Philadelphia Eagles: Quez Watkins deserves an honest look in 2021

In 2020, the Philadelphia Eagles failed to get a whole lot of production out of their rookie class.

In a year that was supposed to be all about “re-tooling” and “getting younger”, the Eagles essentially did the complete opposite. Almost all of their selected rookies failed to contribute at a significant level, and they routinely benched younger players for the likes of aging veterans who were set to be cut in the offseason (playing Alshon Jeffery over Travis Fulgham, for example).

Most notably, the Philadelphia Eagles really struggled when it came to revamping their wide receiver core. While the tam entered training camp expecting DeSean Jackson and the before mentioned Jeffery to be the team’s starting wideouts for the majority of the year, injuries made that reality impossible. Instead, guys like Fulgham, John Hightower, and Jalen Reagor (when healthy) were chucked into the deep end as starting WRs on a team the couldn’t even figure out their quarterback position.

Outside of a four game stretch of brilliance from Fulgham, the Eagles youth movement at the position failed pretty spectacularly. Hightower ended up on the bench because he couldn’t catch simple passes, Fulgham was banished to the shadow realm for reasons unknown, and Reagor finished the year with one of the worst yards per game average amongst all rookie WRs.

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For the second straight season, the Eagles finished the year with Greg Ward Jr. – a college QB turned practice squad WR – as their most reliable pass-catcher

Philadelphia Eagles WR Quez Watkins flashed some potential last season.

With all of that said, one name that I’ve yet to mention – a player who actually flashed a good amount of potential in 2020 – is that of Quez Watkins.

A sixth round pick out of Southern Missouri, Watkins only appeared in six games last season. However, when active and when targeted, he showcased that there’s at least some level of potential inside him.

Watkins took a simple WR screen in for a 32 yard TD against the Arizona Cardinals thanks to a fantastic spin move, and then caught a 43 yard bomb the following week against the Dallas Cowboys. For a Philadelphia Eagles offense that’s struggled to generate explosive plays for three full years now, those two plays alone are worth highlighting.

While Watkins’ sample size is obviously super small (just 7 catches on 13 targets), but he finished 2020 with the fifth best yards per target on the Eagles last season, beating out the likes of Dallas Goedert, Reagor, Fulgham, Hightower, and Ward Jr.

Again, worth highlighting.

Assuming the Eagles draft a wide receiver with one of their first three picks, I would still emphasize getting Watkins involved to some extent next season. He should be ahead of guys like Ward Jr., Hightower, and JJ Arcega-Whiteside in the depth chart, and would offer a nice change of pace at the slot receiver position. His elite speed and ability to run after the catch are both serious weapons.

It’s unclear how the Philadelphia Eagles offense will look next season, but ultimately speaking, Watkins is one of the very few players that I’m actually excited about at the moment.