Philadelphia Eagles: 5 eye-popping DeVonta Smith statistics
By David Esser
![Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) and Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) celebrates one of Smith's four first half touchdowns during the first half of Alabama's game with Ole Miss Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Alabama Vs Ole Miss](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F5224e29340f36e9b6b922446dc961117b546be8f3a9add08e9251f2c3fd47fbc.jpg "Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) and Alabama wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (17) celebrates one of Smith's four first half touchdowns during the first half of Alabama's game with Ole Miss Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019. [Staff Photo/Gary Cosby Jr.]Alabama Vs Ole Miss")
51 catches of 20+ yards since 2019
Another category that Smith led all of college football in (17 more than the next closest player), the Philadelphia Eagles newest WR1 excelled when tasked with stretching the field for Alabama. Even when playing alongside the likes of Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle, Smith still found a way to repeatedly establish himself as one of the best deep threats in college football.
For the Eagles, this is obviously something worth getting excited about!
Ever since Torrey Smith departed after the 2017 Super Bowl run, the Philadelphia Eagles front office has really failed to add an adequate deep threat to the roster. The Mike Wallace signing in 2018 was a disaster, DeSean Jackson barely played during his return to Philadelphia, and Jalen Reagor did not make an impact during his rookie season. For a team that was trying to build around a strong-armed quarterback in Carson Wentz, it was quite the malpractice.
While Jalen Hurts will likely look down-the-field less compared to his predecessor, having that threat of Smith taking the top off the defense should still open things up for everyone else involved. It’s also a testament to Smith’s YAC ability (yards after the catch), as one can only assume that a chunk of those 20+ yard catches came due to Smith creating with the ball in his hands.