During Free Agency, one of the Eagles’ losses was Zach Pascal signing with the Arizona Cardinals.
After a lackluster season for the Eagles’ 3rd Year WR3 Quez Watkins. Another addition would be made if Howie Roseman saw fit to bring in some competition for the Wide Receiver positions that still need an answer.
And he did.
We've agreed to terms with @LlamaDay on a one-year deal.@Toyota | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/6mFgqmaoJA
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) April 20, 2023
Bringing in pre-draft competition for the Wide Receiver 3/4 position is precisely what the Eagles needed. Crossing another item off of Howie Roseman’s off-season shopping list.
Olamide Zaccheaus went undrafted in 2019, and by 2023 he was 2nd on the Atlanta Falcons in receiving yards with 533. Since the 2020 season, the Eagles haven’t hesitated to add Wide Receivers to the roster. Moving on from Jalen Reagor and Arcega-Whiteside in one off-season was a vast improvement. And after the disappointment from Watkins last season, it’s not a big surprise that the Eagles added another 1-year deal to the roster.
The Eagles also signed another former Atlanta Falcon last month in Marcus Mariota. The Quarterback that assisted in Zaccheaus’ 533-yard season.
Quez Watkins 2022 Slump
The Eagles former 2020 6th-round pick looked to be a promising speedster. With an impressive 2021 Season as WR2, Watkins put up a comfortable 647 Yards. With the additions of A.J. Brown and Zach Pascal before the 2022 season, the expectation for Watkins was clear: put up similar numbers in a minor role with a much better-supporting cast.
However, that wasn’t the case. Quez Watkins 2022 ended with 354 Yards and a career-high of 3 Touchdowns. Watkins’ production was nearly halved, with only 11 fewer targets and 10 fewer receptions.
Quez Watkins was a contested target on 11 passes last season, he caught just one of them.
— DiBirds (@DiBirdsBlog) April 20, 2023
He allowed three interceptions when targeted.
A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert allowed four interceptions when targeted COMBINED.
There’s a reason to be upset with Watkins.
Rightfully so, the Eagles sought out another addition to the offense.
Adding another cheap deal to the fold allows the Eagles to sort out their Draft Picks even more. While we argue back and forth over Nolan Smith, Bijan Robinson, and Peter Skoronski for the 10th pick. There’s only one week until we know the answer to who the Eagles will draft, with the remaining roster gaps still needing a solution:
- Offensive Line Depth
- Tight End 2
- Defensive Line Depth
- Punter
They may not need to address these concerns in the 1st round, but the Eagles will look deeper into the draft and into undrafted free agency as well.
Get ready for the Draft week cause everything kicks off in less than 7 days!
