PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp: Nick Foles retires and a Camp Crush is Crowned

Episode Date: August 8, 2024

On the day the most important player in the most important game in franchise history officially announced his retirement, we also turn our attention to the most important announcement of the summer. With the likes of DeAndre Carter, Reed Blankenship, Elijah Riley and Kayode Awosika sitting in the wings, it’s time to declare this year’s Bo Wulf Camp Crush.Join Bo and Zach Berman for a fun episode that also includes an important announcement for the sickos. 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 a very special episode of the PHLY Eagles podcast on this Thursday, 2 o'clock, a packed show. Nick Foles has announced his official retirement. We'll talk about that, but that with a man who has written two books in which he, Foles, plays a significant role. We'll talk about that. We have the preseason opener to preview how will the weather affect the Eagles decision-making in that game. Zach and I are going to go back and forth and preview the things that we are most looking forward to. And of course, we have not only the official unveiling of the Bow Wolf Camp Crush, who will the baton be passed to on this unbelievable lineage of over success.

We also have a very special announcement for the sickos especially. And that'll come at the end of the show. Zach, how you doing? Fired up to be here. I'm excited for the show. This is a packed show. I was talking you out there about some things to add to the show, and you're like, we're pretty loaded today.

When will the Camp Crush be revealed? I think we'll do the Camp Crush after the first ad reads. Okay, so you're probably- Let's talk Foles in the A block. Yes. We'll do Camp Crush in the B block and then pre-season and announcement in the C block. So you're probably thinking, for those tuning in at home on Eastern Time, probably around like 218 to 222 Eastern Time,

we'll have good Nick Foll's discussion but really the thing you've been waiting for all training camp coming in about 17 minutes of the anticipation I can feel it in the studio do me a favor for you guys in the chat do not spoil the men's 200 meter

final for me which happens at 2.30 I'm going to watch that when we're done with the show just a little little we do so much for you just a little favor from you to us. Real helpful to the audio listeners as well well yeah they don't have to worry about it but I I'm concerned.

I want to know. So Nick Foles. Nick Foles, Zach, give me the news dump and give me the unpacking. Nick Foles, who did not play in the NFL last year, but had not announced his retirement? Yeah, that's why I think that this is a little bit anticlimactic. This is not like Jason Kelsey announcing his retirement, but it's still a nice thing to offer an opportunity for reflection. Yeah, officially he announced his retirement today in a post on social media. you can see it was it was a video of him explaining it the eagles will honor nick foals and he will

officially retire as a member of the eagles week two against the alana falcons so that monday night game why do you think it's not the doug game which is also a primetime game i guess they want to get it sooner like you know as soon as they could but a home opener and of course the the Atlanta home opener that's what it was following the super bowl right there you go that's true uh so he'll he'll get His day in the sun, the Eagles are... I mean, it's a prime time game. It's night in the sun. The Eagles put out...

There's still no sun at night. Okay. It's a figure of speech. The Eagles put out a lot of clips and, you know, Jeffrey Lurie has a statement. This is a big deal. He's one of the most important players in franchise history. He's the Super Bowl MVP,

the only Super Bowl they've ever won. He played his best game on the biggest stage. He has... He's iconic in Philadelphia here. There's a statue of him commissioned by but light, but outside the stadium. No player has worn number nine since he left. I can't imagine a player will wear number nine again in Eagles history. You put out the Nick Foll's chapter.

I didn't put out the chapter. I wouldn't do that. You got to buy the book for the chapter. He put out the first page. It's a long chapter. I saw some pushback. Why was it chapter 10 and not chapter 9? You know, I actually didn't even think about the numbers of it.

It was done sequentially. So there's executives and coaches, then quarterbacks. And he's the third in the quarterback chapter. Donovan McNabb, then Michael Vick. Okay. It's chronological. So it's done chronological. As I saw people say that, yeah, it probably would have been good harmony number nine.

I didn't think, I mean, maybe. Yeah, but I mean, you can't put it out of order. Well, no, maybe I could have, like, structured it. So maybe the coaches come after the quarterbacks and I put a few things. in between. It feels like you did it in a way that makes more logical sense. I probably, I'll be honest with you, I did not number the chapters when you sent the so.

Oh, okay. So I sent the chapters. You just said this is the Nick Foll's chapter. This is, well, I. You ordered it. They published it as I submitted it. Yes. But I did not do chapter one, chapter two, chapter three.

I did like by sections. So section one, section two, section three. And then I think they put in the chapters thereafter. Anyway, yeah, I agree relatively anti-climatic, right? It's not like Fletcher Cox or Jason Kelsey in that regard. But everyone in Philadelphia has their Nick Foll's story. He's beloved here. I think of Nick Foll's both stints.

I think of him coming in as a rookie, him taking over before Vic. I think of 2013, that 27 touchdown to interception campaign. think of 2014 and then the trade in 2015, when you probably provided the best story I know of the trade when you're working for the team and you find out the conversation and you tried correcting the person. Yeah, I really mansplained my boss. She told us like it's it's Foles and whatever pick for Bradford, whenever pick. Second round pick, yeah. Yeah. I was like, you mean the Eagles are getting the pick, right?

