PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - The PERFECT Eagles 2026 NFL Draft includes Lane Johnson’s successor | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

What does Howie Roseman dream about at night? When his mind wanders to this year’s NFL Draft, what does he think the perfect draft entails? Does the first round deliver a new wide receiver to pair with DeVonta Smith & A.J. Brown or an eventual replacement for Lane Johnson? Does he need more help on the edge or at cornerback early? EJ Smith and Bo Wulf put their ideal boards together with insight from Fran Duffy on the actual prospects available as Combine Week kicks off. 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 PHY Eagles podcast live from the Xfinity Mobile Studio and presented by Bet365 and Ashley Bo Wolf, E.J. Smith, Fran Duffy, as we kick off Combine Week, snowed out in Philadelphia, not on the scene in Indianapolis. Yet we hope to be there boots on the ground tomorrow. But for now, we have a fun sort of combine preview slash Eagle draft concede for you coming up. Fran E.J., how are you guys? How was your shoveling? You first, friend. It was good. You know, the snow could be worse. You know, we got about a foot-ish, you know, a little bit less, depending on where you're at. But it wasn't too, too bad. So, yeah, just got done. It was three and a half hours between two houses.

It was not too bad. We were almost in the car, the three of us, driving out to Indy. It was going to be a great road trip. I was looking forward to it. But yeah, that's when you, you're asking me how I am. I'm a little disappointed. You know, I was looking forward to the road trip. I think, you know, my predecessor would point to the efficiency of hopefully flying out tomorrow morning.

But, you know, getting in the car with you guys. I was looking forward to it. But yeah, I'm doing well. I enjoyed shoveling this snow because you can fill the shovel up and it just makes you look like a real strong guy, you know, walking around with that full shovel. And, you know, nobody needs to snow. The snow is not that heavy. It's okay. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you lift with the knees. Oh, I always lift with the knees. Yeah, I mean, come on. What do we doing? You got to utilize the power bottom. You got to show us what you got. All right. Let's, well, before we get into the show, let's do a little bit of a step back and just

talk about what is to come at the Combine this week. And let's do it with the on the clock presented by Ashley Segment, friend, because you are, as everybody knows, our All-City NFL draft expert. analyst. Tell us what you are, what is coming from you, first of all. And then what are you, what are you most excited to see as the week goes on? Yeah, what's coming from me. We're going to have written previews up on the site. They're going to be like position specific cheat sheets. So every single position, quarterback through, through safety, individually broken out, you're going to have a cheat sheet with who do, who do I expect to test well? Who do I not

expect to test well? What is the position specific drill that I'm most focused on? The players that I expect to shine in those specific positions as well. The other thing that I always try and do this as well, you know, because we get all these numbers that go, you know, flying across our social timelines and you see all the spreadsheets and all that stuff of 40 times and arm length and three cones and people get crazy because like, oh, like, they hear the top five three cones from the running backs from this week. But who cares if that's not like a good number, right? It could be that this is a bad class and those numbers aren't good.

So what I typically try and do, and you can get this in each of these individual cheat sheets is what the average number is at that position. So then you could say like, oh, this guy ran a 653. How is that relative to running back strapped in the last decade? And so you can kind of get some context there. So you've got that from the written side. I'm going to be on, I'm going to be jumping on shows left and right. And obviously check out the draft guide for all the intel and all these players.

Well, obviously now is a time, a very important time for you to jump on board, become a diehard at all p.hly.com. And it's a good time to do it because there's a 30% off deal. coinciding with the combine. So you can read all of those cheat sheets, position by position, and get access to Fran Scouting Reports and rankings for over 200 prospects so far.

That list is growing. So you get to see that thing evolve as it goes. Fran, if I put you on the spot and said to name one player in the class who has the most variability based on how this week goes, who is the person who was like most in the spotlight in that sense. Yeah, there's a bunch.

Typically, the way I kind of look at it is this. And I can kind of sum it up in one quick phrase. You can be small and succeed in the NFL. You can be slow and succeed in the NFL. It is tough to be both small and slow and succeed in the NFL. So all these guys that are undersized or perceived to be undersized, you know, maybe guys that we don't have confirmed measurements on. So I think of Mackay Lemon, the wide receiver from USC,

who a lot of people feel is going to go in the top 16 of this draft. top half of the first round. Well, if he comes in at 510 190 and doesn't test like a freak athlete at that size, that's a really tough profile to bet on even in this class in the top half of round one. And so that could mean that he could fall a little bit further. And honestly, if you go into the diehard draft guide right now, my round projection from McCoy Lemon is round one, too, even though everyone's like, oh, he's a cemented round one,

just because I kind of want to see like how does he test at that size. Now, that does not affect my overall evaluation and projection of the player, but in terms of how high he could get drafted, that absolutely is something that weighs heavily. So I do think that that's going to be really important for a player like Lemon, but then you also have the guys that didn't produce well. So, you know, if you don't put up big numbers, all right, well, if you didn't produce, you got to test well, right? And so when I think of my guy, Keldrick Falk, the pass rusher from Auburn, when I think of, you know, Caleb Banks, who didn't play all that much this year due to injury, the guys that didn't produce.

produce for whatever reason, you want to be able to go and show out well in an event like this as well. Okay, I like that. Well, we will obviously be following that as the week goes on. We will talk to you as the week goes on, Fran, about all of those results. But for now, let's pivot out of on the clock and get to the exercise at hand today. Now, E.J., what we are doing today is prospect agnostic, but focused on the positions that we think would make this the best possible Eagle draft. So what we've done is we have the projected eight picks for the Eagles, number 23 overall, number 54 overall, two picks in the third round. The compensatory picks have not been awarded yet, but it's pretty clear the Eagles are going to get those. Two in the fourth, two in the fifth.

And what we would like to do is go through what we think would make this the perfect Eagles draft based on position. And then as we do that, Fran will sort of tell us the prospects who could make sense for us. I don't know about you, E.J., but how did you begin this exercise? For me, it was about figuring out the positions you know that you want the Eagles to address, period, right? Yeah, no, I definitely think it starts with figuring out where are the biggest holes on the roster. And I think, you know, we've spoken about this before where there are certain positions that you feel like are draft needs, positions where there's long-term planning that you need to take into account. And then there are positions that feel more like free agency needs because whether if you don't want to add a young player to the room because you already have a young player there or maybe you just feel like it's more of a short term situation, a short term need. Like, you know, not to give it too many things away.

Tell me. Yeah. In the secondary, I don't have a whole lot, you know, prioritization in the secondary in this draft, in this perfect world draft. Obviously, Eagles could draft a corner. I don't know if they're going to draft a corner early. I'd be surprised. but because they already have so much youth in the secondary, I feel like that's more of a free agency need.

You know, if you go into free agency, you find yourself a veteran cornerback, you know, that mold that they've had with the Dori Jackson last year, Darius Lay before. And, you know, you find another, you know, veteran safety, a Marcus Epps type. I feel like those aren't things that I prioritize when I was going through the draft.

