Philadelphia Eagles: Get Quez Watkins more touches

Whenever a new coaching staff comes to town – for the Philadelphia Eagles or otherwise – some players have a tough time finding their footing in a new scheme.

Whether due to a lack of touches (Miles Sanders/Boston Scott), a reduced/altered role (Ryan Kerrigan), or even something as simple as rushing from a different spot on the line (Fletcher Cox), it’s not unusual to see a mainstay player many considered a cornerstone contributor fall by the wayside due to “scheme fit.”

Ever notice how teams will bring in new role players when they switch coaching staffs, be that backup quarterback, linebackers, safeties, or receivers? Scheme fit it a powerful thing in the NFL.

Conversely, sometimes when a new coaching staff is hired to steer the team in a different direction, this shift in philosophy can be a godsend for a mid-level player who never quite meshed with the previous administration.

Fortunately, Quez Watkins falls firmly into the latter category, but are the Philadelphia Eagles actually holding him back from reaching his potential? Let’s just say when you’re averaging 20.5 yards per catch on the season, you probably shouldn’t rank seventh on the team in catches.

The Philadelphia Eagles need to target Quez Watkins more often.

The Philadelphia Eagles have primarily targeted Quez Watkins on two different styles of routes through the first five games of the season; screens and deep routes.

Now granted, is that a bit of an exaggeration? Sure. Watkins has actually crossed the middle of the field from time to time, but when you think about the pride of Southern Miss’ on-field contributions thus far this season, you’ll surely either imagine Nick Sirianni spamming screens his ways or the three 40-plus yard catches he recorded on the outside versus San Francisco, Dallas, and Carolina respectfully.

Is that necessarily a bad thing? No. I’m sure plenty of players on the team would love three-plus balls per game thrown their way – just ask JJ Arcega-Whiteside or Greg Ward – but at the same time, shouldn’t Sirianni be going out of his way to get him the ball more often?

Coming out of college, Watkins was lauded for his ability to make plays with the ball in his hands after the catch. Southern Miss didn’t exactly run the most sophisticated offense in the NCAA, so you’d often see Watkins get the ball in one of three ways; either by running past Conference USA defenders on go-routes, being schemed open on timing routes, and, most often of all, by getting the ball in space and letting his blazing fast speed do the rest of the work.

Mind you, can a player achieve the final result on your run-of-the-mill ball screen? Sure, but you can also do so on crossing routes, quick slants, and even your good ole fashion jet sweep, where blocking receivers/tight ends like Dallas Goedert and JJAW could surely create some creases versus a base defensive or even nickel front.

I know Jalen Reagor has largely been the Eagles’ slot receiver so far this season, and for as much as some will hate to admit it, he’s playing fairly well in his new role, but getting Watkins more looks on the interior could be incredibly beneficial to unlocking his potential across the middle of the field while simultaneously giving him more looks versus slot receiver who seldom match-up to his size or speed.

If Sirianni is serious about adjusting his scheme to fit his players’ strengths, getting Watkins the ball more often, especially in YAC-friendly scenarios has to be one of those adjustments.

Make no mistake about it; the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense is very much a work in progress. Nick Sirianni is still throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks and often will get a bit too in his head and forget to do basic things like running the ball more than 20 percent of the time. While throwing the ball to Quez Watkins more often won’t fix that run-pass disparity, it could provide the offense with a more dynamic attack and move the chains a bit more consistently than in weeks prior.