Like, yeah. She's like, no, no, the Eagles are getting to pick. I was like, no, that can't be right. Like, that's definitely not correct. And yeah, yeah, so that, which I think a lot of people, I think a lot of people had that, had that reaction. Then he comes back and obviously, uh, the run in 2017, which as we've discussed on this show, a little bit, um, there's some revisionist history here. The locker room did not know that was going to happen. And there was like, there was a lot of tight, tight butts, if you will, like, you know, going into the playoffs that.

that year because they did not end the season well. I know it was before I teamed up with you on the podcast, but you and Chio have a famous show following the 2017 injury to Carson wins. And then even the Atlanta game, he did not play particularly well. Yeah, he looked terrible in the Raiders game at the end of the season, right? And then the first half of the Falcons game, he didn't look good either. No, but even the Cowboys game, if you remember Week 17 against the Cowboys, they played them in the first half and like just to try to get momentum.

And it was bad. they didn't score. I mean, it was a real talking point. Exactly. Would they go to Sudfeld? I think that was like a media generation. But like that was the level of play. Sure.

It was a reasonable thing to discuss whether that was an option because that was the level that Foles was playing at the time. And then talk about a heater, man, Minnesota and the Super Bowl and the way he handled it, the way he played. And then they come back the following year. And do it again. And do it again. The Eagles like, when they put Carson Wentz on ice, you know, they were what, six

in 2018. The thought was, all right, this is just not our year. And they just go on this, they go on this great run. He's playing out of his mind. I remember that Houston game in particular when he was getting the crap kicked out of him and goes on and leads him to the playoffs. They beat Chicago. And then the trade, how generous Eagles were to let him go where he was.

Just the kindness of their collective hearts. So I always kind of cringe. a bit when reporters make it about them when a guy like retires and they're like, you know, this guy always reminds me of my childhood or whatever. But I'll say this. It's like a shot at me. No, no, no, no, no, no. It's like, no, no. It's about the players. But I'll, because we do try to give some personal insight here. Nick Foles was the first player that I met. First player I introduced myself to when I joined the Eagles beat in 2012. I remember vividly, you know, rookies and selected veterans report under Andy Reed.

Outside, you know, so I'm waiting outside the locker room in 2012 at Lehigh, and he walks by, and I introduced myself, you know, I'm Zach Berman from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Great to meet you. I'm covering the team, and we, and so then, and I remember talking to the late buddy Tevens about him because he was at the quarterback, the, the Foles Pass, a guy, a me but anyways so i i got to know nick pretty well and nick's first stint like the way he thought about philadelphia the way everything um the pressure the market he did not take it as well the first time as he did the second time uh but then even so he he comes back and again like not to make this about me but like we we were on very similar time to our our children were our first children

were born days apart we got married around the same time we were going through some similar life experiences. We actually, we wrote a book at the same summer. His book did a lot better than my book. But, um, I, so Nick, uh, I got to know Nick decently and especially the second time around. I, I have a lot of, uh, personal admiration for him in terms of, um, some of the things he values the, the way he is as a husband, as a father. Uh, and, uh, I'm happy that he's, he's, um, he, um, happy that he gets his, his, his career. celebrated because it's worthy of it. Well said. Yeah, I mean, I would tell you my like specific Nick Foll's memories aside from him as a player, it was I think right before I left. So that was

2014 or 2015. And we had a friend of ours from college who was going through cancer treatments. And the idea was like we would, there was a bald cap that was being sent around. And you would like people would put it on and take a picture in front of something cool. And that was part of the whole deal. and I asked Nick if he would put on the bald cap and the Eagles locker room would take a picture he was very game to do it he was like very touched by the idea that's nice and not like that's a small little gesture of generosity but it's one like I knew that he would be a good guy to go to

and two like he was he thought it was cool and you know there is like uh and this is the first in this was the first in okay there is like uh when he had a and and he had a lot going on in his personal life yeah at that time he wasn't really sharing. Nick is, Nick is very religious, right? Yes.

The Eagles have had a lot of players who are very religious over the years. This is not specific to the Eagles. There are a lot of people in the world who I think use their their religion as sometimes a shield for, well, I can be kind of like, I can be kind of nasty in my day-to-day life,

but I'm going to just sort of, you know, boast this up. Nick, like to, I have never heard an experience, or witness an experience where Nick was not like totally just the nicest guy. And, you know, you and I sort of poke fun at the idea of like, you know, we don't know these guys. Exactly. I don't know Nick Foles that well. But, you know, I have been around him enough that it certainly does not seem like an act.

This is a guy who I think practices what he preaches. Well said. And yeah, there was, you know, you talk about the first thing when I say private, you know, I get stuff going on behind the scene. he documented this in his book and he later talked about it his now wife then girlfriend fiancee Tori had a health issue behind the scenes that that Nick was very quiet about and I know because it was it was the type of thing that like some people in the locker room knew some people in the media know and Nick did

did not want this in the public sphere and he continued you know he was professional he continued playing but this was something that that was clearly weighing on him and And it's something that, like, he documented in his book. The anecdote I put out on social media today, I often think about this. So the morning after the Super Bowl, he gives this very good quote. You know, Ruben Frank asked what the public can learn from his story. And he talked about failure, and he focused on failure.