But, you know, again, for that reason, I think it was good to identify some draft needs. And then from there, you know, I think I put my, my Howie Roseman cap on and I tried to figure out, you know, what position, what premium positions do the Eagles really need to target here for maybe some succession planning at some important spots. So I hope you're okay with the, with the adjectives, Tritzy and Nasty, because you're going to be hearing those for me over the next couple of, the next couple of minutes

here. Okay. Let's, let's begin then. Let's talk about number 23 overall. And we can start by just looking at who has been selected, 23rd overall over the past decade. A lot of wide receivers, last three years, in fact. Matthew Golden, Brian Thomas Jr. and Jordan Addison. You keep going back. Kaya Elam, Christian Darrasaw, which is a nice hit. Kenneth Murray, Titus Howard, Isaiah Win, Evan Angram, Lequan Treadwell. So a good expectation setting for, you know, you might get somebody pretty good.

You might not at 23 overall. I think we all probably expect that Howie would, just knowing him would love to move up if possible, but in this exercise, the Eagles are staying at 23 overall. And I think we agree. I don't, we haven't talked about this yet. But to me, the most important long-term need for the Eagles is along the offensive line. And it's, it's Lane Johnson, it's Lyndon Dickerson. It's also just adding talent to that group.

And there are other ones, you know, you could, I think, you could convince me that if you expect the Eagles to move on from AJ Brown, maybe wide receiver is an important one here. Maybe you think tight end is an important one here because the Eagles have nobody there on the roster, maybe Edge because you can never have too many guys there. But the truth is, if you want a good borderline elite tackle, they have to come in the first round. We've gone through this exercise in the past. I have the data all over the past decade plus. Where do all the elite players come from. The highest percentage of players who come from the first round is quarterback, and it's like half a percentage point after that, it's offensive tackle. And what's also

interesting about that is day two tackles, like the track record is really bad. And so to me, if you want the Eagles to add a tackle, it's sort of got to come in the first round. And we can actually even take a look at the history of offensive linemen selected in the sort of window of 23 overall over the past few years. It's not a perfect hit rate, but it's a pretty good hit rate. Not all of these guys are tackles, Garrett Bowles, Frank Ragnow, Titus Howard, Cesar Ruiz, Christian Derisaw, Tyler Linderbaum, Tyler Smith, Graham Barton, Donovan Jackson, and then you've got some bad ones like Andre Dillard, Isaiah Winn, Billy Price, Jordan Morgan, and maybe Troy Fautano. But that's a pretty good hit rate. And to me, I feel like,

I feel very strongly that Howie and I would like to draft a tackle here if there is a player who fits. And obviously the caveat for all of this is you're not reaching. You want need to match value. But in an ideal world, this is what the pick would be. Yeah. No, I also went offensive linemen here, traits the offensive lineman who is available because he's not ready to start right away is what I wrote for this ideal number 23rd overall pick. I would, and the reason I didn't make tackle a hard and fast rule here is because that hit rate is already starting to scare me, especially we'll hear from Fran in a second about like, is this a good tackle class? But I'd almost rather them draft somebody that they're not certain is going to be a tackle.

You know, someone that they feel like maybe they fail at tackle or maybe you start them at guard and then you see if they bump out. I'd almost rather them do that than force it at tackle. I think in an ideal world, you get a tackle. Absolutely. Because, you know, you would want someone to have the year or two as the Lane Johnson understudy. But I would prioritize finding somebody who you feel like is going to be a difference maker. And wherever that is across the offensive line, you're trying to improve the five, the group of five, rather than, you know, shoehorning a tackle. But, yeah, in an ideal world, I think it is a tackle, to your point.

Good, Fran. I thought it looked like you were about to jump in. No, I was, I was. I was reading a couple of the other super chats that have come in, just to not that I wasn't listening to EJ, obviously, but CDP jumping in. Now, if we are talking tackle or borderline tackle in this range, I know we've talked a little bit about this before. I know Maxi Hanachor, someone you have mentioned from Arizona State. Who else could be in the mix? Yeah, I think that when you're looking at this range, there are a number of players that are being talked about in this area.

And here's one of the cool things about the draft guide. We're talking like, oh, if you're on the fence, you take advantage of the, of the, the sale going on right now. I'm in the draft guide right now. I can filter out by position. So I've just got both offensive line groups selected. And then you can sort by round projection. And so now I guess, all right, who are the tackles that are being projected, you know, round one, round two, right? You know, straight down through the line. Right now, I would say that I've got one, two, three, I've got six players where I'm like, yeah, that makes sense in terms of round one projection. And if I squint, there's probably like two more names I could probably squeeze

into there. I would say the number one top of the list would be Monroe Freeling out of Georgia. Six foot seven, three hundred fifteen pounds. He's played mostly left tackle, but he's played some right tackle as well. Best football back end of the year. There's a one year starter, but the second half of the season really took off for Georgia. So it's tapping into that school again. But I think when you're looking at Monroe Freeling, there's a lot to like there about the profile. And I wasn't the, I was, didn't get to his film until post senior ball. So getting a chance to sit down and watch him after a. returning from Mobile.

I was like, yeah, like this guy looks like a future NFL starter. Might need a little bit of patience just because of a short runway of experience. But he's right now my number 17 player. And I think that when you're looking at Combine, things like that, he might end up being out of reach for the Eagles at 23. But that would be like, all right, this would be a good outcome when you take a Monroe Freeling out of Georgia. But you get a Caden Proctor, he was right in that range out of Alabama.

You know, the career left tackle for three years that might need to move into guard. There's a little of a Kaibectin there in terms of like the size and inconsistency at tackle. So it might have to kick inside in that way. We talked about Maxi Hanatur from Arizona State. Caleb Lomu from Utah is another player that is kind of in the Freeling range. I like Freeling more. But some people really like Caleb Lomu from Utah. It's been a left tackle only is the only thing.

So there's a little bit less position versatility there. But young, athletic, needs to get stronger, needs to kind of fill out his frame a little bit more. but I do think there are options there, certainly in the back end of round one. Okay. And how do you feel about the idea of going tackle here? I'll give you this 28 Pro Bowl slash all pro tackles in this sample of the 28, 18 were drafted in the first round, only two, only three in the second round, two in the third round, one in the fourth, one in the seventh, and three undrafted. So it is incredibly weighted towards if you want somebody. you got to get them early yeah i i do think that you know and now look you get into value best player

available all that stuff right but uh to me yeah like offensive tackle definitely a position that i would keep earmarked for the eagles and we've had this conversation like i do think this pick needs to be on offense whether it is a pass catcher you know you if kenyon sedique if it's a tight end but i think it's it's offensive line it's or a pass catcher with this pick and then the other thing to mention here, obviously, is you're thinking about drafting a first round tackle. You don't now have the full faith that this guy is going to be fully properly developed. We don't know what the Chris Cooper experience is going to be like. His track record with developing early round picks in Minnesota was not very good.

