- today
The Philadelphia Eagles are five days away from training camp, and it finally feels like football is back. Today, we take a look at the three main camp battles as we head into the next phase of the offseason. There are some very intriguing storylines to keep an eye on. In other news, the Eagles star WR tandem gets disrespected by another bad ESPN rankings list. Today, RB discusses all of this and more!
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00:00It is finally here. Eagles training camp set to arrive next week, and there are some
00:06interesting camp battles that we must keep an eye on. A couple battles that will probably
00:11determine whether or not the Eagles can be elite again and make another run at a Super Bowl. So
00:17we will break it down and preview everything you need to know. And of course, another list put out
00:23today by ESPN, by people who have no clue what they're talking about and continue to disrespect
00:28the Eagles. We'll talk about it all, but welcome into A to Z Philly. I'm RB. And unfortunately,
00:34we have to start it off with some very sad news today as the Eagles announced the passing
00:40of Brian Brayman. We just talked about this last week, former Super Bowl champion actually
00:45had a big special teams play early in that postseason against the Falcons and a very vocal
00:51guy in the locker room, and he was dealing with an aggressive form of cancer. So it is a very
00:57sad day for Eagles Nation, the Eagles family, and of course, the Brayman family. So we must
01:02keep all of them in our prayers and rest in peace to former Eagles Super Bowl champ Brian Brayman.
01:09Now, before we talk about the training camp stuff real quick, we have to dive into this top 10
01:14wide receivers list from Jeremy Fowler at ESPN. Last week, we talked about the Jalen Hurts one. And
01:20like I said, I don't really get over the edge angry anymore at these lists because I know
01:24what their agenda is. They continue to try to bring down the birds, right? But they named the
01:29top 10 wide receivers in the NFL. Jamar Chase at number one. Okay, fine. You know, really good
01:35receiver definitely deserves to be in the top three. Justin Jefferson, another guy that deserves to be
01:40at the top. I think AJ Brown should be number three, or at least in the top three. Am I right?
01:45Am I wrong? I think Jefferson, Jamar Chase, and AJ are the top three, but ESPN doesn't. They have
01:51Tyree Kill at number three. Do they have AJ at four? No, they have CeeDee Lamb, a guy that's been
01:56on a loser organization his entire career. And there's AJ at number five. So you're telling me
02:02that Tyree Kill and CeeDee Lamb are better than AJ Brown? I mean, we could take an hour and go through
02:07all the stats and the games and this, this and that. You watch AJ Brown, you watch his impact. He is a
02:12winner. He is one of the most physically dominant wide receivers I've ever seen in my life. And in three
02:17years with the Philadelphia Eagles, this guy has broken almost every receiver record that there
02:23is. So that's all I'm going to say about it. And did they put Devontae Smith in the top 10?
02:28No, not at six, not at seven. They have Malik Neighbors, who was a rookie last year.
02:33Number eight, Nico Collins. Number nine, Mike Evans. And at number 10, Garrett Wilson,
02:37who just got paid recently as well. So look, I kind of understand not having Smitty in the top 10
02:43just because of his usage. Like Devontae is definitely worthy of being a top five receiver
02:48if he was used as a number one. So if you want to make that argument, okay. But AJ not being in the
02:54top three is absolutely ridiculous. And ESPN continues to disrespect the Philadelphia Eagles.
02:59However, I guess we're more on the PFF stand wave now, right? PFF has AJ Brown as the number one
03:07wide receiver on the PFF 50 and the number 16th overall ranked player. First in receiving grade,
03:14first in receptions, first in receiving yards, and first in first down since joining the birds.
03:19So thank you for someone actually recognizing the superior dominance of AJ Brown against single
03:24coverage. All right, man, enough of that. Let's talk about training camp because it is what,
03:30like five days away, four days away, whatever it is at this point. So we look at the Eagles depth
03:35chart right now on ESPN. And I don't always like to go by ESPN, but let's just say this is,
03:41you know, a pretty solid template for what their depth is going to look like as we head into camp.
