Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp 2008: Wide Receivers
Since the departure of Terrell Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles have been in search of a primary receiving target with the ability and intangibles that Owens brought to the Birds back in 2004.
For now, the Eagles are working with vitually two secondary receivers; Reggie Brown doubles on the slot and outside, while Kevin Curtis is the deep ball burner. The third spot seems to be up for grabs for Greg Lewis, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett, or could the rook DeSean Jackson shake up the depth chart.
For what it’s worth, Kevin Curtis was a steal for the Eagles last season. The free agent acquisition from the St. Louis Rams proved to be better than advertised. Curtis became only the 11th Eagles’ receiver to surpass the 1,000 yard plateau (77 rec. 1,110 yards). Curtis proved to be a reliable deep ball threat as he pulled in 5 receptions of 30 yards or more, including a 68 yard touchdown pass on a day where he recorded 11 receptions for 221 yards and 3 TDs in a 56-21 victory over the Detroit Lions.
If there was a downer to Curtis’ season it was his scoring decline. In the first 5 games he scored 4 TDs, while only scoring 2 the remainder of the season. Curtis would endure a stretch of 6 consecutive games without a touchdown. Curtis will more than likely be penciled in as the Birds no.1 receiver this season.
One player looking to put the 2007 season behind him is Reggie Brown. In what was touted to be a breakout season for Brown only became one of cameo appearances. Although Brown came on late in the season he still managed 61 receptions for 780 yards and 4 TDs, but still a disappointment for a player that came into the season as McNabb’s primary target. There were times last season where Brown just wasn’t in the game no matter how productive the offense was that day. In 9 games last season he recorded three receptions or less. Brown would only break the 100-yard plateau once last season.
One reason I believe Brown’s performance and numbers suffered last season was beacuse neither Hank Baskett (16/142/1), Jason Avant (23/267/2) or Greg Lewis (13/265/3) failed to grab the third receiver spot by the throat. This three-headed monster would combine for 52 receptions 674 yards and 6 touchdowns. That’s unacceptable. Hank Baskett for his size and ability to get open along the sidelines would be my favorite to win the spot. He seems to tease us with a big game before disappearing for a game or two.
For the first four games last season, Jason Avant was more productive than Reggie Brown and seemed to have a grip on the third spot, his stats would tail off forcing a receiver by committee of himself, Baskett and Lewis.
Greg Lewis is to the Reno Mahe of the Eagles receiving corps, for whatever reason Andy Reid just loves him. Ironically, it was Lewis along with Mahe who fumbled and muffed away the season opener in Green Bay last season. Lewis is the only receiver left from the 2004 Super Bowl team and should have solidified himself somewhere on the roster by now. Barring an injury, he will be the odd man out.
When I look at rookie receiver/return specialist DeSean Jackson, I see more Santana Moss than Devin Hester. Jackson is more burner than escape artist and will get his chance to shine in the Eagles passing game. The second round pick out of California (I had Jackson going to the Eagles with the 19th selection in April’s NFL Draft) is being looked upon to singlehandedly restore the Eagles return game to respectability. Although many are questioning his size and durability, I’m confident that Jackson will be put situations where he can expolit the defensive coverage while suffering minimal damage – at least that’s my hope anyway.
I didn’t even know that the Philadelphia Eagles had wideouts. Are you sure that this team has wide receivers?
nah bruh…just on the fantasy team…
LOL! In name only.
Not that I need to defend the most pedestrian punt return in pro football history, but it was JR Reed who fumbled during the Packers game. Mahe was brought back the next week and was asked simply not to fumble. He was pretty good at that — but needless to say, that’s setting the bar a tad low.
We’ve seen what the Eagles can do with a true No. 1 wideout and I have to applaud the Birds for making runs at Roy Williams, Randy Moss and every receiver in a Cardinals uniform in the offseason. However, what’s nice about the WCO is that it works best when the ball’s spread around. And while the wide-outs leaves something to be desired, Westbrook, Smith, and now Booker create match-up problems for pretty much everybody.
Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis are potential pro bowl receivers. DeSean Jackson is another Ted Ginn, Jr with less speed, but a better receiver.
I was pleased with what I saw from McNabb and the receivers Friday night the ball was spread around and Jason Davis picked up a few blitzes which was encouraging to see.
Maybe someone who believes that Kevin Kolb is ready to run this team can explain to me why the offense couldn’t produce any points against a 3rd team defense when he was under center.