That doesn't mean he can't do it. It doesn't mean the Eagles should shy away from it. But it changes the calculation for them as they move forward. and it is like absolutely why, boy, would they love to still have Stout as the offensive line coach for at least one more season. To that point, the chat we have here from Donnie about Mackay Beckton, like I've had people reach out to me asking like, oh, do you think McCaibecton would make sense for an Eagles reunion? And I still do think the fact that you've seen him play at a high level with this group is significant. But again, like the lack of Jeff Stoughton makes that more of a projection than it used to be.

So, you know, to answer that question there, I just, I don't know. It's harder to get a feel for a player like Mackay Beckton or, you know, somebody who is, who has had a volatile career without Jeff Stoughtland in the mix. Now, last thing here before we go to break, how do you guys feel about the possibility of using a first-run pick on someone who potentially doesn't see the field as a rookie? I mean, we've seen the Eagles do this before. I keep using Landon Dickerson as the example. I think with how many injuries you saw the Eagles deal with up front last season. And really, obviously, it wasn't games missed, but it was. games without somebody being 100%.

And obviously, historically, we've seen guys miss games in those positions. I think you draft a player and you think in a perfect world, they red shirt, but in a more realistic world, they probably are going to start, you know, maybe a handful of games or maybe double digit games if the injury situation along the interior is pronounced. So to me, I think it's fine if you draft this guy and you expect them and you hope he red shirts. History would suggest he won't. So I wouldn't have an issue with resource allocation here.

Yeah. And for me, when I'm looking at all these names that I just brought up, like I think Freeling is a tackle only. I think that Maxi Haunichor is a tackle only. I think Caleb Lowe moved, the kid from Utah is a tackle only. The only one that I'm saying,

oh, like future who would be a guard would be Proctor from Alabama. I think the rest of those guys, you're probably looking at more as tackles only. And so they're only playing if Lane Johnson or Jordan Milata were to miss time. I know it's not, it's freeling doesn't sound like it, but is there a swing player that you would say, like, okay, they could at least be a Fred Johnson replacement

as a swing tackle. I think you have to take those guys. Like, that player has to be. They have to tackle. Okay. Yeah, I think that you have confidence in one. Well, that's the, that's the question I have with Lomo, you know, because people, so his teammate is Spencer Fano,

who was going to be a, you know, top 12, top 10 pick, maybe top three pick in this draft. He's the right tackle for Utah. People are like, oh, like, he's the right tackle. Lomo's left tackle. Well, Fano started as a friend. freshman at left tackle, they moved him to right tackle because they felt the staff felt Lomo could only play left and he was left-handed. So I don't know, who knows? Like that was three

years ago. Maybe Lomo now feels more like he can not offer that swing versatility. But if you are a one position player only, that does impact your evaluation with a lot of teams. All right. Good discussion. Time to go to break. We'll come back and talk about the second round as we try to figure out the Eagles ideal draft for 2026. What if you could have reliable and intelligent Wi-Fi? And what if you could keep it at the same price for five whole years? That's the Xfinity five-year price guarantee. It's Wi-Fi that makes everything in your home work together seamlessly. It finds and fixes problems before you even notice them. It's super intelligent Wi-Fi with a six-sense. And that lets you stream the game even when your whole family is online during this snowstorm. Just picture it.

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you drafted, EJ, a look at the offensive linemen who have been drafted in this window over the past decade. And it is an even worse group, obviously, than the ones in the first round, as you would expect. Cody Whitehair, Sam Cosmy, Luke Geddike, Cam Juergen, Zach Frazier. Those are the good ones. And then you got a lot of, a lot of meh, and a lot of bad. Connor Williams, Ethan Posich, Ezra Cleveland, John Michael Schmitz, Patrick Paul, Nick Martin, Max Sharping, Dylan, Radun's, Ray Duns, and then Ozzie Tripilo, Anthony Belton, and Tate Ratlidge. Ratlidge had a pretty good rookie year, right? Right, Fran? Yeah, Ratledge. Radledge has some good moments. Belton came on late for Green Bay once they finally inserted him in the lineup. I do think Patrick Paul might be in your go from Matt to good, but he'll say like in a year or two, but he showed some flashes. And he's one of the few actual tackles there because most of those, most of the good players there are interior offensive. lineman, which makes sense. That's a good time to get them. So with that in mind, E.J., where did you go in the second round? Did you consider doubling down on an offensive lineman? Did you go,

well, you tell me. I did not. You know, you got to scout the opponent here, and I knew you would come ready with some of these graphs about how this is kind of a sketchy spot for offensive linemen. So I did my homework. I made sure I had some positional examples, and I went with a high upside wide receiver who fell because of a lack of a lack of production or polish and i've got two examples for you before you say that's not realistic we've got alec pierce and we have a j brown alec pierce went number 53 overall a j brown number 51 a couple years apart how do we feel about you know just a tracy big physical wide receiver who you can get in the second round because of a lack of polish i'm a little worried that it's like a terrace marshal you know it was a second rounder who

fits that profile. Obviously did not work out in Carolina. I think that there are certain there are examples where guys like that fall, you know, like one guy that does come to mind and he's going to fall because of injury is Chris Bell from Louisville who we, I think we, E.J., we talked about him two weeks ago on the show about, you know, this is a this is a player that is kind of cut from the AJ Brown mold in terms of like the size and physicality yards after catch like bully with the ball in his hands, but tour is ACL at the end of November. So, you know, goes from maybe a late first round pick into probably some side of day two. But there are a number of players that I think could kind of fit this mold that I'd be intrigued

by. Here are the wide receivers drafted in this window over the past decade. There's 17 of them. No, I'm laughing because I didn't, I didn't know to the people who didn't work out. I just took, I just took two good examples and said, well, let's just count them. Let's just count them good and bad. Tyquant Thornton, bad. J.N. Reed. Pretty good.

Yeah. What help? A.J. Brown, obviously very good. Two to one. Anthony Miller, not good enough. Two to two. George Pickens. Good. Three to two. A.D. Mitchell. I like A.D. Mitchell. Yeah, but that's obviously a bad outcome. Yeah, it's not a good day outcome. But I liked, I liked him coming out. So I'm not going to, not going to. Where do you go to school again?

It doesn't matter. Alec Pierce, that's good. Four to three. Took time. Guy Moore. No, four, four. Tyler Boyd, an old Fran favorite. That's a hit.

We'll give that a hit, I think. That's a hit. That's a hit. Five, four. Rashi Rice. I mean, I guess we got to give it a hit. That's six four. Trey Harris.

I was going to say, yeah. No. Okay. Yeah. not Trey Harris, not me, Cole Hardman, 6 to 6 to 6, De Eskridge, 6 to 7, Van Jefferson, 6 to 8, J.J. J. J. J. Arthega, White Side, 6 to 9, 2, Atwell, 6 to 10, and then Jack Betch this year. So 6 out of 17 are good hits, and there's a lot of there that's, like, unplayable, but the second round is a good place for wide receivers. To me, this came down to three positions.

