Philadelphia Eagles: Does Quantity Equal Quality For the WR’s and CB’s?
By Mike Lacy
Will having quality depth allow the Philadelphia Eagles to overcome the lack of an elite playmaker at wide receiver and cornerback?
The Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receivers were a disappointment in 2015. Since-deposed veterans Riley Cooper and Miles Austin were near useless, and the young receivers didn’t live up to expectations. Neither Nelson Agholor nor Josh Huff performed well, and while Jordan Matthews had a decent season, there are doubts that he’ll ever be an ideal fit as a team’s top receiving option.
Heading into the offseason, there didn’t seem to be much hope of finding hope from outside the organization. After using several high picks on receivers over the past two years, it seemed unlikely that the team would go that route again, especially since there doesn’t seem to be an immediate impact receiver in this year’s draft. The free agent landscape looked unappealing as well. The only Pro Bowl-level player was Alshon Jeffery, and he was given the franchise tag by the Chicago Bears, effectively taking him off the market.
With little hope of obtaining a top receiver, the Philadelphia Eagles have gone after a couple of less-heralded players. First, they signed former Raven Chris Givens to an inexpensive one-year deal. The move made a lot of sense. Givens brings deep speed to a group that mostly lacks it, and he had good chemistry with Sam Bradford when they were on the Rams together.
Somewhat surprisingly, they also signed former Giants receiver Rueben Randle to a one-year deal. There’s a definite upside to the signing: Randle is only 24 years old, had eight touchdown catches last season, and recorded over 900 receiving yards in 2014. On the other hand, he’s been somewhat of a disappointment in his own right over his career. After all, there’s a reason why a seemingly talented receiver was available for a low price.
With Matthews, Agholor, Huff, Givens, and Randle, the Philadelphia Eagles have a deep receiving group. The question is: Do they have a good receiving group?
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The good news is that considering their ages and circumstances, all of the receivers could potentially improve next season. Perhaps Matthews or Randle makes the leap from good to great, or Agholor shows why he was such a hot prospect a year ago. If that happens, then the Eagles should have a strong group. Barring that, we’ll see if having numerous decent receiving options is just as good as having a top target.
There’s a similar situation with the cornerbacks. As it stands now, they have Eric Rowe, Nolan Carroll, and Leodis McKelvin as their top three, with a bunch of guys like Ron Brooks, JaCorey Sheppard, and Jaylen Watkins behind them. It seems like they have plenty of depth, but nobody who you’d feel comfortable shadowing an opponent’s top receiver.
There are rumors that the Philadelphia Eagles will address the corner position in the draft, possibly in the first round. Many pundits have the Eagles taking Vernon Hargreaves, and the expectation is that he will quickly become one of the better cover corners in the league. If they don’t get Hargreaves, they’ll either have to hope that Rowe builds upon the promise he showed last year, or they’ll likely have to rely on a lot of group coverage.
Next: Philadelphia Eagles Sign WR Rueben Randle
The good news is that history has shown that having an elite receiver or cornerback is not a necessity for a winning team. Many of the recent Super Bowl champions have lacked a star at either position. So there is a reason to hope that their quality depth will allow them to succeed.
And if one of their young players does develop into a star? Somehow I don’t think the Philadelphia Eagles would complain about that.