Go birds! What's going on everybody and good morning. Today is Friday, April 10th and this is your daily Go Birds morning update giving you all the Eagles news you need to know as well as what to keep an eye out for today. And I have some pep in my step today. I sound like I'm in a good mood but man what a rough day for Philly Sports on Thursdays. We get the news that Joellen Bied is having an appendicitis, an emergency appendicitis, getting his appendix taken out and man, seems like the six-year season comes to an end. So it's sunny outside but very sad in Sixersland, very sad in Philly's land. And I actually have a take about that that I'm going to get into later in the pod. But the only good news is it is Friday so the weekend is here. It's going to be a sunny weekend. Your boy is going away for a few days but don't you worry, got a ton of pods coming up for you including one today that you have absolutely got to listen to. I know it can be a lot of stuff in the feed, a lot of draft stuff, I get it. But I had Devon Jackson or the Philadelphia Inquirer on to talk about the offensive tackle prospects and if you are, and I say this lovingly, a draft nerd, you are going to love it. Like his ability to talk about the offensive tackles, I learned so much from doing it. You can just tell that he is, I think he's one of the next great draft guys to talk in Philly. And so it was very lucky to have him on. So that will be in the feed later today. So big day for the draft series, the On the Clock Go Bird series because offensive tackles a critical position for the Eagles in this draft. So outside of the devastating Sixers news, there was not a lot from the Eagles on Thursday. So if you kind of checked out on Thursday, paid attention to the Phillies, paid attention to the Sixers, you didn't miss much. But my job is to inform you on everything you might have missed. So one of the big stories or nuggets that came out on Thursday was related to the Eagles and the idea from the NFL insiders that they might move up in the draft for a receiver. So this is according to Jordan Reed of ESPN, another great draft analysis. And there was this article they did and it was like what they're hearing, right? And Jordan Reed wrote that the Eagles could be aggressive in trading up for a wide receiver. And he said to player to watch Jordan Tyson out of Arizona State, Jordan Reed writes, quote, Jordan Tyson is a player to watch as he could still be on the board in the 17 to 20 range. Howie Roseman is notorious for drafting replacements for veterans a year in advance, end quote. So wouldn't really be a year in advance because AJ Brown is going to be traded. It'll just be a matter of when. But what it does do is he's right. How he's going to be aggressive in going up to get a number one receiver. I think that is going to be the target. I know like we always talk about him taking offensive linemen and I do think he would be open to it at number 23. But how he has shown time and time again, he drafts guys that are going to get on the field right away. And there's just no way that an offensive lineman, unless you play him at guard, is going to have a clear path to get on the field. So I do think receiver would be the odds on favorite to be drafted. Now, the question is, is that player Jordan Tyson? So if you haven't been listening to the pod recently, we've actually talked about him quite a bit for just in case there's someone that hasn't though. Jordan Tyson for me is a five emoji player. Unfortunately, one of those emojis is the ambulance emoji. He's just 21 and a half years old, six to 200 pounds. So tall, but very skinny, 18 touchdowns over the past two years, 136 catches just under 2000 yards. Hasn't run a 40 because, you know, he just hasn't run it yet, but he's having a pro day soon, which we'll talk about in a second. So when I watched him, what I really liked about him was great size, extremely explosive. You look at some of the scouting reports on him says he needs to work on his route running and release, which I don't love. That's a concern. And there's an injury history, ACL, MCL, PCL injury in 2022, fractured collarbone and hamstring problem. So this is a prospect that is hard to have like a firm opinion on, right? So one hand you watch him and man is he special to watch like multiple wow plays, goes up and gets the ball, wins down the sideline, diving catches over the shoulder catches. I thought track the ball well in the air, which is a skill to have. I think a lot of time these receivers that are fast, you say to yourself, OK, well, they're fast. That's all the matters. We'll get down the field. No, like you have to be able to track the ball. He's got one wide receiver, one height. He's got wide receiver, one potential. Definitely needs to put on some muscle, but he has the wow factor and the special factor as a as a player. The obvious concern is the injury history. He hasn't had a pro day yet. He's having that next week. So this is according to Adam Schefter, wide receiver Jordan Tyson, a projected first round pick will hold his own individual workout day for NFL teams on Friday, April 17th at Arizona State. So for me, this is a bit of a red flag. To do this right before the draft tells me he doesn't like what he's hearing about where he might go. So while Jordan Reese says they would move up for him, you wonder if he'll just be there at number 23. Because why would he need to have his own pro day a week before the draft if he feels confident about where he's going or if he's hearing good things? So there's a lot of concerns there. Now, if he's sitting there at 23, maybe the Eagles can trade back and get him. I mean, you know, trading up seems kind of crazy. But I do like the player. Like I really do. Just the concern is that with the injury history, with the late pro day or workout for NFL teams, like it just is looking more and more like maybe he wouldn't be a good option at number 23. If he somehow is there at 54, like you talk about it, because on one hand you go, how could this guy still be here? On the other hand, the Eagles history of taking guys with injury concerns is pretty hit or miss, right? Like Landon Dickerson has played well for them. He was a guy that had injury concerns. He's been an all pro. He's been a pro bowl. He's helped them make two Super Bowls win one. He also might retire early. Nicoby Dean played really well when he was on the field, but he didn't get a