Wide receiver was one, tight end was another. I did consider it. And then, edge because I do I mean I'll give it away I want to load up offense on this with this draft class but I do want I would like to add one player who can add to that defensive rotation um second round though not a good place for edge guys a terrible place for edge guys and so I did not go edge it came down to wide receiver tight end I'll give you the tight ends that's the same ranking of the same window we just gave those 17 wide receivers there are 12 tight ends let's do the same exercise Adam Shaheen, bad. Terrence Ferguson, too early.

It's fine. Dallas Goddard, obviously very good. Irv Smith, bad. Your boy, Elijah Arroyo. Call it too early. Drew Sample? Friend, you're saying good for Elijah Arroyo? It'll be ahead.

It'll be fine. Drew Sample, not good. Ben Sinit, not good. Pat Firemuth, that works out. Tray McBride, obviously a home run. And then Luke Schoonmaker, Moe Alley Cox, and Brenton Strange. So a bit of a mixed bag. Moly Cox was the second round pick.

That can't be right. No, this must be mislabeled in, in true media. He was a... He was undrafted. He was on draft. I was going to say... I mean, I invented Moealeigh Cox

long ago on the Eagles Beakley podcast, Fran, we did this exercise of trying to identify a basketball player who could go into the NFL, and I found him before he was even a football prospect. So you're welcome, Moly. I'm going to take your word for it on that one. I don't remember that one. So this is very disappointing, but I am also going wide receiver here.

And I think you could make the case for, I really do think you can make the case for tight end because tight end is you do need to find someone who's going to be the long term starter here. And if A.J. Brown returns, there is not as much of a need to use a high value resource on a long term starter. But you can also get tight ends throughout the draft. You can find that guy and maybe you attack it with, maybe you draft. two guys on day three. I went wide receiver here, but I feel like I could be convinced to go tight end. Maybe it would be you're on the board, which of the two is the actual best value based on your grades? Receiver.

I think the tight end in this draft. We talk about the depth. I don't think that it's deep at the top. You know, I think we're talking Kenyon Sadiq. And then I don't know if I feel great about it. You don't even like anybody until the third round or something. Yeah, I think after that, that's when we're talking like third, fourth, fifth round, where that's where the depth really starts to kick off there.

At wide receiver, though, there are a number of names that would intrigue me. We can get into some of them. But, yeah, there are a number of names that would catch my eye there in round two. And then quickly, we do have the list of the last 10 number 54 overall picks. And you see a couple hits here. Anthony Belton, Mike Hall, Jr., Tulli Tulu, Puloto, who's had a good start to his career. Sky Moore, not a good one. Dio Odingbo, who got paid nicely.

AJ Eponessa, Lonnie Johnson, Jesse Bates, is the best of the group. go Deeks, and then Rayquan McMillan and McKenzie Alexander. Mackenzie Alexander was missed for me. I like to McKinsey Alexander. All right, so we're both going tackle slash O-line and then wide receiver. And then we go to the third round, but you will have to wait to find out what happens with the Eagles two picks in the third round after these words from our sponsors. So I'm on my way home from work last week. And the thing that happens all the time ends up happening to me.

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Back on the P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast, Bo Wolf, Fran Duffy, E.J. Smith. Time to move now to round three. And you can probably talk about these ones in tandem. If you want, E.J., you've got... Yeah, I would like that. 68 overall and then something in the back end of the round, probably around 98 or so. How did you approach this one?

Yeah, I appreciate you letting me do these in tandem because the first one I don't feel amazing about for a reason you mentioned earlier. I went with a traetzy edge rusher who hasn't put it all together yet. And I use Jalick's Hunt as the example. Now listen, like the odds of you getting a Jalick's hunt in the third round are incredibly low, especially at that position. But maybe Fran will uncover a small school edge rusher who's got great physical. traits and yeah okay he's like friends like let me see what i could do for you let me see what i could cook up um then at the end of the third round the you know the second pick here i went with the one of the

ones i feel the best about which is a nasty two-way tight end with traits to be a difference maker in the run game and serviceable in the past game there might be a lot to ask for in the third round but i'm hoping fran tells me that there's there's enough juice in this tight end class at this point in the draft that you're getting somebody who you feel good about in the run game i think that's That's first and foremost is you want to get somebody who is a plus as an inline blocker and maybe the traits to eventually turn into something, you know, a serviceable pass catcher. Yeah, looking at the pass rushers first. I do think that this is one of the better groups overall in this draft.

And so I do think that at every stage, there are going to be names that pique my interest. I think with this scheme, with Vic Fangio, we know, like those guys got to be a hold up against the run. You've got to be able to, even if you're a backup, you've got to be a three down, type of presence. It's really tough if you don't have that ability to hold up at the point of attack. So I'm looking at a number of the names. I'm like, cross this guy off the list, cross that guy off the list. The one guy that does, you know, in terms of like day two edge, that, you know, I don't think he's going to test great this week, but known for toughness,

physicality, two-time state champ as a wrestler, was a freakless guy known for his strength, went down to the senior bowl, had a solid week. That's been a marker for the Eagles in the past, guys that do well down in Mobile. I'm going to go with Gabe Accus from Illinois. This is a guy that has the ability, I think, to stand up in an odd front. He could put his hand in the dirt and hold up as a defensive end as well. He's known for his toughness, physicality. He matches a lot of the things that I think that Vic Fangio and the Eagles look for at the spot. I would not.

That's how you pronounce his name. Yeah. Oh, look, you go into the draft guy. I know. And the very, the first line, if there's a pronunciation needed, first name last name. I put that phonetic pronunciation. Shout out to Adam Hogue. He asked for this back last combine.

Very first line, phonetic pronunciation of the guy's name. So it is J-A-C-A-S, but it is a silent J. So Gabe Accus from Illinois. Okay. So you are thinking here, you know, I'm looking at the elite edges third round. It's not a very good group and not a voluminous group, but there are, you know, there's Justin Houston, there's DeNeil Hunter, Jonathan Grenard, those are the guys that you're sort of thinking of. Even Trey Hendrickson, actually, 103 overall. It feels like he that Gay Backus fits this description, right?

I mean that that archetype of like a hardworking tough nose ed rusher, you know, maybe not a super dynamic like high ceiling rusher, but somebody he's still good about in the rotation. Yeah, that's the thing is that he doesn't have like the traits that he would be like if I was go off the names that Beau just rolled off. He would be in the Jonathan Grenard mold of like, all right, he was a little bit undersized, but he was he was short but not small. Like he was pretty thick and muscular. It held up well against the run.

He had some position versatility. I think that Accus kind of fits that mold. And then in terms of tight end, this is when, again, this is when that position really starts to pick up. So now you're getting into some of like my favorite names. It's like you're getting your pick of these guys. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's like, it's like, all right. Well, if you want more of like the combo skill set, it's probably more of a blocker.

He's a little bit older. That's where Nate Borkature comes in. If you want more of the pass catcher first and, you know, blocking second, that's where Justin Joe Lee from NC State comes into play. Some people really like Joe Royer from Cincinnati, Max Clare, from Ohio State. I think that's where all these names start to come off the board is late round two into round three. Okay.

