THE KENNY MOORE EMERGENCY POD

What's going on, everybody, and good afternoon. It is an emergency podcast. Our second emergency podcast in about 12 hours is Howie Roseman having a very active first few days since that big win over the Tennessee Titans. First they signed Zach Ertz on Monday, and now they've added to the defense. Signing defensive back Kenny Moore. I'm in studio, a rare in studio emergency pod. Tucker was here, so I figured why not bring him on. What up, buddy? Yeah, I'm excited. The Eagles and Howie Roseman working around our schedule. No late night signings, no early morning signings. I'm not taking James Knapp into consideration, of course. Poor little James just sleeping away unaware. Should I text in the group chat emergency pod and see how long until he responds? Let's see if he responds during the pod. That will be fun. I'll be excited to see what he thinks it is. Yeah, that's true. You know the outcomes running around in his head. Well, I was driving into the studio and I get a text from you like, so I'd already sent you some of the pod for tomorrow. And you're like, do you want to switch it up? And I immediately knew it was Kenny Moore. I was like, because I saw a tweet earlier. So anyway, they signed Kenny Moore, defensive back Kenny Moore, key term there, because the question is going to be, where is he going to play? First, let's talk about Kenny Moore as a player. He's been a very good player for the Indianapolis Colts, has been predominantly a nickel throughout his career. You texted me some of the snap counts here. Shout out to you for finding that might drive in. He has 5,000 or almost 5,000 career snaps in the slot. That's predominantly where he has played. Has played a fair amount outside, 1,600. That's not nothing. And most of that's early in his career. Most of that early in his career. So he's been a nickel, the vast majority of his career. Has only played for the Colts, right? I'm correct in saying that. Only played for the Colts. How old is he? He came into the league in 2017. Okay, so he's 32. Young 30s, yeah. He has played in the box quite a bit, that obviously probably has to do a lot with the fact he's a nickel. 944 snaps in the box. Only 58 career snaps at safety. And that last position is the one we're going to talk about because I think we would both agree, and I think everyone listening would agree, that if you look at the Eagles defense right now, they've gotten good play from the outside corners. I think pretty good play from the front seven. I know there's some, you know, kind of- They only have three sacks, but if you look at pressure rate, I think they're like 12th in the NFL. Agreed. And if you look at just like where players rank individually, Jalen Carter, Moro Jomo up there in defensive tackle pressures, Nolan Smith up there in edge pressures. Even though Jalex Hunt isn't really up there in pressures, I rewatched every snap of his yesterday, preparing for the Jalex Hunt show. And I still think he's getting to the quarterback. He just has to finish plays when- I thought he might have been their best edge rusher on Sunday. I'll tell him you said that in the next Jalex Hunt show. I can tell him I'm also there. That's a good point. Actually, you could. Yeah. I'll say, hey, Tucker over there. He thought you were the best edge. You can just wave. But anyway, so the front seven, I think, some pretty good. It's really just the safeties. I think particularly Marcus Epps had an especially bad game against the Titan. Seems like he gets jumped over every week, which is not a good thing. No, it's not. Not a good strategy as a safety. So Mike Garofalo, I believe it was, tweeted out that he plans on playing safety for the Eagles, did throw in there that he could play nickel. So my initial thought on it is this. It feels a lot like the Michael Carter trade from last year. If you remember when they brought Michael Carter in, he had predominantly played nickel. They moved him to safety. When they acquired him, it was position versatility. He can do different things. You can put him out there in different packages. The contract is worth up to $3 million. I would guess the up to is doing a lot of work there. So it's not like nothing, right? And he's initially signing to the practice squad, I believe. So bad week to be the practice squad. Here's what I was thinking though. So the new locker room, the way it's set up, it's like the normal kind of locker room they had, they basically knocked down the back wall and put 20 lockers back there, which are all practice squad lockers. It would be objectively hilarious if I got in there on Thursday and Zachary's locker was all the way in the back with the practice squad. That would be tough. I don't think they would do it to them, but they could in theory. They did announce that he's getting 86 back. Oh, did they? Yeah. Xavier Gibson is moving to 47. Is he really doing 47? Yeah. That's hysterical because that's the number I've been using. I know. That's why I thought it was over. That is. Yeah. All right. Kenny Moore, let's lock in on the Kenny Moore emergency part of the pod. My guess is, like I said, Michael Carter, they had him practice at safety last year. They moved him there almost right away, but he has experience at Nickel. I think we're looking at a situation here where