03:47We've talked about it all off season. The Eagles are not like every other team where,
03:50you know, they're going to have 21 battles going into camp. No, it's not going to be like that.
03:55We know their entire offense is pretty much locked down with the exception of one.
03:59And then on the defensive side, they had to do a lot of work this off season. They lost some vets.
04:04They got younger, had a guy retire and you know, they already won the Superbowl with a primarily
04:09young defense. They're one of the youngest teams in the league again. So that's how they're kind
04:14of trending as they move into this next phase of the off season. So really the main battles that
04:20we have to watch out for are the three that we have talked about all off season. Okay. It's the
04:25right guard. It is the second cornerback and the safety. Are there any others? Give me your
04:31thoughts down in the comments. What is your most anticipated camp battle as we head into next
04:37week? Although there's only a couple and that's a really good thing to have a good situation with
04:43how dominant this team is. Those couple battles, I think are going to be the entire storyline
04:48because we already know what Jalen Hurts can do and Saquon, right? It's not like a new story and
04:54AJ and Devante. We know what those guys are going to be and how they can perform. Now,
04:59I do think it's fair that once we get into the preseason, the season, we want to see how Kevin
05:04Petula really runs this offense and that'll be like the second half of it. But in terms of camp
05:10battles on the offensive side, Tyler Steen seems to be the guy, right? You go out, you trade for
05:15Kenyon Green. Cool. Love it. He's kind of a throw in in the CJ Gardner Johnson trade. Tyler Steen was
05:22drafted with a pretty high draft pick. They believed in him. He had an injury last year in preseason
05:27and he never got his job back. Mekhi Becton was splendid, but Tyler Steen started a game last
05:33year. They believe in him, went to a big school and he just kind of goes in the line of how the
05:39Eagles develop offensive linemen. So I would anticipate that they have some pretty good
05:44belief in Tyler Steen and it's his job to lose. Do we agree? Do we disagree? If he doesn't come out
05:49and perform well, they have a former vet, Matt Pryor, who's there. They have Kenyon Green,
05:54Marcus Tate and a couple others as well. So give me your thoughts on Tyler Steen. But
05:58the very intriguing one gets to the defensive side of the ball. And after this, we're going to look
06:04at a few guys that Dave Zangaro of NBC Philly listed as roster bubble guys, pretty much who are
06:10on the verge of making those final spots or getting cut. But on the defensive side, I think the safety
06:17battle is going to be the most intriguing thing as we head into camp because somebody made a good
06:23point about this and I forget who it was. Last year, Quinion Mitchell didn't even get on the field
06:28for a while. Like Vic Fangio was kind of in that traditional mode of, look, let's throw the vets
06:33out there first, see what they can do. Then we'll start to rotate in the young guys. Cooper Dejean was
06:38hurt, right? But once Quinion got on that field, he never stepped off. This year, based on the Eagles
06:44winning the Super Bowl and where they're at with the safety depth, Andrew McCuba in the spring practices
06:50and the OTAs was already running first team. He was getting first team reps. So they draft him in
06:56the second round. He's already on the field. It's not like, you know, we haven't seen him yet. And
07:01Vic's probably going to wait till the preseason games. No, like you're throwing this guy into the
07:05fire and you also got rid of a really talented safety, maybe a hothead in CJ Garner Johnson,
07:11but a damn good all pro safety. So you get rid of that guy and Eagles fans know that whoever steps in
07:18is going to have to make their impact felt right away. Is it going to be Andrew McCuba? Is it going
07:23to be Sidney Brown? I don't think Tristan McCollum is in that mix, but that battle between a former
07:29third round pick who has shown promise at times, never really had the consistency or the opportunities,
07:35I'd say in Sidney Brown versus the guy they invested in this year in the second round to go out and get it
07:41done. Who kind of feels like a mini CJ GJ. So I'm really excited to see what McCuba can do. Can he take
07:48the reins and take that position? That is the most intriguing battle. And the other one
07:52is in the secondary as well. It is the corner. We know they lost Slay and Isaiah Rogers,
07:57Quinjon Mitchell, Cooper Dejean on the inside. Who's going to be the second corner on the outside?