For me, I, we, we finally deviate just a little bit because you have, we have two here. We have one of it, one of them is in common. But the first one I'm going with here at 60-year overall is how Roseman's going up to the podium. And he's saying, listen, we needed a meat and potatoes draft. We got to get back to what we do best here. Eagles are drafting a guard. they are there and they're two of their first three picks are on offensive linemen second and third round this is a very fertile ground for guards it's a great time to get them and if you want to find somebody who's got some real pro ball upside i think you can still do that in the third round at guard and this way you're thinking okay uh we've got one year left to tyler steen's rookie deal this guy can come in and compete right away with tyler steen maybe take that job and if not you hopefully replaces him next season uh and

then you can let that tackle just work on being the Lane Johnson protege. And all of a sudden, you feel much better about the long-term prognosis for your offensive line. I like where you're going with that. You know, stay tuned for mine to see how I would feel about that. Yeah. I'll say that there are a couple guards that catch my eye here in this part of the draft. Emmanuel Pregnon from Oregon, older player in that he's a six-year senior. But he's been a starter for like the last four years.

He started at, I want to say it was at Colorado, then went out to USC, was a starter that started there, then moved on to Oregon this past season, and it was a good player. It's just rock solid across the board, more like power than athleticism. But Pregnon is a good player. And then the other guy that would catch my eye as well as Keelan Rutledge from Georgia Tech. He began his career in Middle Tennessee and then moved on to Georgia Tech. But he's the fourth year senior, so not overly old, tough, physical, has played both guard spots. he can snap a little bit in a pinch, but probably more of a true guard.

You found me my guy. I appreciate that. And then I am going edge at the compensatory pick here, but I do want to say, I think that this is probably the one position that I feel like draft-wise, its importance is most affected by what the Eagles doing for agency. Because if they sign Jalen Phillips and they're able to get him, you know, sign for, let's call it a two or three year deal, then all of a sudden, I don't think you need to prioritize adding another guy to the edge group. I think part of the conversation here is with all the

players on defense, you're going to have to extend. Who are we not going to extend? I think there's a chance that Nolan Smith is one of the answers there. And so you're going to need to replace him eventually. So if the Eagles do not resign Jalen Phillips and are otherwise not adding anybody to the top of that group and free agency, I think you would like to add an edge by, you know, the middle of round four probably. I agree. I'll spoil something from later in my draft just to add just for the sake of the conversation here. Sure. I have what my last pick, the fifth round compensatory pick was going to be a pass rush specializing defensive tackle, which I know some people may be surprised that like I would have defensive tackle as an ideal draft target for the Eagles, but

they have so much volatility at that position in terms of extensions and fifth year options that in two or three you might need another Morrow Ojoomo, another Milton Williams type of player that you've developed behind the scenes. And if they re-sign Jalen Phillips, you know, extend Jalen Phillips before free agency or at the start of free agency, it wouldn't shock me to see them go into your defensive line here. It would probably surprise people because, again, there's not a clear pathway to getting on the field right away. But, I mean, again, Jalen Carter and Morrow Ajomo, I mean, Jordan Davis, they all have uncertain futures beyond next season, really. So the question that becomes, like, who do you have that you're developing behind, you know, behind those guys? And I could see them prioritize.

I mean, you, we can, we can all hear it already, Howie going up in the podium. You know, last couple drafts, we drafted best player available. We got a lot of really good players, but it was away from the line of scrimmage. We had to get back to what makes us who we are and really build that foundation. I don't think, yeah, I think we could all sort of see that. All right. Let's go to the fourth round, two picks again. They've got 122 and then another one coming, this from the job.

Josh sweat compensatory pick. I'll go first this time. One of the two here is tight end. I do have the Eagles drafting on tight end. I think this is probably, if you're expecting a guy to come in and compete to start, this is probably the latest you would want that to happen. And then the other things I'd like to add at some point,

I would like to add a running back potentially. I would like to add a couple people in the secondary if possible. What's fun about this exercise, what's good as a reminder is that you can't hit everything. But in terms of like the history of where, the players come from, when's the best time to get them. Cornerback at the back end of the fourth round is where I go here. So you've talked about the tight ends already, Fran.

Is there anybody who you sort of like as a guy who upside could win a job on the outside of corner? Yeah, I think that there are, this is probably where the, the bottom kind of falls out of the class is when you get into early stages of day three. And so if you want one, I think now's the, now's the time. So with that in mind, thinking about the way that the Eagles play, and we like the zone instincts, the physicality, maybe you dip back into Iowa.

T.J. Hall is a guy that, you know, he's played on the outside there for the last couple of years. I really like his physicality. He's got size. I think his zone instincts are better than like what his man coverage upside might be. If you want to go with like a true nickel. Hold on very quickly. We're all wondering it. Is he white? No. Okay.

I wasn't wondering it actually. I'm back on board. So yeah, so I would say T.J. Hall would be over probably the first name that comes to mind there in terms of round four. He's a Kai Amassas from Cal. I was a little bit higher on going into the senior bowl than after seeing him live, like, I don't know. He's probably a little bit further down the board. But I'm looking at the rest of my round four guys. My father-in-law loves Hezakia Massis because it's like the most religious name you

possibly have he's a big he's a big he's a kaya mass this guy uh i'm trying to think of uh anybody else that might have uh they're challenging like but deacon sermon or something yeah right um but yeah no it's this this this would be like this this corner class you know usually it's like 30 plus guys that get drafted at that position every year i think you get to the early 20s in this class and it's like wow it starts to get barren so um you know there aren't a lot of like late round guys I'm like, oh, yeah, like sign me up for this project. So it's a little bit of a tough group that way. Okay.

Where did you go with the fourth rounders, EJ? Yeah, so I went into your alignment with a high floor, but a limited ceiling, pretty much what you did in the third round, okay, a guard, as you put it, so succinctly there. I went speed demon wide receiver here. I think you could double up at one. You got a second wide receiver. Okay. Yeah, I mean, do the Johnny Wilson and Ia Smith, but in the mid rounds and feel a little bit better

about it. Hopefully not. Just really nail it with those two. No, I think, you know, we've talked before about how, especially if the Eagles,

if the Eagles keep AJ Brown, but even if they don't, Devante Smith is going to be a high-volume player. We can say that with certainty next year, that he is going to be a 100-plus target receiver next season. I think you need to figure out ways to get difference-making, difference-makers who don't need volume. And I think a deep threat receiver,

is a good way to kind of build out a receiver room around a guy or two guys that are going to have a high target share. So for that reason, day three, I think you should try and find yourself, I mean, again, I'm going to keep pulling out bad names here, but like Quez Watkins. Like you want like a receiver. Quis is a bad outcome for a day three pick. Yeah, you want somebody who is a field stretcher that a defense has to account for, even if it is only two or three targets a game that they're getting. So let me go through some of my speed demon receivers. for early day three. Brennan Thompson, Mississippi State,

top of the list. My comp is a Diet Coke, Hollywood Brown. I think that he's going to challenge for fastest 40 this week. So Brandon Thompson, three schools in four years. I believe they started at Texas,

then went to Oklahoma. I don't know. What do you think of the guys that go like from like, leave one school and go to the Bible? Yeah, that's the Ben-Vansumer in. Yeah. Right.

