No New Receivers, No Hope
Perhaps the biggest myth I’ve seen circling the Eagles, many have bought into the lie that the Eagles MUST add more receiver depth if they are to compete next season. I, for one, am not of that belief.
To be clear, I am stating that the Eagles shouldn’t look to acquire more talent at wideout. Similarly to those who are pining for new pass-catchers, I realize that things were far from ideal from a pass-catching perspective for the Eagles last season.
With D-Jax and Alshon Jeffery out the majority of the year, the Birds struggled to surround Wentz with adequate weapons to execute the type of aerial attack he and Eagles HC Doug Pederson wanted to deploy.
Again, I am not opposed to making the addition of wide receiver talent a priority and am cautiously optimistic that the team will be able to do so. I don’t believe that the team HAS to add new wideouts to compete in 2020, however, for two reasons.
First, the team has already proven that they can compete without elite talent at wide receiver. Last season, while dispensing bottom-of-the-barrel receivers majority of the season, the Eagles managed to win 9 games en route to capturing the NFC East division title. This includes a four-game win streak to close out the regular season as well as some incredibly close near-wins along the way.
Even their championship campaign a few years back, the team’s starting receivers were…Nelson Agholor and Torrey Smith.
Elite receivers are nice to have and would go a long way towards expanding the offense, but if one thing has been made abundantly clear during the Pederson era it is that the Eagles will compete no matter who is getting snaps, and last season was no exception.
Secondly, as I mentioned earlier, DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery practically missed the entirety of last season. I’d argue that a simple return to health for these two wideouts would be enough to quell the receiver issues in Philly. If Carson Wentz was able to record the franchise’s first 4,000-yard passing season without them, I don’t think a complete wide receiver overhaul is necessary for the team to compete- especially in a 12-personnel heavy scheme.
Wide Receiver or Bust at 21
The craze for fresh blood at wide receiver isn’t limited to just free agency, apparently, as most of the Philly faithful would argue that the team should without a doubt draft one of the top pass-catchers when they are on the clock at 21. Furthermore, most of that subset of people even suggest that the team trade up in the draft order to ensure they land one of either Henry Ruggs, Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, or Justin Jefferson.
While the Eagles probably wouldn’t be opposed to acquiring one of these premier prospects, they shouldn’t and won’t lock themselves into thinking that wide receiver is the only feasible position they should target in Round 1. Not only is their need nowhere near great enough to warrant such thinking, but it would also be an incredibly foolish strategy all things considered.
Imagine for a second that a consensus top-three edge rusher or cornerback falls to the Eagles at 21. Are the Eagles to draft a receiver anyway just for the sake of drafting one?
Two pillars to success in the draft are flexibility and adaptability. Both of which the Eagles would have to completely ditch if they are to zero in on a
receiver in Round 1 like many suggest they should. Per usual, the Eagles should seek advantageous opportunities in the draft and not let ‘need’ to dictate their decisions.
Howie Roseman isn’t being aggressive enough
Despite only being a couple of weeks into the free agency period, (too) much has been made about the aggressiveness of Eagles GM Howie Roseman. After seeing desired targets and marquee free agents sign elsewhere at the dawn of free agency, people were quick to point to Roseman’s “lack of aggressiveness” as a cause for concern and some even claimed it would inevitably lead to the team’s decline.
Although that noise has since faded a bit with the acquisitions of Javon Hargrave and Darius Slay, it was such a ridiculous claim, to begin with, that it makes the list. Howie Roseman has his struggles, but aggressiveness is not one of them. Not only has he pulled off the most trades of any other active general manager since 2014, but the Eagles have also been major players in the free agency arena since his return to office following the Chip Kelly ousting.
Since 2014, the Eagles have welcomed in a slew of big-time free agents- Malcolm Jenkins, Brandon Brooks, Alshon Jeffery, Rodney McLeod, etc.- and this offseason has been no different.
The Eagles’ current roster not to your liking? Fine. But that isn’t indicative of how aggressive Roseman has been. Per usual, Roseman has looked advantageously at ways to improve the roster while avoiding the financial pitfalls that rival executives often find themselves in, which is never a bad thing.
Myths 4-5 are listed on page 2 below!
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