And it was a quote that's circulated. But the context that I can add is that four years earlier in 2014, going into the season, and I had a conversation with him, and I vividly remember where it was. It was the hallway outside the locker room, right by the wait room. He called me out the chat. He and I were going to talk about this. And the question I posed, because I had just spoken actually to Ron Jaworski the day earlier, and I said, if you're at a dinner table with Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, and Donovan McNatt,

what would you ask them about being a quarterback in Philadelphia? And he stopped and he thought about it. And his answer was how they dealt with a bad game, how they dealt with the negativity and the public pressure. And as he was giving his answer there, he said because we all fail. And like, I want to know how they deal with failure. And I mentioned this actually to you a few months ago when I was talking about the book and kind of putting some things together because it's something that was on his mind well before the Super Bowl. And well before, for instance, when he was on the verge of retiring before the 2017 season,

and he was out camping or fishing with Evan Moore, his brother-in-law. And this is something that he had long thought about and the perspective that he had about football. I love that. I had never heard that story you shared about the locker room and the cap. And that doesn't surprise me because it, It is true. Bow is right. We don't know these guys.

You know, we have interactions with them. You might get to know members of their family. But we don't truly know them. Oftentimes, what you can go off of, though, are the people around him and what people say. And, you know, in reporting of my book, and I spoke to Jeffrey Lurie and hearing Jeffrey Lurie, it's similar to the statement he said today. He talked about, like, the professionalism, the character. that Nick Foles had. And that was, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's a reputation that Nick carries with him.

In addition to, like, you know, you talk to the players on that team, jam or I'm sorry. The hog on that guy. I didn't say that. Carson was more talented than Nick. We can agree with that. That's, that's why the Eagles got them. But there was a certain confidence that the team had about Nick Foles based on like the way he played, the way he carried himself.

And yeah, he deserves kind of this victory lap, if you will. What about the Super Bowl run itself, Zach, having written a book about it? What's your favorite foals play from that game or a moment? What comes to mind? Probably the flea. People say the Philly Special. I think of the- I do think that the Philly Special is like, you know, Doug gets the credit for calling it,

but it was Nick's idea. Yeah. And by the way, Nick, before every game, Nick, Nick always caught passes, right? And I remember before maybe it was the Falcons game, the following year, Nick was like catching passes on the sideline. And I think it was it was a Monday night game or no, it was a Thursday night game. And NBC caught this and people are like, he's working on the Phillies special. And no, Nick always caught passes before games. That was like part of his routine.

So yeah, he deserves credit for that. We heard the clip of him. Yeah, it's his suggestion. But the flea flicker against Minnesota was just an incredible play. But I think of there's two passes in the Super Bowl. First off, the touchdown pass to Corey Clement. So good. It's like so well placed.

And this isn't like the hipster answer, but you talk to a lot of people about that Super Bowl and they say the big play in the game. And Brandon Brooks talked about this when he was on. was the fourth and two to Zach Ertz. And he threw that to Earths with like an inch to spare. So that's probably, those are probably some of the memories. What about you? Those are good ones.

Yeah, I think I was going to say the Clement one too, although the Philly Special, like it has to be. Yeah. It's his idea. And he wasn't catching it all the time during the, they practiced that in the ballroom. They didn't want it on tape. Sure.

Also the acting job. Oh, yes, exactly. I mean, it does such a good job. It's like, give the guy an Oscar. Yeah. So by the way, if you haven't seen the interview we did, or I shouldn't even say the interview, it was more the conversation that we had with Brandon Brooks back in March. Check that out.

I think it was March or was it April? I trust you. In the spring. Check that out. But Brandon talked about like the Philly Special as well. But yeah, I, you have to, I guess you have to think of the Philly Special. Super chat from Arthur Bowulf Smith. who says the Eagles are honoring

Nick, week two against Atlanta, do you guys think anyone wears nine again for the birds? I don't. Josh White asked for it this year, and they said it's not available. So it's been, you know, he left after the 2018 season. The Eagles were so gracious

to let him hit free agency that year. So that's, what, six seasons ago? And then, and so no one's wanted since. And it might be. I could kind of see a scenario in which that gets back. Nick bequeaths it. Interesting.

They draft a young first-round quarterback who's wore nine his whole life. And, you know, Nick, Nick gives it his blessing. Okay. Something like that. Maybe so. Yeah, no, he's, maybe so. That's interesting. Just an idea.

I don't think Nick, I think Nick wore number five when he was at Arizona, which he obviously couldn't wear here. He wore number nine here. But, yeah, no, I don't think they give number nine out. How much do you think that Nick Foles' legacy, as having won the Super Bowl as a backup quarterback has influenced the Eagles decision-making at that position? Well, I mean, they've always valued it, right? Yeah, they would like to think so.

So actually, so Jeffrey Lurie told me before the Super Bowl that year, I interviewed Jeffrey in the team hotel in Minnesota, and I talked about this checklist that he had of, like, tenants for a successful organization. And he said that he later added second quarterback, and he would not call it the backup quarterback. It has to be called the second quarterback because he talked about how important that was in the organization. And then he emphasized to me like the amount of money that they ate getting rid of Chase Daniel so they can bring in Nick Foles. Because there's a lot of teams that would be like, look, we just signed this guy last year. We're not just going to, I think they had to eat $8 million to bring in then pay Foles on top of that.

but they wanted Nick in the building. And then, yeah, I mean, clearly since then, they, if you think, they signed Josh McCown. When they were going into it, they wanted Nate Soudfeld. Sottfeld got hurt that year. So they brought in McCown. They signed Flacco. They signed Mario daunted G.O. They drafted J.O. and Hertz, of course.

So they will, they traded for Kenny Pickett this year. Drafted Tanner McKee. Well, that's the thing. There was a 15-step guide to how Howard Grossman should approach the offseason. and one of those is let Tanner McKee compete for the backup quarterback job. But instead they wanted the trade for Kenny Pickett based on maybe the preseason last year, which we'll get to. Yes, Tanner McKee is the perfect bridge from Nick Foles to the next segment, which we will get to after I tell you about our friends at Indeed. We are driven by the search for better.

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This is the moment we've been waiting for ever since you chose four of 90 guys last year. This has been something that I've had people come up to me on the sideline, say, who do you think the camp crush is? We were just at lunch with someone who said, I have three ideas for who it might be. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Hallie Roseman's tuning in right now and wants to know who is the camp crush. In 2018, on July 27th, after training camp had already begun, the Eagles signed a relatively anonymous wide receiver named DeAndre Carter.

He had originally entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Sacramento State three years earlier, after which time he had kicked around the league on practice squads for three seasons, without ever playing in a regular season game. At camp, his precise route running was a revelation to the keenest observers, and despite his 5-8 frame, he looked like the real deal. The first official, Bowulf Camp Crush, has since gone on to play 94 career games with over 1,200 receiving yards and a series of life-changing contracts.

At 31, he remains in the lead. starring in this year's hard knocks with the Chicago Bears. In 2019, the Eagles entered training camp with a star-studded group of undrafted offensive linemen. Ryan Bates and Nate Herbig were the big-ticket additions with Kegan Render and Casey Tucker among them. But the powerful hands of an afterthought from Weber State stood out. Instead, Sue O'Pedda took the camp crush crown and has created a memorable career of his own, playing in 38 games after spending most of his rookie season on the practice squad with 10 career starts.

Signed to a nice free agent contract this offseason, he sadly tore his ACL in camp at the bucks last week, but remains an overwhelming success story. In 2020, the world was in a dark place. It needed a hero. It needed someone with a history of service. and a future of bold leadership and perhaps playmaking ability. It needed someone like Elijah Riley, undrafted out of Army and signed to a guarantee of just $50,000,

seventh in his class, far behind two other players in the secondary. Riley, to at least one observer, showcased quick-twitch athleticism and an understanding of where plays were going before they went there. Four years later, four seasons, and 30 games later, we salute Riley's success story as he looks to win a roster spot in camp with the New York Giants. In 2021, another offensive lineman from a small school entered the fray. Oh! Coyote, Awashika made the transition from college tackle to professional guard with a plum, displaying his own level of opetian hand strength and nimble athleticism that,

that made clear to ball knowers his future in the league. Short-sightedly left poachable on the Eagles practice squad, Awashika was identified by the Detroit Lions as a foundational piece in their rebuild. There, he has played in 25 games, emerged as a playoff starter, and thrived just like the camp crushes before him. We all have our biases. But in 2022, it served as a wonderful reminder. of how special things can be

when we look beyond our prejudices. The heart wants what the heart wants, Zach. Yes, it does. And two summers ago, the heart wanted an overage white safety with a long injury history. You got to type. No matter that Reed Blankenship perceived the smallest guarantee of anyone

in his undrafted rookie class, we needed a milk check. Not only did Blankenship ride his instincts and physicality to be the official Bo Wolf Camp Crush. He earned a roster spot, a fill-in starter job for a Super Bowl-bound team. Another overwhelming success story.

In 2003, Zach, we presaged the presence of polyamory in the National Zeitgeist. The Camp Crush landed four hearts. We extended the fling with Reed Blankenship to turn it into a full-on relationship. We were smitten with the forceful power of the young defensive tackle, 60%-Oh, Morrow, Ojamo. The playmaking ability and power of Christian Ellis was inspiring,

if not religious. And young Tanner McKee first found a home here, a year before his push to displace Kenny Pickett as the Eagles' number two quarterback, which brings us Zach to 2024. And the truth is, this has not been an easy road. This metaphorical rose is not given lightly

and has led to sleepless nights. Over the past few weeks, wandering eyes have ogled everyone on this roster. Everyone. Ojamot, Blankenship, and McKee remained deep in our hearts. But if you love something, you got to let it go. Yes, you do. There have been fleeting moments of inspiration with PJ Mustafa's force. Now you're just letting them feel like they were used.

Andre Sam's instincts. What could have been? Sean Stevens ball skills and Anim Danquaz kicks live. Flirting with all of them. Lakin Vakalahi may not be Jordan Milata. But it says here that he will stick around. for some time to come. Flirting, maybe heavy petting, has happened with Dylan McMahon. Okay.

But we fear a redundancy with DMAC, having already planted our ownership flag on him by inventing him as a prospect during the pre-draft process, there's no need to double down. You can already claim credit for that. Yes. And so, Zach, for some time now, It has been down to three. Thomas Booker the fourth. A fifth round pick of the Houston Texans in 2022, Booker joined the Eagles practice squad last fall.

On the field this summer, he has had days in which he was the story. Somewhat undersized, he may carve out a role as a backfield penetrator, but how much do we weigh that he is a third-year veteran playing against to what might be a depleted group of interior backups. How do we judge this Booker by his cover? I see what you did there. And we've already talked about him quite a bit on this show.