Michigan to Michigan State. It's the rival. Yeah, I don't love that. I don't love that either. All right. So he goes from Texas to Oklahoma. That ends up Mississippi State

was productive this year, was one of the most productive receivers in college football, that his kid can fly. So, Brandon Thompson would be. Flipside is, flip side is, I do, if it's very specifically like a coach screwed me over, I'm going to get back at him, I can kind of talk myself into it. I would want to, I would want to know the reason. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, can you be, can you be, can you be, especially in the NIL era? Can you be powered by SPIC and still be against this? I mean, go where the money is, right? Next up would be North Dakota State, Bryce Lance, 6309. Trey Lance is younger. brother only two years of real production. So that's that's going to be the concern there.

But good size. My comparison with Marquez Valdez Scantling, like big, tall, long, really explosive. I like that. Zachariah Branch from Georgia, he's like the undersized size. So he's five listed five 10, 180 by Georgia. Some people think he's a first round guy. Like I just, I just don't see that personally. I think that when you're talking about guys that size. And even though he runs really well, more of like a gadgety type of receiver, compared him to Darius Davis, who was a third round. pick and it's been a good return man but not really a fixture on offense. Dionne Burke from Oklahoma,

Philip Dorset comp from me. So those are probably the guys that stand out most. You know, I think you get into the later rounds. There's a few more names that pop up. But those are the ones that stand out is like speed demons, middle rounds. All right. Can we go Diet Dr. Pepper Hollywood Brown?

Because then I'd really be, you know? I mean, I love a diet Dr. Pepper, man. I mean, the diet sodas. You got to get them out, though, E.J. I mean, I'm not a big soda guy, but if I'm going to go caffeine after like three or four o'clock, yeah, no, I would do a diet soda. Yeah, but diet Dr. Pepper Hollywood Brown is like, what, 2-2 at well? Like Adrian Killens?

There were flat. The thing was that because one of the other names I wrote down was like Andrew Hawkins, but like Andrew Hawkins was such a, like he was a great route runner. Now, he wasn't a great. He was like viewed as like a potential corner when he's coming out, Toledo. and then he went to CFL and then developed as a receiver and bounced back. So it's not like he was Andrew Hawkins coming out. But I couldn't throw that comp on him just because of the kind of player. But the flashes are excellent with him.

But there will be questions to answer in terms of the profile. All right. One more round to go when we come back from our last break here. Two picks in the fifth round as we try to complete the Eagles ideal draft. And then we'll wrap things up. Let us know what you think. Stay tuned. Do you really want Jalen Hertz returning punts?

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Let's close this bad boy out. Two picks in the fifth round. E.J., what are you doing to complete your set? I'm going to go at the top of the fifth round with a quarterback with tons of starting experience, but limited upside. Tanner McKee is the comp. Again.

Tana McKee did not have a ton of starting experience. Yeah, I know. I was just mostly trying to think of, an ideal scenario, day three quarterback. I was wondering if he would draft a quarterback. Yeah, you know, it's, it's tough to find these guys, but I'm sure Fran's going to bail me out. You know, this has been a fun show for me.

I just come up with, oh, this would be nice. And Fran actually gives me some concrete ideas. He just bales me out each time. So, yeah, that's what I want with. I mean, the first name that pops to mind would be Kate Klobnik from Clemson. There's been a three-year starter for the Tigers. In the fifth round, I remember reading that he was going to go in the top ten. I mean, forget top 10.

We're talking number one overall. He was a pretty reputable place I read that. I thought. There were, I mean, there were analysts out there that compared him to Matthew Stafford back in the summer. Like, wow. I mean, it's like calling the sky red. Like, I just said, so Kate Klubnick, yeah, his play to me, like limited starting upside in the NFL, but he's played a lot of football. He's played a lot of winning football.

He's efficient. He's not going to blow you away with, like, the physical tools. the physical talent, but, you know, he's got the intangibles that teams are looking for. I do think that there are a number of players that kind of check this box and that fit this profile. And he would probably be at the top of that list for me. Mark Grinowski from Iowa, he'd probably put in that same kind of bucket. Both guys were at the Shrine Bowl and Grinowski actually not invited to the Combine, so he'd probably go on even a little bit later than this.

But yeah, I think both guys fit that profile. There will be some people in the chat that will wonder if Drew Aller is a name here. Do you think he goes before this range? How do you feel about him as an Eagles fit for him? I'm glad you brought him up. He is, he's tough, man. Like, it's a really tough eval of Drew Haller because he is, he is big. He's got a great arm.

He can make every throw. He looks like a guy that should be like hyper aggressive, attack down the field, you know, like bombs away, like that, you know, that kind of player. But he wants to play like Clubnik. He wants to get the ball out fast. There was, when I was watching the summer, to me, there were like shades of Sam Bradford where it's like, man, like he can make every throw, but he just wants to go check down, check down, check down, know where all the answers are. But he's not like overly accurate. Like he should be more like big game hunter.

That's what I want to see out of him. So that's a it's tough one. And then obviously, you know, big games, he didn't produce. There were a lot of factors there. Throw the injury on top with a torn ACL. Where he goes in the draft, that's tough. Could he go late day two? Sure.

It's probably more likely to go early, early day three. But that's a difficult one. I have a fun Drew Raller story really quick. I was at Penn State's pro day, not the last off season, but the one before. So Sequin's first season with the team. And I was there to try and do a story on Seekwon. And I struck out. So I made that whole drive just to strike out on trying to get some time with Seekon.

I would still do it if I would do it all over again. But the one thing I got out of the, the day. Well, I guess I got a couple of things out of it, but Drew Aller, like, getting to see him throw, even though he wasn't a part of the pro day, just there, I was like, this guy, man, like he is like, you guys know I have a weak spot for tritecy quarterback. So I was all in on him. And I was wrong. So, you know, I guess I didn't get that out of the pro day either, if you really think about it. Would you like to hear all of the quarterbacks drafted in the fifth round over the past decade? This will not include quarterbacks who never played a game in the

NFL, so there might be a couple missing. But there's a reason why EJ drafted a quarterback in the fifth round here, because this is just a callback to remind us of his love. DTR. Dorian Thompson Robinson, who was among this group. Clayton Thune, Clayton Toon, Sam Howell, Shador Sanders, you got a pro baller there, Sean Clifford, Spencer Rattler, Matt Moore, Kevin Hogan, Jaron Hall, Easton Stick, Jake Fromm, Clarence Thorhammer, Nathan Peterman Mike White and Jordan Travis

Did you say Clarence Thorhammer? Yeah Oh right It's a clipin thepin Clayton Thorson Oh that's right Do you play a game in the NFL? I think he did

Yeah for the Cowboys, right? Maybe the Giants, yeah Well that's why I was like Oh like Clayton Thorson would be in this But he didn't play a game in the NFL That's not he's shot Then he is in there Then they just have the draft number in there

So yeah, that's not a very good group, as you would expect. There's a reason that those guys go early. I would actually... You got one pro bowler in there. That's what I said, yeah. I mean, the fourth round, the thing about it is, though, the fourth round is not much better, although you get... Right.

