Eagles 2019 Roster Preview: Wide Receiver
The first preview was running back, next up is Wide Receiver. Barring injury, there are 5 locks to make the roster in Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, Nelson Agholor, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Mack Hollins (if he is alive). They might keep 6 receivers, but the guess here is that it will end up being these 5.
Alshon Jeffery
I wrote about Jeffery in a previous piece here, specifically about his connection with Wentz which you should go check out. The gist of it was that Wentz was not as aggressive as he was in 2017, and because of that Jeffery did not have as good of a year. Jeffery started hot in his first 4 games back from shoulder surgery but went quiet his last 6 with Wentz. Once Nick Foles took over, Jeffery’s numbers started to rise again.
Looking forward to 2019, Jeffery should have a better year for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, Wentz is healthy after injuring his knee in 2017 and then struggling through a back injury in 2018. It can’t be overlooked how important it is for Wentz have a healthy off-season to work with his receivers. The Eagles have also upgraded the weapons surrounding Jeffery, most notably adding deep-threat DeSean Jackson. Not only did they add Djax but they also drafted JJ Arcega-Whiteside in the 2nd round of this years draft, and tight end Dallas Goedert should be more improved in his 2nd year.
Having all this talent added to the roster means that Jeffery won’t be the sole focus on the outside for opposing defenses to key on. He might not have as many targets as he had last year (roughly 7 per game, per ESPN.com), but should be more efficient with the targets he does get. He ended the year with 65 catches for 843 yards and 5 touchdowns. My guess is that the yards and catches remain similar to those numbers, but the touchdowns increase to 8 or more. Jeffery had 9 TDs in 2017, so that number attainable with a good season out of Wentz.
DeSean Jackson
Bringing Djax back to the team was arguably the best move the Eagles made this off-season. They have struggled to replace his production ever since he-who-shall-not-be-named released him for no reason back in 2013. The Eagles tried and failed almost every off-season since then to bring in a deep-threat. Torrey Smith was the most successful one they had, but even only had 36 catches for 430 yards and 2 TDs. Djax is superior to Smith in every way, consistently surpassing these stats throughout his career. The one knock on Djax is that he has had trouble playing all 16 games, something he hasn’t done since 2013. With that said, he has played 10 or more games every year in his career, so it’s not as if he misses significant time.
Last season Djax had 41 catches for 774 yards and 4 TDs in 12 games with Tampa Bay, but that was with Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing him the ball. One could make the argument that Wentz will be the best QB that Djax has ever played with, depending on what you think of Michael Vick and late-career Donovan McNabb. Even if he is not putting up stats, he still makes the offense better just because of how much defenses have to worry about him. Every step of his career his QB has better stats with Djax versus without him, and I only expect this trend to continue with Wentz.
Nelson Agholor
Props to Agholor for turning his career around after being labeled a bust in his first two years, when he struggled with drops and overall confidence issues. What helped Agholor was being moved to the slot in his third year, as opposed to playing outside his first two. In 2017, his first year in the slot, he had 62 catches for 768 yards and 8 TDs. He posted similar stats in 2018, but with the key difference being he only had 4 TDs as the offense struggled as a whole.
Agholor’s athletic profile and overall skill-set enabled him to have an easy transition to the slot. He is known as being an excellent route runner who is quick off the ball and hard to keep up within short spaces. Solving his drop issue was huge for Agholor, as the Eagles trusted him in high leverage situations. He had the season-saving 4th down conversion against the Giants this past season, and several 3rd down conversions in the Super Bowl the season before.
In 2019, I expect Agholor to have similar stats as the past two seasons. The Eagles have more options in the passing game compared to any other year of his career, so, similar to Jeffery, I could see him having less volume overall but more efficient with his targets. With so many red-zone weapons on the team, I don’t think he will match his career-high of 8 touchdowns, but I’d expect him to have around 60 catches for 750 yards or so. Unfortunately, I also believe this will be the last year we see Agholor in an Eagles uniform. His contract is up, and with the Eagles already investing so much in 3 other receivers (Jeffery, Djax, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside), it is looking likely that he will move on after this season.
Mack Hollins
Hollins became somewhat of a mystery in 2018. He missed most of training camp with what was deemed a minor injury and days before week 1 he was on the record saying he thought he would play but ended up being placed on IR and missing the entire season. Hollins was rarely seen by the media, so the ongoing joke became people wondering if he was even alive. The Eagles are notoriously private with sharing injury updates, but it was always weird how the team never said what happened to him. He hasn’t even been able to fully participate in minicamp and OTAs, and all that Doug Pederson will say is that he is progressing well. The rumor was that he ended up having surgery on both groins, one last off-season and the other during the season, but that was never confirmed.
As a player, Hollins does a lot of things well but will never be a flashy receiver who accumulates a lot of stats. He did not get much playing time his lone season in 2017, but with the limited opportunities, he proved he is capable. He ended the season with 16 catches on only 22 targets, for 226 yards and 1 famous touchdown. Assuming he is alive and gets healthy, Hollins is guaranteed a roster spot because he is excellent on special teams, and also an excellent blocker.
JJ Arcega-Whiteside
Arcega-Whiteside, the WR out of Stanford, was drafted in the 2nd round of this past years NFL draft. Make sure to check out the post we had on JJAW right after he was drafted, but to sum it up shortly he has a similar skill-set to Jeffery. JJAW is 6’4 and excels at coming down with contested catches, but also has some explosiveness as he ran a 4.49 40 yard dash at the Stanford pro day.
While he is obviously a lock to make the team as a high draft pick, I do not expect much out of JJAW in his rookie year. The guess here is that he’ll only get on the field if Jeffery is hurt or just needs a breather. He projects to have the biggest impact in the red-zone, as he does a wonderful job using his 6’4 frame to shield off defenders to win on 50/50 balls. He’ll learn behind Jeffery with hopes that he can increase his playing time in year 2, and eventually replace Jeffery as the starter.
Candidates for the 6th spot
As I mentioned previously, I only expect these 5 WRs above to make the roster, but if the Eagles decide to go with 6 instead here are the names to look out for. Marken Michel (the brother of RB Sony Michel), Shelton Gibson, Braxton Miller, Charles Johnson, Greg Ward, and DeAndre Thompkins.
Featured Photo: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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