E.J. Jenkins. Is there enough room for two EJs? Undrafted in 2003 as a wide receiver slash tight end out of Georgia Tech by way of St. Francis, Jenkins spent time on the practice squad of the Jets, Eagles, and Raiders before returning to the Eagles this off season. He has made more plays than any non-Dalice got our tight end on the roster this summer. But I worry that what I'm attracted to most is his physical connection with McKee. Gotcha.

Is this jealousy more than love? And then there was Lou Nichols. Seventh round pick out of the Green Bay Packers one year ago who suffered an injury in camp and went subsequently released. Nichols was a record-breaking running back at Central Michigan in South Philadelphia. He has opened my eyes with his between-the-tackles shiftyness, willingness to drop a shoulder when necessary and his intermittent bursts of speed.

But is this just a false positive because of his punnable name in my search for a Lou World Order? Zach, it is not. Ladies and gentlemen, the official 2004 Bo Wolf Camp Crush Lou Nichols Will you accept this rose

Well done Beautiful writing beautifully performed Julia is clapping You do have an eye Lou I just want to warn you This is what Bo looks like

Okay Keep your distance But Lou I just want to compliment you because, as Bo outlined, this does have quite the lineage here. The Camp Crush, as you can go on to contract extensions, you can go on to contracts elsewhere,

you've staying power in the NFL, that's a good sign for the 2021 Mac offensive player of the year. It was really down to two. E.J. Jenkins was very close. plus I was the idea of after all of the E.J. Then going with an E.J. There was a good bit there. You can't resist a good bit. But the good, yeah. And I like E.J. Jenkins. I still do like E.J. Jenkins.

I think he's got a real shot to make the roster. I think he probably deserves to be the third tight end as long as he can be an adequate blocker. But Lou, I like a Lou. I think he's going to pop in the preseason. It is hard to, judge running backs. This is, as you can tell, the first running back to ever receive the BWCC. As an anti-running back guy. It is tough to judge them without paths, but I think you see with him the wiggle that you need between the tackles in comparison to the other running backs on the roster.

I actually don't dislike a Kendall Milton. I think I've seen a couple little flashes of Kendall Milton, but specifically compared to Tierra. Too big a school for you, too. Davis Price. I think I think Lou, you know, he's not going to be Seekuan Barkley. but I think this is a guy who's going to stick in the league. So Lou Nichols, okay. I always like looking up from the Dane Bruehler draft guide because Dane always finds good nuggets here. I'll give Bo a chance to catch his breath. I knew Lou Nichols in the locker room last year

when he was signed him to the practice squad. I shouldn't say, I knew him. I would pass by him. I would see him. You blew him. But Lou Nichols before this, okay, three-star recruit. He's out of Detroit. He went to catch him.

which is a really good football program. Okay. He can see he he, uh, he had Mac offers from Akron and Central Michigan after transferring the cast tech. A few SEC programs, including Kentucky and Missouri came after him. He announced the final four after his junior season of Cincinnati, Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Purdue, but he committed to Central Michigan a few weeks later. A few weeks later, he wanted to be a Chippewa. Okay. He was, he started there in 2021, 2021, 2022. He was Mac offensive player of the year in 2021 before missing three games in 2022 with a toe injury. He was identified as a priority free agent by Dane Bruegler. And, yeah, 510, 220, 9 inch hands, 37 inch vertical jump, 22 reps on the bench press.

Thank you. You're welcome. I mean, I already know him well. We've been coming out of a date. I'm trying to give, yeah, giving some insight. All right. Let me ask you this. I know the Camp Crush is not necessarily indicates whether they'll make the team.

It's just your identification of talent. Do you think he'll make the team? I think he probably won't make the team, but I think there's a case to be made that he should be on this team because for the reasons we talked about the other day, I think he offers a different skill set than what they have with Kenny Gainwell and Will Shipley. if you need somebody who you can rely on to run between the tackles. I think he can do that.

I think he's got a little bit more juice than he's probably given credit for. I would be surprised if they carry four running backs, but I think this is a guy who sticks in the league. So he was waived injured in August 2023 and then placed an IR before the Eagles claim them. Correct. And then, yeah. So he's not someone, you know, there's some guys who've like been around for a long time for teams to sign.

That's not necessarily the case with him. One year in the league was on a practice squad throughout the year. Correct. Yeah. Okay. Well, the future is bright for Lou Nichols. We know that now. And the future can be bright for you too if you do what I did.

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I have been monitoring the weather since yesterday's line of questioning. I don't know if the weather's necessarily going to be the determination here. I think they have an idea for the preseason. I could be wrong, right? this isn't like a sourced, this isn't sourced analysis here. This is more prediction. I don't think the offensive starters play. I think the defensive starters play.

I think that they're on defense. They're going to want to work on tackling. They're going to throw one up, the Fangio here, who values this. I don't think Jayhaw and Hertz is going to play. I don't think A.J. Brown or Devante Smith are going to play. I could be wrong, but that's my guess. For the record, in Baltimore, Lamar Jackson is not going to play. just to give you an indication.

Okay? So that is my guess of what happens. But I think for fans watching from home, you're going to see like some notable players in this game. You just won't see the superstars, if you will. Okay. And what about on defense? You do think they?