You mean, you get Dak, but then you get Aidan O'Connell, Jared Stidham. Those are probably the second and third best guys. So do you... There's a bunch of Connor Cook, Ryan Finley, Kyle Aletta, Jacob Eason, James Morgan, Jayne, or Stetson Bennett, Josh Dobbs actually. Billy Zappy. The problem with the quarterback position is that it is such a small sample every year that like when you get into these later rounds like the, you're not volume shooting.

You're typically, it's like nine quarterbacks get drafted every year. Most of them go and then, you know, the first couple rounds that are worth a damn. So at the end of the day, you get into day three and it's just, it's, it's, it's tough. It's why, you know, I think if the Eagles do draft a quarterback and they have intentions of having him be a backup, I that. I mean, I think there is a real chance it's a day two guy. I was going to say, do you do you like pull the trigger on like a Garrett Nussmeyer on day two if he's there? Maybe maybe you swap out like where I have traits the edge rusher in the third round. Maybe that's your backup quarterback, especially if you feel good about, I mean, if you feel if you've either traded Tanner McKee or you feel good that you're going to have a market for him.

And you got you got to trade Tanner if that's the case. Yeah. Well, you have to, yeah, for sure to try and recoup some of that value. For me, my two picks in the fifth round, this is one of my, one of my favorite things is a fourth, mostly fifth round, fifth round safety,

who's, who's like a little bit limited athletically, but has played a ton of ball. And like the coaches tell you that he's been worth getting on the field, you know, not to, I got these guys for days. Not to,

not to, not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I've done a very good job identifying these guys over the years. And this is like, I absolutely, I want to give me, give me one of these guys. It's also a very good, the numbers say, like fifth round is a good time to get a safety. So why don't you give me, give me, give me a Mr. Experience at safety. Who's not, who's not an old. Not an old.

Mr. Experience. But he's played, so he's played a lot. Yeah. I want, I want more than two years of starting experience. Okay. The first thing that comes to mind, it would be Dalton Johnson from Arizona. there are three Arizona D.Bs, safeties in this class. And Johnson is actually my favorite, even though he's the least traitsy of the group.

Actually, in order of traitiness, that's the way I like him. I like Dalton Johnson. Then you go trading Stoakes, who's got some nickel flex. He's played every position in the secondary. And then you go to Genesis Smith, who is like, you know, tall and long and athletic. I don't think that he's, you know, in terms of like the toughness aspect of playing down hill. not not as his forte um i would say dalton johnson is probably that that's that's your sweet spot bud clark from tCU would be the other one um now he had a great week at the senior bowl and we'll see

how he tests but that that would be another one about i think that that kind of checks the box and he plays with a lot of energy like he was a guy that if you were in the site if you were uh in the bleachers in mobile like you felt them during practice like one of those kind of deals so um yeah i would say dalton johnson from arizona and bud clark from tCU now fran i've been making faces at you for like a minute here because my burnt orange colored glasses what about michael taff i mean he's a multi-year starter he compared him to marcus ebb's i feel like he's a good fit um i would say beau would not like michael taff in the fifth round i'm going to go out of limb and i don't think bo's not going to like michael taff in the fifth round i think if if michael taff became max and hook then i think

bo would like michael taff uh i think if you spend an early day three pick on michael taff that i don't like them okay fair enough fair enough uh and then then my last pick i went back and forth here too um originally i had a running back uh because i i do adjust it's a good time to get them uh and a pass catching running back if you think yeah i mean if i think we shipley has probably underperformed relative to expectation tank bigspeys is there but probably only for one more year uh but instead i went this is when i doubled down on tight end so i'm going uh i'm going with a second tight end this is we're bringing this position group into the future and we're going to have a whole new kind of tight end in Philadelphia.

And I think you actually see this quite a bit. Because you're not only trying to maybe get two types. And if you're going to lean into 12 personnel, these guys can bring each other along. You're also diversifying your bets. Like, you know, Charlie Kohler gets picked before Isaiah likely. Like Luke Musgrave gets picked before Tucker Kraft. Like, you know, I think you're giving yourself a better chance

of actually hitting someone who can be a different. making tight end so it's really quick speaking in tight ends kyle pitts franchise tagged by the alina falcons today i know certain someone out there is disappointed by that news Kyle pitts is real estate agent yeah yeah yeah him um what's the what's the what's the profile you're looking for here bill um locker first you want pass catcher first like you want combo i think it well it's well it's well i think it depends on the kind of guy you drafted the first time probably like a slightly different skill set but i am okay somebody nasty.

Hmm. I got some guys. So he's not quite my love affair was last year. But I'm going to go Will Kazmarik from Ohio State, 6-5, 262 pounds. So legitimate size began his career at Ohio University, then transferred to Ohio State. And it's become like a good in-line presence, violent blocker, really physical at the point of attack. Sam Rouse from Stanford, I think it's another player that I think can check some of these boxes as well. Those would be the guys in terms of like inline presence.

Now we can get into some of the like the Cam Latu type replacements there as well. So you can get it to Josh Kwavis from Alabama, Max Bredison from Michigan. There are a few other guys. But in terms of like inline presence, fifth round, Casmeric is one. Lake McCree from USC would be another. So it's a good group. Okay. Well, let me tell you one second here because.

we are going to be back with a full recap in overtime. Beautifully done. I thought you might go snowvertime. Snowver time. Snowver time. Good. Yeah. He's good.

Here's my full draft for the Eagles. Tackle in the first. Wide receiver in the second. Guard and edge in the third round. Tight end and corner in the fourth round. And then safety and tight end again in the fifth round. round. I could do it again. Like, you know, I would have liked to add a quarterback. I would have liked to add a defensive tackle. Otherwise, though, I feel like I would sign up for that now

without knowing the players. Yeah, I like yours. I'm going to run through mine really quick. I, I, uh, I went Tradesy offensive lineman, preferably a tackle in the first round, high up, upside receiver with a lack of production or polish in the second round. Tratesy edge rusher in the third round nasty two-way tight end combo tight end as frame will put it in the back end of the third round interior alignment with a high floor at the top of the fourth round speed demon receiver later in the fourth quarterback with tons of starting experience at the top of the fifth and then pass rush specializing defensive tackle at the end of the fifth i think you in in my scenario you're definitely prioritizing tight end and running back in the undrafted free agent market okay i think that makes

sense? Fran, if you had done this exercise, do you think you would have approached it any differently? No, I mean, I think that the way that both of you guys approached it, I think is, you know, is well thought out. I would have been somewhere in the range of both of you guys. Like I might just because I know, like, where some of the strengths and weaknesses are, I think I would have played the value game a little bit in some of those spots. Like tight end, I think it's like, all right, if it's, if it's not round one, I'm definitely

waiting. I'm not touching it day two, I don't think. Yeah, it's a, but yeah, it's a, but yeah, it's. It's a fun exercise, certainly. All right. Now that we are not doing the road trip, what are you, what do you, what do you, what do you lament most that you didn't get to experience from this 10 plus hour sojourn we were going to go on? I mean, yeah, being able to spend the time with you guys would have been fun.

