Eagles wide receiver body showcases DeVonta Smith excitement and Jalen Reagor worries

Philadelphia Eagles training camp is fast approaching! Players are scheduled to report to the NovaCare complex on July 27. As we count the days together, Bleeding Green Nation will preview every position on the Eagles roster. We continue today by examining the position of the wide receiver. Previously: Strategist | Return.

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DEVONTA SMITH

So excited to see this guy dominate in camp before he thrives in the regular season. Seriously, DeVonta has the potential to be pretty damn good right off the jump. Not crazy to think he could be the Eagles’ top rookie receiver never. He’s so talented; there isn’t really a major weakness in his game. But what about its size ?! You mean the same size as did not limit it significantly so far? Yeah, don’t sweat that. Smith is the Eagles’ best receiver by far and should be their number one volume target. A reliable weapon for Jalen Hurts to work with now that the Alabama alumni reunite.

JALEN REAGOR

Many apologies have been made for Reagor’s poor rookie season. Injury issues, poor training, poor player development, poor quarterback play, etc. And some of these points have some legitimacy.

But you shouldn’t just assume that Reagor will be perfectly fine moving forward. There were real concerns about his exit from TCU (many of which were also too easily excused) that were also apparent in the NFL last year. Watch this blurb from Michael Kist from april 2020:

“His 2019 gang raises some concerns even taking into account the quarterback’s abysmal game. Reagor didn’t seem determined to sell decoy routes, block or eliminate every yard of his opportunities after capture. This latter concern comes up in the analyzes, as his YAC average has dropped significantly over the past three years (7.8> 5.9> 3.8) and he only managed 5 tackles in 19. You can explain part of this by arguing about poor placement, but too often Reagor was in self-preservation mode and looking to stay on the sidelines.

Of course, this sounds familiar.

Moreover, Reagor’s struggles are disturbing when placed in historical context. Not the best company to keep:

Earlier this offseason, wide receiver expert Matt Harmon said The NFL SB Nation Show that Reagor was a “total mess as a road racer”. Harmon said Reagor only had a 40.8% success rate over male coverage, which is the second worst rate he has EVER recorded.

So, yeah, I’m going to repeat what I’ve already said about Jalen Hurts here. It’s not crazy to think this 22-year-old can improve. Reagor can benefit from working with both a new coaching staff and a new starting quarterback. But Reagor has a large gap to fill when it comes to being a legitimately good wide receiver.

It would be nice to see Reagor look good in the camp. Lots of pressure on him to escalate in the second year. Not just for the sake of this season, but to be a legitimate long-term play for the Eagles.

GREG WARD

As the team’s oldest catcher at just 26 (seriously!), Ward is considered a leader in his position room. It really emphasizes the young people in this position.

Ward was recently discussed in BGN’s “the Eagles’ most overrated players“article:

I think people think he’s not an abject disaster, unlike other Eagles receivers, because he’s legitimately good. Ward is correctly classified as a fourth or fifth wide receiver, but ideally he shouldn’t be a starter. He was 110th out of 112 wide receivers in yards per run last year. It’s great that he can actually catch football (not to be taken for granted, as we’ve learned), but he’s just not particularly tall, fast, or dynamic.

Look, I hate to point out Ward’s flaws because it’s easy to admire how he defied every odds of reaching this point. But the reality is, he’s just not one of the Eagles’ top three receivers. And he was taking reps in the lunge with the team’s first attack during spring drills, so there’s concern that the team would overestimate him. It is more ideally suited to be a fourth or fifth option.

TRAVIS FULGHAM

While Ward drew attention in the “overrated” article, Fulgham was the Eagles’ most underrated offensive player pick:

Not a ton of great options to choose from when the attack isn’t that great. But I’ll go with Travis Fulgham here. Some might have him as their most overrated pick, saying the multi-week streak he led the NFL in receiving yards was a total fluke. And maybe these skeptics will be right. But I’m not ready to give up on Fulgham. He was pretty impressive when he was in his prime last year! If the Eagles’ coaching staff can help light a fire under him and respond well to it, he could be a quality starting X receiver for this team. He has size and talent. Just needs to be mentally locked. Hopefully he learned from his bench last year. Maybe being surrounded by a total dog in DeVonta Smith can also help him lead him?

Given that they aren’t just giving him a starting job, the Eagles appear to be trying to motivate Fulgham to give the team his best this summer. It would be nice to see him really step up and cement himself as a starter in this team.

QUEZ WATKINS

Watkins showed some potential in limited playing time last year. Can he build on that progress with a strong camp this summer? The 2020 sixth-round pick appears to have some connection with Jalen Hurts, which could help his case as he battles for a spot on the roster.

JJ ARCEGA-WHITESIDE

JJAW is in a weird position. He did great things in camp and in the preseason as a rookie before struggling to make an impact in the regular season. Then it looked like he made the leap with a good camp last year, but he was once again invisible in the regular season. So what can he really prove to the Eagles in camp / practice this year?

JEAN HIGHTOWER

Hightower had a strong camp last year, but fell out of favor during the regular season. And not unduly so! Hightower ranked 150th out of 150 wide receivers ranked by Pro Football Focus last year. The Eagles quarterbacks had the worst passer rating in the league of 15.2 when targeting him, lol. For context, the next worst rating was more than double that number at 35.7. Although only in his second year, Hightower is already 25 years old. You have to ask yourself how much he can reasonably improve. And it’s not like he’s at least a special teams contributor, not having recorded any snaps on this unit last season. Hightower is in danger of being cut off.

MICHAEL WALKER

Walker posted respectable return numbers at Boston College. He’s a long way from staying on the roster, but he can grab attention with long, pre-season kick / punt returns.

JHAMON AUSBON

Listed at 21, Ausbon is the youngest player in the formation of the Eagles. Texas A&M’s undrafted rookie free agent has his work cut out for him to even make the practice squad.

DeVonta is supposed to lead all Eagles receivers into targets. Reagor and Fulgham should be the other two starters when the Eagles are in 11 people. Ward could be online for more playing time than he ideally should receive. Watkins might be able to get into the top four with a solid summer. Watkins, JJAW and Hightower are realistically competing for a fifth place finish, although the Eagles can keep six receivers. At least there will be one strange man outside.

There is a non-zero chance that Fulgham will be cut if he really chases him to camp. It’s not the most likely outcome, but two teams have already given up on him and he fell out of favor with the coaching staff last year.

JJAW and Hightower shouldn’t be seen as “surprise” cuts, but they would be remarkable cuts. I’m sorry to remind you that JJAW was selected 57th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft while Hightower was a fifth round selection in 2020.

(Note: after voting in the poll below, CLICK HERE and vote in the QB trust poll that I forgot to include originally on Monday. Oh.)