Cooper Dejean, my initial thought was about Cooper with this and it's twofold. Yours was actually different than mine. I'll say what mine is. I wonder if this has to do with Cooper Dejean's health a little bit. Got out of the last game pretty clean, but said he didn't know how long that abdomen injury was going to bother him. That's one thing I think they consider here. Kenny Moore could fill in for Cooper Dejean at Nickel if he were to miss time. He could fill in for Cooper Dejean at Base Safety in Theory. You could put Michael Carter there. Then you combine with the fact that Andrew MacCuba has a knee injury. Marcus Epps isn't playing that well. I think that's what this is all about. Yeah, I think it's a really interesting signing because like you mentioned, it reminds a lot of what they did with Michael Carter last year. Michael Carter is still here. If you're looking for someone to be like Michael Carter, like Michael Carter is still here. He's only played like seven snaps this year, eight snaps this year. If you look at the spots that Kenny Moore might fit, Andrew MacCuba, I think he's pretty much locked in, like you're not moving him. You're not going to move him. I think he's played pretty well. He has played well. I think 31-year-old Marcus Epps is the issue who was probably cooked when the Eagles signed him off the trash heap a year ago, and now he went into week one as you're starting safety. I do think he played decent last year. Yeah, he was fine. I would agree with Cook. Now, he's not played well the first two games this year, but I thought last year he played pretty well. But there was a reason why he was out there, and the Raiders gave up on him. You probably could have cut him at the 53 and put him on the practice squad. I don't think the Marcus Epps that was here in 2022 was not the same player that he currently is four years later. You look like the two spots that he would fit are either taking Marcus Epps' job or taking over in the nickel. And maybe if he's doing that, is Cooper DeGene either one hurt or is he moving to safety? Because he has spent a lot of time at safety in practice. We've seen it in base set up starting seven and seven and 11 on 11, where it's been him and McCuba back there, him and Epps back there. I just think it's interesting, like, sure, maybe Kenny Moore is going to play safety. But, you know, you read the snap count. The guy has almost 5,000 snaps of experience. And I don't know if I were a GM calling a guy who's done something 5,000 times. I'm usually calling him to do that. So I think some interesting dynamics here, and we'll try to get the answers in the next few days, is like how much interest in Kenny Moore have? Did he have a bunch of different options in the up to three million again? Like, I don't think he's going to get that full three million. But let's say he's getting two million. Let's say he's getting two point two million. Kenny Moore to me strikes me as somebody that is signing to play. I don't think Kenny Moore is coming in here with the idea of you'll be active on Sundays, and if someone gets hurt, maybe you'll play in some base packages. Like, Zach Gertz is coming here to play. Now, Zach Gertz is not going to play as much as you would think Kenny Moore will. But Zach Gertz is not just some rando they're signing on the street. Kenny Moore is not some rando they're signing off the street either. So I do think he's probably, if he had other options, I thought I saw a report that the Lions had some interest in him. If he had other options, then he's coming here with some type of, he got a pitch on why he should come here. I would imagine that includes a key part of the pitch is you're going to play. So I think moving Cooper to safety full-time would make some sense in two ways. One, I think he can be good at it, right? But two, from Cooper's perspective, it's a good way to pay him more money. If you're on Cooper Dejean's agency, if you're like his agent, you're saying, yeah man, I would move to safety. Because if you go to safety and you play well, you can make an argument for the top paid safety in the NFL. And that's like a top five or six corner in the NFL. Now, I think they're going to pay Cooper no matter what. I'd be surprised if those are tense negotiations. I think they'll probably pretty clearly and easily pay him, but it is easier to pay him as a safety. So I think moving Cooper to safety full time, it like solves that position for the next few years, right? Now, I do know that like looking at the defense and all the money they're spending, they don't want to spend a lot of money at safety. So I know how that would factor in with Cooper. If you put Kenny Moore at his natural position, Cooper's been practicing at safety, I think that's probably a better secondary than Cooper at nickel and Marcus Epps at safety. But also like Vic Fangio has been pretty clear, he likes Cooper at nickel. Yeah. I think maybe Cooper Dejean's biggest quality is just his versatility. The ability to move him all around the defensive backfield, not just safety and corner, but he's really good tackler, he's good against the run, can come up and play in the box. And yeah, I just I wonder if signing someone like Kenny Moore to kind of solidify the nickel more where he can just be more of a free roaming player. No pun