Philadelphia Eagles: Greg Ward is a quarterback’s best friend
The Philadelphia Eagles’ Houston Connection is something special.
Boy, what a game.
After suffering through a string of uninspired contests maligned by turnovers, missed assignments, and abysmal quarterback play, the Philadelphia Eagles left it all on the field in a knockdown, drag-out brawl against the Arizona Cardinals.
Down pretty much their entire secondary, the Eagles rallied behind their rookie second-round pick, Jalen Hurts, and delivered onto fans a 60-minute gaze into a crystal ball of their future – only, let’s hope said future squad has better offensive line play, as Matt Pryor ain’t it at right tackle.
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And do you know who brought the Eagles back into contention and effectively dashed Kliff Kingsbury‘s hopes of turning this game into a blowout? Yeah, that’d be none other than Greg Ward, who finished out the game with four catches for 15 yards.
… oh yeah, and he had two touchdowns, too; how could I forget?
While Ward isn’t what one would call an elite athlete, a dynamic weapon, or even a YAC specialist, the former college quarterback has a nose for the endzone the likes of which seemingly no other Eagle has in 2020. His six touchdowns leads the team by a margin of two, and his 19 first downs – through the first 13 games of the season – ranks second among all wide receivers on the team.
Since taking over as the Eagles’ primary slot receiver midway through the 2019 season, Ward has averaged 31.5 yards, 1.85 first downs, and .35 touchdowns a game. Are those numbers amazing? No way, but when you view them versus the horrible production the Eagles have received out of their wide receiving corps in 2020, they’re actually pretty decent.
Whether catching passes from Carson Wentz or hauling in balls from Hurts, Ward has consistently found a way to remain an engaged part of the Eagles’ offense and forced a near-stranglehold on the position with only the occasional challenges from players like Quez Watkins for playing time. Ward’s 633 offensive snaps currently rank first overall on the team by a pretty sizeable margin, and he’s even found work moonlighting on special teams as the Birds’ primary punt returner.
Tie that all together with a bow, and you get the profile of a player willing to do whatever it takes to help his team win – even switch positions after a very successful tenure playing quarterback for the Houston Cougars. With Hurts more or less guaranteed to start the Eagles’ final two games of the season against Dallas and Washington respectfully, having a reliable safety blanket capable of running under routes for an easy completion could be the key to furthering the 22-year-old’s impressive run as a legit starting quarterback.
Heck, with Hurts now locked in at quarterback, maybe Doug Pederson could pull out a few tricks from his old bag and trot out Ward as a change-of-pace quarterback – a groan-worthy look that may actually generate some positive. The possibilities really are endless.
dark. Next. Stop attacking Carson Wentz’s character
Regardless of how you feel about the Philadelphia Eagles’ prospects moving forward – whether you’d like to see the team go all-in on a potentially fruitless playoff push or lose out to lock up a legit number one receiver like Ja’Marr Chase – it’s abundantly clear a parade down Broad Street isn’t on the team’s immediate horizons – if said parade would even be allowed under our current situation. No, the remainder of the 2020 season is really more about 2021 and beyond to determine which players are worthy of a longer look moving forward. If Jalen Hurts and Greg Ward can keep up their ‘Houston Connection’ down the stretch, it could bode well for both players’ futures with the team moving forward – and give fans a glimpse of what could eventually be.