10 a.m. on Wednesday, the players report tomorrow. There's football in the air right now. I imagine that was the big story around the country this weekend. Now, eager for training camp. you keep dipping your toe you're playing with fire we're going to have to get there eventually what you are referring to although i you know i i am a big west wing fan and so my and so what you thought the aaron sorkin suggestion that the democrats nominate mitt rami you thought that was a bit of inspiration that everybody should follow i read aran sorkan op ed in sundays new york times and and then a lot changed later in the day anyway Anyways, let's get to the Eagles news and the Eagles of it all.

Yes. The wise, all-knowing Aaron Sorkin. Okay. What about A.J. Brown's camp on Friday that you had a chance to say. What was that like? It was good seeing AJ. But also, it was interesting. You liked it say, and I don't know if I would frame it this way, but we're also a dad show here.

I would say so, yeah. And so it was good, you know, the camp, I was waiting a bit of time for. for AJ to come. I got there early. Did Julio come? No, Julio was not there. Okay. But Nick Siriani was there with his son. Aaron Moorhead, the Eagles wide receivers coach, was there with his son. And so, you know, they were there as dads, maybe more so than coaches.

But certainly supporting AJ Brown. So it was nice seeing them in the wild, right, before camp begins. And then I caught up with AJ briefly. he's excited for camp he was there to support you know he was he was there to kind of give back to the community he said uh he didn't really have a chance to go to these football camps when he was younger always feels the love in philly that kind of thing there was it's it's pretty cool to see like the um it's always cool to see the excitement on the kids faces at these things i've gone a number of these camps over the years and i can tell you like to be honest i was i was a little late to a

family dinner that night or I was I was supposed to be there early but I called my son and I told him I was I was at a j. Brown's camp and he was uh he was pumped he was he said next time can I take him you should have taken him yeah what are we doing yeah and uh he liked AJ Brown's cleats yeah he said they were he said AJ Brown had drip so more drip than his dad for sure yeah read drop and drip yeah more drip than his dad okay well let me ask it let me ask you this because I think we're going to talk about, you know, the the Nick Siriani conversation that's in the NFL zeitgeist right now. You know, there was the reporting from Diana Rossini last week at the athletic about some of the dynamics that were potentially going on behind the scenes last

season. The idea that, you know, Nick Siriani is coaching for his job. We have talked around and about this for a long time. I was going to buy, try to buy that new refrigerator last week and they got the TV up and I think it was Fox Sports and it's like a 20 minute segment on like, you know, Nick Siriani on the hot seat, all this stuff. And, you know, this is like the one time when the NFL families, like, get time with their, the coaches get time with their families. Like, what do you think life has been like over the summer for like the Siriani family as they're just trying to get away?

And if you just, you're flipping through the TVs and it's all about like, oh, is, is dad going to keep his job? Like, you know, that stuff is interesting. I hear you there. and I there's a part of me that's empathetic right like I imagine that stuff there's another part of it that's you know this is the business they chose right they get paid handsomely for this like this is like even yeah I mean like they they know it when they get into it and so it's the bud it's it's the bump Phillips quote you know there's you're either been fired or going to be fired right there's two types of coaches um but you don't know people named bum these days no um I guess not I haven't really thought about that but you're right uh uh No, it's a good observation because it is the dominant topic. And when Les was on last Monday, we discussed this. Les Bowen, when he was on last Monday, we discussed this.

And I framed the question to Nick, like, is this job wearing on you because of that type of conversation? Like, you've, there's a part of Nick that, you know, I think looks at this. And I wrote this the other day. He's been to the playoffs all three years. He's been to the Super Bowl, two double-digit-win seasons. Like, come on, you know, but it's also, you're the coach of the Eagles. You have an insane amount of talent here. Like, this is the job you signed up for.

This is the fan base you signed up for. And when you win, you know, Doug Peterson is forever, like, beloved here. There's a statue outside the stadium. The Eagles didn't commission it, but there's a statue outside the stadium. So, yeah, now, the stories will continue to change. I think, like you mentioned, when you're in that six-week period, period. And we're guilty of this too. I don't want to act, you know, everyone needs something to talk about. Everyone needs something to write about.

When I talked about my excitement for training camp last week, one of the things I said is like storylines replenished. There's things new for six weeks. And really six months here, uh, this is, this has kind of been going on. And so soon enough, we'll have games and, um, practices and things of that nature to discuss. Yeah, I just think it's, it's, you know, like in the middle of the season, if this conversation is going on, it's much easier to tune it out, I would imagine, from, you know, Siriani's perspective. You have a job to do. But, like, in the middle of the summer when, like, this is your time to get away.

And this is a guy who, like, you know, he's like a sportsaholic, right? He's probably watching ESPN or whatever all day long. And he just, just a conversation about, like, how good you are at your job. It's just kind of funny to think about. Like, what if, you know, you're driving to work and, like, the nonstop conversation, like, ah, Zach Berman sucks. Like, really, get this guy out of here. I would be listening to it.

I would be engaged. For sure, yeah. But people have no idea what they're talking about? It's like Andy were you getting to play from the janitor. You never know if someone has an idea. You know, it's the line from, from Ruddy or Kipling. If all men count with you, but none too much. Not really.

Yes, it is. You don't take everyone's one's word as like the only word, but you listen to everyone. The reality is I go back to the Jason Kelsey line. You write your own narrative, right? this is what's being discussed now. If Nick wins, this won't be talked about. And if Nick loses, this is going to be talked about. So now, a coach isn't having the same, you know, a player is kind of more directly writing it.

