Why is Mack Hollins still on the Philadelphia Eagles?

After missing all of 2018, the third-year receiver looks to be hurt again, which should put his future with the Philadelphia Eagles in serious doubt.

Breaking news from Philadelphia Eagles training camp this week: Mack Hollins is hurt. Again.

Picking on Hollins is pretty low-hanging fruit, given his place of importance on the roster, but he’s nonetheless shown that he is not an asset to the team.

I can understand the reluctance of the Eagles to part ways with a player who they drafted in the fourth round just two years ago, but it’s not uncommon for some players drafted in that range to never even get on the field for a single down in the NFL regular season. Letting him go would not be some kind of abject failure on the part of the organization.

More from Philadelphia Eagles

• 4 Eagles on the Bubble Who Have Clinched Their 53-Man Roster Spots
• Best Pennsylvania Sportsbook Promos: Win $650 GUARANTEED Bonus PLUS $100 off NFL Sunday Ticket
• 3 Punters the Eagles Must Target to Replace Arryn Siposs
• Cowboys Trey Lance Trade Proves How Screwed They Are With Dak Prescott
• Devon Allen Took Britain Covey’s Job on Eagles

Hollins’ size (6-foot-4, 221 pounds) remains tantalizing, as he is the biggest of the dozen receivers the Eagles are carrying at camp aside from roster long shot Carlton Agudosi. But size alone should not be enough to keep him in the mix.

Players like Charles Johnson (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) and Braxton Miller (6-foot-2, 215 pounds) offer good bulk as well, and I’d vastly prefer them to Hollins as the team’s fifth or sixth wideouts. It’s true that Hollins could ultimately offer more upside than these players if everything went right for him, but we are talking about such a small number of total catches that keeping Hollins around based solely on potential isn’t worth the headache.

Mack Hollins, who many people probably think is actually named “Matt Collins” due to the infrequency of how often he comes up and the seemingly rushed way that everyone says his name, pitched in decently well as a rookie in 2017. But he failed to build on that at all last year, missing the entire season with a pair of groin injuries.

Now he’s out again with a supposedly unrelated “lower-body injury”, the severity of which is yet to be determined. If he can’t get on the field and stay there, he offers no value. Even putting him on the “physically unable to perform” list to free up a roster spot would be a waste. It’s harsh, but nobody should be made to wait in vain for a borderline player to get healthy so that they can make minimal contributions to a team if and when they return.

I understand that a large part of Hollins’ value also comes on special teams. But he still seems to be recovering from his surgery, and so he is currently useless in this area as well, one that demands even more stops and starts than running a receiving route.

Maybe if Hollins could stay on the field, he just might display enough value for the Eagles (or another team) to settle into a fifth wideout role along with being a solid special teamer. There is real value in that. But Hollins just isn’t that player.

Don’t let the perpetually overdone excitement surrounding Eagles training camp fool you. The way that some people talk, you’d think that everyone on the roster was a Hall of Famer, even Hollins.

But Mack Hollins, I believe, is just another run-of-the-mill “last guy on the roster” that can easily be replaced by a thousand other players just like him. The Eagles shouldn’t spend any more time on him.

Hit the road, Mack, I’d rather have Matt Collins.