second contract with the team and missed a fair amount of time. Sidney Jones never really played at all, right? Nolan Smith has been on and off the field. He fell because of injury concern. Like we sit here and say, you know, like Eagles are willing to take chances on players with injuries. The results have not always been great in terms of how that's played out. So I love Jordan Tyson as a player. I disagree with Jordan Reed that they would try to move up for him. If you're having this pro day right, right before you're probably not loving what you're hearing. But I do think they want to take a wide receiver. Again, I think Denzel Boston is a really good choice for them. Would they move up for Cornell Tate? That's an interesting one. But those are the three that I see as potential options for them in the first round. I don't really, Mackay Lemon doesn't seem like a fit for me, which of course means they'll probably draft them. All right. The other piece of Eagles draft news that has come out is that Isaiah World, the offensive tackle out of Oregon is visiting the Eagles. And this is according to Field Yates, who writes, quote, Oregon left tackle. Isaiah World is visiting with the Eagles today after previously visiting with the Chargers. World spent his final college season with the Ducks after four seasons at Nevada. He suffered an ACL tear in Oregon's playoff game versus Indiana, but is on track to be ready to return to action by late October. End quote. So Isaiah World, 22 and a half years old, six, six, three hundred and twenty three pounds. Forty games at left tackle, nine games at right tackle. So he's played on both sides in the scouting report, according to NFL dot com. Quote, big, long tackle with heavy hands, but sloppy technique that limits his consistency. World is a high character player who did a decent job of working around his limitations during his college career. His first contact, his first contact, whether engaging run blocks or throwing his punch is firm and purposeful. Elements of his run blocking will translate to the league, despite an elevated pad level. But his past protection is filled with holes and requires immediate attention. If he can cut back on quick losses, World has a chance to become an average swing tackle. End quote. So a lot to be concerned about there. Didn't have a good year. Tour is ACL might not play until October and November. Now, a top 30 visit can mean a lot of things. A lot of times it can be medical or not a lot of times, but, you know, a decent amount of times it can be medical. I would think with this, that's the case, right? But you like that he's six, six. You like that he's not even 23 yet. You like these played both sides of the line. But, you know, with him and Jordan Tyson, it's like, how big of a injury risk are they going to be willing to take here? And it's also a little bit of like, how much are the expecting these guys to contribute right away? You know, like, are the Eagles looking at 2026 with these draft picks and saying we need them to contribute? Because oftentimes you look at the team and go, there's just no way for them to play. That's not true this year. Like if AJ is gone, backup tight ends could definitely play on defense. There's two safety spots, arguably open. And one, if you assume a Cuba will start in one of the spots. I think at edge, there's plenty of snaps to be one at linebacker. You know, you'll go with Jihad and Bond, but there's those third potential snaps. We'll see what happens with Jeremiah Trotter, Jr. and Smile Mondan. So, you know, I do think that there's snaps to be one here. And are they going to draft players that are going to play right away? Or are they going to take players with injury history where they're going to try to find steals? Like, is Isaiah World a late round pick, a steal because of his torn ACL? Or is he someone that they're going to draft and just won't be the same after the injury? Is Jordan Tyson a potential steal because of the injury concern? Are those concerns a concern for a reason? So that's a tough part about being a GM. That's a tough part for Howie. And he's going to have to make some of those decisions. So on the other side, as I mentioned, it was a rough day in Philly sports on Thursday. So we're going to talk about that. And of course, since I view everything this way, we'll talk about it through the Eagles lens. So that'll be on the other side. But first, a word from our sponsors. OK, so tough day in Philly sports on Thursday. Now, you might be sitting there and saying you never believed in the Sixers. And man, I'm going to have to get fliers that fliered up, right? Like, I'm excited about the fliers. I really am. It's, you know, not been oftentimes in my like adult lifetime that they've been relevant or good. And it's exciting to see a good hockey team. So the fliers remain and I will say I'm recording this before the game on Thursday, but the fliers remain a bright spot in the city right now. And things sure do change quickly, right? And this is my take. I want to talk to you guys about with this about knowing when it's over and realizing when changes needed. So the news that came out on Thursday was that Joellen Bied is having an emergency. I don't know if they use a word emergency, but actually Joellen Bied has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergrow surgery Thursday afternoon in Houston. So the first thing is obviously for the person, you feel awful for Joellen. And we just spent the first part of the pod talking about injured players coming into the draft and risk you're willing to take on them, right? So Joellen Bied, obviously a major medical risk in the NBA draft. Was it 13 years ago now? It's been a while since they drafted him. So big injury concern going into the draft. The Sixers took a chance on him. For the most part, I would say it's worked out, right? Joellen has become one of the better players in NBA history. He is a Hall of Famer. He is an unbelievable player when healthy. The key word there is being when healthy, right? So while you can look at Joellen's career and it's not over yet, right? I didn't think Joellen would play at this high level the season, but he did. He played at a high level when he was out there. But when you look at his career for as many games as he was unbelievable, one of the best scoring centers of all time, he's just never been able to stay healthy. Now, this is one where you obviously