But yeah, you write your own narrative here. Ultimately, we write what happens. They control what happens. I also think he would probably say it's, he doesn't mind it as much as it's like the family, right? Sure, exactly. You would always hear. 100%. And, you know, kids in school, I imagine, and other moms, they're, yeah, this is, I feel for that.

I feel for that. There's, it's also, you know, you hear these coaches, they live in like six places and six years, right? It's a, it's a, it's a tough industry. Like, it's fun, I imagine, but it's a tough industry. Now, what did you make of the substance of the reporting from Diana Rossini? Yeah, well, first off, Diana's outstanding at her job. Always has been is now. And boy, what a producer for that podcast.

Absolutely. Shout out to Marissa. So my understanding, so it really depends on how you interpret what she was saying. I, from my understanding, Brian Johnson was calling the plays. But Brian Johnson wasn't calling his plays. So I don't know. I haven't spoken to Diana about this report. Nick has been on the record in the past saying like he's in charge of the offense.

Nick said when we spoke to Nick in June, and let me pull the exact quote up here, Nick said that I didn't call plays. I know everyone thinks that. I didn't call plays last year, all right, but I had to help. I wanted to help with that. It was my expertise of helping just like it was in 21 and just like it was in 2020. And just like it wasn't in 22. He continued.

I felt a mistake that I made was focusing so much on the, offense basically. And he said, and that's not what's best for the team and what's needed for the team is me to be the head coach, not the offensive coordinator for multiple reasons. Brian Johnson was not calling his offense last year. Brian Johnson was calling Nick Siriani's offense. And I think Nick had a heavier hand than maybe he had the year before with Shane when him and Shane had a, you know, more of a history together, if you will, and when things are going bad. But I think Nick kind of wanted to put his finger on the scale. I believe that Brian Johnson was calling the plays now.

But I also believe that it was Nick Siriani's plays. Yeah, there's also a distinction between like, you know, Nick Siriani is saying in the, in the week leading up to the game plan, like if we're in the red zone, these are the four plays I want you to call. And then Brian Johnson gets to choose from those four. Exactly. That's a little bit different than even if Nick. And there were times where on the sideline it did look like Nick was calling plays every now and then. So, you know, I'm sure that there's a little bit of truth in between here. Sure.

And you also have to think about the motivations of the people who would have been talking to Diana about, you know, if there's someone from Brian Johnson's camp who wants to make it known that he doesn't have the stink of that offensive, you know, diminishment on him. That's fine. But, I mean, it's obviously true. You just think about the interpersonal dynamics of it. Like if Brian Johnson, Brian Johnson and Nick Siriani are not as close, they don't have as much history as he did with Shane Stuyken, right? So if he thinks that he's coaching for his job, he's going to do what he thinks Nick wants. And if Nick wants certain types of plays, those are the plays he's going to call. It's also the offense that Nick installed.

Yeah, I just see in the chat that clarified the article from Johnson wasn't calling plays to Johnson wasn't calling his own plays, which is the distinction we made there. And you hit it on the head, right? Brian Johnson probably wants it out there to be known that he did have his hands tied. And when Brian Johnson was fired, we kind of said as much. too. So that part of it, the other part of Diana's report podcast, she has a podcast Scoop City with Chase Daniel, where this was on. And it was, it was said in there that this is like Hallie Roseman's show. Yeah, I can tell you that. This is Hallie Roseman's show. I mean, Hallie Roseman's more involved than most GMs are. I've used this maybe on this show,

but certainly in conversations with others. If you follow other sports, Hallie Roseman, is more like a baseball GM than a football GM in that baseball GMs are like the all-powerful, you know, baseball GMs control basically everything in the organization, right? And that's kind of what Howie is here. He has his hands in a lot of different areas. He's not just, you know, scouting and picking the players. I mean, everything kind of funnels up to him. And that's the way this is structured.

Now, Nick does not report to Howie. reports to Jeffrey Lurie. That's the structure that's been in place since Andy Reed was here. But Howie, they're not hiring coaches without Howie Roseman having, like, saying this, right? And certainly in these situations, strong saying this. And then also in that report, I thought the most interesting part of it, frankly, I know the play calling thing got a lot of attention, but it was just the G. John Hertz, Nick Siriani dynamic. And this is something you've been harping on. and you're absolutely right. This is going to be a major topic, and it should be.

Like, J.1 Hertz needs to be better this year. But Jalen Hertz is the most important person in the organization. And Nick, when we talk about kind of the buy-in that Nick needs from the team, Nick needs buying from the quarterback. And that can't just be implicit. That needs to be explicit. Like that, I think those in the locker room need to see that J-Ewan believes in the coach. Do you think we will see some kind of like outward show of, you know,

some big ceremonial bro hug on the first day of practice or something like that, because I don't. And not even because I think that there's like a lot of smoke to that relationship. Just like what I know about Jalen Hertz, I feel like the idea that everybody is telling him that he is not doing enough here, he is the kind of person, I believe, who's going to only take that end, kind of even more in his show about that. Like you don't know what you're talking about.

Like there's nothing to see here. He's only going to get more defensive about that. I agree with you wholeheartedly there. I think that's why we go back to that answer that was unnecessary. But I think that was more jail-in against the media than it was Jay-Win about Nick. It was like, I don't need to play along with your narratives here, you know? And we'll see. I mean, J-1 will speak on Wednesday.

I imagine this is going to come up. We will see. But yeah, this dynamic is important because, look, I'm not saying this is going to disintegrate or anything of that nature, but it would not be the first high profile, a quarterback and successful head coach who over time, like a marriage kind of grew apart. So Nick needs to nurture this marriage because it's essential, frankly, to his future. It's essential to the team success. The howie of it all that you touched on. First of all, what did you think of the Chase Daniels story?