08:03You sign a Dory Jackson, a one-year deal, but Keeley Ringo, former fourth round pick,
08:08Georgia Bulldog, a guy that they had been internally developing for a couple of years,
08:13right? Started some games in 23 and based on the guys that were on the roster, didn't really have
08:18a shot last year, played a little bit of special teams. Keeley Ringo has a chance right now to step
08:23up and make his impact felt and not only win this job, but probably earn himself some money in a year
08:28or two. So if Keeley Ringo can fit that mold, I think the Eagles really have the dominoes in place
08:35here to have a very strong defense, to be one of the top defenses in the league. Again, maybe not as
08:41dominant as last year, but maybe, you know, Zach Bowen said a couple of weeks ago, this team's
08:46already ahead of where they were progression wise last year. The linebacker position is going to be
08:51interesting to see, you know, how the injuries play out with N'Kobe and Jihad Campbell, but you feel
08:56like you have pretty good depth there. And also the edge rusher, right? Can Nolan Smith continue to
09:01develop and be that guy and go for a double digit sack this year? Can Jalix Hunt continue to build on
09:08what he did at the end of last year? These are all things we get to watch play out, but I feel
09:12pretty confident about the team. You know, read Blankenship on a contract year. How will he emerge
09:17as a leader on the defense? Like he already has in years past. What about some of these one-year guys
09:22you brought in a Dory Jackson, Aziz Ojolari? Can they impact the field? I think there is a possibility
09:28where once we get through camp, maybe Harry Roseman saying, you know, we need a little more veteran
09:33presence here or there. We talked about that last week, right? With the edge rushers, but he has the
09:38assets to go out and improve the team. He has the leverage, the draft capital, all that. But what
09:43young guys are going to step up and be most improved? Like who's going to take the bull by the horn? You
09:49know what I'm saying? I love training camp for that reason. And that reason only it makes guys shine.
09:55Like the guys step up and they seize the moment. But lastly, Dave Zangaro highlights some of the roster
10:01bubble players, 15 guys that could make the roster or it could be the final cuts. He has Thomas Booker,
10:08Harrison Bryant, Louis Cine, AJ Dillon, Kylan Granson, Kenyon Green, Pat Johnson, Darian Kennard,
10:17Kendall Lamb, Terrace Marshall, Matt Pryor, Eli Ricks, Dorian Thompson Robinson, Josh Uche,
10:24and Ben Van Sumeren. So I think all those guys are pretty good picks for guys that could be on the
10:30bubble. A few from this list that I think will end up making the roster. I think that one of these
10:36tight ends, whether it's Harrison Bryant or Kylan Granson will be that final tight end. Louis Cine is
10:42a guy that a lot of people like, but, you know, just hasn't really had the opportunity to show it.
10:47I do think AJ Dillon could be a hit or miss, you know, like if he comes out and he's actually healthy,
10:52I think he'd be a nice complimentary power back, even though I know they like Will Shipley a lot.
10:58I think Kenyon Green will make the roster as a depth piece, and I think Terrace Marshall could
11:03end up being that third wide receiver, especially given that this could be Jahan Dotson's last year
11:08with the Eagles. So all of those guys are guys to keep your eyes on. Matt Pryor, former Eagles vet,
11:16right? Eli Ricks has kind of been back and forth over the years, you know, been very close to
11:20being cut, but they've kept them around for a reason. The quarterback situation. So there's a lot
11:25of interesting things. We will get an idea before the preseason of what this roster and
11:30this depth chart is going to look like. Eagles football is back. I am so excited from going to
11:37the Super Bowl parade and just feeling the energy and the ambition in this city and the hype around
11:44the Eagles, because let's be honest, they are carrying this city right now. What do you want
11:48to see happen? Give me your thoughts. Appreciate y'all for tapping in. Be sure to like, comment,
11:52and subscribe. And as always, I will catch you on the next one.