John Hightower could be the Philadelphia Eagles’ Robby Anderson
Is John Hightower the Philadelphia Eagles’ answer to Robby Anderson?
Do you remember when Robby Anderson was the talk of the town among Philadelphia Eagles fans hungry to make a splash in free agency?
It felt like you couldn’t go a day on Twitter without some fan, pundit, or casual observer linking the two parties together, especially when his market rolled over from May 18th into the month of April, and I’ll admit, I fed into it too.
On paper, Anderson was just what the doctor ordered to help jumpstart the Eagles’ offense going into the second decade of the 21st century: He has great size, even better speed, and even played his college ball at Temple. If he declared Brian Dawkins his favorite player, or that he’s “always hated the Cowboys“, his jersey would sell out at every Modell’s Sporting Goods in the greater Delaware Valley.
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
Sidebar: I’m all about Anderson reuniting with Matt Rhule and Phillip Walker in Carolina. It’s always nice to see local(ish) men make good.
But fear not Philly fans, the Eagles were actually able to land another tall, slim receiver with blazing straight-line speed and loose hips: John Hightower.
A two-year starter at a non-Power five Conference college, Hightower was the crown jewel of Boise State’s passing game from 2018-19. While he never eclipsed 1,000 yards in a single season and ran a rather limited route tree in the Broncos’ aerial offense, his 18.5 yards per catch ranked 25th overall in all of college football and his eight receiving touchdowns led the team by a pretty substantial margin.
Now who does that sound like? Anderson.
Anderson was also a 190-pound two-year starter, also never surpassed 1,000 yards, and even averaged a comparable average as a kick returner. If Hightower was two inches taller and had a more, shall we say, creative haircut, the duo would look – and play – identical.
Take with that what you will.
Despite having fantastic size and speed for the position, Anderson was knocked pretty harshly coming out of college for his ‘rail-thin frame, lack of elusivity, and deficiencies against press coverage’. Those complaints landed Anderson squarely in the Day 3 conversation – the same day Hightower was drafted in – while a slew of off-field issues ultimately resulted in the redshirt senior going undrafted despite receiving Rhule’s blessing to return to the team in 2015.
Hightower doesn’t have any of those issues off the field to speak, ergo why he was selected mid-way through the fifth round, but he’s still far from a sure thing to succeed at the NFL level. Need proof? Look no further than Hightower’s own draft profile from NFL.com. ‘Lack of size and strength, loses route momentum, poor contested catch ability’ those weaknesses are almost identical to what was written about Anderson a half-decade prior.
If Hightower is going to thrive at the NFL level like Anderson before him, it will come from hard work, consistent improvement, and a little bit of luck. The Philadelphia Eagles have a ton of speedy wide receivers under contract going into 2020 – four to be exact – so for Hightower to actually earn playing time this fall, he’ll really need to impress during training camp.
That may be tricky depending on how much time teams are actually allowed to see the field this summer, but I’m of the belief that Anderson’s transition may come easier than some may expect.
DeSean Jackson is the Philadelphia Eagles’ ultimate insurance policy. dark. Next
Look, the process of scouting any player is tricky. Almost half of the players drafted in the 2017 NFL Draft just had their fifth-year options declined, including “can’t miss” wide receiver Corey Davis. That being said, John Hightower’s set of skills is titillating enough to far exceed his draft position and eventually develop into a big, speedy starting-caliber X wide receiver on the outside like Robby Anderson before him.