Quality time. Yeah. I think hours five to seven would have been really fun. Like, I think like, we would have had a lot to get through in the first couple hours, just like normal life conversations, right? but I think like once we got past that, like once we stopped talking about work, stop talking about like what's going on with our families, I think five to seven was going to be really fun to see like where the conversation turned.

And I am, I'm very disappointed that we're not doing it. I think again, it makes sense what we did. But I am sad about it. I won't lie to you guys. Yeah. There were so many that I think the listeners, the viewers need to know. Like there were so many different iterations. Oh my God.

We made like 15 different plans over the past three days. My favorite part is that all of our wives were like, what the hell are you guys talking about? This is outrageous. Like, that's usually a good litmus test when the wives are really not a fan of the plan we put together. Rachel's like, why don't you guys just leave Sunday? But we couldn't. I also couldn't do that. Yeah.

After being gone for the first one. Yeah, exactly. That's not going to fly. Yeah. I wonder what I wonder what what what what road stops it would like what what would have been our our meals on the road I mean shout out to Lindsay for for providing like as soon as the idea came up like gave like all right stop here stop here stop here and one of the places that she pointed out was like what was it the huge ping pong

paddle yeah that was something in Ohio I mean and I was like all right well Beau was definitely going to be stopping there but yeah no it's that would have been an interesting trip some super chats to get to before we head out of here. CDP, if AJ remains on the Eagles, will he be a poison in the organization or will he

be Bell Biv devoted to being the best teammate possible? E.J. I mean, if he's back, I think he'll be Bell Biv devoted to being the best teammate possible. Matthew Greenwood. Bring back Kenny G.

Take a chance on Caden Proctor. Zion, Young in the second. Chris Bell or Z Branch, if any, get to the third. And then Michael Trigg at Tide End. What do you think about that, Fran? Yeah, Fred, I want to know what you think of a Michael Trigg. I feel like you're a little bit lower on him than who is Michael Trigg. Michael Trigg is a tight end from Baylor who this was his third school in five years, began his career at USC, was there with Jackson Dart and they got there at the same time. So Jackson Dart after Lincoln and Raleigh gets hired. Lincoln Raleigh brings in Caleb Williams. Jackson's dart pieces out.

Michael Trigg follows him. They go down to Mississippi State. Trigg gets in trouble, had some off-field stuff at Mississippi State, so didn't play too much early on, then kind of got back into good graces, ended up transferring again, and ends up going to, ends up going to Baylor. Really productive this year. He's built like a small forward. He's got like one of those like linear like athletic builds. he's athletic he can get down the seam he's he can be a mismatch made some ridiculous catches like if you go into the draft guide you can go through there was a catch he made like one-handed along the sideline both feet and bounds like phenomenal ball skills uh here's what i'll say if you don't like grant calcutera as a blocker you are not going to like michael trig

because it is it's worse um so yeah i would say that that that's going to between that and like some of the off-field stuff from his past, though, that's going to be the big thing here with Trigg. And then who was Zion Young? Zion Young is a big defensive end from Missouri, who began his career at Michigan State, wasn't overly productive as a rusher in the last three years. It was two years of Michigan State,

then two years of Missouri, was really productive this year. Came on, that Missouri defensive line was one of the better ones in college football. And I think when you're looking at Zion Young, I'm lower on him than others. I do think that he's got staying power in the NFL. He's got a skill set of translates. He's big.

He's physical. He can hold up against the run. I just don't know that he's got a lot of juice in terms of like being able to win as a rusher. There were some great moments from this past year. Like he is super hyper intense and physical and violent. Like he's, there was a there was a play. I'm trying to remember the game. Mizzou won the game.

And I think he had a walk off sack like in overtime. And they go out for the coin toss. And I, it's in the draft. guy. You go find the clip, and he is like, terrifying at the coin toss in overtime in the game. It was phenomenal. And like the hot mic all caught it. Like he was like hyper intense and physical. And he had a good weekend senior bowl, like, well, you know, was able to win some one-on-ones. He's got the ability to push the pocket. I just, I just question the athletic upside with him. So I'm a little lower on him than most, but I do think he has staying power in the league.

All right. And then one more super chat from Fresh Prince, who says, and this is one right after Fran's heart. Last year, if a team had drafted Nick Eamon Worry in round one, Harold Fan in round two, and Xavier, Xavier Watts in round three, this offseason could be a full youth transition at safety and tight end. And you keep Nicobie Dean. What would you have graded that draft, Fran? I mean, I would have- I loved Eamon Worry.

I loved Eamonwari. And that was your, I believe, your shadow draft pick in the first- Yeah. The thing is, is that, you know, with a player like Eamonwari, because, you know, if you're going to get the most value out of him, you want, like he would be Cooper de Gene. And so then what do you do with Cooper DeGine? Like, that's what made that.

Especially if you draft Watts in this scenario, like where you play Cooper on the outside. Yeah, I think you would have moved. We would have moved Cooper to Gene to the outside. How would we have graded that in the moment? I think we would have been saying like, oh, like, I don't know, guys. Like, they took two safeties at a tight end and the, in the, because I think that probably, if they had taken a tight end, and high.

Do you think that trade got it last year? You were able to find a partner at that point? That would have been interesting to see how that would have played out. Yeah. I mean, hindsight, it would have been great, but yeah, that's tough.

Okay. All right. That will do it for this episode. Now, before we leave, again, I should have done this earlier, but tomorrow's episode, we are traveling. So we are going to record an episode for tomorrow.

that is a reaction to some conversations we had last week, and that's going to be up in your feed early tomorrow morning, presumably around 8 o'clock. So live on YouTube at 8 o'clock tomorrow, and in your podcast feeds early in the morning with some reactions from E.J. and I about some conversations from last week. And then we'll have Howie Roseman and Nick Siriani, if we get there in time, live at the Combine.

So it should be fun. Combine Week. stay tuned when do you when do you guys get in it's like 10 30 i think it's pretty early we should knock on wood should have time we got we gotta get our credentials we got yeah but we should be okay yeah um and then stay tuned to the draft guide remember 30% off to become a diehard now's your chance support fran i mean it's a great deal he should do it but more than that support fran i mean make him look good After all he does for you. Come on.

I've got to feed Francis somehow. That's right. All right, that'll do it. Thanks to everybody for watching and listening today. Thanks to Lindsay for making it happen. Back tomorrow and all week here at the P.HL. Yagles podcast, as always, we love you.