Yeah, so for those who have not listened, it was that Chase, who came in in 2016 with Doug Peterson, right? They followed him from Kansas City, similar to Doug with Andy Reed. And Chase and Doug were very close. They spent a lot of time together the previous three years. And Chase was in Doug's office quite a bit when Doug got the job in Philly, like they're putting the offense together. They're figuring out. And Halley says, says, Chase, don't. spend so much time in the coach's office.

Like, what do I make of it? I mean, to me, I imagine how he probably has a reason for it, but to me, it might seem like overmanaging. Well, you know what's funny to me about it is this is not Howie Roseman who just won a Super Bowl

like stretching his power. This is how he just beginning after the, you know, after the demotion. This is like one of his first acts of business for an active roster is, like hey chase get out of there yeah stepping on Doug's toes kind of funny and you wonder look at that time and and you uh wrote about this quite a bit like the the big thing in the organization at time especially for Howie was Carson Wentz right so maybe there's a dynamic there like uh you know like

that's fair everything needs to be geared toward Carson here um but i found it to be I mean, I usually think Howie's like pretty, you know, how he has a reason for doing things. I'm sure he had a reason for doing that. Yeah, but I mean, that seemed to be a little much. I don't know. I mean, I haven't spoken to Howie about that anecdote. I am curious. Now, sometimes there is this thought like players need to be of the locker room, right?

You don't want to kind of be viewed as like the coaches, the coaches. the coach's guy in there, the coach's pet. Maybe it was something like that. Like this will affect your relationship with the players if you're just viewed as like a direct extension of the head coach. Maybe there, you know, it could frankly have been constructive for Chase. But it did seem like a little, a little much. I feel like if it was with the intention of being constructive, it could have been like,

hey, Doug, why don't you tell Chase that he shouldn't spend so much time with you anymore? But the way Chase was using it was in a sense, but like Howie's aware of everything going on in that building? Absolutely. And I would agree how he's aware of everything that's going on in that building is that um, how he's not, not one of those who like,

uh, leaves. That's, that's, that's not a big deal. Like everything is, that's not my area. Yeah, exactly. Everything matters to Hallie.

Yeah. And I think if it's, you know, if you're thinking back to, uh, for instance, the decision to demote Sean Desai and replace him with Matt Patricia midseason, the notion that that would have been only Nick Siriani's idea,

and Howie Roseman wouldn't have been involved is farcical. Yes. Like, of course, that he would have been involved in that decision. And I also think, you know, Diana and Chase talked about this, the idea of, you know, Howie playing a big role in who the coordinators were. I don't think that that's necessarily a bad thing.

No. You know, Nick has his own contact lists and those have, to some degree, been diminished over time. This is a problem. And Howie has been in the league for a long time. it's the same reason we talk about like how he would have been sort of laughing at Joe Shane being surprised at some of the numbers as free agency started like he's been playing this game much longer. Yeah. So he's going to have more tentacles as touchpoints throughout the league.

Yeah, you're absolutely right. And Howie is, he's very plugged in, but also like he's he's very curious. There was an anecdote. I don't think I'm out of line saying this. there was an anecdote probably like nine, ten years ago when there was a position coach at a college who was like, it was really impressive. And I had, and I mentioned that. And then how he wanted to know like as much as he could about that, you know, like he was he was almost like debriefing for information, like trying to find out more. Because he does want to know who, who everyone is in football.

Like he believes information's currency and this is valuable for him. There you go. All right. Well, also valuable for you is the game time out because if you want to go to a baseball game game this summer but you want to save a little bit of money, game time can make it happen and they're preaching patience because game time is an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets faster and easier. and here's the deal. Prices on the GameTime app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch. With killer last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee, Game Time takes the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets. You've also got all the nice little features on the GameTime app,

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guaranteed. I speak about right aid often on the show. And in recent weeks, I've been speaking about getting hydrated at right aid with their refreshery line, but it's not just about getting hydrated, it's getting satiated, right? And that's where L-O-Market comes in. Okay, the L-O-Market line at right-Aid and when I say L-O-E-L-O, this line includes candy, snacks, and pantry items. So it's speaking to my two kids. It's exclusively at Rite Aid. Their product- As if you don't like candy. I don't eat candy. We'll get to that later. The products include candy from classics like peach rings and starlight mince, the gummy butterflies, and sour worms. They have nuts and trail mixes packed with vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, fiber, and protein.

There is popcorn. I love popcorn. I might go see a movie sometime soon. I'll go to Rite Aid and I'll go to L.O. Market. You sounded like an alien who was trying to fit in with the human race. I like popcorn. I might go see a movie sometime soon. Can I please talk about Elam Market here?

Because you can get buttery, sweet and salty, cheddar and sea salt, and you can get beef jerky, a pack of protein. You can get granola featuring whole grains, then pantry samples like honey and seasonings. Snack attack, get L.O. Market delivered. Same day or buy online, pick up in store. Go to writeaid.com slash shop to order. Two things. Okay. First off, the movie thing.

I didn't want to deviate from our friends at our Rite Aid there. If you recall, the eve of training camp last year, I went to the movies. And I was thinking maybe... Did you see Oppenheimer? I saw Oppenheimer, yeah. And I thought maybe this could be the start of like a new tradition. Maybe on the eve of training camp, I go to the movies. Yeah, because you like popcorn.

What's that? Because you like popcorn. So I could... I actually don't buy popcorn at the movies. Why? I buy for my kids. Well, we don't need to get into that. Because it's too expensive?

Is that why? But you like popcorn? Yeah, but I could put it in the microwave for fraction anyways. Well, yeah, of course. And yet you'll pay $75 a month for every streaming service that you need to. But yeah, maybe I'll go see Twisters or something like that. Okay. This week.

And the other thing, no, I do not eat candy, though. But my kids love me. Oh, geez, you're so offended. I mean, look, it's not for, I love. I love cookies. I love cake. I love, it's not that I don't like sugar.

I just don't eat candy. Yeah, a candy was not a big thing for me growing up. Good job also, enunciating the R on pantry samples. Okay. Yeah. As opposed to what,

though? Panty samples. Oh, okay. Do you think they sell those at right age? I think they might, yeah. Wouldn't know. Okay. Anyways.

It's in the candy aisle. That's all you don't know. Gotcha. Okay. All right. Well, continue our preview of the positions heading into training camp sack we've got tight end and safety still to go for today let's start with safety where our cover man for this episode cj gardner

johnson returns and brings some needed playmaking and according to howie roseman some needed as you would say competitive zeal um do you think that c j gardner johnson is in some ways like the key to the secondary being very good. We talk so much about the cornerback depth, but if the middle of the field is not dynamic, they can be had, right? And like we like Reed Blankenship, he's a steady player,

he will be in the right place. But if you're looking for some upside, it probably has to come from C.J. Gardner-Johnson. It's a good point. And you often hear how important safety position is in Vic Fangio's defense. Time will tell. But C.J. Gardner Johnson,

from a talent perspective is a major upgrade over what the Eagles had a year ago. And I think they missed him. I talked about the competitive zeal, but they missed him on the field. He is, he's not a perfect player, but he does make plays. He makes plays on the ball. He has athleticism that is hard to find at that position. Like he's a converted corner, right? So I think that saying he's the key,

I think having a second corner is really important. But yeah, I mean, in terms of the whole package, it changes the complexion of the defense if they have that type of player in the secondary, for sure. What are your expectations for C.J. Guadron Johnson? Well, he needs to stay healthy. And you can say that about every player, but he has more of an injury history than most players do.

And but I think if he is healthy, I think he makes a major difference. Like I said, I, I know that turnovers aren't necessarily a sticky stat. And there's not really a way to quantify like the nose for the football skill. But it does seem that he is, he does make plays on the ball. And he's around the ball and anecdotally that's the case. And then I think the versatility that he has, his ability to move in space is like,

real important. I think that's something that they missed last year. So yeah, my expectation is if he's healthy, he's going to be a major upgrade on the defense. Like I said, he does have his flaws, but I think he can work well. To your injury point, just to just to say it in 2021, with the Saints, he missed five games in 2022. With the Eagles, he missed five games. And then last year, with the Lions, he missed 14 games, right? So he has missed a lot of time over the past three years. he's only 26 years old, so you would think that he, you know, this is not a declining athlete, but, and I think he has said that some of those were, you know, freak injuries. I'm sure that that's true, but the longer it goes on, the bigger question mark it becomes.

So, yes, I mean, he has to prove that he can stay healthy. What about the attitude of it all, you know, the notion that the Eagles were missing some nasty last year and he can bring some of that? Yeah, I think that's true. I do. And there's no way to quantify that either. But I think for defense in particular, having an instigator, having someone who has that, to use your word nasty, to use my word, competitive zeal or my term competitive zeal, I think that's particularly valuable. And it's, I don't think you want 11 C.J. Garner Johnson's on the field. But I think it's beneficial to have to beat up at the line of scrimmage.

You don't know what I mean, that personality. but I think if you have won or you have two, I think it's valuable. And I think that they did miss that last year. I don't think they had enough players last year who had that type of personality. And I think that your defense starts to reflect that at some point. Okay.

Now, let's presume that C.J. Gardner Johnson stays healthy. Okay. Do you think that the starter next to him is definitely going to be read Blankenship? Now, Sidney Brown is coming off the torn ACL. we don't yet know if he will be ready for camp i would i would be surprised if he's ready for the start of camp yeah jimmy kemsky says he's he's going to start camp on the puff list okay um which

which which would add up because he did not participate in the spring so he's so yes so they're still thinking time to come back week one from my understanding has been sidney brown's goal but when he he's on the field i don't have an answer for that yet there is also and i just said jimmy kenski from philly voice and there is also james bradbury so do you how many turkeys would you put on reed blank and chip is the is the the healthy starter opposite cj gardner johnson week one or week 18 middle of the season middle of the season so cini jones is healthy sinney brown syne brown yeah yeah maybe lucky if they had sinney jones is healthy too just yeah i hope city i hope he's healthy yeah exactly wouldn't wish injury on let's say pump free's healthy too okay great recovery

that that's that's that's why you're the best in the business uh let's see i'm going to go close I'm going to go 80. I still think Blankenship gives them that steady presence. I think Sidney Brown profile was more this year, at least, as your third safety. Yeah, they've got a lot of guys, though. I mean, you know, that could be Maddox. That could also be Cooper DeGine. So I was going to ask you that.

When I saw your graphic there, you put Maddox up with the safety. So are you viewing him as a safety going in the camp or are you viewing him as both? I mean, in the spring, he literally played safety along with. nickel. Cooper dejean did not. So that's why I have Maddox here as well. And I wrote that on all p.hly.com today. I think that Avanti Maddox should be used as safety.

