Why Brown expects DeVonta Smith to ‘dominate’ in 2022

[time2rock]

Why Brown expects DeVonta Smith to ‘dominate’ in 2022

 

The addition of A.J. Brown should really help the Eagles’ passing game this season.

It ought to help DeVonta Smith too.

"In my opinion, Smitty is a wide receiver 1 and he’s going against a cornerback No. 2,” Brown said on Friday. "I expect Smitty to dominate.”

Brown is a former Pro Bowler, an established No. 1 receiver in the NFL, and he’s going to garner attention. A lot of times, that means Eagles’ opponents are going to put their best cornerback on him this upcoming season. That was the treatment Smith received in his rookie season and he still managed to set the franchise mark for rookie receiving yards.

If top corners are lining up against Brown … then they can’t line up against Smith.

So now Smith is a year older, wiser and with a potentially easier path to putting up big numbers in 2022. No wonder his new teammate is so bullish on Smith’s upcoming second NFL season.

Even though he’s going to be deemed the No. 2 on this roster, Brown thinks Smith is a legitimate No. 1 receiver in the league. Why?

"Because he’s a really good route runner,” Brown said. "Guys early on in their career, first year, year two, they’re still developing and he can run every route in the route tree. It’s just the little nuances, the things we can all get better at and that will just keep tuning up our game, keep developing. I think the sky’s the limit for Smitty. I’m excited for Year 2, the step he takes.”

Smith is entering his second NFL season with the same offensive scheme and the same quarterback. The connection forged with Jalen Hurts last year should pay off this upcoming season.

"I think with the time we put in, with the reps we’ve had, I think that is definitely beneficial for our connection,” Hurts said. "I think it will be good for the football team."

As a rookie on a team that ended up becoming extremely run-heavy as the season went on, Smith still managed to catch 64 passes for 916 yards and 5 touchdowns.

It was a very impressive and encouraging rookie season, but the Eagles still think he’s an ascending player.

"He’s just getting better at understanding,” cornerback Darius Slay said. "Like I always tell him, man, in college you were the Heisman Trophy winner, you was better than everybody out there. In the league, man, there’s no separation when it comes to talent. It’s about who does the best technique at the end of the day. I just told him, just make everything look the same, make sure you just be a good player, consistent. He does it very well right now.”

The idea that Brown will take pressure off Smith is a very valid one. To start last season, Smith was already the Eagles’ No. 1 and their No. 2 was Jalen Reagor. Eventually, Quez Watkins wrestled away that second spot from Reagor.

But the Eagles went from their top four options in 2021 being Smith, Reagor, Watkins and Greg Ward to their top four in 2022 being Brown, Smith, Watkins and Zach Pascal. That’s quite an upgrade.

Last year, the Eagles weren’t shy about the way they game planned their passing attack. They wanted to get the ball to Smith and Dallas Goedert. The presence of Brown will obviously change that.

So it’ll be up to the coaching staff to feed all the mouths.

"I think with anything you go into game plans you have three really good players that you have to get the ball to,” offensive coordinator and play caller Shane Steichen said. "Every game is going to be different. I always say this, there's one football, and you have three really good players along with other additions that we have, so we're working through that every single day, and that'll take place through training camp and going into the season.”

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/eagles-aj-brown-expects-devonta-smith-dominate-2022-nfl-season

[UK_EaglesFan89]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Smith post better numbers than Brown. I actually think Smith has as much talent as Brown if not more in the long term. For this team to have both is very exciting.