I think most of the guys, maybe like they hold back a sleigh or a Carter or something like that. But I think I do think what matters in terms of getting work in the preseason. I think tackling does matter. I think that we overstate like the important. of offensive rhythm. If you have one good drive on August 9th, I don't know if that correlates with what happens on September 6th or whatever, right? But I do think because you're not tackling really in camp, you're not tackling in joint practices. I think there is value for the defense to tackle. Okay. Well, with that in mind then, let's go back and forth. We'll do a little draft of the

things that we're most looking forward to. You want to go first? I'll let you go first. I got a few options here. I mean, the most obvious one to me is the quarterbacks. Let's see what Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee looked like, now we joke about it, but the weather maybe affects this. Maybe it will be, I would imagine it will be a little bit more run heavy, but Tanner McKee had an awesome preseason last year. What was so awesome was the ball was coming out. He was giving receivers a chance to win.

We'll see if he does that again. Can he pick it for everybody who has not been able to see camp? The ball has been coming out slow. You know, there is some armed talent there. He can get out and do some things on the edge, especially in unscripted ways. but so far I hear some noise out there

I don't want to know what Chris is going on about yeah I think I think if it goes the way it has gone this summer McKee will get the ball out quicker and has a better sense of the offense and Pickett maybe has the ability to make some bigger splash plays yeah so in Ocean Township right now

they're watching this and they're saying you think Tanner McKee had a good preseason last year let me tell you about my boy Kenny Pickett okay five offensive drives five touchdown in last year's preseason. This is the perfect encapsulation of why the preseason does not matter. 13 of 15, 199 passing yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, 13.2 yards per pass

attempt, 86.6% completion percentage, a perfect passer rating, 158.3. Did he get a trophy? Did he get a trophy? He got a starting job, which he didn't keep there after. But, yeah, so Kenny Pickett could be Mr. Preseason. That is on my list of what I'm watching. I will circle back. I mean, even if the high-end players don't play, I think McKayette Bechton's going to play in this game. I'm interested to see Mikey Bechton at guard. Very important.

I imagine he'll play guard in this game for the first time in an NFL game. I think I agree with the assessment you made yesterday that he is ahead. I don't think this is like a called competition, but I think that. Okay, well, I disagree with that. Reasonable minds can disagree. But I think if Bechton comes out and looks good, then that really gives him some distance here. Now, the flipside too is.

Beckton has some injury history. If he comes out bulky, that maybe things neutralize a bit. But I do think Bechton's going to play, and I expect him to play the interior. And we've never seen that in a live game, and he's going to face some good players in Baltimore. Next up for me, you know,

You talk about the positions that are very difficult to identify and assess in camp, linebacker chief among them because they're not tackling. I am very curious to see how these guys look. I don't know if Devin White and Zach Bonn are going to play. I imagine Nicoby Dean is going to play. Vic Fanjo was very candid about saying that Nicobo Dane took a step back when they were at the link the other night. He has struggled, especially in space. He's been a little bit better coming forward.

I want to see how those guys do. Can Jeremiah Trotter Jr., you know, do it? enough that he becomes a real contender early in the season for defensive playing time. In the Jimmy Kemsky, stock up, stock down for what she posted today on Phillyvoiced.com, what he asks media members, stock up, stock down, who were your submissions? I mean, those are anonymous sack. That's like asking someone who they voted for. Do you want to tell us?

I'll tell you who I voted for for stock up, stock down if you tell me your thoughts on the presidential race right now. I'm trying to talk about politics on the show. But, yeah, I mean, I actually do. I feel like you've got to be pretty excited to have a football coach on the ticket. Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, I was watching the podcast with him and with the Potsave America guys. And I love his breakdown of his defense. I thought you'd eat that up.

Yeah, how he was saying there's not really good pastors here. He was trying to be generous with how he ripped on his cornerbacks. but he was talking about his noseguard. And yeah, I like that. And I respect a teacher. And I respect that. Yeah, I figure you did. Yeah, so that's, that's cool to see.

I voted Quinnian Mitchell stock up. Okay. And stock down. Interesting, Quinnian Mitchell stock up. Okay. Stock down. I think I did Nicobie Dean. Okay.

I did Zach Bond stock up, Anias Smith stock down. Yeah. I mean, Anias is, yeah, it's low hanging for it. I think I might have. No, no, no, I think I might have said him too. Oh, okay. Zach Vaughn was, because I did think coming out of the spring, I thought, yeah, Nicobo Dean's not fully healthy. Like, this Zach Bond thinks cute, but this is passing camp.

And then he's been a first team every day. So in my eyes, he's the front runner to start. Yeah, but you are going more based on stock up for how they're being used, not necessarily what you have seen. Yeah, how I see them on the roster. Sure. I'm being more of a, not an evaluator. I'm being like a forecaster reporter there. Right.

Okay. So yeah, you mentioned Quignon Mitchell. I'm eager to see him in this game. How he's used, is he used mostly in the slide? And the reason I'll say, the reason I put him as stock up is because I think more than anybody else, he has looked good and, like, the fact that they are really trying to use to find a role for him. And he has looked good in that role. He is going to be the week one, Nicol. if everybody stays healthy.

That is what's going to happen. He has looked really good. I think they're very pleased with him. And the fact that he has this versatility, which they may not have known, I think, like long term, they're feeling pretty good as well. Yeah, we don't need to get into the bird lines here because we might be tight on time.

But one of the things that I was going to bring up was Quignan Mitchell versus Nate Wiggins, both first round pick corners. I imagine Nate Wiggins. You like a Wiggins? I did like Nate Wiggins. I know that I might have some Emmanuel Forbes PTSD in terms of like talking about him because I was high on Forbes and Wiggins is light. But I like Wiggins's tape.

I liked his age profile. I liked his speed. And I generally trust the Baltimore Ravens when they draft like defensive players. They have a good track record there. Matt Elam aside. Wow. Or Matt Eelam watching this show. Just trying to get away from it all.

Okay. That's tough. So I'll just run through this year too. other quick things I'm watching is Johnny Wilson, Anaya Smith. Yeah, let's see if any of these wide receivers can pop. Yeah. And, you know, Johnny Wilson is the one to watch, but that would be like, you know, Anaya Smith has a real chance.

Maybe he's a gamer, right? We have not seen his speed and juice show up in camp, but if he does stuff in the, in the preseason, that totally changes the narrative. Exactly. And then I spoke about this yesterday, so I'll just mention it briefly, but kickoff returns because Nick Siriani said in the spring that, teams aren't going to show much in the preseason, so you're really going to see this week one, how they're going to use it.

But I got to think, like, I'm expecting hardball to evaluate this. I don't think every ball is going to be kicked out of the end zone. And in addition, I want to see who they use as returners, who they use, like, what their packages are. So I want to see what players are out there in that situation because it is new. So it's not going to look the way it's ever looked before. We do appreciate the super chat from Curtis Hawk. Thank you for funding our night out tonight. That's nice.

All right, let's go through our bird lines, Zach. I'm not. I'll go first. 29.5 yards from scrimmage for the Bowulf Camp Crush himself, Mr. Lou Nichols. Let's go with over. Okay. Well, you know I've got to take over. Okay.

Will Shipley, rushing slash receiving yards, 49. point five under okay I'm going to go over 495 wow yeah um okay you got a lot of you got a lot of production from the running backs yes okay uh I have Tanner McKee quarterback rating over under 20 points higher than Kenny Pickett's quarterback rating um I'm gonna go under okay I'll take over um mine these aren't numbers base, these are like either oars. I don't know if that's in the spirit of birdlines from that. Oh, geez. We've got to get to this whole thing again.

Most passing yards, Tanner McKee or can he pick it? I'll say picket. Okay. I'm going McKee. Okay. Over under, 0.5 sacks from the Eagles backup defensive tackles. So you're the guy be the tackles. So you're bookers.

your Ojumos, your Moustifers, your two and poloos. Yeah, let's go one. All right, I'll take one too. Okay. Quinyon-Mitchell snaps or Nate Wiggins snaps? Yeah, I think they probably both play one series, is my guess. Oh, really? You don't think Quigionion plays more than that?

I don't think so. You don't think maybe they'll get Quinyon on the outside for a series, just to evaluate them? Yeah, that's a good point. Maybe one on the inside, one on the outside. That's a good idea. Yeah, so then I'll go Quinyonionion. How about that? All right, I'm going to get Wiggy with it.

Let's go Nate Wiggins. Oh, Zach. Finally, some personality. Finally. Last one, E.J. Jenkins. Ah, your boy. The runner up. Still a very big fan of E.J. Jenkins.

Over under 19 and a half receiving yards. Under. Over. Okay. Eagles takeaways plus giveaways versus Eagles touchbacks on kickoffs. Turnovers. Okay. What about you?

Let's go touchbacks. Okay. Just to have something else. Okay. All right. So now the announcement time. The big announcement. Teased at the top.

And this is for the sickos. Today is August 8th. Next Thursday is August 15th. The Thursday after that is August 22nd. And on August 22nd, we will have. the sixth annual Osprey Awards. August 22nd, put it on your calendars. It's a big one.

It's a little bit different. The last ones have been a little bit melancholy. This one's going to be a little bit more of a celebration. I'm excited. I hope I don't have any assignments. I hope there's no singing assignments for me. But mostly I'm excited for this announcement within the announcement, right? I mean, you said it's a celebration.

I want to know. Is it the sixth? Is it the seventh? I did five with you. How many times did you do it with you? At least one. This might be the eighth. I don't know.

Okay. Do I have to? We have seen the, you know, if you build it, Zach and I will come. You guys have been asking for it. Nonstop. We will make it happen. Any cameos this year?

Oh, it's the seventh. It's the seventh annual Osprey's awards. Any. cameos this year? We're not giving anything away. Okay. It's going to be three hours. This is all I can say, okay?

Both scheduled it for a day when I actually have to catch a flight to a wedding. I can't, I don't think American Airlines will accept the Ospreys as a reason not to get on the flight. I don't think my wife will accept. You haven't tried. I don't think Emily will accept the Ospreys as a reason why we're missing the flight to the wedding. So I might step out in the middle of the Ospreys and maybe it will give me some entertainment on the flight home. Yeah, I mean, you leave mid-Ospires. The only thing that happens is we're going to be spending the rest of the Ospreys talking about you.

Funny story, actually. So our GM here, Vince, I was saying I just need to be out that day by 3.30. And Vince is like, isn't the show of two? You're fine. And I was like, Vince, the Ospreys, man. We've had three and a half hour Ospreys before. I vividly remember there was one year where we started it. And about three hours later, and we came upstairs.

She said, are you still on? I said, yeah, I'm still on. I think that was the Shiel one. Yeah, exactly. And that was the fifth annual Osprey Awards. And that was a shout out to our friends at Mount Joy, Matt Quinn in particular, for the time of our life. Matt Quinn was on last year's episode,

the last year's Ospreys, too. I know that. Yes, I know that. The Marissa song. The Marissa song. Yes. Everything okay out there? All right.