And I, when I have my 53 out before camp, I'm going to have the Eagles light at safety. I'm going to have them keeping three because they can move Maddox over. In theory, they can move the gene over. We haven't seen it, but we have seen them move Maddox over. But yeah, I don't think they have the depth of numbers unless you like Mackay Garner, unless you like Tristan McComb, unless you like Andre Sam. I think, though, the top three, once Brown is back, is solid to good.

And that's like, like Reed Blanketship's a solid to good player. He's not great. I don't know how good he is yet. Yeah. But yeah. And he had, he was really productive early early last year. And I thought like the rest of the defense, he had bad moments later in the year. but he is a guy who I trust on the field

and he is someone who whose value added for them so that's why I think Blankenship will be the safety. It's actually interesting thinking back to this time last year, we thought there was going to be a safety competition and we thought Blanketship was going to be in the mix and I was dead wrong. I was dead wrong. I said I thought Sidney Brown was going to be a starting safety for the team

and when I say we, okay, not we, I. Okay, thank you. We, okay, yeah. One of we knew that Reed Blankenship was going to be a starter all along. Okay. So then I will do it. How you do? Crush, come on. You have the show here. Tell me what you think. Tell me what you think, well, let's hear. Well, no, that's a different thing.

What do you know this year? I want to know. Put everything you know right now. What do you know this year? Ask me a more specific question. I know a lot of things. Who are the starting safety is going to be midseason? I mean, I think it's probably Gardner Johnson and Reed Blankenship. But, yeah, I would say that let's not count out Sidney Brown midseason. Obviously, a lot of this depends on health. But what about James Bradbury here?

Yeah, I don't think James Bradbury is going to be a safety on. I don't think James Bradbury is going to be on the team this year. Okay. But I think they'll take a look at him at safety this summer. Wednesday's practice, if I tell you that James Bradbury is healthy and practicing, where is he lining up? safety with what team second team safety second team safety okay yeah yeah that that's what i think he's doing it camp and what would you would it would it knock your uh your shirt off if he was the

starting safety opposite cj gardner johnson uh knock my shirt off it would surprise me for sure yeah yeah it would really surprise me but what if he was the starting corner opposite deris that would definitely surprise me okay yeah i I'm not expecting James Bradbury to be on the team this year. But again, like we said with James Bradbury, they're paying them no matter what. So if you're paying a guy, well, if they trade them, there's some cap relief, but the salary is guaranteed here. So I think that they'll try everything they can to see if they have something in them. But I think ultimately the opportunity costs will be too much.

And then any of the guys at the bottom of the roster between Mackay Gardner, Tristan McCollum, and Andre Sam, who is intriguing to you? Yeah. So I was listening to the show back from Friday. I regretted bringing up the Facebook thing just because I thought you should just let that slide. We could have kept rolling. So you didn't regret it. You regretted me doing it. Yes, yes, yeah.

Well, I should have anticipated that you would have made it into something that it. That it clearly was. No, I did not like the term that you used there. But I bring this up because I was going to the camp crush, okay? The rhino over here. I actually think I don't appreciate that. I think Andre Sam is a candidate for the camp crush. And let me clarify this a little bit more.

I, similar to you, I like younger players, right? Like for, I think I prefer my rookies to be 21, 22, as opposed to 24, 25, just because of the upside. I don't have that same feeling about undrafted players for this reason, because, you an undrafted player, like, if he makes the team, it's gravy, right? If he plays the first year of his contract, it's gravy. I don't think you're signing undrafted guys to be, like, long-term fixtures. I just think you're trying to find diamonds in thereof. So if Andre Sam can come in and, like, be a solid special teams player, solid depth piece,

it doesn't matter that he's 25 years old. I don't agree with that, yeah. And that was Reed Blankett chip once about a time. Exactly, yeah. So I think when you watch Andre Sam, I think this is going to be someone that you're going like out there. I'm interested to see him. Yeah. I'm also a little bit partial to Mackay Gardner. I always have him. I thought that he looked pretty good last year and looked to me like someone who maybe should be playing safety. So I'm curious to see how after having spent the season,

uh, practicing at that position, how he looks as well. And I like a Tristan McCollum, personally. I like a Tristan McCollum too. Nice guy. Zion's brother. Hmm. And he's of course married to Ezold McCollum. I don't get the joke. Is that something. Is that something. Is that over your head too, audience? The intellectual dishonesty to pretend as if the Facebook story you were bringing up had nothing to do with HZ is ridiculous. I don't appreciate that term, okay? Let's keep going here, okay? Let's keep rolling.

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Try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people. It was five years ago this week when I started working with Bo and I was going to training camp and he said, oh, and we're going to do a daily pod. I said, we're going to do daily shows. I didn't know that. A lot's changed over the years. One thing that hasn't, they're great taste of Miller Light. Another thing that hasn't is that it's less filling. So what is the best thing about the original light beer?

By the way, I brought that up because we're supposed to give it behind a scene glimpse about how much has changed with you and our show over the last few years. So that was the sick of. I might go to a bar later this week. Another thing that hasn't is that, like I said, it is less feeling. Miller Light has sparked this debate since 1975. We still have not. That was a movie reference, I understand. We still have not settled it.

What I like about Miller Light is it's the great taste, but it's also less feeling. I don't like a real heavy beer. And with Miller Light, I know I'm getting that great taste, but I also know that it's simple. It has undebatable quality, great taste, and it's only 96 calories. It's the beer that strips away everything you don't need and holds on to what matters most. The light beer that tastes like beer less filling in only 96 calories, the original light beer since 1975. You don't have to choose what's best. Miller Light has great taste and is less filling.

