Philadelphia Eagles: Slot WR emerging as an early offseason need

The Philadelphia Eagles need to upgrade their slot receiver position.

Greg Ward is without question one of the best “feel good” stories in the entire NFL. A college quarterback turned wide receiver who was cut more times than I can count, Ward’s work ethic and overall perseverance prevailed when he finally got his chance to play WR for the Philadelphia Eagles halfway through the 2019 season.

Getting the call-up due to an endless amount of injuries at the WR position for Philadelphia, Ward took his opportunity and ran with it. He established himself as a trustworthy target for Carson Wentz down the stretch, playing a crucial role in each of the team’s four NFC East clinching wins.

His game-winning TD catch over Josh Norman in Week 16 was literally one of the coolest moments of the entire season (I was at that game, it was freakin’ electric).

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With all that said, if the Philadelphia Eagles truly want to build a passing offense that can rival the likes of Kansas City, Seattle, Tampa Bay, and even Dallas; they need to start seriously considering upgrading the slot receiver position come the offseason.

Heading into this year’s training camp, it was clear that the Eagles were going to give Ward every opportunity to keep the starting slot WR job. For what it’s worth, the former practice squad hero definitely hasn’t been *bad* when it comes to what he’s been tasked to do. He leads the team in catches with 32, has the second most receiving yards on the team with 243, and he only trails the enigma that is Travis Fulgham when it comes to receiving touchdowns.

If you would have told me a year ago, when Ward was first called up, that he would end up leading the team in receptions halfway through the 2020 season, I would’ve been downright thrilled.

For the record, I’m still overall pretty happy with how Ward has played. He’s a fairly reliable option underneath, and he’s at least always giving 100% when out on the field, something that can’t always be said for some of the other Philadelphia Eagles pass-catchers (looking at you Zach Ertz).

The problem with Ward however is his overall ceiling. Despite his high volume of catches up to this point, he currently ranks 128th in the NFL when it comes to yards per reception.

128th! That’s really bad!!

Averaging just 7.6 yards per reception, Ward has struggled to create any sort of big plays operating out of the slot this season. He’s not some sort of YAC monster like teams normally have operating on the inside, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him run a vertical route in my life.

Looking ahead to the 2021 draft, there’s going to be a whole plethora of explosive slot receivers available in the first and second round. Jaylen Waddle, Devonta Smith, Rondale Moore, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Elijah Moore, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, etc. In a league that’s continuing to prioritize speed and explosiveness at WR (look at the Chiefs offense), landing any one of these playmakers should be of the upmost priority during the offseason.

By no means should Ward be going anywhere anytime soon. He’s one of the few guys that I actually trust to consistently make catches, and he serves a ton of value as a WR4 or WR5. However, if this Eagles offense ever wants to get back to the glory days of 2017, they need to start stacking up on WR talent. The more explosive the better.