intended. Yeah. You're right about that. Yeah. Go ahead. Anyway. But if you allow him to be more versatile, allow him to kind of follow the ball around, I think it opens up a lot more for him to be a natural playmaker. So the other thing to consider is this, is Cooper hasn't been that hot the first two games, right? He's not played that well. He had the first game where he won. We do have a corresponding move, by the way. Do we? On the practice squad? Yeah. Robert Longerbeam? Gone? He was on the practice squad. Did they announce the move? Tim McManus said the Eagles are said to be losing. Robert Longerbeam. Shout out to Tim. Shout out to Robert Longerbeam. Said to be losing. I wonder actually if he got signed away. And that's why he's saying that. That sounds better. Yeah, it certainly does as opposed to being cut. But I mean, Cooper's not been awesome the first two games. He certainly wasn't good in the first game. You wonder if with the injury, they don't want him doing as much like one on one coverage, which he obviously doesn't nickel. But you said his strength was versatility. And I think that is true overall. Maybe there's like a different bucket of strength. But I think Cooper is at his best against the run in the box. That's where I think Cooper makes the biggest plays. He's a short tackler, he's a physical tackler. I don't know if that's Kenny Moore. And if you're Vic and you have that presence of Cooper in the box, I know you can be an in the box safety, you can have him charge down from the safety spot. But I think losing Cooper in the box, especially when you're about to go against a Chicago team, that is very good against a run. I know this is a short sighted way to look at it. But you're going up against probably a backup quarterback in Chicago. Chicago is going to want to run the ball. I do think having Cooper in the box to be a run defender will be big against Chicago. Yeah, and you look at his pro football focus grades. He's one of the best run defenders from a secondary position. And you're right, he really struggled against Stefan Diggs, which I mean, Stefan Diggs in 2026 probably isn't Stefan Diggs of 2020. I also think it's funny we've gotten to this thing with Cooper where it's like, everyone accepts he struggles against good route runners. Yeah, that seems like a problem. Especially when he says it like it's no big deal. Like, yeah, he's a type of player that gives Cooper trouble because he's good at running routes. I'm like, well, that doesn't seem ideal. No, and I don't know. I don't know if it's telling or not that they weren't that eager to let him play outside corner again this year. They were they were fine, which, like, I think, recall and is an upgrade over him. And but, you know, it's kind of another point where they're saying, you know, we don't necessarily want him isolated on the outside, especially in base defense. Let's put him in a position where he can kind of roam around. And I don't like I don't think it's like they're hiding Cooper Deschene, right? Like they're not trying to mask his. I don't think so either. I don't think so either. But but I think it's putting him in a better position to be successful. Yeah. And so the other thing I would say about this is we talked about a little bit on the pod earlier in the day with James, like the fact they're signing Zach Gertz, I know Goddard got hurt, but the fact they're signing Zach Gertz speaks to the fact he didn't have a good off season at tight end, right? EJ. Jenkins made the roster. Like they did not have a good off season. You're a big EJ. Jenkins guy. I am, but I also diminish him on the same time. I really go back and forth. On one hand, I'm like, people should be excited. On the other hand, I'm like, it's a little embarrassing. He's on the team. But safety, you could say the same thing. Now, they're 2-0. Defense has played well. No harm, no foul to a certain degree. But the fact they're bringing him in and if it's not Cooper injury related, you know, look at what they did at safety, right? We spent so much of the off season saying they're going to make a move. And they never did, right? They just did Marcus Epps, Andrew McCuba, Michael Carter. Those were their safeties. They draft Cole Wisniewski, doesn't even make the team. I think he's on the practice squad, but doesn't make to 53. So I think bringing Kenny Moore, look, maybe Kenny Moore just didn't want to partake in training camp. That could have been part of it. It's not like they're giving him a ton of money. But this week, they've had to make a move at tight end and make a move at safety because Howie didn't have good off seasons at either of those positions. Yeah, and I guess you can credit Howie for getting ahead of this, right? Their 2-0 positions haven't necessarily cost them a winner or anything, so you are getting ahead of it. Almost did against Titans though. That is true. Marcus Epps tackling was an issue. Yeah. Well, it is fun. His whole thing is just human hurdle. I know. I think we underestimate how crazy it is when someone jumps over someone else. I've stood next to Marcus Epps to be able to jump over him. I know he's, you know, he's bending over somewhat, but like still, I'm not that tall. Yeah, you're not. You're not. That's all. I was going to say average. But like I can't imagine someone