👋 Good morning! How about Boyertown native Trey Yesavage?

12 strikeouts against the vaunted Dodgers to give the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead in the Fall Classic. Amazing stuff. And of course Cousin Jeff shut it down, NBD.

You know what is a big deal, though? Righteous Felon Craft Jerky.

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I have been slacking a little on the Birds coverage, so with nobody else in action last night, it was the perfect time to get caught up. As always, you can reach me at [email protected]

Trader Howie, at it again: In my fantasy football leagues, I am the worst. Not because my teams are bad (average, thank you very much), but I just never make trades for whatever reason. I am the Cincinnati Bengals of fantasy football in that regard. Not something I am proud of.

I am so happy that Howie Roseman has the complete opposite approach. Not only has Howie put together some excellent rosters, but this type of wheeling and dealing is good for us in the #content biz. The man is always jonesing for his next trade like Tyrone Biggums.

Seriously, remember when we talked about The John Metchie III Trade? We got 8,700 views on that emergency pod! Well, after 31 unforgettable offensive snaps for the dirty work wide receiver, he is headed up the turnpike and we have another emergency pod for the people. Keep doing your work, Mr. Roseman. The trade:

A 6 for a 7, but also a II for a III. Depends on how you look at it.

Upon seeing this move, I had two questions pop into my head:

Michael Carter II is a slot corner. Carter has played a lot of ball since entering the league in 2021, but hat tip to The Professor for looking it up, only 1.8 percent of those snaps have come on the outside. He is 5-foot-10, 184 pounds. Fran said, “The best version of Carter is the best version of Avonte Maddox.”

Well, to answer Question No. 2, the best version of Avonte Maddox was pretty darn physical. Bo felt this is a move that gives the Eagles more optionality. Basically, if The Ringo-Jackson-Bennett Triumvirate of Sadness all falter, then you can in theory bump Coop outside and play Carter in the slot. That is a card that Uncle Vic has been understandably hesitant to play, because Coop is a game-changer in the slot, but maybe now he can. And frankly, if we are framing it as, “If Ringo-Bennett-Jackson fails…” well, Tha Carter II is probably gonna get his shot.

And he apparently really wanted a shot in Philly, waiving next year’s injury guarantee.

Taken from Fran’s film review pod (must-watch), but also some other places.

(1) Hey, a screen pass! Channel your inner Big Red, Kevin Patullo.

Fran broke it down here, and yes, the running back screen to Saquon Barkley was shocking. Very basic play, but really something Jalen Hurts has almost never done. That said, if teams are gonna sit in these two-high defenses, getting the ball to Saquon in space via the screen seems like a good option.

You know who had an awesome block on that screen…

(2) Brett Toth, who might be a center if he can snap the ball. The combo block with Landon Dickerson on the long Saquon Barkley touchdown? Perfect. But the block on the screen, which involved him getting parallel down the line? 👨‍🍳💋. Great game for Toth, and as we learned in The Early Bird, it seemed like his teammates were really pumped for him. Makes sense, good guy with a good backstory who has been here for a while.

But also, maybe the Eagles should run some of that stuff when their extremely mobile starting center gets back in the fold. And speaking of that screen…

(3) Jalen Hurts leaving his comfort zone seems like a good thing: The screen is one example, but the under-center stuff is another. For a long time, the book on Jalen was that he did not prefer to do that stuff.

Well, not anymore apparently. I loved this quote from Kevin Patullo (a first on the season!) when asked about Hurts going under-center.

(4) DeVonta Smith, WR1. I am not here to throw shade at A.J. Brown or say that the offense was better without him. It certainly seemed to be called better without A.J., but it does not have to be that way. But I did want to point out that DeVonta Smith looked very No. 1 Receiver-y in this one.

Incredibly crisp route running, which is obviously par for the course from DeVonta. Just miles of separation on this play.

I thought it was interesting that EJ said DeVonta could be “as productive, if not more productive” in Puka Nacua’s role in Los Angeles. DeVonta is currently eighth in yards per route run for receivers who have run at least 100 routes, while Puka is second. Then again, Puka has the play-caller advantage and has a target advantage.

Anyway, DeVonta rocks and Eagles fans are lucky to watch him. And as Baldy pointed out on Cuz’s show, he also did the dirty work.

I will leave the scattered defensive thoughts for tomorrow, particularly the Nakobe-Jihaad dynamic. It is a bye week, after all! No game preview necessary.

On a day off for the Flyers show, never a bad day to catch up on our awesome Flyers coverage: Charlie on Flyers-Pens and Maddie on The Week in Phantoms…

One Sixers video for the day: Apparently the guy in the pink Jordan Poole jersey was heckling the Sixers all game. Considering how much the Sixers all rubbed it in on him after the comeback, this guy must have been the best heckler in the nation’s capital since Robin Ficker.

Two Sixers videos for the day: OK, I lied, one more. Charles Barkley, national treasure.

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RIP Pierre Robert and Harry Donahue, two Philadelphia broadcasting legends.

The Flyers are back in action tonight, another home game… this time against the Nashville Predators (7:00 p.m., NBC Sports Philly). You ever heard of a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (goal, assist, fight)? Well, I am looking for a Trevor Zegras Hat Trick (insane assist, pest on-ice behavior, chill off-ice behavior).

And at The Linc, Coach Vick’s Norfolk State Spartans take on Coach Jackson’s Delaware State Hornets. The new episode of House of Action is here.

Your tentative Thursday schedule at ​PHLY​:

Let’s make it a good one.

Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS