Have Eagles done enough to find stability at WR this year?

[UK_EaglesFan89]

Have Eagles done enough to find stability at WR this year?

Well have they?

 

Good luck, Aaron Moorehead. 

 

The Eagles this offseason hired Moorehead as their new wide receivers coach, the latest in a long line of wide receivers coaches. In fact, he’s the fifth receivers coach in five years under Doug Pederson and he takes over a unit that has seen a similar revolving door of players. 

It’ll be up to Moorehead to help the Eagles find stability at a position where they desperately need it. His mission is similar to the one facing defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel.

In the last four seasons, because of injuries and subpar play, the Eagles have used a total of 21 different receivers! 

Some of the names, you’ve probably tried to block out of your memory. Take a look at total offensive snap counts (regular season+playoffs) of every Eagles receiver in the last four seasons: 

Nelson Agholor: 3,647
Alshon Jeffery: 2,495
Jordan Matthews: 1,355
Torrey Smith: 861
Mack Hollins: 738
Dorial Green-Beckham: 642
J.J. Arcega-Whiteside: 504
Greg Ward: 360
Golden Tate: 306
Paul Turner: 154
Robert Davis: 151
Marcus Johnson: 146
Josh Huff: 134 
Kamar Aiken: 131
Bryce Treggs: 126
Shelton Gibson: 83 
DeAndre Carter: 83
Mike Wallace: 73
DeSean Jackson: 66
Deontay Burnett: 28 
Markus Wheaton: 2 

Think about that list. Matthews is the third player on the list and he accumulated his snaps over three different stints with the team. Smith is fourth and he was here just one season. And Hollins and DGB are next! 

Over the last four years, Agholor leads Eagles receivers in catches (201) and receiving yards (2,232), while Jeffery leads receivers in touchdowns (19).  Think about this now: their best wideouts over the last four years are a former first-round pick who just had to accept a veteran minimum contract with the Raiders and an aging player who’s past his prime, injured, has a bloated contract and might not be the greatest locker room fit. 

The Eagles have been lucky to have one of the best tight ends in the NFL during this span — two of the best since 2018 — but they need more help from their receivers. 

Last season when DeSean Jackson got hurt, the Eagles desperately lacked speed and explosiveness so they went out this offseason and brought in a track team. They drafted Jalen Reagor, John Hightower and Quez Watkins and then traded for Marquise Goodwin. And they’ll get Jackson back in 2020. That’s a good start. 

But the real key when we talk about the position long-term will be Reagor. And to take it a step further, it’ll be the pairing of Reagor and Moorehead. If Moorehead can be the answer as the Eagles’ receivers coach, it should help Reagor’s development. Remember Nelson Agholor’s time in Philly. He spent five years with the Eagles and had five different receivers coaches. It’s hard to find consistency that way. 

There’s no question that Moorehead has plenty of raw talent. But there are questions about every receiver on this roster. Can DeSean and Alshon stay healthy? Does Marquise Goodwin have anything left? Is Greg Ward more than a nice story? Will JJAW rebound from a terrible rookie year? Can this year’s rookies really make an impact? 

Those are the questions awaiting Moorehead in his first season with the Eagles. 

So after Greg Lewis and Mike Groh and Gunter Brewer and Carson Walch, it’ll be up to Moorehead to turn around a position group that hasn’t been nearly as good as it needs to be. 

Moorehead has plenty of talent, but he also has an unusual offseason without OTAs to get them all ready. He has a huge responsibility to get the most out of a position that has been extremely unstable. 

It won’t be easy.

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/wide-receivers-aaron-moorehead-desean-jackson-jalen-reagor-alshon-jeffery-greg-ward

My gut says no. I like the moves we've made but the reality is there's no stability there. In all likelihood Desean goes after this year, Alshon goes after this year, Goodwin may only be here a year.

Most like the Reagor pick, I love it, but he's a rookie and so he may need a year or two. Can JJAW show signs of improvement? If not then I mean will they stick with him in year 3?

Hightower and Watkins are good picks I think but let's curb any huge expectations there, they are late round picks. 

This organisation has looked to band aid solutions and has drafted at WR poorly for too long. And this is the result of that. 

[DeathByEagle]

This question is completely unknown. All 3 rookies are projects. Desean back  will help but will he last the entire season? We wont know the answer to this question for at least mid season. 

[time2rock]

Well, we’re counting on (1) DeSean staying healthy for a majority of the season, (2) Jeffery making it back on the field to contribute after suffering an injury late in the season that normally requires almost a full year to return from, (3) a miraculous jump in productivity from JJAW after a rookie season in which he basically showed nothing, and (4) contributions from 3 rookies in a season where the offseason has been cut way short due to the COVID pandemic.  I’m not expecting a major difference this upcoming year ... I think it is going to take some time for the rooks to get up to speed and relying on the older vets doesn’t seem wise.  

[jsb235]

In the short term, the team should be okay if DJax and Goodwin stay healthy. Yes, that's a big if, but they seem to complement Ertz and Goedert pretty well, and give the team a speed dynamic they haven't had in years.

Long term, a lot depends on Reagor. On paper, he is perfect for the Y position that Goodwin will likely play this year. If he lives up to his draft status, then the team is 3/4 of the way home (with Ertz and Goedert as the other parts of the equation.) That leaves Ward, JJAW and the rest battling it out for one spot. With Ward as the floor, I think there is some stability to the position that we haven't had in years.

Ideally, Reagor plays well enough to start right away and someone else from the field can work their way into the offense.   

  

[Miami]

Dial up the KC aerial assault.  Lots of speed and weapons for CW to throw to.  I think we can expect much better than Mike Groh.  Not sure how a defense can guard 4-5 guys on every play.  If Réagor is legit and can separate like DJ, then this offense should take off because teams are going to have to take away the deep ball.

[nipples]

I’m cautiously optimistic. Very high in Reagor, I think he’ll make an immediate impact. I like Ward to build on his 2019 season and be a solid, if unspectacular, slot receiver. DJax... not expecting much from him, but anything he provides is just a bonus. 
 

Goodwin.. meh, I won’t be at all surprised if he doesn’t make the team. 
 

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

12 hours ago, nipples said:

I’m cautiously optimistic. Very high in Reagor, I think he’ll make an immediate impact. I like Ward to build on his 2019 season and be a solid, if unspectacular, slot receiver. DJax... not expecting much from him, but anything he provides is just a bonus. 
 

Goodwin.. meh, I won’t be at all surprised if he doesn’t make the team. 
 

 

So hang on... You're cautiously optimistic but then basically you don't expect much from DeSean, you don't think Goodwin makes the team and Ward is solid but not spectacular. Doesn't seem very cautiously optimistic bud.

[nipples]

4 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

So hang on... You're cautiously optimistic but then basically you don't expect much from DeSean, you don't think Goodwin makes the team and Ward is solid but not spectacular. Doesn't seem very cautiously optimistic bud.

How is that not optimistic? Many rookies aren’t instant impact players, so to expect that out of Reagor is optimistic. I would say that it’s optimistic to believe Ward can solidly lock down the slot role as well, considering the small sample size of games from him last year, and his numbers were just "OK”. 
 

One playmaker and one "solid” receiver is optimism after what we dealt with last year. 

[PoconoDon]

They did less than I would have, so I am not convinced they're set there. My concern meter is at a 6 right now out of 10.

[UK_EaglesFan89]

5 hours ago, PoconoDon said:

They did less than I would have, so I am not convinced they're set there. My concern meter is at a 6 right now out of 10.

They did more in terms of numbers than I thought. But I agree they did less than I think they needed to. 

For me they needed to add a FA and take a couple of WRs high in the draft. What they actually did was took a WR in the first but then 3 WRs with late round picks. 

It gives us options and it gives us hope but that's all really. We have to hope that at least 1 of those late round guys works out, Reagor can produce straight away and JJAW can develop in to a decent WR.