jumping over me. Like if someone jumped over me in athletic competition, like I'll probably just leave. I think I would also just be like, you win whatever the competition. Like the game's over. Like I'll just go. But in dunk contest, I don't find it very impressive when they jump over each other anymore just because it's like they've done it. That is true. Yeah. But anyway, when Marcus Epps, I think look, I think Kenny Moore is coming here to start. I think Kenny Moore is going to play Snaps. And he's coming here to play. He's not coming here to be on the practice. And for what it's worth, they traded for Michael Carter. Like Michael Carter didn't play a lot last year, but they also traded for him. He didn't elect to come here. So yeah, I think Kenny Moore is going to play. I think it'll probably be at safety, like Garifalo said. And it honestly wouldn't completely shock me. Well, the way Vic does things, he's probably not going to this week at Chicago, but against the Rams, against the Jags, like it wouldn't shock me if Kenny Moore starting there. No, I just think this defensive backfill probably needs a little more depth because you mentioned, like, you got Maccuba, you got Epps, you got Dejean. Jonathan Jones. And Jonathan Jones, who I think people even really forget is even here. Honestly, not that too dissimilar from Kenny Moore. No, he's like an 11-year vet or 10-year vet. Yeah, that's played predominantly nickel. He's been around for a really long time. He's played outside too, but mostly nickel. But yeah, mostly on the inside. So, I don't know, it's an interesting move because it's a big name. And I don't know, they just signed a more unheralded younger guy just to the practice squad today. I don't think anything would be worth mentioning. Just, hey, it's another warm body on the back end of the depth chart. But the fact that it's Kenny Moore makes me think that he is going to have a role in this defense and probably sooner rather than later. Yeah, agreed. So, the Eagles don't practice. We're recording this on a Tuesday. They don't practice on Wednesday as they normally do. They won't hit the field until Thursday. So Thursday will be a big day. We get to hear from Ertz. We get to hear from Kenny Moore. And we'll see what they do, what number. So Kenny Moore wore 23 with the Colts. Who is 23 right now in the Eagles? Is it Ertz? No, Ertz is 29. No, he's 29. He was 22 his first time. Mack McWilliams is 22, I believe. Mack McWilliams, by the way, also didn't bring him up. He can play nickel. So they do have a lot of little body, versatile players there. He did wear 42, his rookie year. All right. Is there a 23? And if so, let me try to guess it. All right. Let me look. Hold on. So 23. It's not a running back. Is it a, I mean, it have to be a corner safety. I don't know. It's someone on the IR. It is a cornerback, though. Someone on IR and it is a cornerback on the IR. So they put them on IR, injured reserve. IR. I don't know who. Jacory and Bennett. Oh, well, they'll take that from them. Although, yeah, I'm sure they'll take that. 21 looks to be available. That can't be. 21 is a great number. Is it retired? No, it might be a practice squad guy. I don't know if this has practice squad guys. Are you on the Eagles website? No, I'm on pro football reference. That's a random way to do it. Well, I was already on their website. So that's why I figured I'd go to the Eagles website. This is phenomenal podcasting, emergency podcasting. I wasn't expecting to talk about the Eagles jersey numbers. This is what it sounds like in the office for anyone that's ever wondered. Do you like having someone else to do an emergency pod with? It's helpful. Yeah, especially because otherwise, it would just be quiet noise while you're typing. Well, trust me, I can't tell you how many times in the daily pod, I'm Googling things while I'm talking. I was driving in when it happened, and I was happy you were able to hop in with all the snap counts. Oh, your boy, Cole Wisniewski, where's 21? Sorry, Cole. I think they could take that from him. So I think Kenny Moore will take 23 from Jacory, and I don't think he'll go 42 or whatever. No, well, smile, Mondon, where's 42? He's played, so actually, I don't think you can take it from him. So, or it will get 86 back, Kenny Moore will get 23 back, and Howie will pray that these moves are the moves he needs to make to go help the team. I'm excited for the Super Bowl video where they talk about Howie calling on an old friend and Zach Ertz to really shore up the offense. Will Ertz cry in his first Eagles game? It has to be like somewhat minus money. He's a pretty emotional guy. Remember when he cried when he left? Oh, he did. I think it would be a good bet. Maybe I'll try to get him to do it. If he showed up with his hair dyed blonde. That would be funny. Right? Shorts inside out, just do it. I might ask him about that, but looking back at that, like the dyed hair, the inside out shorts. Or would it be funny if you pretend like you haven't seen him since? It's like, what happened to your blonde hair? That would be good. Yeah. When did you change your hair? It's like almost immediately. All right. That'll do it for the emergency pod. Thank you guys, everybody, for listening. He's Eliot. I'm James. He's Tucker. Talk to you guys later. Go Birds!