It tastes like Miller Time. To get Miller Lite delivered right to your door, visit millerlight.com slash P.H.L.I. 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. All right, Zach, let's talk tight ends. I just want to, before we get into that, this is not an ad that we're having today, but I just want to share with our audience that Bet 365. The app is live today in Pennsylvania. and so you can use code P.H.L.Y. 365 when you sign up, we're going to be partnering with them.

Beautiful. Love that. What do you think they do on leap years? Do you think they change it to Bet366? No, I think it's Bet 365. But you can still bet on the leap year day. I imagine so. We will see. They just started in PA today. Okay. I'm excited. Let's talk tight ends, ZeeB. And, you know, we were haranguing the injury-proneness of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, well, the Eagles have done a good job acquiring injury-prone tight ends or unproven tight ends here. So you've got Dallas Goddard, who has missed 15 games over the past four seasons.

Not crazy. And his top backup, it seems, is C.J. Yu Zama, who is 31 years old. How many games do you think he has missed over the past four seasons, Zach? I don't know the example. Let me guess. I'm going to guess 28. Close. 22.

So more than God or. Now, there's, he had a season in 2020 when he only played three games, which is carrying a lot of the weight there. But still, it is not as if you are getting a definitive floor here with the number two tight end. This is a guy who could be injured.

But how do you feel about the way that the Eagles went about addressing the depth at this position over the course of the offseason? Yeah, not enthralled by it, if I'm being honest. I think CJ Usama comparable, he's more experienced, but comparable skill set to what you're getting in Jack Stoll, big pass blocking type. He has some more proven receiving ability.

I mean, in 2021, his last year with the Bengals, he had 49 catches for 493 yards. So that is, I mean, that's by far the best season of his 10-year career, but there's at least some belief that maybe there's some upside. Yeah, well said. A little older in his career, like you said, injury prone. I thought going into the offseason tight end was a spot they could look at when I did work on this tight end draft class.

I said going into the draft, this is not a spot I would force. I liked Brock Bowers to the top of the draft, so did the rest of the league, right? He was a top 15 pick. Well, we don't know that. At least one team, at least two teams. The Rams wanted to trade up for him. I thought that J. Alex Hunt pick maybe could have been Chetavian Sanders.

Sure. But I didn't think that there was anyone in the free agent market who I would rush to sign at that spot. I didn't think there was anyone in the draft who I was like, you know what, they really need to push for him. I know Ben Sennett was a guy you liked. He went in the second round. He went earlier earlier than we anticipated. So in that sense, I think tight ends a position that they maybe you look for in the trade market, probably better off addressing it next off season. The key here is Dallas Goddard needs to be a better player than he was last season.

Dallas Goddard was particularly effective or was particularly efficient for like this stretch of, you know, the three years post-earts, really. You look at his yards per target was as good as it was, as good as there was in the league. Last year, he did not take off the way I thought he was going to. Injuries have been an ongoing thing. Similar to C.J. Garner Johnson, it's not like one recurring injury or like one lingering injury. but if there's a freak injury every year, you eventually become injury prone. And certainly his style of play is one that you would think invites,

you know, hard contact injury to some degree. Exactly. But he doesn't come off the field. He's real good pass catcher, real good blocker. He's their top guy. Ultimately, this group is about how good Dallas Goddard is. But as far as the depth,

I want to see a little more from Grand Calcutterra. I know Nick Siriani mentioned him when he was talking about like the third receiver. The first guy he brought up. Yeah. I haven't seen that enough over the past few years. I know injury was a little bit in the mix there. Albert O, they curiously kept him on the roster last year.

And then he was the first player they resigned. They traded for him because they didn't want him to hit waivers. They didn't use him. They kept him on the roster when they needed other roster spots. Then they stashed him when I are. And then they resign him before he hits the market. So, yeah, I kind of view it like they probably. probably see something there, but I haven't seen it yet.

This is actually the first camp that we'll see Alberto. 26 years old, Alberto. So about Andre Sam's age. How many catches do you think he had last year for the Eagles? Well, he had that one target that he dropped. So I'm going to say zero. Correct. Yeah, zero on one target.

Yes, okay. Sorry, I'm glad. I'm glad. But new offense. Yeah, new offense. Yeah, I think the lack of depth behind Goddard is less of a concern just for the tight end group, then it is in conjunction with not also having an obvious number three receiver.

Like they haven't really found whoever that fourth option is not a running back is going to be. And if you had used, say, a third or fourth round pick on Jatabian Sanders, then it might look a little bit different. I think Yuzama is a totally reasonable bet to make as your number two. Tid end can block. All accounts are he's a very good locker room guy. One thing I want you to keep an eye out, big face on Zsouzaa. Why do you want me to look out for that?

I'm just giving you a heads up. One thing I want you to look out for, big theater guy. Big theater guy? Yes. Oh, and you hate theater. So maybe he and I can talk. Oh, I don't hate theater. I just don't like theater.

Okay. There's a difference. That's fair. Yeah, I'm not like, if you go to theater, I'm like, oh, I hate you. I just, you know, I just don't. Theater's not something I enjoy. I have no ill will toward those in theater or those who attend theater. I love my wife more than anything in the world.

She loves the theater. My father-in-law loves the theater. I don't have proclivity toward the theater. I like the movie theater, but I don't like the theater. Okay. Yeah. By the way, I'll amend that too. I don't mind a play.

I don't like a musical. Yeah. I think Joya disapproves. Not manly enough? Why do you always bring up gender roles? No, it's not realistic enough. When are you in conversation with someone and something breaks out in song? All the time.

Well, maybe, I don't know. If Aaron Sorkin writes a play, I promise you I will be there. You know? Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. Because I love good writing, okay? But I don't have the same type of feelings about musicals. I mean, get out of town here. I mean, this is, I understand that this is your bent.

This is the fiction versus nonfiction. This is thinking Oppenheimer is a. documentary, but... I never said it's a documentary. But to cast the aspersions that musicals don't take quality writing, come on. I'm saying I, like, I'm not a huge music guy. Julia, I haven't, I've known Joy since I was 10 years old.

She can tell you I wasn't a music guy in high school and middle school. I'm not a music guy now, okay? It's why I listen to podcasts in the car as opposed to books on tape in the car or talk radio as opposed to music. I'm not a music guy. Okay. So musicals, no, they don't do it for me. That's why you strongly dislike, but do not hate the theater.

I want to say strongly dislike? I'm just, I'm not. Anyway, CJ Usama likes the theater. So you and CJ can talk about your favorite plays. Okay. Yes. Okay. That can be a wolf stem.

Well, now it won't be. How about the rest of this group, Grand Cockataria, and you talked about, you know, he's got nine catches in two seasons. Pretty underwhelming despite the shoutout from Nick Siriani, Alberto, and then E.J. Jenkins and McCallin Castle, yeah, drafted rookie former basketball player from Tennessee. Yeah, do you remember his, his major? Uh, I do. Um, uh, it's like, it's like farm agricultural management.

Yeah, agriculture management. Yeah. Um, McCallon Castles will see. I, I, I don't, I'm not buying Macallon Castle stock right now. I know some other people are. I'll buy some stock. Okay, you'll take that. It means very low. No, it's not true. I'm not going to take a big loss on McAllen Castle's stock.

I was listening to a show this weekend. And one of the questions in the show, I was listening to Philly Special, our friend Shield. And one of the questions was the undrafted rookie who has the best chance of making the team. And McCallon Castle's his name came up. And I'm in the car, like saying, Gay Paul, Gay Paul! My kids are probably freaked out. What's that? Nothing.

What? Well, so in any event, yeah, there is some McCallon Castle's bus. It's not as Papa Balls, Van Van Van Zummer and Buzz, but there is some McCallin. Yeah, but it's still a low stock price. It's not a penny stock, though. I mean, it's pretty close to a penny stock. I think when Jimmy Kansky gives you an endorsement, it's up to like a maybe it's a little higher than a penny stock. Okay, it's a dollar stock.

I'll buy a little bit of stock thinking he might make the roster and get it to $3. And if I lose a dollar, that's okay. We'll see what happens with Grand Calcutera this year. I mean, Grant Calcutterra would be my front runner to make the roster as the number three guy. Do you think Yuzama is definitely the number two? Or do you think that it could be one of those practice squad stashes? I think if he stays healthy, I would be surprised if he is not the number two. Unless, you know, Calcutera takes some big jump.

I also think this is a place where their waiver wire may come to play. You know what? Donald Parham might be available. Your boy, Parham watch continues. Day 143. Never say never. I mean, unless the, look, the chargers might keep like 15 tight ends for all I care. for all I know, but they are loaded at tight end, so we'll see.

Okay. Let's see. They're on our lads, their tight end depth chart. He is now third after Will Disley and Hayden Hurst. Yeah, let's get him over here. Yeah. I mean, what a call that would be for you. Six foot eight.

Are you kidding me? I'm going to throw you a parade if they trade for Donald Parham. It'd be Moma Mania. It wouldn't be the first time that they took one of my pieces of advice. Okay. What was the most recent time? Will Shipley. You say it was a fifth rounder.

Yeah, they couldn't wait. They were motivated by the right-up. Tight-end, defensive tackle, wide receiver. Which of those three do you think is most likely to be acquired from another team? Good question. Defense to tackle. Well, acquired from another team or acquired from the outside? Acquired from another team.

Acquired from another team. Wide receiver. because teams have more of a surplus of wide receivers than they do you know typically wide receivers is a position that you're you're deep on in camp because of because of the of numbers you're playing three four at a time so teams go 12 deep right um so there's more of a surplus to trade from teams don't have as much of a surplus at defensive tackle although the eagles did well the collegals once traded bruce hector during camp and then got them back and got him back the famous how we how is what the top three trades he's ever made

Bruce Hexer at 34 trade. So they did trade from a surplus before. But typically, I think you're more apt to see a wide receiver trading. I mean, logistically, it's the best trade he ever made. He got something for nothing and got the thing back. True. Immediately. You were real high on the Cyprian trade?

Cyprian trade was unbelievable value. Okay. I mean, unbelievable value. He gave away Cyprian for Duke. Riley and a pick and got the pick equity yeah like he got more picks out of that unbelievable value yes you know a j brown was nice yeah but to trade bruce hector in exchange for rudy ford rudy ford makes your 53 and then the next week you get bruce hector back on the practice squad you can't do better than that so in my uh i want to call it a manifesto that's weird but in my like a list of

things that I want to focus on this year to improve the show for my performance on the show one of the things is is or Bruce Hector no is you don't have to volunteer everything so no so wait so so I like ultimately I am in control of what I say so this is one of those situations here where as I say this uh but now I gave that preamble I kind of have to say it but what I was going to say is I remember where I was when that trade went down. Okay. Okay. And where was it?

I was at Suburban Square in Ardmore. I was at Trader Joe's at Suburban Square in Ardimore. And that trade went down and I left the grocery store to go and like tweet about it. You can tweet about it from the store? I wanted to look some stuff up. Okay. Yeah. So actually there was a place right there where I could pull my laptop up.