can't look at and go like he's injury prone. It's just unfortunate, right? He has appendicitis. You know, that's not like having a bad hamstring coming into the draft. But his knee problems, things like that, he's just had trouble staying healthy. So the Sixers now and really this time last year, we're faced with a decision. And this season is probably over. Like, could they make the playoffs? Could they go on a run? Like, you never say never, but that's really the only reason to have hope, right? They'll get a chance to see Maxi in some big games. VJ seems like he has a bright future, but they're just realistically not going to go on a playoff run. So the season is pretty much over. And the Sixers had a choice last year, right? Or even the year before, but especially like in the past year or two, they've had a choice. Did they want to double down on a core that has not gone out of the second round? Or did they want to start over? And I think to a lot of people in Philadelphia, it was obvious that it was over, right? And they decided to stick with it. They were not proactive in moving on. They didn't trade Joelle before people said they should have. They didn't not sign Paul George, right? Like they, they kept trying to win with this core and it's not worked out and it's not going to work out this year. And as a result of doubling down on a bad core, they've lost fans, they've lost fan interest, and they just haven't won anything of note. And it's unfortunate because I grew up like the Sixers were were my favorite team, like of all four. Like I was a basketball guy. I feel like everyone jokes about like I say it all the time. I was an Iverson guy, right? So like I hate that the Sixers have become what they've become. But the reason is they had a chance to move on and they didn't. They doubled down on a bad situation. The Phillies are going through something similar. The Phillies are off to a bad start. Their offense looks exactly like it did last year. And after last year, they had a chance to either move on or double down. They re-signed Schwabber. They re-signed Real Muto. Boom was the clean up hitter on opening day. Stott was in the lineup. Like they didn't move on from Bryce. They weren't proactive in moving on from any of the court. So you look at the Phillies and go, they are entering Sixers territory where people are not going to care as much. Then the season could get bad like it did last year for the Sixers or like it did this year for the Sixers. And so I look at this through an Eagles lens and I say the Sixers had a chance to move on early and they didn't. They weren't proactive. The Eagles had the Phillies had a chance to move on from players early and be proactive and they weren't. So how does this apply to the Eagles? Well, the Eagles are entering a critical season. A critical season. They need to see the passing game be better. They obviously, whether you think it or I think it, whatever, feel like Jalen needs to be better. There's the AJ part of it. There's some of the offensive linemen. They have a lot of people on the team that it could be bad quick. Like it got bad for Joel quick. It got bad for the Phillies quick. It got bad for the Sixers quick. Like all of a sudden it was over when people saw it coming. They didn't they didn't move on and then it was over. So the Eagles in the next year are going to have to make some decisions, right? Like on the offensive line, do they want to trust Landon Dickerson after the season? Do they want to trust Cam Jerrigan's after the season? Would they welcome Lane Johnson back for another season if he misses a bunch of games? And then with Jalen, right? Like if Jalen doesn't have a year that they like, would they be proactive and move on from Jalen or would they double down again and say, you know what? We believe in Jalen. He's going to he's going to bounce back from, let's say, as a bad 2026. So as I watched the news about Joel came out, it just made me think about how things change quickly in sports, right? And windows close quickly. And the Eagles window has been so good to Super Bowls winning a Super Bowl, winning double digit games, being in the playoffs all the time. And man, it can change quickly. And I hope that's not the case with the Eagles. But one thing they have to do is be proactive. If the offensive line looks old again, they can't run it back just because of the contracts. If the passing game is bad and Jalen can't run the new offense, they have to really ask themselves, like, are we going to move forward with them? Are we going to give them another contract? If Seyquan, you know, is, it doesn't have a great year. Are they going to pay him again? And then there's the AJ Brown of it. Like, I know AJ is going to be traded. I think that's what's going to happen. But there's also with the AJ thing, an argument of getting ahead of it, right? Like, what if they don't trade AJ in a year? He doesn't have a great year and his value is even worse. So I think the worst thing you can be in sports is too late to move on. And the Eagles don't need to move on from anyone right now. I understand bringing back Landon, Cam and Lane. I understand giving Jalen a chance to run this offense. I understand bringing Seyquan back. Like those all make sense, right? But I do think that you have to be proactive. The Sixers weren't proactive. The Phillies weren't proactive. And the Eagles are going to have a situation now where they're going to have to decide if they want to be proactive or if they want to double down on this court. And they're doing it to an extent of running it back, like with how he's saying, you know, like how he and Nick getting asked questions about why would it be different with the same players? Well, those were the questions about the Phillies players. Those were questions about the Sixers players. And we saw how that turned out. So hopefully it's better for the Eagles. Hopefully this isn't the beginning of the end. But maybe it's because it was a bad day on sports on Thursday. But man, you just sit there and you go, things change quickly and end quickly. And it's the teams that are proactive about it that don't go through long spells. And the Eagles are kind of facing a tough situation in that regard and will be over the next year. All right, that'll do it for today's Daily Podcast. As always, thank you guys so much for listening. Until next time, he's Elliot. I'm James. Talk to you guys later.