What an episode. What a show. Nick Foles. Yeah, this was a good show. Lou Nichols. And the Ospreys are coming. How are you feeling? Feeling great.

Real quick, we should tell the audience what to expect. tomorrow because it is a little different than in normal Friday. Rain, I believe. We've got to tell Siriani that. You got to tell Seriani that. No, we will not be on a 2 o'clock tomorrow. No 2 o'clock show tomorrow. Yes.

We have a kickoff show at 7 o'clock since it's a 7.30 game. It'll be me and Jamie on stream yard. Zach's going to be popping in from. I'll join in from M&T Bank Stadium. From B Moore. Yep. And then the post game show afterwards. Talk about what we've seen, what we've learned.

You can tell us what you've smelled. Yeah, I can tell you what the weather's like down there. Yeah. I can tell you if I'm going to make it home or if I'm going to have to find a roadside motel on 95. Yeah, I mean, I doubt you're going to have to settle for a roadside motel. I think you could just fire up that Bonvoy app. I hope so. I don't know if I, when I gave my travel for the year, if I said I was going to be staying over for the Baltimore game, though.

So we got to see how that rolls. I also don't think you gave your travel for the year and thought maybe I'm going to get into a car accident. No, it's definitely not that either. Yeah, definitely not that either. Okay. What are your travel plans for tomorrow? How early are you going down? Yeah, I'm going to go.

So you do got to worry about Friday nights on 95, right? But also preseason games, especially when it's raining, you don't want to get there too early because if they're not warming up on the field, you're just kind of hanging out there. And I am going to run some errands with my wife tomorrow morning. Um, flex. Flex. Um, so, uh, I, I'm probably hitting the road at, uh, it's a 730 game. I'm probably hitting the road at 2 to 2.30. Uh, and try to get down there by 4.35 o'clock. Okay.

Yeah. People are asking, am I going to stop for crabs down there? Um, I, I love crabs. Uh, there are, there are a few crab locations that I like on 95. I don't want to stop for crabs on the way down. Because then you smell like Old Bay during the game. You don't want to do that. And on the way back, you're looking at like 1, 2 a.m. So the crab joints won't be open. Claire F says train ZB.

I love trains, okay? Don't get me wrong. There's no train from Baltimore at 2 a.m. So the game ends at 10. It's not going to be a 2 a.m. Well, no. But, okay. So the game ends at 10.30.

I get up from the locker room at 1130. I do my 20-minute hit on the show. so now we're at at midnight. I got to write for an hour or so, hour and a half. I post that up on all-P-H-L-Y.com. So probably 1.32 o'clock by the time I hit the road, get home at 4, and get up the next morning. I say watch the film.

I don't know how much we're going to grind this film for this one. And then, yeah, getting together with my grandparents. So we'll see. I do want to get back on that. And, of course, everybody remembers last year, preseason game in Baltimore, the site of the famous freeball and fiasco. Site of the famous free, oh, I, oh, you golfed that day. You didn't have, okay.

I was, I was wondering how famous it is. I think everybody remembers that. I do remember I was really tired on the drive back. Your word, I wasn't going to make it back. I think on our show, I was pretty exhausted. I mean, I can say this now. That was a period of time when I was debating, or I shouldn't say debating.

I was considering this job, and there was a lot going on kind of behind the scenes. I remember the day of the Ravens game. I was working the phone with the people throughout that day. And then I was, I actually got Malcolm Jenkins's book in the mail that day. I started reading that. So I remember that Baltimore game well. There you go.

Remember Eli Ricks had a pick. Yes. Pick six Ricks. Yeah, there you go. All right, that'll do it for this episode of the P.HL. My Eagles podcast. Make sure that you are like. and subscribing on YouTube doing the same thing,

leaving reviews on a podcast, but you know, don't tell me what you're right. I will read it though. By the way, someone wanted to know, they said if Zach actually reads this, could you relitigate something on the show?

I'm not going to relitigate something on the show. Jonathan Cannon? No, is the peeing standing up sitting down thing? Why not? I thought you'd listen to all the reviews. Yeah. But I'm not,

I don't think we need to have that. conversation again. I think it was more they wanted to know if I actually read the review. Also there were someone there who said my great, my idea of great journalism is trying to track down a 21 year old's dinner order. You almost got me. Carson once was 23 at the time though. Okay. So it let's look if you're going to make fun of me, let's just at least like let's be accurate. Yeah, let's at least be accurate. Yeah. And I don't apologize for trying to find details for stories. Wait, but how old was Kenny Pickett when you went? to get his chicken rock right?

23. He was also an older. Yeah. Okay. So you only like old guy food. Yeah, you don't apologize for, I never apologize for trying to find details. I think details make stories sing. A matter of fact, there's a prominent player in Eagles who I might or might not know his

favorite restaurant and might or might not be stopping by. Great. All right. That'll do it for this episode of the PHA Eagles podcast. We will talk to tomorrow for the pregame show. at 7 o'clock. Until then, circle August 22nd on your calendars.

Get pumped for the Ospreys. And off we go. One loo over the cuckoo's nest for all of us here at PHLY. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. We'll talk to you tomorrow night. And as always, we love you.