I pull my laptop up. went back at night. I had just walked into the store at the trade. I was going to say, did you have? Yeah, no, I didn't have anything. I would have finished. I would have paid for the groceries. Okay. Yeah. I was just kind of going through the list at that point. Okay. Yeah. Now, why did you think that that was too much personal information? No, I just thought if I said, I remember where I was when the first sector trade went down, you would turn that into something that I don't know. I just didn't think it was something I need to volunteer. But that's where I was what are you talking about? What did I turn that into? You? You?

It's not that I just, I would, I would ask where you were. You said you remember. The only were on the pro-sector trade. No. It was an off day of training camp for 2019. Yeah, I have no idea. Okay. Sorry.

I honestly didn't know much about Rudy Ford at the time. Now, here's my, here's my follow-up to the manifesto. It's not a manifesto, okay? Manifesto has, especially now, negative connotations, it's not a manifesto. Okay. Yes. Yeah. How do you square the commitment to not wanting to volunteer more of your personal information with also caring so much about what the audience wants when the overwhelming notion from the audience, and they will tell you so in the chat, and they will tell you so in the comments, is that they want more of your personal information?

All men count, but none too much. How do we make this, how do we rectify these two ideas? Well, it's knowing what you're going to share, knowing what you're not. It sometimes has to be to anticipate what your reaction might be. Like, in the future, I don't need to compare your scouting a camp crush to looking up who might be in your class in college. Like that's probably not a comparison that is productive for me to make in the future, okay? but if it's uh i was at nick syriani's uh or i was at um no i was having a conversation with hallie roseman 10 years ago about a position coach in college that's information i'm willing to share

okay yeah the people want more the people want more zach they want to continue to peel back these onion layers hey let's keep building up these these numbers and maybe i'll keep peeling back these onion layers right let's let's let's let's tell your friends and your friends friends friends friends, friends, friends, friends. If we reach, what's a subscriber number for an all-nude show? Well, that will not happen. A man must have a code, right? And my integrity is of the utmost importance.

So, no, you want to be known for your information and not anything bombastic. Okay. And your personality? You want those, there's a flip side here. You want those subscribers up, we show a little more skin. I do want those subscribers up. And that is, look, Julie is incredible. On the screen right here, you can click subscribe.

You can click the subscribe button. You can rate, review. Trust me, I read every one of the iTunes app, or not iTunes, the Apple Podcasts. How are we doing there? People still angry at me? That's why I shouldn't brought out. I would recommend you don't read it. That's fine.

At least the most recent ones. But in any event, no, please. continue, comment on the show. You can send emails. You can send DMs. Respond to everything. Okay.

Yeah. And if you're one of those Apple podcast commenters, stop listening to the show. No, don't stop listening to the show. Please. Don't stop listening to the show. Listen. Have your friends listen.

Tell your friends who, like, have fun that they can listen to the show. And you go continue to be sour and miserable somewhere. We have a few minutes left here. Can I just share what is coming up this week? Please. Because we mentioned it earlier last week, but we are in training camp mode here. I think it is important to tell you.

So 9.30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nick Siriani will have a press conference kicking off training camp. Okay, Bo and I will be there at 10 a.m. There's this 2 p.m. time you see today. Oh, by the way, Conan says read this, the disc, yeah, you can go to read the PHI Discord on that. There's other discords. You're talking about the sick goes well. Okay, that one as well.

Okay. Good. Yeah, 10 a.m. is practiced really every day throughout training camp other than the public practice at Lincoln Financial Field. And that practice is Thursday, August 1st. But 10 a.m., you can follow on social media for updates. You can follow. Our show will be 2 o'clock during the week. Bo and I will also have video updates on social kind of like catching you up on what happened at practice.

We'll have exclusive material on all PHLI for our diehards. And yeah, so I'm really excited for this training game. I think we have some good momentum going to do it. Serious question. Yep. The schedule that you see there. Yeah. How is it different than years past?

Yes. I know you know this. So last year, for instance, they were kind of one on, one off. And I shouldn't say one on. They were a practice day, then a walk through. Like a practice day, a walk through. This year, they're two on, one off for the most part, right? There's one stretch of four practices in a row.

Yeah, and they definitely never did the past couple years under Seriani. Yes, and that's leading into the first preseason game. And to me, there's a few ways to look at that. They're probably not playing their guys in the preseason, right? So my guess is that Wednesday practice before the preseason is going to be a heavy start. day, right? Because you want to get your starters work before three days off, right? Yeah. So, but yeah, so I'll just, I'll read through this quickly. Practices that we will attend will be Wednesday, the 24th, Thursday the 25th, Saturday the 27th, Monday to 29th, Tuesday

the 30th, Thursday the 1st, that's at Lincoln Financial Field, Sunday the 4th, Monday to 5th, August the 6th, I'm sorry, Tuesday, August the 6th, and Wednesday, August the 7th. And then preseason opener is Friday, August 9th, we'll have pre and post game shows for all those games as well. But Monday to Fridays during the week, we will have shows 2 o'clock, and then the weekend practices will have content online. All p.l.y.com, become a diehard. See a little bit more as X-Jest. It's a promise we can make. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the P.HLY. Eagles podcast back tomorrow at two. We are two sleeps away, Zach, from the start of Eagles training camp.

We are going to be here with you all along, excited, the start of the football season. What gets better than that? So for Julia and Zach, I'm Bowie, thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. We will talk to you tomorrow at two. And as always, we love you.